Training Week of 7/27

7/27
HSPU Mini Course Practice A - Attempted to extend both legs simultaneously in headstand. Succeeded but I still felt my effort level was too high and control was too shaky for me to feel like I could graduate from the 2nd progression in StrongFirst's headstand progression. I spent the rest of the 10 minutes practicing at 2nd progression

HSPU Mini Course Play - 6 pike push up singles with starting lean of shoulders about 6" ahead of wrists. I recorded video of my first 2 singles. It was an eye-opener to see that I'm not getting my hips as high as I thought I was. I try to engage my abs and keep my knees from bending more as I go down. However, the video shows my knees bending more as I go down. The bending knees are probably caused by a combination of tight hamstrings and insufficient overhead pressing strength. I didn't expect to achieve Bent Arm Stand today but that goal looks further away than I thought. I was going to do 8 singles but my form fell apart on the 6th rep. In the spirit of play, I'll try pulling my feet closer to my hands before beginning the arm lean next time.

Hamstring mobility circuit - 2 rounds:

1. Good morning - 8 reps
2. Elephant walk - 10 reps
3. Straddle side bend w/ 4kg plate on stack of 2 puzzle mat tiles - 7 reps w/ 10s hold on last rep

7/28
Chest expander workout:

Overhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set - 5 springs - 15 reps!

Overhand Vertical Pullapart - backoff set - 4 springs - 15 reps!

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set - 4 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - backoff set - 3 springs

Horizontal Pullapart - 1 set - 2 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - mechanical drop set - 2 springs

Horizontal Pullapart - back off set - 1 spring

Sideway Tricep Extension - work set - 5 springs

Sideway Tricep Extension - back off set - 4 springs

Violin Tricep Extension - work set - 3 springs

Dr. Keith Baar style isometric tendon training circuit - 3 rounds

• Left hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - arm parallel to floor, elbow 90 degrees.
• Right hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - same position as left hand.
• Chin up hold with elbows at 90 degrees.
• ATG split squat
• ATG split squat other side

7/29
20kg KB clean+press rep max test, doubling as pain test for right wrist and left shoulder:

1. 5-min warmup routine from The Giant X - did the exaggerated cross crawl instead of the regular version - if there's such a thing - because it feels better for my shoulders
2. 16kg KB clean+press warmup set - 5 reps - no pain in wrist, some irritation left shoulder
3. Rest, then 16kg KB clean+press warmup set - 7 reps - no wrist pain, less left shoulder pain
4. Rest, then 20kg KB clean+press rep max test - no wrist or shoulder pain.

I did 2 reps with the left arm, but could not do a 3rd rep. Did 3 reps with the right arm and stopped.

I was disappointed with my left arm performance but not surprised by this result. The KB press has overhead pressing in common with pike push ups, but the technique is different. Maybe there is too much of a difference to expect immediate carryover from pike push ups to KB press. I wondered if there might be carryover from headstand practice or Dr. Keith Baar style isometric KB press but there doesn't seem to be either. Maybe there carryover from these activites to dynamic KB press will be manifested as I regain proficiency in the KB press. My triceps got stronger in the chest expander behind-the-neck vertical pullapart and sideway tricep extension, based on moving up in spring count. Perhaps the tricep gains will eventually carry over to KB pressing as well.
Still, I'm happy to be able to press a 20kg KB pain-free with my right arm again. I enjoyed trying out the HSPU Mini Course, but I get more bang for the buck from KB clean+press.

I was hoping to do The Giant 3.0 for my next training block, but the recommended clean+press rep max is 5. My 2 rep max is not high enough. So I did 12 sets (6 per side) of Iron Cardio Classic chain to see if Iron Cardio might be an option for my next training block. I felt fine doing the Classic chain, although my squat form was a bit shaky. Brett Jones recommends the heaviest KB weight that you can press for 5-6 reps - so pretty much the same weight as The Giant 3.0, but you can get away with using a weight heavier than your 5RM (rep max) weight in Iron Cardio because the Classic variation has only one press per set.

