HSPU Program Session 31

Prepare
Band-assisted shoulder mobility
A-Frame Scapular Shrugs

Practice
A-Frame Inverted Press w/ 4-sec. negative - 4 sets of 3-4 reps. - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Ring Reverse Row w/ feet on chair and 4-sec. negative - 3 sets of 4-5 reps - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid

1 min. rest between sets.

Play
Bear (standard) on breaks throughout the afternoon

Push
Circuit
Knee Pushup or Pushup on Parallettes
Dip Shrugs on Rings
16kg KB curls from bottom of squat
Top Position Hold on Rings
 3 rounds with 3 min. rest between rounds

Parallettes One Cooldown Routine

Brachial Hang for about 1min.

Ponder

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#FrequentlyAskedFridayMM: Accommodating Resistance Handstand Pushup Progressions . “I’m having a hard time progressing from Piked Handstand Pushup to Wall Handstand Pushup. What should I do?”. The answer: use Accommodating Resistance . A lot of people notice that achieving the Wall Handstand Pushup (HSPU) can be quite difficult. And a big reason for this is that a lot of them aren’t working as HARD as they could be during their Piked HSPU progressions. Accommodating Resistance can help this . Look at the video and notice how on the way down, I shift the weight from my toes to my hands. Before I lower down, my toes have as LITTLE load as possible on them. And as I lower down, I keep as much of the load in my hands as possible . On the way back up, I shift some of my weight back but ONLY as much as needed to get the rep done . My goal throughout the entire rep is to have as MUCH weight on my hands throughout the range and as LITTLE weight on my toes. You can adjust that MID-REP to make sure the entire movement is maximal and get the most gains! . Give you progressions a try like THIS and you’ll probably see that even Piked HSPUs can be harder than you thought they were! Tag a friend who ALSO needs help bridging the gap between Pike HSPU and Wall HSPU and let’s ALL get on the Gain Train! . And check the IG stories for an extra tip!

A post shared by Martina & Philip Chubb (@the_mindful_mover) on Dec 20, 2019 at 11:07am PST

Was able to do 10 knee pushups on the P-Barz with relative ease and quality, so started working in full pushups.  I reviewed Parallettes One to see how the pushup progression is programmed in Phase 1 and Phase 2 at Level A.  It seems that we progress from knee pushups in Phase 1 to pushup with arm extension in Phase 2 instead of regular pushups.

So how to transition from knee pushups to full pushups on the P-Barz?  Some ideas:
1. Knee pushups on P-Barz with 4-sec. negative, side-to-side movement at bottom position
2. For the Play section of the workout, practice Parallette Jump Throughs.  This move is called Shoot Through by the Crossfit folks.  For some reason, all the videos I found show them rushing through the movement.  I found that this movement is a better core workout when practiced at a little slower tempo, focusing on control of the body as I transition in and out of the tuck position

I made some more attempts at a full pushup and it seems that a combination of protracting the shoulder blades, squeezing the butt, and generally making the body "hollow" by squeezing the abs seemed to make the move more doable.

I tested how my shoulder feels with a 16kg kettlebell racked.  Shoulder seems to feel fine.  This means I can go ahead with transitioning to a lower body/core routine that utilizes kettlebells instead of being bodyweight-only.  Some exercise ideas:

Single-Leg Deadlift (sometimes called Single Leg Romanian Deadlift)
Hunter Squat
Low Windmill
Kettlebell Pullover
Single Straight Leg Raise from top of Rings

I may also try a couple of sets of weighted calf raises before going into the post-workout stretches

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#FlexibilityFridayMM: Standing Calve Raises and Mobility . These days, I tend to have less and less time to train and the constraint of less time means I have to make sure I get the MOST out of the time that I DO have. For this reason, I try to find ways where I get get gains in MULTIPLE things at one time . Flexibility is a GREAT example of this. By picking the right exercises, you can get strength AND mobility gains at the same time. Let’s use the calves as an example . Ankle mobility is important for lower body athletics, strength training (for things like squatting deep) and helping to keep your ankles from injury. In a lot of lower body injuries, there is an element of ankle immobility . One way we can get strength AND stretch at the same time is to use Standing Calve Raises where we elevate our feet on a step and allow the heel to sink below the toes . This lets you gain mobility AS you get strong. For the price of ONE exercise, you get multiple benefits. Strength in the calves and knees as well as mobility in the ankles. Now you don’t have to spend time stretching. You’re already getting it with strength! . THAT kind of mindset is how you make gains even when you have limited time! You find what gives you the most gains for the time you have! . So give the Standing Calf Raise a try to save yourself some time and get on the Gain Train! And tag a friend who is strapped for time so they can get the gains too!

A post shared by Martina & Philip Chubb (@the_mindful_mover) on Feb 15, 2019 at 12:25pm PST