The Giant 1.2: Week 3

8/31
The Giant 16kg - 49 total reps - left shoulder still destabilized by the 3rd or 4th rep of the 3rd set, so that I had to do shorter sets than prescribed to finish the session.

9/1
Sore Joint Solution practice:

Supine Level 3 - 10 breaths - diaphragmatic breathing warmup
Side Lying Level 3 - 7 breaths per side, rest as needed, then 20 neck rotations per side, then and 20 nods per side
Phase 2 practice - Hit all the milestones to advance from Level 1 to Level 2 in both Positions 5 and 6.

9/2
The Giant 16kg - 45 total reps - once again the left shoulder destabilized by the 3rd or 4th rep of the 3rd set, thus once again I had to break up the prescribed sets into sets of 2-3 reps. The shoulder was fine with the shorter sets, even for a rep total higher than 40.

Since I am unable to maintain left shoulder stability in the clean+press once I start doing the 3rd set in The Giant 1.2, I don't think there's any point in continuning. I suspect the shoulder will do better with lower rep sets with the heavier 20kg weight. So Friday I'm going to retest my 20kg clean+press rep max, then decide where to take my training, based on the result.

9/5
Sore Joint Solution practice:

Supine Level 2 - 10 breaths - diaphragmatic breathing warmup
Side Lying Level 3 - 20 breaths per side, rest as needed, then 20 neck rotations per side, then and 20 nods per side
Phase 2 practice - Tried Position 4 sitting on 6 stacked puzzle mats instead of on the floor. Hit all the milestones to move up to Position 4, Level 4. Instructions say I can practice Level 4 with elevated sit bones so I'll go ahead do that. Position 5 Level 2 was fine. Limiting factor seems to be endurance in holding the position.

9/6
Clean+Press Rep Max test warmup - 16kg clean+press 5 reps, rest, then 6 reps - was going to do 7 but the shoulder destabilized after the 6th rep.
20kg Clean+Press Rep Max - 2
Iron Cardio Classic - 10 min. - 8 sets

I was disappointed about my 20kg clean+press rep max not having improved from 2, after 3 weeks of The Giant. That 2nd rep required so much effort that I knew I wouldn't be able to do a 3rd rep. It can't be helped. I wasn't able to perform The Giant 1.2 as specified, due to the left shoulder instability, and therefore I wasn't able to realize the gains I could have had from The Giant.

On the bright side, I was able to do Iron Cardio classic for 10 minutes without any hip soreness. The Sore Joint Solution sessions must have helped.

Thus, a possible path forward, from here, is to do Iron Cardio Classic for the next couple of weeks. To minimize risk of left shoulder instability disrupting training, I think I should start with 15 min. sessions, and gradually increase volume over time. Pushing the volume too soon seems to destabilize the shoulder.

To start The Giant 1.0 with the 20kg, I need to improve my c+p rep max from 2 to 10. Ideally I should train with the press focus example from the Iron Cardio manual. However, I need to be able to do at least 3 reps of KB press in one set to use the press focus example. I think once I average 1 set per minute, I'll be ready to switch to the press focus example as described in the manual. The key is to be patient and don't force my body to do more volume than what the shoulder is ready for.

The Giant 1.2: Week 2

8/24
The Giant 16kg - 42 total reps - this began my new training block of The Giant 1.2. The hope is that this block will result in an increase in my 20kg clean+press rep max from 2.

16kg KB Waiter Walk - 3x40s

8/25
Sore Joint Solution practice:

Supine Level 3 - 10 breaths, 10 nods, 10 head rotations - diaphragmatic breathing warmup
Side Lying Level 3 - 7 breaths per side, rest as needed, then 20 neck rotations per side, then and 20 nods per side
Phase 2 practice - was able to sit in straddle with straight legs right away, but not with uprlight torso. I started leaning back my torso with my hands behind me. I used diaphragmatic breathing to pull up my torso, with assistance from arms

I reread GMB's article on hanging exercises and was inspired to try assisted single arm active hang. I was able to hang for 20 sec. on each arm. I then tried active hang and managed around 30 sec. I later repeated this mini-circuit. I've done a log of hangig in the past couple of years, but it was all passive hang to decompress my shoulders and stretch the lats. Single arm hang should deliver more strength and mobility gains for the shoulder, as well as greater grip strength gains compared to 2-arm hangs. However, I hurt my shoulder swinging on monkey bars years ago. When you swing on monkey bars, you're doing single arm hangs. So it seems best to work towards the active version of singel arm hang first, then try passive single arm hang later.

