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

Above The Rings

Dips - 8 reps max.

Assisted Tuck to Tuck Shoulder Stand - 6 reps max.

Hanging Knee Raises -  7 reps max.

Below The Rings

Pull-ups - 9 reps max.

Inverted Tuck Roll Chin-Up - 6 reps max.

Skin The Cat -  5 reps max.

Supplemental Exercises

Pistol Squats (counterweight-assisted) - 5 reps max.

Tuck Sit To Bent Arm Stand (parallettes) - 2 reps max.

Kind of interesting that despite doing two Above The Rings sessions and one Below The Rings session this week, my performance in the Below The Rings exercises improved while staying the same for the Above The Rings exercises.  I wonder if the pattern will repeat next week, with improvement showing in the Above The Rings exercises, and none in the Below The Rings exercises.

Progress on the Tuck Sit To Bent Arm Stand has been good this week.  At the start of the week, I could barely do one rep, starting from the Bent Arm Stand, with shaky control.  Today, I did two reps per set.  My technique still has room for improvement, particularly the coordination involved in rolling forward, but the progress is encouraging.  For today's Above The Rings session, I attempted to roll forward from the Tuck Sit position into the Tuck Shoulder Stand.  As expected, this movement is still much harder for me on the rings than on the parallettes.  Just attempting the move is much more strenuous than starting in Tuck Sit, then lowering my feet and walking them back.  My guess is that I need to be able to do at least 3 reps of this movement on the parallettes with solid technique before I'll be able to do my first complete rep of the same movement on the rings.  I might need to be able to do as much as 5 reps... or maybe even more.  We'll see.

Today's training

Today was an Above The Rings session - nothing special or otherwise new to report.

I think replacing the Bent Arm Stand hold practice with the Tuck Sit To Bent Arm Stand may be a good idea for me.  My technique is maybe a 4 out of 10 - not great - but I can do one full rep of this move without touching the floor with my feet.  After that one full rep, my form breaks down and touching the floor is inevitable.  So, instead of sets of 1.5 reps, I'll just do singles.

This movement is clearly a good candidate for Grease The Groove practice, which is doable for me on weekends.  If I can develop this skill on just the floor, I can try this at work too.

Rings One, Level A, Phase 2: Week 5 Report

Above The Rings

Dips - 8 reps max.

Assisted Tuck to Tuck Shoulder Stand - 6 reps max.

Hanging Knee Raises -  7 reps max.

Below The Rings

Pull-ups - 8 reps max.

Inverted Tuck Roll Chin-Up - 5 reps max.

Skin The Cat -  4 reps max.

Supplemental Exercises

Pistol Squats (counterweight-assisted) - 5 reps max.

Tuck Shoulder Stand Holds (parallettes) - 45 sec. max.

Barely perceptible progress within Rings One itself, but I did achieve a significant milestone:  My first fully unassisted Tuck Sit to Bent Arm Stand on the parallettes. I find it easier to start the movement from the Bent Arm Stand rather than the Tuck Sit, because it’s easier to roll back from the Bent Arm Stand into the Tuck Sit, than it is to roll forward in the other direction.  Because I just barely gained the strength to do this movement, I can probably do at most 1.5 reps (start in Bent Arm Stand, do one complete rep back to Bent Arm Stand, roll under control back to Tuck Sit to finish).

Since the purpose of the Tuck Shoulder Stand Hold practice was to build strength towards the Tuck Sit to Bent Arm Stand,  starting next week I will replace that hold with 1-2 sets of this movement after each ring session, with 1.5 reps per set.  The idea is that as I gain skill and strength in this movement, I will get closer to achieving the similar move (Tuck Sit to Tuck Shoulder Stand) on the rings.

Today's training

I didn't have a great Above The Rings session today - just ok.  I think it was because I didn't sleep very well due to my ongoing aches/pains in my hips.  I'm a side-sleeper - it's hard to break that habit.

On the plus side, I tried the Tuck Sit to Tuck Shoulder Stand move on the parallettes and found that I'm closer that I thought to doing the move fully unassisted.  The key seems to be to maintain downward pressure on the parallettes throughout the movement.  I have a tendency to ease up on this pressure as I roll forward from the Tuck Sit towards the Tuck Shoulder Stand.  I can roll back from the Tuck Shoulder Stand to the Tuck Sit without touching the floor with my feet - once in a while anyway.

My "off-day" routine (the weekdays between Rings One sessions) has been this of late:

- Rings One Warmup routine

- 2-3 sets of counterweight-assisted pistol squats (currently 4-5 reps/set - only done if not bicycling to work)

- Tuck Shoulder Stand Holds (parallettes) of at least 20 seconds (1-2 sets).

- Bicycle ride to work (12-14 miles) - if not doing pistol squats.

Based on today's discovery, I will replace the Tuck Shoulder Stand Holds with Tuck Sit To Tuck Shoulder Stands on the parallettes, with "foot walking" assistance as needed.  I will limit myself to 2 sets to try to avoid overtraining.

Seven tips to get your bike ready for winter

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/seven-tips-to-get-your-bike-ready-for-winter-198857?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social

I don't plan to follow #5 because we don't get enough days in the year with icy roads to justify the expense of studded tires, but the other tips look useful.

Rings One, Level A, Phase 2: Week 4 Report

Above The Rings

Dips - 8 reps max.

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

Hanging Knee Raises -  7 reps max.

Below The Rings

Pull-ups - 8 reps max.

Inverted Tuck Roll Chin-Up - 5 reps max.

Skin The Cat -  4 reps max.

Supplemental Exercises

Pistol Squats (counterweight-assisted) - 4 reps max.

Tuck Shoulder Stand Holds - 20-30 secs.

I've been doing the supplemental exercises after every rings session.  The pistols are being done to test the theory that strengthening the hips and gluteus muscles, along with the legs, will reduce the lingering aches and pains in my hips/low back from that deadlifting accident from several years ago.  The shoulder stand holds are being practiced to improve my skill as well as help develop the strength to do a tuck shoulder stand hold on the rings.  What both versions of the tuck shoulder stand hold (parallettes and rings) have in common is that balance is the key.  Where they seem to differ though is the balance - it seems like the body might be at a different angle on the rings.  The instability of the rings compared to the parallettes continues to pose a problem.  However, I did manage to achieve a tuck shoulder stand hold for 2 seconds on the rings, before I lost my balance.

What I did to achieve the shoulder stand hold on the parallettes was primarily follow the Parallettes One program as instructed.  However, I also started trying to put less and less weight on the supporting foot in the One Leg Shoulder Stand Hold, eventually putting no weight at all on the foot by kicking up a little.  Eventually, I was able to go straight into the full tuck shoulder stand without kicking up.  I'm doing the same thing on the rings now, kicking up a bit and seeing if I can support my body with just my hands on the rings.

I only commuted by bicycle to work once this week, because I was hoping to get home in time to head out to attend the Salsa Cycles demo.  On that day, I did 5 sets of assisted pistol squats.

Tutorial on the Side Crow and Crooks Pose

This tutorial comes courtesy of the PCC folks, specifically Grace Kavadlo.

http://pccblog.dragondoor.com/side-crow-and-crooks-pose/

Three simple exercises for feeling better in the upper back, shoulders, and hips/lower back

http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/daily-exercises?cid=SOC_sp_MH