How a regular person, with no special talent in anything, pursues goals in music, etc. Some tangential or completely off-topic posts will appear as well.
Thhe Zoia Patchstorage site has lots of interesting, creative looper patches for ambient and/or experimental sounds. However, sometimes I just want to use a looper for music study and practice - eg. loop a rhythm guitar part in a minor or major 2-5-1 chord progression, then practice melodic ideas or concepts.
One such basic patch appears to be a patch called Looper Ideas. It was created by Christopher H.M. Jacques, a hard working member of the Zoia user community who has inspired so many fellow Zoia users with his tireless efforts to not only create patches but also maintain a document of Zoia tips and tricks and publish tutorial videos explaining concepts behind his many patches. I've started watching the video included with Looper Ideas patch.
On a different note, one Zoia user settled on using this software for making diagrams to better communicate patch ideas:
Ponder
As usual in Vitamin combo sessions, we try an easy version of the combo, then a hard version The easy version starts with an easy version of the Kip in which we just roll back from a squat, then roll forward, using momentum to get back on our feet. Next is the Crow Pose which is held for a couple of seconds. After that is the Snake Down. What I need to work on, if I ever decide I want to get better at this combo:
Softer landing on balls of feet from Plow position - important component of the full Kip
Jumping power and/or hip extension strength to launch the hips more explosively towards the sky for the Kip.
Pressing strength to execute the Snake Down under control
I really like the Core Conditioning Circuit from Elements. However, because of GMB Lead Trainer Rose's advice to watch out for spending too much time loading my wrists, I've been wondering if I might be subjecting the wrists to too much work by pursuing this HSPU routine 3x a week and also practicing this core conditioning routine on the "active recovery" days. I'm going to change my core conditioning circuit to this, so less time is spent putting weight on the wrists:
Hollow Body Hold - 10 sec. hold (from Elements Core Conditioning)
Bridge Variation with Leg lowered to side and lifted back - 5x side (from Elements Core Conditioning)
Hanging Leg Raise Variation
I'll start the hanging leg raise progression from top position of rings because it's easier on my shoulders than hanging from the bar. After my shoulder girdle gets stronger, I may switch to hanging from the bar or rings. I'll work on hanging knee raises until I get to about 10 reps/set and reassess from there. I'm going to follow this progression:
Prepare
Standing Knee-to-chest
Single Leg Deadlift
Kneeling Arm Raise
Kneeling Side-to-Side Arm Raise
Wrist prep from the Handstand tutorial
A-Frame Shrug to improve awareness of scapula mobility in Inverted Press
Practice HSPU Main circuit
A-Frame Inverted Press - 20 second set - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Reverse Row Sit Back w/feet elevated on chair -20 second set - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Shrimp Squat (Stall Step to Lunge) - 20 second set - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
5 rounds with 2-3 minutes of rest in between rounds
Push
2 reps of Inverted Press with knees on stair landing. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Sold
Bent-Arm Bear - 20 second set for 3 sets w/ 1 min. rest between sets. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Finish with Bridge Hold, couple of attempts at Ido Portal style Bridge Slide, some GMB Shoulder Mobility.
Ponder
Didn't get a lot of sleep so my performance dropped a bit compared to last Friday's session.
Decided to switch the pull portion of the main circuit from Reverse Row Sit Back to Reverse Row. The process of dropping the feet from the chair for the Sit Back, then raising them back to the chair to lower down for the next rep seems to add unnecessary complexity to the movement. I think just doing Reverse Rows would be more productive for the goal of improving shoulder girdle pulling strength for overall shoulder health.
I suspect the Inverted Press with knees on stair landing feels easy because the height of the landing combined with the height of the hips in this kneeling position is about the same as the height of the hips in the A-Frame with feet on the floor. To make this exercise more of a Push exercise, I think I'm going to have to work with my feet on the landing and use the legs to raise the height up the hips more.
Practice
Vitamin session focusing on transition between Squat and 9090 position. Quality: Snappy, Ease: Relaxed
Ponder
Finally, a Vitamin session in which I could execute all the movement variations! Felt real good.
Some fitness related finds...
A 12-minute routine for low back health.
Instructional video on Reverse Hyperextension. I suspect I have a weakness in hip extension that affects my performance in the Plow, Front Lever, Back Lever, etc. I may look into this.
A video about Ido Portal Method and muscle mass.
The Floreio Project website was organized by Antranik, to gather all the information posted by Ido Portal about his Floreio movement art. While perusing the website, I came across these videos that show the same movements from the Vitamin session focusing on bridge rotation that was such a debacle for me.
Here's Ido demonstrating some of the same movements. The rotation into Arch against a Wall at 0:24 requires some effort for me bit it's doable. Where I struggled was rotation into bridge at 0:40
I've been thinking that what I can do to do improve on this movement is to practice the full bridge hold. But in the above video, Ido shows a movement called Low Bridge Slide that he does for reps. I will try this movement and finish with full bridge hold.
Practice
Vitamin session focusing on rotation from Bridge. Quality: Broken, Ease: Challenging
Push
Elements Core Conditioning Circuit - 2 reps per set for 2 sets. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Finish with brachial hang
Ponder
This session was focused on working towards being able to rotate out of a squat into a bridge and back again.
The first exercise was to stand in front of a wall and practice the motion of rotating towards the wall as if entering a bridge, then rotate out again. This was doable but harder than it looks in the video, because you have to rotate your torso while bending backwards at the same time, then support part of your weight on your hands as they rest against the wall.
The 2nd exercise was to start in the squat then pull the knees over the toes to reduce the load on your hands, while at the same time rotating and backbending at the same time into the bridge. I just couldn't get it done. It might be because the movement is just too unfamiliar, but it could also be that I'm weak in the bridge.
The 3rd exercise was the full bridge rotation - rotate and backbend from squat into bridge, then rotate and unbend back into squat. Goes without saying that if I couldn't do the 2nd exercise, I had no hope of doing this one.