I also did 2 sets of 2 assisted pistols to go with the active hang practice.

For cooldown I did my usual hamstring mobility routine.

8/26
The Giant 16kg - 45 total reps

My suspect left shoulder kind of fell out of place on the final set of clean+press. Maybe it's because the muscles I use to hold the shoulder in place were too fatigued after the previous sets I'd done? I had to break up the final set into doubles and triples. I did doubles because the shoulder slipped out of place after the 2nd rep and hurt too much for the 3rd rep. I managed some triples because the shoulder stayed in place for the third rep.


8/27
Sore Joint Solution practice:

Supine Level 2 - 10 breaths, 10 nods, 10 head rotations - diaphragmatic breathing warmup
Side Lying Level 3 - 7 breaths per side, rest as needed, then 25 neck rotations per side, then and 22 nods per side
Phase 2 practice - Did 30 breaths, 30 nods and 30 head rotations in Position 5, Level 1, so I can move up to Position 5, Level 2.

8/28
The Giant 16kg - 48 total reps

16kg KB Waiter Walk - 2x40s

The Giant 1.2 Week 1

8/17
The Giant 16kg - 35 total reps - this began my new training block of The Giant 1.2. The hope is that this block will result in an increase in my 20kg clean+press rep max from 2.

16kg KB Waiter Walk - 3x40s

8/18
Sore Joint Solution practice:

Supine Level 3 - 10 breaths, 10 nods, 10 head rotations - for recalling how diaphragmatic breathing should feel
Side Lying Level 3 - 5 breaths per side, rest as needed, then 10 neck rotations per side, then and 10 nods per side
Phase 2 practice - was able to sit in straddle with straight legs right away, but not with uprlight torso. I started leaning back my torso with my hands behind me. I used diaphragmatic breathing to pull up my torso, with assistance from arms

8/19
The Giant 16kg - 36 total reps
Suggested training roadmap for increasing rep max on a target KB weight from 7-8 to 10+ for The Giant 1.0 readiness.
8/20
Sore Joint Solution practice:

Supine Level 2 - 10 breaths, 10 nods, 10 head rotations - diaphragmatic breathing warmup
Side Lying Level 3 - 6 breaths per side, rest as needed, then 15 neck rotations per side, then and 10 nods per side
Phase 2 practice - same performance as 8/18.

8/21
The Giant 16kg - 40 total reps


Hamstring mobility circuit - 2 rounds - hoping opening the hips more in straddle side bend will reduce hip sorness from single front squat:

1. Good morning - 8 reps
2. Elephant walk - 10 reps
3. Seated straddle side bend w/ 4kg plate on floor - 5 reps w/ 10s hold on last rep - felt fine despite not being able to start with fully upright torso, still got a nice QL stretch on top of hips opening up a bit more and hamstrings loosening a little.

16kg KB Waiter Walk - 3x40s

ZHealth Isometric Protocols for Strength and Hypertrophy

Strength protocol:

• Contraction at 90%, or higher, of max force at long muscle length for 3-5 seconds per rep
• Rest 5-10s between reps
• 5 reps per set
• 3 min. break between sets
• 3-4 sets

Hypertrophy protocol:

• Contraction at 70-75% max force for 30 seconds
• Rest 10-15s between reps
• Total hold time should be 80-150 seconds, eg. 3 x 30s holds = 90s.