Thus, my tentative plan is start an Iron Cardio training block, doing Iron Cardio Classic 3x a week for the next 2 weeks, varying session times from 20-40 min. This should get me reacquainted with the Classic exercises of clean, press, and single front squat.

Then for Weeks 3 and 4, I would switch to the press focus example template from the Iron Cardio book. The book says the template will increase 1-rep max weight in the press. Thus it may help me increase my 20kg press rep max from 2 back to 5 or more. At the end of Week 4, I'll re-test the 20kg clean+press rep max.

Finished the session with 30-sec per side waiter walk with 20kg KB to improve shoulder stability, then 4 x 30 sec. hollow body hold to get back to work on improve core strength. 7/30
Practiced KB squatting, so I could do the Iron Cardio Classic sequence with more confidence in my single front squat. After the warmup, I did a set of 5 20kg goblet squats, then 3 sets/side of 3 single front squats with the 20kg KB. I changed my foot placement for each set, and settled on parallel feet, slightly wider than shoulder width. I could squat lower by turning the feet out more, but that would result in collapsed foot arches. I do like to keep the foot arches engaged as I have flat feet

7/31
Iron Cardio Classic - each set is the "classic" sequence of 1 clean, 1 press, 1 single front squat with single kettlebell:

18 sets with single 20kg KB, thus 9 sets per side. 20 min. training time.
Waiter walk (straight arm) with 20kg KB - 3 reps of 20 second walk per side

Modified Pigeon stretch - 2 min. per side - something about single front squat makes my right hip external rotator sore.

Training Week of 7/20

7/20
HSPU Mini Course Practice A - Attempted to extend both legs simultaneously, once, in headstand. Also made one attempt to transition out of headstand into crow pose but quickly tipped back into squat. Otherwise I worked at the 2nd progression in StrongFirst's headstand progression.

HSPU Mini Course Play - 7 pike push up singles with starting lean of shoulders about 6" ahead of wrists. My effort level was about 7 out of 10. I got my feet to drag forward, pushing out of the bottom of the movment. Maybe I contract my abs harder on the concentric than on the eccentric?

Hamstring mobilty circuit - 3 rounds:

1. Good morning - 8 reps
2. Elephant walk - 10 reps
3. Straddle side bend w/ 4kg plate on stack of 4 puzzle mat tiles - 7 reps w/ 10s hold on last rep

7/21
Chest expander workout:

Overhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set - 5 springs

Overhand Vertical Pullapart - backoff set - 4 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set - 4 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - backoff set - 3 springs

Horizontal Pullapart - 1 set - 2 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - mechanical drop set - 2 springs

Horizontal Pullapart - back off set - 1 spring

Sideway Tricep Extension - work set - 5 springs

Sideway Tricep Extension - back off set - 4 springs

Violin Tricep Extension - work set - 3 springs - Normally I work up to a 15-rep set before moving up a spring, but when Alex Leonidas created this workout, his idea for violin extensions was to do them as a finisher for the triceps after sideway extensions, one spring down from however many springs were used for the back off set of sideway extendions

Dr. Keith Baar style isometric tendon training circuit - 3 rounds

• Left hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - press KB until shoulder starts to feel irritated, then hold
• Right hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - press KB to same position as left side, then hold. Was going to press to where the wrist starts feeling irritated, then adjust to the border of the irritation, but the wrist felt fine throughout the entire pressing movement.
• Chin up hold with elbows closer to 90 degrees.
• ATG split squat
• ATG split squat other side

7/22
Dr. Baar tendon circuit - 3 rounds:

• Left hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - press KB until shoulder starts to feel irritated, then hold
• Right hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - press KB to same position as left side, then hold. Was going to press to where the wrist starts feeling irritated, then adjust to the border of the irritation, but the wrist felt fine throughout the entire pressing movement.
• Chin up hold with elbows around 90 degrees - it's not exactly easy as pie but I've progressed from struggling to hold this position more than 10 seconds to being able to hold 30 seconds with effort.
• ATG split squat
• ATG split squat other side

7/23
HSPU Mini Course Practice A - Continued practicing headstand at 2nd progression. Balance is much improved compared to 7/20. I reached the balance point - the point that the body suddenly feels light - without tipping past it. I practice near a wall in case I tip over, in which case the wall would catch my feet and prevent me from falling further. Today my feet didn't touch the wall even once.