What I plan to do is replace the Bent Arm Chest Stretch with a hold in the full bridge to improve my strength in the bridge position, as well as try to stretch the chest. I think I will see this move again in the next Vitamin combo section.
Looking a bit further down the road, the week ending July 17 will roughly be the end of the 4th week of the current HSPU-focused program. I'm reading GMB's periodization article at the moment. Hopefully it will help me decide by then if I should switch to focusing on the L-Sit.
Prepare
Wrist prep from the Handstand tutorial
A-Frame Shrug to improve awareness of scapula mobility in Inverted Press
Bent Arm Chest Stretch (GMB Mobility version)
Practice HSPU Main circuit
A-Frame Inverted Press - 20 second set - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Reverse Row Sit Back w/feet elevated on chair -20 second set - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Shrimp Squat (Stall Step to Lunge) - 20 second set - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Relaxed
5 rounds with 2-3 minutes of rest in between rounds
Push
2 reps of Inverted Press with knees on stairs. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Sold
Bent-Arm Bear - 20 second set for 3 sets w/ 1 min. rest between sets. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Finish with GMB Shoulder Mobility
Ponder
Either my form in the Inverted Press is getting better or my shoulder stability is improving - in either case no acute pain in my shoulder from being careless with elbow flare.
Increased confidence in my shoulder stability leads to lowering my head all the way to the floor for solid, but safe contact.
Getting better at pressing scapula towards floor at the top of Inverted Press, and pulling it towards hip and retracting scapula when going down, before beginning to bend the elbows.
Reverse Row Sit Back with elevated feet wasn't too hard but I realized I've been lazy about pulling my chest to meet the height of the rings before sitting back for the sit back phase of the movement. I'll keep working at this level for a while.
Shrimp Squat was unexpectedly easy so will do one more session at this step of the progression, then maybe progress to the next step, which is the Half Shrimp Squat, in which we work to keep the rear knee back a good distance, and also work to bring the rear heel closer to the butt. Upon review of the Half Shrimp Squat variation in Integral Strength, Ryan has Daniel pulling his rear knee far enough to the back so that his rear thigh almost forms a straight line with his torso.
Prepare
Standing Knee to Chest 10 reps
Single Leg Deadlift 5 reps/side
Tall Kneeling Arm Raise 10 reps
Kneeling Arm Raise to Side 5 reps/side
GMB Vitamin Prepare
Practice
Vitamin session focusing on Kips. Quality: Rough, Ease: Solid
Play
Reverse Roll and Forward Roll back. Quality: Rough, Ease: Solid
Push
Elements Core Conditioning Circuit - 3 reps per set for 2 sets. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Waiter Walk with 16kg kettlebell - 40 sec. per arm for 2 sets
Finish with GMB Spine Mobility
Ponder
I'm pretty used now to not being able to do all the moves in a given Vitamin session. But I should be more diligent at recording what areas of improvement were identified by that session. Here are some, organized by movement type:
Kip - Get used to using hip explosion to shoot the feet into the air. Improve control over feet landing on the ground instead of just slamming the feet
Cartwheel/Handstand Bail - Keep working on kicking higher/elevating the feet.
Tornado Kick/Butterfly Kick - Keep working on kicking higher/elevating the feet, hamstring flexibility, hip mobility
Prepare
Wrist prep from the Handstand tutorial
Bent Arm Chest Stretch (GMB Mobility version)
Practice
HSPU Main circuit A-Frame Inverted Press - 20 second set - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Reverse Row Sit Back on rings - 20 second set - Quality: Snappy, Ease: Relaxed
Shrimp Squat (Step-back lunge) - 20 second set - Quality: Snappy, Ease: Relaxed
5 rounds with 2-3 minutes of rest in between rounds
Push
2 reps of Inverted Press with knees on stairs. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Challenging
Bent-Arm Bear - 20 second set for 3 sets w/ 1 min. rest between sets. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Finish with GMB Shoulder Mobility
Ponder
GMB Lead Trainer Rose kindly responded to my question about programming the Push section for my HSPU program, recommending Bent-Arm Bear, since it's a bit closer in the progression than the Knee Pushup.
My slightly unstable left shoulder continues to be a useful training tool, in that it lets me know quickly and painfully if I fail to keep my elbows in while executing any inverted press or Bent-Arm Bear. As long as I keep the elbows in, there's no pain.
Based on the self-assessments, it's time to progress on Reverse Row Sit Back and Shrimp Squat. Next variation for the former is elevating the feet on a chair. For the Shrimp Squat the next variation is the Stall Step.
This past weekend, I was treated to JICC's showing of Penguin Highway, directed by rising star Ishida Hiroyasu, and boasting an animation staff that includes an ex-Studio Ghilbli animator or two.
In the post-film discussion, JICC (Japan Information and Culture Center, Embassy of Japan) offered these thoughts on what the penguins represent:
The director, Ishida Hiroyasu, explained in an interview that penguins are split into two colors--black and white which according to the author. In a way, penguins may represent darkness and light, yin and yang, or other themes of duality/opposites.
One of the themes is also the idea of the edge of the earth vs. the earth itself. According to the director, the overlapping of much of the themes with the penguins was serendipitous!
!
JICC also had this to offer about the most mysterious character in the film:
She is, of course, a counteracting force to the problems caused by the ocean, but she does have a humanity that we see her struggle with. In that sense we could see her as both part of the "edge" and a somewhat independent entity
The Lady can also symbolize discovery, i.e., of new emotions (such as love) and the unexplained. She appears to be an embodiment of the world’s mysteries given human form and is hinted to be an alien but with her own independent thoughts and humanity. Aoyama is particularly fond of her not just because of his crush because her existence also defies scientific logic.
Prepare
Wrist prep from the Handstand tutorial
GMB Vitamin Prepare except the wrist prep
Practice
Vitamin session focusing on Handstand Bails. Quality: Rough, Ease: Solid
Push
Elements Core Conditioning Circuit - 2 reps per set for 3 sets. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Finish with Modified Pigeon Half Frog, Butterfly, Full Frog, and Half Pancake for hip mobility and a bit of spine mobility; and brachial hang.