The strength protocol has some similarities to the Promethean program in Paul Wade's book Ultimate Isometrics Manual, which was published some years before the research that the above video mentions was published. In Promethean you pick whatever starting load you like, eg. 50lbs. Then you try to apply at least 50lbs. of force for 4-6 seconds. If you can hold for 6 seconds, you rest 20s, and increase the load by 5-10 lbs for your rep. If you can't hold for 4s, you drop the load for your next rep. Total reps would be 4-6. Eventually, you'll raise the load so high that a 4s hold requires very high effort - you'll probably be working around 90% 1-rep max at that point.

I plan to train with the IsoMax after completing of The Giant 1.x series with single 20kg kettlebell. After completed The Giant 1.2 for the first time with single 16kg KB, I was able to press the 20kg KB for 1 rep. I then did a training block on the IsoMax using my favorite strength protocl at the simte, which was 6x6, also from the Paul Wade book. After that block, I retested my 20kg KB press rep max, and found it increased from 1 to 3, whihch was ok, but not the 5 reps I'd hoped for.

Thus when I complete The Giant 1.2 with the 20kg KB, I'll take a few days off, then test my 24kg clean+press rep max. If it's under 5, I'll try out this relatively updated strength protocol, as shared by Z-Health in the above video, for 6-8 weeks, and see if that raises my rep max.

Training week of 8/3

Earlier this year I injured my wrist, which made kettlebell pressing painful. I then trained under Prismatic Strength's mini courses - the Planche Push Up mini course for a couple of weeks, then the HSPU mini course, which seemed to have more exercises that might have carryover to KB pressing, without bothering my wrist. One of those exercises is the pike push up. I eventually progressed from parallette pike push ups with feet on floor to a feet-elevated variation. I think I progressed in the hands-on-floor pike push up, based on how far I could lean forward and pull my feet towards my hands.

When my wrist finally felt good enough for pressing a 20kg KB, I tested my 20kg KB clean+press rep max and found it had dropped from 5 to 2. So while the KB press and the pike push up are both overhead pressing exercises, progression in pike push up does not have immediate carryover to KB press. Gain in tricep strength in chest expander tricep extension exercises also did not have immediate carryover.

For my next training block, I was going to do The Giant 3.0 training block, but the recommended weight is the heaviest weight one can clean+press for 5 reps, aka "5RM" weight. Based on the test, the weight would be 16kg but it's just too light. I immediately thought of Iron Cardio as a possible choice for next training block. Iron Cardio also recommends a 5-6RM - technically in the press, not the clean+press - but I suspected I could work with the 20kg in Iron Cardio, because the Classic variation only asks you do 1 rep at a time of the press.

After the KB clean+press rep max test, I did a short Iron Cardio Classic workout. A couple of days later, I did a 20-min. Iron Cardio Classic session. The 2 Iron Cardio sessions convinced me that I can do Iron Cardio for a few weeks to get my 20kg KB clean+press rep max back up to 5. It's more likely the cause of my rep max dropping from 5 to 2 was lack of practice of the movement; rather than a loss of shoulder and tricep strength.

Thus I believe 2 weeks of Iron Cardio Classic, followed by at least 2 weeks of the example press focus program template found in the Iron Cardio book will get my 20kg c+p rep max back up to 5. The one concern is soreness in my right hip flexor and rotator from the front squats.

8/3
Iron Cardio Classic - each set is the "classic" sequence of 1 clean, 1 press, 1 single front squat with single kettlebell:

22 sets with single 20kg KB, thus 11 sets per side. 30 min. training time. Right-side hip muscles once again sore from single front squat.

Waiter walk (straight arm) with 20kg KB - 3 reps of 25 second walk per side

Hamstring mobility circuit - 2 rounds - hoping opening the hips more in straddle side bend will reduce hip sorness from single front squat:

1. Good morning - 8 reps
2. Elephant walk - 10 reps
3. Straddle side bend w/ 4kg plate on stack of 2 puzzle mat tiles - 5reps w/ 10s hold on last rep

Modified Pigeon stretch - 2 min. per side - try to alleviate hip soreness.

