I decided to skip GSC Month 2 and go to GSC Month 3. It is made up of 2 workouts - a Push-Pull-Squat workout, and a Extension-Lateral-Flexion workout which is focused on isometric holds. I'm sure this program is fine, it's just that GSC Month 3 is more of a continuation of Month 1. I've just progressed to being able to explore Accommodating Resistance in my push and pull movements of choice - the Pseudo Planche Pushup and the Front Lever Row - and want to get in 4 weeks of that. After GSC Month 3, I plan to do Isochain 6x6 which is all isometric.
Workout #1
For this morning, I skipped the blood pressure reading. The levels have dropped from elevated to normal/healthy level for the past several days. I'm not sure what caused the drop. It could have been seeing certain home repairs done and some issues with teh car getting taken care of. It could have been the addition of a little lean muscle mass stimulated by those GSC finisher sets. It helps that I've been taking the readings first thing in the morning, which is when my blood pressure tends to be the lowest. Maybe my understanding is wrong, but I feel like I'd know I'm in trouble if the readings are above normal parameters while I'm sleeping.
Pseudo Planche Pushup (Accommodating Resistance) strength sets: 2 2 2
Suspension RTO Pushup Drop Set
Suspension pushup finisher set
I was excited to try Pseudo Planche Pushups with Accommodating Resistance for the first time. The very first set was awkward because I forgot to turn my hands slightly outward, then I relaxed too much at the bottom position. I started the second set leaning a little too far forward, so that I was unable to do even 1 second of the isometric hold and thus immediately started falling. Fortunately, I was able to exert enough force during the eccentric to fall slowly into the bottom position. The 2nd rep was better, as was the 3rd set. It will take some time to get a feel for the amount of lean. I want to lean forward enough to make me work hard in the isometric hold for 3-5 seconds, but not so far forward that I can't do the isometric hold at all.
The way people typically do calisthenic exercises is to put most of the effort into the concentric phase of the movement, and sort of take a break during the eccentric phase, maybe expending just enough effort to maintain control of the movement. Accommodating Resistance (AR), as adapted by Mindful Mover to calisthenics, involves increasing the load for the eccentric, typically by deliberately introducing more mechanical disadvantage, like leaning forward in the pushup position. What this does is make the muscles work for both the concentric and eccentric phases of the movement, instead of just in the concentric. Because of the harder work throughout the whole movement, the possible number of reps in a set is decreased. Lower number of reps does not matter in this case, because progress in a calisthenic exercise done with AR is not measured by number of reps of the movement. Rather, it is measured by how much closer the trainee is able to get to a target position - in this case, the full planche with toes off the floor, all weight on the hands, arms locked out straight, straight line from ankles all the way to top of the head, etc. The promise of AR is that the harder work will result in faster strength gains than calisthenics done the typical way.
Workout #2
Tuck Front Lever Row strength sets: 3 3 3
Elevated Suspension Hip Extension strength sets: 5 6 6
Finisher rows on NOSSK: Untimed drop set lat rows, then untimed drop set regular rows.
Finisher Straight Leg Hip Bridge set: Drop set starting with feet on NOSSK, then on ground
This was my first Front Lever Row session with Accommodating Resistance, doing the concentric in Tuck Front Lever position, pausing at the top to untuck - that is, to move the knees as far away from my chest as I can to increase load - then doing the eccentric with the increased load, then finally pausing at the bottom to reset into Tuck Front Lever before the next rep. As with the Pseudo Planche Pushup, with AR, I can feel my muscles working harder through the entire movement. I also feel the abs working harder than before.
While reflecting on this session, I got the idea to try to hold the more difficult Front Lever position for at least 3 seconds at the end of each set, to stimulate extra gains towards the full Front Lever hold, in the way the isometric hold, while leaning forward, in the Pseudo Planche Pushup is supposed to stimulate gains towards the full planche hold.
The suspension hip extension with elevated feet reminds me of a similar exercise I did on the Lifeline Power Wheel. Back then I could only do 3 reps on the Power Wheel. I don't have any ideas for doing this move with AR so I was content to do them as demonstrated by Red Delta Project.
Workout #3
Assited Jumbo Shrimp Squat strength sets: 3 6 6
Moving Side Plank strength sets: 4 4 4
Jump Lunge finisher set: about 40s
Side Plank hold finisher set: 20s per side
For my first Jumbo Shrimp squat set, I focused on getting the non-working knee as far below the working foot as possible, which resulted in 3 high-effort, low-quality reps. For the remaining sets, I decided to just focus on good quality reps and not worry so much about going as low as possible. Another change I made was to use the NOSSK for assistance rather than my kitchen counter. I felt I had better support from the NOSSK
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