Ponder
I can't do handstand but for the Vitamin session, I mostly worked on Cartwheel at the most basic level (approach imaginary line at angle), playing with hand placement per the session guidelines.
This was an active recovery day from the HSPU perspective - just tried not to overdue any work stressing the upper body.
Prepare
GMB Knee Mobility routine
Wrist prep from the Handstand tutorial
Bent Arm Chest Stretch (GMB Mobility version)
Practice
GMB Vitamin session focusing on Crow Pose
HSPU Main circuit
A-Frame Inverted Press - 20 second set
Reverse Row Sit Back on rings - 20 second set
3 rounds with 2-3 minutes of rest in between rounds
For entire circuit: Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Play
Shrimp Squat Progression exercise - sets of 3-6 reps spread through afternoon
Push
2 rep of Inverted Press with feet on stairs and knees bent. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Challenging
1 30-second set of Bent-Arm Bear. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
1 30-second set of Pushups (on knees). Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Elements Core Conditioning Circuit - 2 reps for 1 set
Finish with Modified Pigeon, Half Pancake, and some shoulder mobility.
Ponder
I selected the 15-minute option for Vitamin but got 3 sets of 5-min. exercises for Crow Pose, which was brutal and more than the time I signed up for. There are some ideas for training that are interesting and different than the public tutorial but I was too wiped to really take advantage.
I cut my HSPU training time to compensate for the overly long and demanding Vitamin session.
The best thing about today's session is that awareness of my left shoulder instability made me really focus on keeping the elbows tucked and not allowing them to flare during HSPU training. No acute pain from the shoulder this time.
With a personal best time of 17 seconds in Crow Pose, without possessing the control to move my legs in the air without losing balance, it's clear I have not mastered the Crow Pose yet. At the same time I haven't given up on it either. It's just that I've gradually shifted the focus of my exercise to the Handstand Pushup (HSPU), following the GMB's HSPU Tutorial.
While the tutorial is focused on the HSPU, closer attention to the training program described therein reveals that you will pick up the Bent-Arm Stand - a hand balancing skill that is actually more difficult than the Crow Pose - along the way. My guess is that somebody who learns the Bent-Arm Stand will be able to get into and out of Crow Pose with little effort.
I think the tutorial is clear enough that following this HSPU program will not automatically bestow the Handstand skill upon the trainee by itself. The Handstand would eventually have to be learned and practiced on its own, as a related, but separate skill. That said, it's also clear that the trainee who has worked up to a full Bent Arm Stand with straight legs would learn the handstand much more quickly than someone who can't perform the full Bent-Arm Stand.
Ok, on to today's training log...
Prepare
Standing Knee to Chest and Single-Leg Deadlift from GMB Mobility
GMB Knee Mobility routine
Wrist prep from the Handstand tutorial
Bent Arm Chest Stretch
Practice
Main circuit
Handstand Pushup Step 1 Progression exercise - 20 second set
Reverse Row Sit Back on rings - Compensate for all the pushing work - 20 second set
Shrimp Squat Progression exercise - 20 second set
6 rounds with 2-3 minutes of rest in between rounds
For entire circuit: Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Push
One rep of Inverted Press with feet on a chair and knees bent. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Challenging
3 20-second sets of Pushups (on knees), with one minute rest between sets. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Elements Core Conditioning Circuit - 2 reps for 1 set
Finish with GMB Shoulder Mobility routine, a bit of Backward Roll practice, and brachial hang.
Ponder
My shoulders were a bit sore this morning. I was a bit puzzled as to why, then I remembered I did the two sets of Crow Pose practice with face on ground, then Crow Pose practice out of Bent-Arm Monkey #3. So I didn't put in any Crow Pose practice today, because after lunch I was already feeling the effects of today's HSPU focused work..
My suspect shoulder lets me know right away if I allow my elbows to flare while performing the Inverted Press.
Reverse Row Sit Back is fairly easy but will keep practicing for at least a week before I look into elevating the feet or something.
Backward Roll getting better on both sides. Forward Roll to reverse Backward Roll is starting to happen too.
Practice
Today's Vitamin session focusing on Tornado Kick variations. Quality: Rough, Ease: Solid
Elements Core Conditioning Beginner Circuit - 2 sets of 2 reps. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Play
Crow Pose out of Bent-Arm Monkey #3 spread through the day. Best time about 14 sec.
Push
2 sets of 1-min. of Crow Pose Practice (forehead on ground). Was going to do 5 sets but changed my mind after noting how my arms and shoulders started to feel from the effort of pushing against the ground to raise my face off the floor.
Ponder
After all the training I did yesterday, it felt right to take it easy today.
I found this article on Building Quick Bodyweight Workouts. The first example workout just happened to be focused on Inverted Press, which of course is a skill I've been focusing on to prepare myself for Handstand Pushup training. I thus got some ideas to tweak the Handstand Pushup focused training sessions. The paragraph mentioning trimming the fat to focus on essentials also got me to reconsider including L-Sit practice in my current training program. No question that L-Sit is a great skill to acquire but do I really need to work on it now when I'm pursuing hand balancing skills - specifically the Crow Pose and Handstand? The answer seems to be "no".
These are the current focus areas of my training, and the reasons I focus on them:
Handstand Pushup - Working on Step 1 of the GMB Handstand Pushup program should give me a big boost towards achieving the Handstand Pushup, Crow Pose, and Handstand all at once, as well as make my shoulders a lot stronger and less vulnerable to injury.
Shrimp Squat - My left knee has been temperamental and this is the one single-leg exercise that seems to strengthen it without irritating it.
Thus I'm going to stay with Handstand Pushup as the focus of my Mon-Wed-Fri workouts, structured this way:
Prepare
Standing Knee to Chest and Single-Leg Deadlift from GMB Mobility
GMB Knee Mobility routine
Wrist prep from the Handstand tutorial
Bent Arm Chest Stretch
Practice
Main circuit
Handstand Pushup Step 1 Progression exercise - 20 second set
Reverse Row Sit Back on rings - Compensate for all the pushing work - 20 second set
Shrimp Squat Progression exercise - 20 second set
3-6 rounds with 2-3 minutes of rest in between rounds
Push
One rep - and only one rep - of the next progression in the Inverted Press, which currently would be Inverted Press with feet on a chair and knees bent.
