Return to Parallettes One, with P-Barz at Pro Setting

Last week, I resumed training under the P1 (Parallettes One) program.  I spent practically the latter half of 2016 training under R1 (Rings One).  I made good progress in the Under The Rings exercises, but not as much in the Above The Rings exercises.  I last trained under P1 for about 4 months, ending in October, 2015.  As noted at the time, all the Phase 1, Level B exercises were easy for me to execute, except for the full L-sit.

As recommended by GMB, my parallettes are P-Barz.  I'm glad I decided to get the Standard + Pro Height Bundle.  I completed Phase 1, Level B more than a year ago with my P-Barz at the Standard (almost 1' high) height.  Last week, I switched my P-Barz to the Pro height.  I also realized I should log my Quality and Ease scores.  Here are my training results so far at the Pro height:

P1, Phase 1, Level B, Sequence 2

Tuck Swing to Top Plank - 4 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

One Leg Shoulder Stand Hold - 15 sec. hold per leg. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

Tuck Swings - 7 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Solid

Assisted Inverted Presses - 6 reps partial motion. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

Dive Bombers - 3 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

P1, Phase 1, Level B, Sequence 1

Plank Push-Ups - 4 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging. Left shoulder a bit unstable so I have to really watch this one.

Plank Jump to Dip - 6 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Solid

Battle Rams - 8 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid. Need to make sure shoulders are not too low.

Tuck Hold - 10 sec. Quality: Rough. Ease: Solid. The hardest part is smoothly rolling the body from "seiza" into the tuck, without the feet touching the ground. This was much easier when the bars were higher.

Mt. Climber Holds - 8 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

P1, Phase 1, Level B, Sequence 2

Tuck Swing to Top Plank - 4 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

One Leg Shoulder Stand Hold - 15 sec. hold per leg. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

Tuck Swings - 7 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Solid

Assisted Inverted Presses - 6 reps partial motion. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

Dive Bombers - 3 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

The lower height makes everything more difficult. Pressing takes more effort. Any passing of the feet between the parallettes requires a tighter tuck to prevent the feet from touching the floor and thus interrupting the movement - this works the core harder. I find I have to move the P-Barz a bit further apart for Tuck Swings, so that I don't have to worry about the feet hitting the P-Bar stands, and move the P-Barz closer together for the pressing movements. Both of my shoulders are pain-free, but one of them is less stable due to previous injury, so I have to take care of it by not allowing the elbows to flare outwards and monitoring range of motion on forward and upward pressing movements.

I believe P1 training at the Pro height, as long as I do not injure my shoulder, will finally build the strength that I need to progress further in either P1 or R1.  My core works harder at the lower height,  which should ultimately aid in the quest for that elusive L-sit.  My pressing strength has not been challenged like this in nearly two years, so it should also start improving again.

On a related note:  https://medium.com/gmb-fitness-articles/gmb-fitness-2016-review-5a703138d7b#.isq9pdh6v