HSPU Mini Course Push - I found a Sondre Berg video in which Sondre suggests using rings or suspension trainer for pike push ups after you've gained the strength to elevate your feet. Last week I started doing my Push sessions with feet elevated one stairstep. I decided to try Sondre's idea with my NOSSK suspension trainers set to the same height (one stairstep). However at that height my feet are not horizontal enough to be supported by the NOSSK foot straps. My feet slid right through the straps. So I had to go back to the stairs for my Push session. I did 7 sets of 3 pike push ups for a total of 21. There was a considerable degradation of form on the 7th set so I decided to end the session after that set. I did 32 total reps the previous week but I was allowing myself to bend my knees more and transfer weight back to my feet to make the exercise easier for myself. Today I maintained constant tension in the abs to keep my feet pulled towards my hands. I kept my butt in the air and abs engaged on the concentric movement, more consistently except on the last et.

7/24
Chest expander workout:

Overhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set - 5 springs

Overhand Vertical Pullapart - backoff set - 4 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set - 4 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - backoff set - 3 springs

Horizontal Pullapart - 1 set - 2 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - mechanical drop set - 2 springs

Horizontal Pullapart - back off set - 1 spring

Sideway Tricep Extension - work set - 5 springs

Sideway Tricep Extension - back off set - 4 springs

Violin Tricep Extension - work set - 3 springs

Dr. Baar tendon circuit - 3 rounds

• Left hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - arm parallel to floor and forearm 90 degrees to arm - just trying to hit shoulder tendons from different angle.
• Right hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - press KB to same position as left side, then hold.
• Chin up hold with elbows around 90 degrees - was able to hold an extra 5 seconds after the 30-sec. timer beeped.
• ATG split squat
• ATG split squat other side

Robben Ford triad movement trick learned from Miles Davis

Lesson video taught by the great Greg Koch

Training Week of 7/13

7/13
HSPU Mini Course Practice A - Practiced next to a wall this time. Glad I decided to do so because I was able to straighten one leg all the way to locked-out knees, and straigten the other leg too. I was concerned I might fall over. Thus being able to rest my heel on the wall and feel the wall stopping my leg from falling over was reassuring. The mini course prescribed headstand/crow pose practice for Practice A and a variation of handstand for Advanced Practice A, with no obvious roadmap for progressing between the 2 levels, so I've been following StrongFirst's progressions for headstand to handstand, while continuing to follow the mini course guidelines - 10 min. total training time for Practice A, rest as needed, wait until you feel fresh again before doing another headstand hold, etc. According to the StrongFirst headstand progression, I've been working at the 2nd headstand progression. The 3rd progression is extend both legs simultaneously from tuck headstand.

HSPU Mini Course Play - 6 pike push up singles. For the first single, I started leaning forward with my shoulders half a foot ahead of my wrists. The resistance was so intense my form broke down and I barely completed the rep. For the remaining singles I began the movement with my shoulders about 3 inches in front of my wrists, which lowered the intensity enough to allow me to execute with better form. I wasn't sure how much I should progress my forward lean after completing 8 singles with 1" lean last week. So 3", not 6", is the answer for now.

For my cooldown I tried 4 sets of 30-second reverse plank as taught in this Squat University video. I tested my overhead reach against a wall before and after reverse plank training, as advised in the video. I didn't notice a difference, but I'll continue incorporating it into my routine because I like how it stretches my chest. My tight pecs are among the restrictions to my overhead reach - anything helps them loosen up will help my overhead reach. Reverse plank looks easier than reverse tabletop/crab but for me it's actually harder. I could hold reverse tabletop for 60 seconds, maybe more. I couldn't hold reverse plank for 30s - maybe 25s at best. Reverse tabletop gives me a good chest stretch but reverse plank is even better. I tried reverse plank with supinated hands, pronated hands, etc. - all were equally annoying on the floor for my elbows or forearms. I'll try the yoga mat next time I attempt a reverse plank. However I'm going to focus more on hamstring mobility for my cooldown sessions. After the headstand progression is completed in StrongFirst's method, the next exercise in the overall progression is pike handstand, which requires better hamstring flexibility than what I currently have. I'm still a ways from completing the headstand progression but might as well start now.