3 20-second sets of Pushups (on knees), with one minute rest between sets.
Elements Core Conditioning Circuit - 1-3 reps for 1-3 sets
If there's time I'll slip in a GMB Vitamin session here or do it in an afternoon session.
Finish with GMB Shoulder Mobility routine, a bit of Backward Roll practice, and brachial hang.
I will continue the pattern of playing with Crow Pose out of Bent-Arm Monkey #3 throughout the afternoon.
For the Tue-Thurs-Sat training, I plan to resume Turkish Getup practice, supersetting with Windmills. I'll just have to pay attention to form to avoid re-irritating the knee. This is mainly for "shoulder insurance", as these movements improved shoulder stability like nothing else, but the improvement seems to fade if I stop practicing them. I'm not going completely back to Simple & Sinister as the Elements Core Conditioning Routine seems to make my back feel better and challenge my core more than kettlebell swings do.
Practice
Today's Vitamin session focusing on Butterfly Kick variations progressing to Transformer. Quality: Rough, Ease: Solid
Main circuit
Handstand Pushup Step 1 Progression exercise - 20 second set. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
L-Sit Progression exercise on parallettes - 30 second set. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
5 rounds with 2-3 minutes of rest in between rounds
L-Sit Supplementary exercise circuit
Hanging
Knee Raise on Rings - 4-6 reps. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Front Scale Leg Lifts - 3 reps, hold for 3 seconds on last rep. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Dip Shrugs - 4-6 reps. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Top Position Hold on Rings - 20 seconds. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
3 rounds with 2-3 minutes of rest in between rounds
Play
Crow Pose out of Bent-Arm Monkey #3 spread through the day. Best time about 14 sec.
Push
4 sets of Shrimp Squat. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Elements Core Conditioning Beginner Circuit 2x
GMB Shoulder Mobility routine
Ponder
GMB's L-Sit Tutorial recommends choosing two supplemental exercises for the upper body and two supplemental exercises for the lower body. For the upper body, there's really only two types of exercise to choose from: 1. Front Scale and 2. Hanging Leg Raise Variations. For the upper body there are four to choose from. I chose the Top Position Hold for extra practice of the key points for the upper body - 1. Chest is up and out 2. Shoulders pulled back and down 3. Back is straight. I chose the Dip Shrug to improve my awareness of where my shoulder blades are, and strengthen the muscles that pull them down so that the upper body can provide better support for the L-Sit. I need to make sure that at the bottom of the movement, I squeeze the shoulder blades together before pushing down on the rings to reverse the shrug, in order to protect the shoulders.
Workout was fine but it took over an hour. I underestimated how much time L-Sit training would take if you practice an L-Sit set for 20 seconds or more instead of 5 seconds, and also include the supplementary exercises as recommended in GMB's L-Sit Tutorial in the same session. I don't know why the tutorial says 5 seconds per set, while the same exercise is practiced for 20-sec sets to start in the Integral Strength, and 15-60 second sets in Parallettes One.
In any case, it seems a more efficient use of time to schedule L-Sit training on a separate day from my Handstand Pushup day.
I prefer practicing hanging leg exercises from the top position on rings rather than hanging from a bar, because it's more comfortable for my shoulders. That said, I did a Youtube search and found this video in which the FitnessFAQs guy addresses a couple of commonly held myths about abs and exercise, then demonstrates hanging leg exercise variations that I may try later.
Last night I played with Advanced Front Scale and Front Scale Leg Lifts. My left knee felt a bit stiff this morning, though thankfully there was no pain. The stiffness went away after practicing the GMB Knee Mobility movements. Today after the workout, the knee felt stiff again. It has something to do with the Front Scale.
I was told a couple of years ago, when I was in physical therapy for a back spasm, that my left hip was misaligned. This was discovered by one of the staff doctors at the clinic. She "popped" it back into alignment for me but warned it could pop back out again. So there's been something out of alignment between my hip, knee, and foot. I believe this is why my previously sprained left MCL aches when I try to do a pistol squat. It was also getting irritated, though not to the same degree, when I practiced the Front Scale exercises. I think that practicing the Shrimp Squat helped alleviate the irritation when I do any Front Scale exercise but I still have a ways to go before healthy alignment is completely restored. At least the Front Scale variation which is part of the GMB Knee Mobility routine doesn't bother my knee.
Thus tomorrow's session will be a Handstand Pushup progression session. It will tentatively look like this:
Practice
Main circuit
Handstand Pushup Step 1 Progression exercise - 20 second set.
Rings Reverse Row Sit Back - 20 second set. This is additional insurance for shoulder health. I haven't done much pulling exercise in a while anyway, other than kettlebell swings.
5 rounds with 2-3 minutes of rest in between rounds
Play
Vitamin session focusing on Tornado Kick variations
Crow Pose out of Bent-Arm Monkey #3 spread through the day.
Push
Crow Pose practice from face on ground - 3-5 1-min. sets.
Play
Trial run of the 6 sample exercises from GMB Core Strength article. It was fun but I'll stick to the Elements Core Conditioning progression for my Tues-Thurs training sessions, because it hits the lower back more.
Crow Pose out of Bent-Arm Monkey #3 spread through the day. Best time about 17 sec.
Push
4 sets of Shrimp Squat. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Elements Core Conditioning Beginner Circuit 2x
GMB Shoulder Mobility routine
Ponder
Today I wanted to assess my readiness for Handstand training.
As much as the stability of the suspect left shoulder has improved after nearly half a year of Turkish Getup practice, I still don't feel confident loading much of my bodyweight onto my left hand. I felt varying degrees of irritation in the left shoulder during the Cartwheel practice, which affected my performance of the Cartwheel variation movements. The shoulder feels fine for Bear and Inverted Press on the parallettes but I don't have the confidence that it can handle the increased load when I lock out my arms and load the hands with the feet elevated. So I can only conclude now is not the time to start Handstand training.
