Rings One, Level A, Phase 2: Week 6 Report

Progress on the Above The Rings exercises:

Dips - Allowing my torso to lean forward slightly, while maintaining "chest up", in order to sink all the way into the dip resulted in greater effort per rep, thus reducing the overall number of reps.  My max reps in this move is back down to 4, which is a truer indicator of my upper body pressing strength.  For the next session, I will do 5 sets instead of 3, to get the reps back up into the 6+ range.

Assisted Tuck to Tuck Shoulder Stand - Max reps is still at 6.  I will drop from 5 sets to 3 sets.  Until I get stronger in the Dip, I don't think I can expect much progress here.

L-Sit Hold -  Max 6 sec. holds per leg, extended as far as possible.

Progress on the Below The Rings exercises:

Pull-ups - Eric Wong's recent email newsletter advised inhaling rather than exhaling during any pulling exercise.  So I tried it during pull-ups and it does feel like there's a bit less effort.  My max reps increased to 8.  I'm not sure it's because of this reverse breathing or if it's because I've been getting stronger.  In any case, doing pull-ups with inhalation instead of exhalation feels a bit more comfortable.

Inverted Tuck Roll Chin-Up - This movement is more complicated than the pull-up, so working out the breathing, in coordination with the movement, is a bit tricker.  I inhaled during the forward roll to the chin-up (the pulling portion), which is easy enough, and exhale during the backward roll.  But the rest of the movement also includes straightening the body to complete the Inverted Hang, then tucking the legs for the next rep.  Intellectually, I believe I should inhale while straightening and exhale during the tuck, but it's easy to lose track as fatigue accumulates and I start to worry more and more about maintaining my grip on the rings so that I won't fall on my head.  This all said, my max reps improved to 6, and I did 4 reps/set for 2 more of my 5 sets - an improvement over 3 reps/set the previous week.

Skin The Cat -  3 reps/set with legs untucked and thumbs out.  My forearms were screaming by this point, so I just did 3 sets.  I don't have to do the "warmup rep" any more.  I reviewed the instruction video and it says to pull on the rings to uncoil back into Inverted Hang.  It does add a better feeling of control to the movement.