7/14
Chest expander workout:

Overhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set - 5 springs

Overhand Vertical Pullapart - backoff set - 4 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set - 4 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - backoff set - 3 springs

Horizontal Pullapart - 1 set - 2 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - mechanical drop set - 1 springs

Horizontal Pullapart - back off set - 1 spring

Sideway Tricep Extension - work set - 4 springs - did 15 reps so will try 5 springs next time

Sideway Tricep Extension - back off set - 3 springs

Violin Tricep Extension - work set - 2 springs

Dr. Keith Baar style isometric tendon training circuit - 3 rounds

• Left hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - press KB until shoulder starts to feel irritated, then hold
• Right hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - press KB to same position as left side, then hold. Was going to press to where the wrist starts feeling irritated, then adjust to the border of the irritation, but the wrist felt fine throughout the entire pressing movement.
• Chin up hold with elbows around 45 degrees.
• ATG split squat
• ATG split squat other side

I've settled on ATG split squat for my lower body tendon exercise. It's the same as the isometric lunge demonstrated by Dr. Baar, except we try to get the thigh and calf of the front leg to touch. Thus the reason for this choice of exercise is it hits a bunch of tendons at once, as explained by the good doctor. My big toe, on both sides, has been irritable on lunges so the hope is the Baar protocol will help it feel better in the lunge. 7/15
Tried a couple of 16kg KB clean+presses wwith each arm. My left shoulder was not 100% pain free, but felt much better overall than it did when I last did 16kg c+p 2 weeks ago. My right wrist also felt better, yet it too was not 100 pain-free. I'll try doing a set of 5 reps of 16kg c+p again in 2 weeks.

Dr. Baar Tendon Circuit - 3 rounds:

• Left hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - press KB until shoulder starts to feel irritated, then hold
• Right hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - press KB to same position as left side, then hold.
• Chin up hold with elbows around 45 degrees.
• ATG split squat hold
• ATG split squat hold other side

Hamstring mobilty circuit:

1. Good morning - 8 reps
2. Elephant walk - 10 reps
3. Straddle side bend w/ 4kg plate on stack of 6 puzzle mat tiles - 5 reps w/ 10s hold on last rep

7/16
HSPU Mini Course Practice A - I tried extending both legs out of tuck headstand, and was able to do so easily with the help of the wall. I then moved the stack of puzzle mat tiles, that I use to cushion my head, away from the wall. I was still able to extend both legs but with the wall being a little further away, I was tending to fall towards the wall, and had to exert more effort to keep the legs up and straight. After some rest, I worked on straightening one leg at a time, and also observed without the wall to help, it took more effort from the core to keep from tipping back, and more effort from the hands to keep from tipping to the side.

HSPU Mini Course Push - First session with elevated feet. I set up the parallettes near the stairs and put my feet one stairstep up from the floor. Set a timer to 20 min. then did sets of parallette pike push ups until the timer rang, then did 2 more sets since I still had some available time. Based on my understanding of the mini course instructions, I can do 2-8 reps per set. Progressing to a more difficult position like I just did today naturally lowers the number of reps I can do. I ended up doing 8 sets of 4 for a total of 32 reps. The 8th set was the most difficult. I was barely able to complete the 4th rep, and my form was considerably degraded. For my Push session next week, I'll drop the reps per set to 3. It's better to do less reps with good form than more reps with form falling apart.

Hamstring mobilty circuit - 2 rounds:

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

With the height for straddle side bend lowered from 6 tiles to 4, I was still able to lock out both knees in straddle sit. Bending to either side felt fine. I'm good at looking at the ceiling as I bend.

7/17
Chest expander workout - tricep extension omitted because of the pressing volume done on 7/9:

Overhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set - 5 springs

Overhand Vertical Pullapart - backoff set - 4 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set - 4 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - backoff set - 3 springs

Horizontal Pullapart - 1 set - 2 springs

Horizontal Pullapart - back off set - 1 spring

Sideway Tricep Extension - work set - 5 springs

Sideway Tricep Extension - back off set - 4 springs

Violin Tricep Extension - work set - 2 springs

I didn't feel like I did a lot of pressing volume in my Push session on 7/16 so I decided to do the tricep extension exercises.