I reread GMB's Handstand Pushup tutorial for the umpteenth time and noticed something that somehow escaped my attention before. I somehow thought that the exercises in Step 1 – Prepare Your Body were the exercises for progressing to the Handstand Pushup, but they're actually not. They are literally exercises that should be done before progressing to Step 2 – Build Your Foundation which is where the real work begins. When you look at the very first exercise of Step 2, the rationale for working through Step 1 becomes very clear - you probably want the strength built up in Step 1 as insurance against slamming your head to the ground.
The 2nd exercise in the Step 2 progression is Jump to Tuck Bent Arm Stand. Tuck Bent Arm Stand sure looks a lot like Crow Pose, except with the knees not resting on the elbows. Thus I realized that since I want to get into training for the Handstand and Handstand Pushup anyway, I can start on Step 1 as early as tomorrow, since I'm already comfortable with A-Frame Inverted Press. Working through Step 1 looks like a more direct path towards mastery of the Crow Pose and beyond, than continuing with Parallettes One.
So, starting tomorrow, my MWF training schedule will look more like this:
Prepare
Wrist and Shoulder prep from the Handstand tutorial
GMB Vitamin session if it looks low-effort
Practice
Main circuit
Handstand Pushup Step 1 Progression exercise - 20 second set for 3-6 sets
L-Sit Progression exercise on parallettes - 30 second set for 3-5 sets
3-6 rounds with 2-3 minutes of rest in between rounds
L-Sit Supplementary exercise circuit
Hanging Knee Raise on Rings - Try to do 10-12 reps. I know the GMB article says 5 sec. pause but this demo by GMB trainer Eduardo does not show a per-rep hold for more than 1 sec. https://www.instagram.com/p/B5aj8MgHwfN/
Dip Shrugs
Top Position Hold on Rings if stability is a struggle
Front Scale Leg Lifts - Stop short of failure, hold for 3-5 seconds on last rep.
3-5 rounds with 2-3 minutes of rest in between rounds
Play
Crow Pose practice either from face on ground or out of Bent-Arm Monkey #3
GMB Vitamin if the session looks like it will demand more effort than usual.
Normally I like to stick to a program and finish it if I can but the current "program" is an ongoing experiment to find a way to train productively for the Crow Pose, and then the Handstand and Handstand Pushup, while also taking care of my shoulder, knee, and back.
The L-Sit and related work is in the program because I know I need to keep strengthening the core for eventual work on the handstand, especially the front of the core to avoid the "banana body" and help form a beautifully straight body line. The L-Sit seems as good a choice as any for a core exercise, and it's recommended by GMB for jumping strength too.
Mark Wildman's training ideas for fixing flat feet intrigue me but in the interest of not taking on too many things at once, I'll just practice the GMB foot health routine and see how the foot responds, as it's only recently that I progressed to practicing the exercises standing. Whichever foot is supporting the weight has the sole working hard, which Wildman seemed to be looking for anyway, although I've no doubt a typical session with him would have the foot sole working hard for a longer time per week.
Practice
2 sets of 1-minute GMB-style Crow Pose practice - best hold time around 15 seconds.
P1 Level A Week 2 Day 5 session
Play
GMB Knee Mobility routine, then GMB Vitamin session focusing on Star, 180, and 360 Jumps
Push
2 sets of 16KG kettlebell waiter walks for at least 40 seconds per set.
Ponder
P1 Assessment:
Plank Side to Sides - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Assisted Shoulder Stand Raises - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Jump Throughs - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Inverted Press - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Swing Sets - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
I increased the volume to 6 sets per exercise except the Swing Sets.
For tomorrow's training, I'm looking at more cartwheel fun with Vitamin, and Elements Core Conditioning, unless my core feels really beat up from today's work. There is quite a jump in difficulty in the Hollow Body portion of the Elements CC routine, from the Beginner version to the Intermediate, so I reviewed the Hollow Body progression as taught in Integral Strength. So for tomorrow, if I do practice Elements CC, I'm going to try the next step for Hollow Body, which is arms and legs straight in the air, and slowly working them away from each other towards the full Hollow Body.
I searched on Google for opinions on whether one should learn the Crow Pose or the Handstand first. It seems some think the two handbalancing skills are different enough that it doesn't matter and the main reason to recommend Crow Pose first is it is less scary than Handstand. Crow Pose practice would build wrist strength for Handstand of course, but then again it seems that working up the Handstand progression would also build up the wrist strength - at least if you follow the GMB tutorial because you'd be starting out of A-Frame and just working on gradually elevating the feet. Anyway, after all that searching I stumbled upon a post about a "half au cortado" exercise. Au Cortado, as it turns out is a variation on the Cartwheel, which is the same sort of movement that Vitamin is going to make me do tomorrow:
Browsing further into Ido Portal's blog, I find an article recommending static strengthening of the QDR (Queda De Rinns) position, which to me looks a lot like the Pilot Freeze taught a few sessions back in Vitamin:
Today I did a morning-afternoon split, because I slept in a bit late in the morning, yet wanted to do some yardwork and grocery shopping.
Morning session was GMB Vitamin focusing on Cartwheel. While I lack the upper body strength and lower body mobility to do the full Cartwheel in all its beauty, I was pleasantly surprised how much I could do. I aspire to start handstand training after I nail the Crow Pose, and part of the training is regular practice of the Cartwheel for bailing out of handstand attempts gone awry. From that context, it shouldn't be necessary to work on getting the feet high into the air for Cartwheel, as the feet are going to get higher and higher from handstand training anyway, and I'd mainly be using the Cartwheel to bail out of handstand.
