Rings One, Level A, Phase 2: Week 3 Report

Above The Rings

Dips - 7 reps max.

Assisted Tuck to Tuck Shoulder Stand - 3-5 reps/set.

Hanging Knee Raises -  6 reps max.

Below The Rings

Pull-ups - 8 reps max.

Inverted Tuck Roll Chin-Up - 5 reps max.

Skin The Cat -  4 reps max.

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

Above The Rings

Dips - 7 reps max.

Assisted Tuck to Tuck Shoulder Stand - 3 reps/set.

Hanging Knee Raises -  6 reps max.

Below The Rings

Pull-ups - 6 reps max.

Inverted Tuck Roll Chin-Up - 5 reps max.

Skin The Cat -  4 reps max.


In addition I have started practicing pistol squats and the Parallette Tuck Shoulder Stand - 1-2 sets each - at the end of each Rings One session.  I also practice them on the in-between days, along with the warmup and cool down routines.

While I still unable to perform a tuck shoulder stand on the rings, I improved my best hold time in the parallette tuck shoulder stand to 30 seconds.  When I first started doing a true tuck shoulder stand on the parallettes, my feet still hovered a few inches above the floor.  I have since learned that by lifting my feet higher, and also raising my hips so that my torso is at a greater angle in relation to the floor,  I get an interesting sensation of my lower body floating up like a balloon.  I guess this has a lot to do with body mechanics and balance points.  Sometimes I feel my lower back working a bit to raise the lower body a little higher off the ground.  I may have the upper body strength to get into the tuck shoulder stand on the parallettes and hold this position for up to 30 seconds, but it seems that my control still isn't good enough to do the same thing on the rings yet.  There's always a few seconds of fiddling around with body positioning, weight distribution, etc. before my hips start to rise into the air almost effortlessly.  I think that "fiddling around time" needs to be reduced to improve my chances of performing this skill on the rings.

Day off

Taking the day off to visit friends.

I have lingering soreness in my triceps, rear delts, and lats.  My pecs were also sore yesterday but they seem to be fine today.  I guess Rings One just works these muscles differently than Parallettes One.

I still follow GMB's instruction to not train under Rings One or Parallettes One on consecutive days.  So I bike to work on the in-between days.  When I get back home on a bike commuting day, I usually do the cool down routine from whatever GMB program I'm working on, then do the hip stretches taught here.  I then do calf stretches then finish with the hamstring stretches from GMB's Focused Flexibility program (mentioned in the linked article).

Rings One, Level A, Phase 2: End of Week 1

Taking Friday off, so today concluded Week 1 of Rings One, Level A, Phase 2.  As previously posted, I added the parallette shoulder stand hold to the routine, immediately after the warmup.  The results:

Parallette Shoulder Stand - 2 sets of 5-10 sec. holds.

Pull-ups - 4-6 reps/set.  Sloppy form.  Need to work on pull-up prep move.

Inverted Tuck Roll Chin-Up - 3-4 reps/set.

Skin The Cat -  3 sets of 3-4 reps

This was a "get reacquainted" session.  It was great to do pulling exercises again for the first time in months.  My inverted hang was more stable than expected.

Rings One, Level A, Phase 2: Start of Week 1

Today I resumed work on this program, after 17 weeks of parallettes training, with an Above The Rings session.  The results:

Dips - 5-6 reps/set.  Looks like my improved pressing strength from the parallettes training carried over here, despite the shaky form due to not  having practiced on the rings in months.

Assisted Tuck to Tuck Shoulder Stand - 3 reps/set.  I was disappointed that I was unable to do a tuck shoulder stand on the rings like I can on the parallettes.  I don't know if it's because I'd just achieved that skill a couple of weeks ago or if it's because the rings are a less stable platform for shoulder stands than parallettes.

Hanging Knee Raises -  6 reps/set with 5 sec. hold per rep.  This is one of the exercises recommended for preparing for the L-Sit, in GMB's just-updated L-Sit tutorial.  After this session, it was easy to understand why my progress towards the L-Sit has been so slow - until today, I haven't been really working on the necessary core and hip strength for the L-Sit.  If I can't even do 10 reps of 5-sec. holds in the Hanging Knee Raise, I have little shot of nailing the L-Sit.  For this exercise I had the option of working from either the pull-up position or the top-position hold on the rings - I went with the latter as it fit the theme of the Above The Rings session.  I have just enough stamina in the top position hold to do a max of 6 reps, and I'm sure it will improve as my reps go up.