Dr. Baar Tendon Circuit - 3 rounds:

• Left hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - press KB until shoulder starts to feel irritated, then hold
• Right hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - press KB to same position as left side, then hold.
• Chin up hold with elbows around 45 degrees.
• ATG split squat
• ATG split squat other side

Keys to floating feet in press handstand, bottom of pike push up, etc.

As noted in other posts, I'm currently doing Prismatic Strength's Handstand Push Up Mini Course and in this course, floating feet is the checkpoint for progressing from basic parallette pike push ups to feet-elevated parallette pike push ups. Also in the course, floating feet is the checkpoint for progressing from hands-on-floor pike push ups to bent-arm stand. The explanations in the mini course are excellent. However the above video provies some interesting details like the location of the hips in relation to the hands, and the role of strength and flexibilty in achieving floating feet. Having both good flexibility and good strength would be ideal, but if flexibility is lacking, strength can make up for it - after you've put in the time and effort to build up that strength.

Geek Climber's Bent Arm Press Handstand Journey

I found this video by Geek Climber, which documents his journey to Bent Arm Press Handstand



I've been doing the Prismatic Strength HSPU mini course as I wait for my right wrist to heal and feel good enough to clean+press a 20kg kettlebell. As mentioned elsewhere, the mini course is built on the GMB Method, which organizes activities into Prepare, Practice, Play, Push, and Ponder sessions. The Practice, Play, and Push sessions each has a progression of skills from easiest to most difficult. The Bent Arm Press Handstand is part of the Play progression. Thus, I too have Bent Arm Press Handstand as one of my goals. It's interesting to see someone else's journey to this same goal.

Geek Climber expressed frustration with seeming lack of progress in his pike push up training. What seems to be missing in his training footage is change in his body positioning at the start of each pike push up rep. Over time, the arms should be leaning forward more and more, and the toes should be getting closer to the hands. Following these 2 cues ensures more and more weight is shifted from the lower body to the shoulders over time. The legs don't have to be perfectly straight for the toes to be pulled closer to the hands. If he had followed the 2 cues, he would have progressed in his pike push ups to the point his feet started to float at the bottom of the movement. In the HSPU mini course, the floating feet is the checkpoint to let you know that you're ready to progress to a more difficult exercise - the bent-arm stand in the Play sessions and the feet-elevated pike push up in the Push session. However, even if he knew about the 2 cues, he stopped himself from following them by trying too hard to protract his scapula at the bottom of the pike push up. I suspect he was doing that because some Youtube calisthenics influencers insist on scapular protraction as an essential cue for the pike push up. I get it - I myself held the same belief because I was, well, influenced by one of those Youtbe influencers. I was trying to maintain scapular protraction when I injured myself on a pike push up attempt a few years ago. I think the injury wasn't cause by protraction per se, but really caused by progressing too fast towards pike push up with feet elevated about 2 feet higher than my hands, but I suspect the protraction didn't help. Anyway, by trying too hard to protract his scapula, Geek Climber rounded his upper back, which kept his head too close to his hands to allow his feet to float.

The mini course Play progression starts with pike push up with hands and feet on the floor. Floating feet is the checkpoint for progressing to the next exercise in the Play progression, which is the bent-arm stand. The next exercise after the bent-arm stand is the bent-arm press to handstand.

Geek Climber's training footage didn't show any practice of static bent arm stand training, which is holding your current variation of the bent-arm stand for a given amount of time. I can't tell if he didn't practice static bent arm stand because he didn't know about it; or if he avoided it because he didn't it would be worth his time. Geek Climber appears to have skipped static bent arm training, progressing straight from pike push ups to attempting bent arm press to handstand. Thus it's no surprise he fell a lo while attempting bent-arm press handstand. He mentioned suffering injuries from all those falls, though he didn't offer specifics. He also mentioned not feeling strong enough to push out of the bottom of a pike push up into bent arm stand - that seems harder to me than simply working on leaning forward more and bringing the feet forward more in the pike push up, until you reach the balance point for a bent arm stand. By not developing a strong and stable bent-arm stand, he was trying to fire a cannon out of a canoe.