Afternoon session was a repeat of the last GMB Mobility session on Rotation and Sidebending because I woke up this morning with soreness/tightness in my right hip/glute/low back region and wanted to keep working on my rolling anyway. It's funny how my 180 Monkey was easier going to the right at the start of GMB Mobility and now it's easier going the left. Anyway, I immediately played with the reverse shoulder roll after the GMB Mobility session, and was able to roll on both sides, without falling to the side. So that's a big improvement. I also played with the Shin Box Inversion Roll. Pretty happy with the improvement in mobility for these rolls, though there's still some room for improvement in executing the reverse roll from the GMB perspective.
What I like about the GMB approach to forward and backward rolls is that they can be done at a slow speed, under control - unlike how rolls are taught in Judo and Aikido where you end up relying and momentum and nobody seems to be able to explain how to reduce the discomfort you experience because you can't roll as smoothly as the high-ranking black belts. The GMB approach is of course influenced by RMax, but the RMax materials also don't give detailed step by step instructions on how to roll with a great degree of motor control and mobility.
Prepare
GMB Knee Mobility routine except for the jumps.
Practice
Today's Vitamin session focusing on Jumps. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
GMB-style Crow Pose practice for 2 1-min. sets. Quality: Rough, Ease: Challenging
4 sets of Shrimp Squat. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
20 "around the body" 16kg KB swings, each direction, with feet next to each other
3 Clubbell Mini-circuits of Shield Cast and Side-Side Pendulum. Quality: Rough, Ease: Challenging
Play
Playing with Grappler Toolbox 101 rolling moves: Shin Box Inversion Roll, Reverse Shoulder Roll.
Playing with GMB Backward Roll setup - toe touch to the side and rear.
Crow Pose out of Bent-Arm Monkey #3 spread through the day. Best time about 12 sec.
Push
Relearning the Clubbell Shield Cast and Side Pendulum. Quality: Rough, Ease: Solid
Elements Core Conditioning Beginner Circuit 2x
Ponder
Happy that my knees held up after all the jumps landing on one leg in the Vitamin session.
Because I'd previously ordered Tacfit products I got an email advert for Grappler's Toolbox 101. I'm not sure exactly what the differences are between this new 101 course taught by Alberto Crane and the older versions of Grappler's Toolbox taught by Scott Sonnon. Nevertheless, it was on intro sale so I bought it. I recognized just about all the moves from Sonnon's BodyFlow book and video, and his FlowFit video series. I was most interested in the rolling movements because of my struggles with forward and backward rolls, so today I played with those.
Stumbled across this video, entitled "Calisthenics Vs Yoga - STRENGTH & FLEXIBILITY CHALLENGE!". The video is a friendly information exchange between a calisthenics expert and a Yoga expert, structured as a series of challenges. I suspect they hammed it up a bit, exaggerating the differences between the two types of activity, because there are fitness trainers like Al Kavadlo and Ryan Hurst who have training in both Yoga and calistenics/gynmastics. Nevertheless, there are some useful ideas for improving pulling strength, which Yogis supposedly are weak at, and flexibility, where Yogis supposedly rule over calisthenics specialists:
Prepare
Today's GMB Mobility session focusing on Flexion.
Wow, this was the last GMB Mobility session! Even though I did a session almost every day, missing only one day within the last 4 weeks, the 42 sessions still went by so fast.
Practice
P1 Level A Week 2 Day 3 session
Play
2 sets of 20 sec. Waiter Walks with 16kg kettlebell
Push
First 3 exercises from GMB Foot routine standing - gives the supporting foot a workout too!
Ponder
GMB Mobility results:
Shoulders - There weren't that many sessions focusing on shoulders. However, when I reach my arms overhead, I seem to be able to get them a few degrees closer to vertical than before..
Spine - Backbending seems improved. Sidebending seems about the same as before. I might go back to practicing the Half-Pancake with the thumb of my non-stretching arm tucked behind my folded knee to give myself better leverage to pull my torso to the one side before sidebending to the other side.
Hips - I was always comfortable with the deep squat. The biggest improvement was to the outside hips.
Legs - Hamstring seem a little less tight but we'll see. I've seen some Youtube fitness personalities like FitnessFAQs arguing that hamstring stretching is not necessary if the hip flexors are strong enough. My main motivation for improving hamstring flexibility is to improve my chances of achieving a full L-Sit.
P1 Assessment - This time I just followed the P1 exercises as originally programmed.:
Plank Pushups from Knees - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid.
No issues with the shoulders this time.
Front Dips - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Relaxed.
Need to work on squeezing core at the bottom and not allowing my shoulders to shrug
Plank Hold - Quality: Smooth. Ease: Challenging.
Did not make it all the way to a minute. 45 seconds/set would be a good setting to work at.
Tuck Hold - Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid
45 seconds per set is a good time with alternating legs, with one leg in high tuck (knee close to chest, heels close to butt) and the other leg with toe on floor.
Mountain Climbers - Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid
GMB recently published an article on training with loaded carries. It seems to be more of an article promoting the addition of loaded carries to your training routine and offering some ideas, rather than a set how-to article. It gives props to Dan John, who everyone seems to credit with bring the loaded carries training concept to the mainstream, so I read Dan John's loaded carries article as well. GMB suggests a heavy load in short bursts for strength-focused sessions, and light load with"complex" carry for skill-focused sessions. Waiter Walks seems to match the "complex" description.
P1 does not seem as much of a threat to my shoulders but it seems like Waiter Walks with a kettlebell would be nice insurance for my shoulders. Thus I did the 2 sessions of 20-second Waiter Walks.
Planning for tomorrow:
Ok, no more GMB Mobility sessions, though I can always revisit any GMB Mobility session any time thanks to their new Praxis system. I think what I will do is pull up the last GMB Mobility session for Rotation & Sidebending, use the Prepare session from that, then work through the full GMB Spine Mobility routine, which has much longer hold times than the GMB Mobility stretches in the Practice section.
Then I'll play with the Forward Roll again and see if there's any improvement on my tighter side, where the tightness is causing me to fall over to the side.
Then I'll do the GMB Knee Mobility routine - minus the jump at the end, followed by the GMB Vitamin session focusing on jumps. The jumps landing on single leg look to be a challenge for my knees, so I better get them prepped first.