I then grabbed my parallettes just to see if I could still do a tuck shoulder stand hold, after my discouraging failure to do it on the rings.  It turns out I still could do this hold for at least 5 seconds.  I'll keep practicing this hold on the parallettes regularly, just to keep reminding myself regularly how it feels to hold a tuck shoulder stand.  A certain level of strength is a prerequisite, but I'm finding balance is even more important.  When the balance is right, the load is spread throughout the body structure and multiple muscle groups - the triceps, the chest, the shoulders, the abs, and even the intercostals.  Because this exercise relies a bit more on skill than just brute strength, I'll practice in the mornings of my bike commuting days and whenever I feel fresh in general.  This isn't the type of exercise to be practiced when one is exhausted.

The concept behind frequent practice of an exercise to master it was coined "Grease The Groove" by Pavel Tsatsouline.  A nice explanation can be found here.

Parallettes One, Level B, Phase 1: Week 17 Report

Progress on Workout 1 Exercises 

Plank Push-Ups - 9 reps max

Plank Jump to Dip -  12 reps/set

Battle Rams, Version 2 - 10 reps/max.  Back to the Phase 1 version.

Tuck Hold - 7 sec. hold per leg when keeping one leg tucked and extending the other as far forward as possible.

Mt. Climber Holds -  12 reps max.

Progress on Workout 2 Exercises

Tuck Swing to Top Plank - 10 reps max.

Tuck Shoulder Stand Hold - Initiated each hold from Tuck Hold, walking the feet back, then getting into Tuck Shoulder Stand.  This is the same as the Assisted Tuck Hold to Tuck Shoulder Stand in Rings One, Level A, Phase 2.  I also worked on increasing the angle of my torso in relation to the ground, so that my hips and feet would be higher.  12 sec. max hold.

Tuck Swings - 12 reps.

Assisted Inverted Presses -  12 reps max

Dive Bombers Standard - 10 reps.

I'm satisfied with the progress I've made in 17 weeks of training in Parallettes One, except for the L-Sit, which continues to elude me.  It was very satisfying to achieve a true shoulder stand, as well as improved pressing strength.

That said, I plan to switch back to Rings One next week.  Not being able to do an L-Sit is holding me back from progressing to Phase 2 in Parallettes One - Phase 2 includes two exercises that cannot be done if one cannot do an L-Sit.  By switching back to Rings One, I have a much wider range of exercises on which I can progress while continuing to work on my L-Sit.  I'd also like to work on my pulling strength again.  Rings One trains this more intensely than Parallettes One.

Parallettes One, Level B, Phase 1: Week 16 Report

Before this week of training, I fell off my bike and bruised my knee and my forearm in a couple of places.

On the other hand, I finished this week achieving a long-elusive goal - a real shoulder stand, feet completely off the ground and all.  It took me a while to build the strength to do it, but finding the balance point was also key.  If too much of my weight is forward, I'll do a sloppy cartwheel.  If too much of it is back, my feet will be stuck on the floor.

Progress on Workout 1 Exercises 

Plank Push-Ups - 8 reps max

Plank Jump to Dip -  10 reps/set

Battle Rams, Version 1 - 12 reps/max.  This is actually the Phase 2 version, because of the knee bruise, so I was up on my toes with a straight body, instead of working on my knees. 

Tuck Hold -  5 sec. per leg when keeping one leg tucked and extending the other as far forward as possible.

Mt. Climber Holds -  10 reps max.  

Progress on Workout 2 Exercises

Tuck Swing to Top Plank - 10 reps max.

One Leg Shoulder Stand Hold - Didn't have to do this anymore.  At the end of the week, I finally nailed a tuck shoulder stand on the parallettes.  I didn't quite have my feet as high off the floor as GMB's Ryan Hurst here, but I did get them completely off the floor.

Tuck Swings - 12 reps. 

Assisted Inverted Presses -  10 reps max

Dive Bombers Standard - 10 reps.

As I said in an earlier post:

One advice I have read is to change training programs once in a while.  I am considering switching back to Rings One.  It depends on which skill I achieve first on the parallettes:

a. Unsupported shoulder stand (both feet completely off the ground).  

b. Full L-sit

I achieved a. above first, but now I have bruises on one arm that will probably rub against the ring strap if I were to switch back to Rings One now - the same reason I switched from Rings One to Parallettes One.  Thus, the plan for now is to continue improving my parallette skills at Level B, Phase 1, with the exception of the One Leg Shoulder Stand Hold, which I have already surpassed.  What I plan to do there is work on the transition between the Tuck Sit and the Tuck Shoulder Stand, which is pretty much the move that I was unable to execute on the rings when I was training under Rings One.  If I can perform the movement without my feet touching the floor, I'll just repeat the movement for reps.  If I have to walk my feet on the floor between the Tuck Sit and the Tuck Shoulder Stand, then I'll work on holding the shoulder stand for time (about 10 sec.) then try lowering  out of that into Tuck Sit without the feet touching the floor before taking my rest interval.