Geek Climber then decided to practice barbell overhead press, instead of pike push up, to improve his overhead pressing. He noted some differences between barbell overhead press and pike push up. I'm guessing he thought the scapula should be protracted for pike push up because he watched a pike push up video by Daniel Vadnal/FitnessFAQs who thinks that scapula protraction is required for good pike push up form. However there are other trainers like Sondre Berg, who is mentioned in the video, who do not seem to put any emphasis on scapular protraction for pike push up. In fact, Sondre advises Dr. Yaad in this video to try HSPU (similar mechanics to pike push up) with a more open chest - which is impossible with protracted scapula - as one of his recommended fixes for the doctor's perceived HSPU issues. Eduardo Orihuela does not mention it either in his free HSPU mini course. I've progressed to parallette pike pushups with floating feet, without having to protract my scapula. My shoulders have felt fine so far without scapular protraction as well.

I get though where Geek Climber is coming from in his decision to switch from pike push up to barbell overhead press. Progression in the pike push up is a challenge to manage compared to overhead pressing with barbell or kettlebell, because you have to constantly monitor how much of your bodyweight is shifted to your hand and shoulders, compared to your feet. Even Eduardo Orihuea admits that there is a huge jump in difficulty in the progression from feet-elevated pike push up to wall HSPU. Progression in barbell overhead press is relatively simpler, as it's a matter of gradually increasing weight over time.

My own preference for overhead pressing is the kettlebell clean+press because the hand is free to rotate - which makes the overall movement easier on the joints - and the clean provides a power training opportunity. Progression with kettlebell pressing is a little less straightforward than barbell pressing, but I don't feel like making room for a barbell set in my home, nor do I feel like getting a gym membership to access barbells. Progression in KB pressing was worse years ago when KB weight choices were limited to 16kg, 24kg, and 32kg. 8kg (roughly 16.6 lbs) increments are difficult for trainees used to being able to add only 5 lbs at a time. These days, 20kg and 28kg KBs are available. 4kg (about 8.8 lb) increments is quite an improvement for KB trainees working their way up the weights. Anyway, the majority of KBs are fixed weight, so to progression in overhead pressing using KBs involves increasing training volume over time with your working KB weight. If after the training block, your pressing performance with a heavier KB is not where it needs to be, you may need to repeat the training block. The progression scheme in The Giant has worked well for me, so honestly I'd rather be doing The Giant right now instead of the HSPU mini course. However as mentioned earlier, I'm doing the HSPU mini course because of my wrist injury preventing me from pressing a 20kg KB pain-free. The mini course Push sessions are when I practice pike push ups for volume. Parallettes are used for Push because they elevate the hands and allow a neutral wrist position. Thus one set of 6-8 reps is easier to execute with hands on parallettes, rather than on the floor.

Another nitpick I have with Geek Climber's video is that he already achieved the bar muscle up before beginning his bent arm press handstand journey so he was not really starting his journey with zero pushing strength at all. So really his 703-day journey to a bent arm press handstand was not from a state of being untrained, but from a state of better than average fitness, having the pushing strength to do a muscle up.

At the end of his video, Geek Climber shared a recap of his journey:

1. Pike Push Up w/ feet to wall, until feet can be elevated into bent-arm stand
2. Tripod tuck headstand to handstand
3. Tripod headstand to handstand half rep
4. Bent arm press handstand off the wall

It's a different path than what the HSPU mini course lays out. His journey might have been shorter if he had realized he could have achieved bent arm stand by working on balance, not just strength; then practiced bent arm stand holds. However I respect Geek Climber's achievement of the bent arm press handstand, as well as his persistence and effort.