Then if my core is up to it, I'll do at least one round of the Elements Core Conditioning Routine, working in Shrimp Squat practice as part of the circuit. If not, I'll just do the 4 sets of shrimp squats.
Then I'll do a couple of 1-min. sets of GMB-style Crow Pose practice.
Prepare
Today's GMB Mobility session focusing on Hips
Practice
Today's Vitamin session focusing on Combos using Bent-Arm Monkey, Leg Swoop, Duck Walk
4 sets of Shrimp Squat. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Play
Playing just a little bit with the mechanics of the Worm from breakdance, getting used to making my feet rise as my chest rolls towards the floor, like a rocking chair, and playing a bit with kicking the feet up and to the rear to get my chest off the floor.
Crow Pose out of Bent-Arm Monkey #3 spread through the day. Best time about 9 sec.
Push
Relearning the Clubbell Shield Cast and Side Pendulum. Quality: Rough, Ease: Solid
Ponder
I felt some post-workout soreness in my low back, which puzzled me because it's been a while since I did any kettlebell swings and I haven't done any bridge work for almost a week. Then I realized it may have been caused by my playing with the Snake Down and Worm moves.
I noticed that I tend to hold my breath when I practice the Crow Pose. I try to manage by consciously exhaling while practicing.
I stumbled upon this Mark Wildman video featuring Jack Black. In this video, Wildman touches upon flat feet and claims he can fix Black's flat feet:
I've had flat feet as long as I can remember, and have tried various approaches to build a foot arch, the latest being to try to practice single-leg exercises with "foot tripod". So I was intrigued enough to check out Wildman's other video on the topic:
If I understand what Wildman is saying, his fix for flat feet is to stand on bare feet, with the feet parallel to each other and swing a weight side to side for high reps. The theory is that the weight swinging side to side will cause the feet to grab the ground. As the weight increase, the feet will grab harder and thus build their arches.
Wildman says he uses 11 different clubbell exercises with his clients for fixing flat feet. I figure I could keep it simple and just use the Mill and Reverse Mill for this purpose. I admit the Mill and Reverse Mill are themselves not the simplest movements, but once some competence is achieved in these exercises, it takes a relatively short amount of time to build up to a high-rep set. Wildman was talking about 50 reps per arm, per exercise in a 3-exercise session for a total of 50 x 2 x 3 = 300 reps per session in the beginning. His clients typically do 2 sessions/week with him so the total per week would be 600 reps.
So that's why I took up my 15lb. Clubbell today. I haven't worked on the Mill since last fall, so I have to practice the Shield Cast and Side-Side Pendulum for a while again.
Tuck Hold - Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid
One leg with toe touching round, other leg tucked with knee high as possible and heel close as possible to butt. 2 40-second sets.
Swing Sets - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Seems like more a mobility exercise than a strength one, but after all the effort expended on the previous exercises, it's nice to just work on movement and give the hamstrings a bit of a stretch.
The Snake Down reminded me of something. Some searches on Youtube revealed that it's a lot like the Worm move in breakdance. I found this tutorial to be helpful, because the guy starts with rocking back and forth:
I have to say though that I enjoyed this one, as the boy teaches it and other moves in such an endearing manner:
Prepare
Today's GMB Mobility session focusing on Sidebending and Twisting
Practice
3 sets of 1-min. Crow Pose practice, working with weight distribution between forehead and toes and trying to lift face. Best time around 12 seconds.
Today's Vitamin session focusing on Coffee Maker
Play
Playing with Forward Roll setup. Found that rolling myself up like a sleeping bag helps for one side. I still have a tendency to topple to the side on the other side. I still haven't figured out what areas of the body need the extra mobility work to free up that side for the roll.
Shrimp Squat spread through the day.
Push
No push but the Coffee Maker session got pretty intense. My core got worked enough that I decided not to practice the Elements Core Conditioning routine, especially since the core is going to get a workout again in tomorrow's P1 session.
Ponder
Almost all the exercises in the GMB Spine Mobility routine - the Prone Extension and A-Frame to Squat being the exceptions - were included in today's GMB Mobility session. Thinking of practicing the spine routine nightly to try to improve mobility for the Forward Roll. My hip mobility has improved so I think increasing the frequency of practice of the spine mobility exercises may be key.
Forward Roll being taught by a different GMB Trainer
Prepare
Today's GMB Mobility session focusing on Hips.
My mobility in the Monkey 180 turning to the left is now pretty close to turning to the right. At the start of GMB Mobility, I felt a lot tighter turning to the left.
Practice
P1 Level A Week 1 Day 5 session
Play
Crow Pose practice out of Bent-Arm Monkey #3
Push
Extra Tuck Hold practice set just to double-check that I am indeed following all the cues while working at my current lvel.
Ponder
Modified P1 so that I can practice Inverted Press every session. This movement is a little bit friendlier to my suspect shoulder than any of the pushup variations. Also, I intend to start working on the handstand pushup and handstand progressions in the near future, as well as continue working on Crow Pose - the pressing from this angle is more applicable than the pushup. Another modification is to practice the Tuck Hold every session. Achieving the L-Sit is not an immediate priority, but the Plank Side to Side puts me in that slightly problematic pushup position, so I thought I might as well replace it with the Tuck Hold.
Front Dips - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Relaxed.
Feels very easy to me but I can continue to work on refining my form - keep the scapula depressed, don't allow shoulders to shrug, chest up, etc. - all habits that should help improve my L-Sit progression.
Plank Hold - Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid.
Tried practicing with hollow body but forgot to lock down the core. So I'll work on keeping the butt squeezed and abs tight for a nice straight line for up to a full minute, then progress to doing the same with the hollow body.