8/4
Supine lying with tucked knees - 20 diaphragmatic breaths, 20 head rotations, 20 head nods

Side Plank - 6 sets of 5-breath holds per side - just trying to level up my side plank

Egg Roll - 15 reps

8/5
Woke up this morning with sore right hip flexor. Actually, it's been sore since the 8/3 Iron Cardio session. I've been feeling it whenever I squat down to pick up something. This article explains possible causes for hip pain related to squatting. It suggests I may have some sort of movement dysfunction when I squat. I don't remember feeling hip soreness the last time I did Iron Cardio.

I decided not to self-diagnose further, but instead turn to Sore Joint Solution to improve motor control, and hopefully eliminate the movement dysfunction. So for today i did a Phase 1 SJS session

Supine Level 3 - 30 diaphragmatic breaths, 30 head rotations, 30 head nods

Dead Bug - 20 reps

Side Plank - 5 diaphragmatic breaths, 5 head rotations, 5 head nods

Egg Roll - 15 reps

Dead Bug - 20 reps

Prone Level 4 - 30 diaphragmatic breaths, 30 head rotations, 30 head nods

Half Upper Body Roll - 15 reps

Dead Bug - 30reps

My Phase 1 performance hasn't dropped much despite months of not practicing. I just have to get back to 3 sets of 30 dead bugs, then I can resume Phase 2 practice. SJS allows you to move up to Phase 2 if you've hit all the progression standards for Supine and Prone, and are only lagging in Side Lying - in this case you're asked to begin SJS sessions with side lying practice before beginning any Phase 2 practice.

8/6
I do like Iron Cardio. However, I decided to lay off single KB front squat, due to the hip issues; and do a training block of The Giant 1.x with the 16kg KB. The purpose of doing Iron Cardio was to increase my 20kg KB clean+press rep max from 2 to 5. The Giant with a 16kg KB was proven to accomplish the same purpose. I initially chose Iron Cardio over The Giant because of the inclusion of the single front squat, and the numerous options for varying the workouts. Ironically, it's my problem with the single front squat that led me back to The Giant.

Today's training:

• General warmup - breathing in child's pose, dead bugs, hip flexor lunge stretch, the pump, cross crawls
• Anterior delt/chest stretch with band

Modified Delorme protocol for rep max testing - resting as long as I want:

1. 16kg KB clean+press - 5 reps
2. 16kg KB clean+press - 7 reps
3. 16kg KB clean+press rep max - 12 reps - 13th rep was possible with high effort

These results encouraged me to do The Giant 1.2 for my next training block. To finish the workout, I did the following:

1. 16kg waiter walk for 30 seconds - 3 reps
2. Circuit of 3 chin ups and 3 assisted pistol squats for 2 rounds

The chin ups are for supinated work to compensate for the pronation-dominant clean+press work. The chin ups felt very easy, which may have been caused by the isometric chin up holds I did under the Dr. Keith Baar protoco. The assisted pistol squats are for practing a squat pattern without the problems of bilateral squat.
8/7
Sore Joint Solution Phase 1 session:

Supine Level 3 - 30 diaphragmatic breaths, 30 head rotations, 30 head nods

Dead Bug - 30 reps

Side Plank - 7 diaphragmatic breaths, 7 head rotations, 7 head nods

Egg Roll - 20 reps

Dead Bug - 30 reps

Prone Level 4 - 30 diaphragmatic breaths, 30 head rotations, 30 head nods

Half Upper Body Roll - 30 reps

Dead Bug - 30reps

Most progression standards for Phase 1 cleared, except for Side Lying.

Guitar lessons

Tomo Fujita shows how to hold the pick so that it can move without falling out of the grip - improved my strumming tremendously.

Fun little blues lesson from SRV's rendition of The Sky Is Crying.

Ted Greene chord lesson

Blues etude by Tomo

Jazz blues chord progression lesson

Chord-scale-chord approach for soloing
Breakdown of Metheny Third Windo solo break
Thump rudiment lesson 1

Thump rudiment lesson 2

Thump rudiment lesson 3

22 Ab Exercises Ranked (Worst to Best!)

Ranked by the Calisthenicmovement aka CaliMove channel