To me the bent arm press handstand is just an intermediate goal to achieve on the way to a handstand push up. I don't know how long it will take me to achieve a freestanding HSPU. I'm guessing it will take me more than 703 days from now. My current clean+press weight is single 20kg. After I resume KB training, I don't intend to return to the HSPU mini course, until I complete some version of The Giant with double 32kg kettlebells. It will probably take me more than 703 days to progress from single 20kg clean+press with a 5 rep max to double 32kg clean+press with 10 rep max. After that, I resume the HSPU mini course. When I do so, it will be interesting to see how quickly I work up the the progressions for the Practice, Play, and Push sessions.

Training Week of 7/6

7/6
HSPU Mini Course Practice A

HSPU Mini Course Play - 8 pike push up singles, starting with 1-inch lean.

Dr. Keith Baar style isometric tendon training circuit

• Left hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - press KB until shoulder starts to feel irritated, then hold
• Right hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - press KB to same position as left side, then hold. Was going to press to where the wrist starts feeling irritated, then adjust to the border of the irritation, but the wrist felt fine throughout the entire pressing movement.
• Chin up hold with elbows around 45 degrees.
• Side plank
• Side plank other side

7/7
Chest expander workout:

Overhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set - 5 springs

Overhand Vertical Pullapart - backoff set - 4 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set - 4 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - backoff set - 3 springs

Horizontal Pullapart - 1 set - 2 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - mechanical drop set - 1 springs

Horizontal Pullapart - back off set - 1 spring

Sideway Tricep Extension - work set - 4 springs

Sideway Tricep Extension - back off set - 3 springs

Violin Tricep Extension - work set - 2 springs

7/8
Chest expander workout:

Overhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set - 5 springs

Overhand Vertical Pullapart - backoff set - 4 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set - 4 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - backoff set - 3 springs

Horizontal Pullapart - 1 set - 2 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - mechanical drop set - 1 springs

Horizontal Pullapart - back off set - 1 spring

Sideway Tricep Extension - work set - 4 springs

Sideway Tricep Extension - back off set - 3 springs

Violin Tricep Extension - work set - 2 springs

Dr. Baar Tendon Circuit:

• Left hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - press KB until shoulder starts to feel irritated, then hold
• Right hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - press KB to same position as left side, then hold. Was going to press to where the wrist starts feeling irritated, then adjust to the border of the irritation, but the wrist felt fine throughout the entire pressing movement.
• Chin up hold with elbows around 45 degrees.
• Single leg lunge
• Single leg lunge other side

7/9
HSPU Mini Course Practice A - I've gotten better at using my core to stack my hips over my shoulders, and make it easier to extend my leg higher. I might have actually straightened one leg all the way in headstand. Next time I'll practice headstand next to a wall. With one leg straight - or close enough to straight - in the air, I'm concerned I might lose my balance and fall backward. I'd feel safer with a wall to stop my leg, and the rest of my body, from falling backward. Falling forward would ok because I'm using to tucking my legs and lowering my feet out of headstand.

HSPU Mini Course Push - Set a timer to 20 min. then did 8-rep sets of parallette pike push ups until the timer rang. I did one more set after the timer rang to finish with 5 sets of 8 for a total of 40 reps.

Hamstring mobilty circuit:

1. Good morning - 8 reps
2. Elephant walk - 10 reps
3. Straddle side bend w/ 4kg plate on stack of 6 puzzle mat tiles - 5 reps w/ 10s hold on last rep

With the height for straddle side bend lowered from 8 tiles to 6, I couldn't keep my lower back from rounding a bit, but it felt fine. I'm used to keeping my chest up as I bend to the side, which helped.

7/10
Chest expander workout - tricep extension omitted because of the pressing volume done on 7/9:

Overhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set - 5 springs

Overhand Vertical Pullapart - backoff set - 4 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - 1 set - 4 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - backoff set - 3 springs

Horizontal Pullapart - 1 set - 2 springs

Underhand Vertical Pullapart - mechanical drop set - 1 springs

Horizontal Pullapart - back off set - 1 spring

Dr. Baar Tendon Circuit - 3 rounds:

• Left hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - press KB until shoulder starts to feel irritated, then hold
• Right hand 12kg kettlebell press hold - press KB to same position as left side, then hold.
• Chin up hold with elbows around 45 degrees.
• ATG split squat
• ATG split squat other side