Tuck Hold - 14 sec. Quality: Rough. Ease: Solid
Quality was rough because I've never put in significant time alternating legs for L-Sit practice. I'd previously just did a hold with one leg at a time for the duration. 20 sec. with alternating legs, with one leg in high tuck (knee close to chest, heels close to butt) and the other leg with toe on floor, was too short. A full minute was too long. Next time I'll try setting the timer to 40 sec. for one set
Prepare
Today's GMB Mobility session focusing on Fundamentals
Practice
Today's Vitamin session focusing on Underswitch from Crab
Play
Messing with the Underswitch from Crab variations
Push
No push
Ponder
I noticed that the introductory text for today's Mobility session said that the Fundamentals session includes the highest-value hip mobility exercises. Seems like those would be the Supine Hip Circles from the Prepare section and Kneeling Lunge and Modified Pigeon from the Practice session.
Prepare
Today's GMB Mobility session focusing on Spine Extension.
During Camel practice, I was starting to gaze enough to the back of me that I had to remind myself to keep the arms vertical and pushing against my heels, and keep pushing the hips forward.
Practice
Crow Pose from face down - first comparing the feeling of most weight being on the toes vs. most of it being on forehead, then trying to even out the weight distribution. Then, playing with pointing the toes off the ground, then looking up. Maximum Crow Pose hold was 14 seconds.
Play
Remembered that Scott Sonnon once stated that you should be comfortable with the Arm Screw mobility movement before attempting the Forward Roll, which was part of his BodyFlow exercise video and book. Incorporating the Arm Screw resulted in a dramatic improvement in shoulder comfort during the Forward Roll setup. Unfortunately I was unable to find a good Youtube video. You have to shrug your shoulder before you can screw out the arm - it makes a big difference in the mobility.
Push
P1 Level A Week 1 Day 3 session
Ponder
P1 Assessment - won't record reps anymore, in keeping with GMB's updated self-assessment method that emphasizes quality and ease of movement over reps:
Plank Side to Sides - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Challenging
This was harder than it looks in the video
Assisted Shoulder Stand Raises - Quality: Rough, Ease: Kind of Solid
I never tried this movement before because I was working at Level B before, so the performance was rough as I was trying to get the hang of the movement. My feet were starting to float off the floor so the effort I had to expend wasn't that high. I resisted the temptation to go into shoulder stand right away because I've done it before, but I thought I'd better just keep working at this level.
Jump Throughs - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
This is much easier than the Level B version, which requires you start with a full plank. I still had to expend some effort to push down hard enough during the jump to control the movement, especially when transitioning from front to rear.
Inverted Press - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Challenging
Haven't practiced this movement in almost 2 years so it's a challenge now.
Swing Sets - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Seems like more a mobility exercise than a strength one, but after all the effort expended on the previous exercises, it's nice to just work on movement and give the hamstrings a bit of a stretch.
While looking for other video examples of the Arm Screw, I found the Onnit Academy channel. I don't know who the fitness models are in the below videos, but the movements look very similar to the ones taught by RMax, of which the founders of GMB were once members, in BodyFlow and other resources.
This movement looks like a good exercise for improving mobility for the Forward Roll, with one leg straight to the side for the stability to make the movement easier to practice:
This looks like a good Arm Screw Warmup for the Forward Roll as well:
This movement looks a lot like the 1st step (setup) of the Forward Roll Progression in Vitamin:
This movement looks like the 2nd step of the Forward Roll progression in Vitamin:
Prepare
Today's GMB Mobility session focusing on Hips
Practice
Crow Pose from face down, isometric pushing to lift face for 1 min.
Today's Vitamin session focusing on Squat Leg Sweep and review of the Forward Roll to Merry Go Round to Backward Roll combos.
GMB Knee Mobility routine later in the afternoon.
Play
Crow Pose out of Bent-Arm Monkey #3, spread through the afternoon
Push
Elements Core Conditioning Beginner Routine for 3 rounds
Shrimp Squat Variation 1 (Step back lunge) for 3 reps before and after Core Conditioning Routine, as well as between rounds for a total of 4 sets.
Ponder
Knee continues to feel great.
I progressed in the Vitamin combo movement from "broken" quality to "sloppy". I've been struggling with putting my weight on a comfortable spot on the shoulder - it's been a challenge not to have a bony part of the shoulder take my weight. The front of the shoulder is obviously out. The top of the shoulder has too many bony parts. There is a "shelf" at the rear of the shoulder between the scapula and another bony part that might be reasonably comfortable. Here's GMB's sample Vitamin session that teaches the Forward Roll in far more detail than their Tumbling article.
Another issue with the Forward Roll on the left side is a tightness between my left inner thigh and somewhere else in the body. I don't know if the other side of this tightness is in my spine, the back of my shoulder, or somewhere else. All I can observe is that the left inner thigh felt tight when I practiced shrimp squats later. I do know that my spine is tighter when bending to the side rather than to the front/rear. Perhaps thi mobility exercise might improve my twisting range of motion at least:
Shoulders feel less sore than yesterday, which tells me I can continue practicing P1 at Level A without fear of shoulder reinjury - at least for now.
GMB's Crow Pose tutorial is pretty good. However I also found Antranik's tutorial to be helpful:
A key piece of information that he brings up is you have be active when you practice the Crow Pose. I thought the video includes his statement about engaging the palms - press with the fingers to try to prevent yourself from falling forward, and press with the palm heels to prevent yourself from falling backward - but maybe I missed it or just read it in Reddit. Anyway, using GMB's recommended diamond hand formation, this means pressing with the thumb and palm heel to try to prevent backward falling. Thus, for today's practice I focused not on trying to beat my personal record of 16 seconds but rather on getting used to engaging the thumb and palm heel.
Another thing I should work on when I practice the GMB approach is to play with the weight distribution between my forehead and the toes after I enter the forehead-down position. One cause of my struggle is I put too much weight on my forehead. So instead of setting my timer to 1 minute and struggling to lift my face off the ground during that time, I should instead set it to 2 minutes and take the time to play with the weight distribution and try to get the weight to 50-50 between the forehead and toes - and then try pointing the toes and lifting the face.
I also need to eventually focus on engaging the core more to improve the balance but that's another issue to fix later, as I struggle to focus on multiple cue points at the same time.
I have to say I love Antranik's blooper video because of the dog
