Crow Pose Program Session 23

Prepare
Prepare section from GMB Handstand tutorial

Practice
Today's Vitamin session focusing on Cartwheel variations progressing to Transformer. Quality: Rough, Ease: Solid

Wall Entries. Quality: Rough, Ease: Challenging

Elevated A-Frame Holds Quality: Smooth, Ease: Challenging

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.