Another Monday brings another 1-Rep Max Test day. Results:
Zercher Lunge - 90.1 (based on weaker leg scores)
Shoulder Press - 75
Seated Row - 138.4667
Zercher Lunge performance gain so far has been minimal, when comparing to the 81.9 lb. result that was recorded end of 2021. Most of my progress in this exercise has been in mobility - being able to get the the thigh closer to parallel to the floor thanks to improvements in hip and ankle mobility.
Shoulder Press performance, compared to the end of 2021 score of 57 lbs, is almost a 32% strength gain for the current year.
Seated Row 1RM was not tested end of 2021. Strength gain compared to the start of the current 6x6 cycle was only about 8%. I'm ok with that though, as I rarely put in as much effort per rep as I did on the other exercises. I was wary of possibly hurting my low back, even though I was also aware that the body positioning should put the low back at much, much lower risk than the standing bent-over row.
Before the Monday session, I was thinking of training under 6x6 for 8 weeks, then switching to the Geoff Neupert Easy Muscle program. Easy Muscle is said to be adaptible to any equipment, and the clean-and-press is one of the featured exercises. I intend to use a kettlebell for clean-and-press. That all said, my shoulder still does not feel good when reaching overhead, or when I press the kettlebell overhead.
One option was to continue 6x6 for two more weeks, then see if there is any improvment in the shoulder's pain-free range of motion. The 6x6 program for Isochain has received positive reviews from fellow Isochain users for both strength gains and hypertrophy. However, 6x6 by design is meant to deliver mostly strength gains with some hypertrophy. Another option is to switch to a hypertrophy-focused program on the Isochain, and see if 6 weeks of training under that, combined with RMT Club swinging for shoulder rehab, will increase the pain-free ROM. One thing we know for sure is that isometrics, with or without Isochain, poses practically zero risk of further joint damage compared to any dynamic form of exercise.
I chose the hypertrophy program with Isochain. I'm not convinced that I will achieve the necessary pain-free ROM for overhead pressing within 2 weeks, even with RMT club swinging. I think there's a better chance that I'll achieve this goal in 6-8 weeks on another Isochain program plus RMT Club swinging. I think the longer period of favoring isometrics over dynamic training - for strength and muscle - will be more of a factor in shoulder healing than adding muscle mass in and of itself. That said, adding muscle mass is a priority for health benefits such as maintaining blood pressure at healthy levels.
Some finds:
Neck extension against wall for improving posture
Ring face pulls for improving posture
Trap-3 Raise (Y-fly) for improving shoulder mobility and posture
Mobility exercises for preventing/relieving pain from computer slouching
Showing posts with label Mindful Mover. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mindful Mover. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Saturday, April 30, 2022
Calisthenics: Week 10
Monday session: Assisted Pistol Squats: 4 4 3 3 Suspension Hamstring Curl: 4 4 4
I used less assistance from the suspension trainer and focused on making my lower body work harder in the pistol squat, so the reps went down.
Wednesday morning: 3 antagonist pair sets of Pseudo Planche Push Ups and Archer Pull Ups, both with Accommodating Resistance. Performance was about the same last week, except for some reason my abs worked harder. I did the finisher pretty much the same as last week.
I had trouble getting up early enough to do any exercise on Thursday and Friday. As of Friday night, my abs were still sore from the Wednesday session. Both my shoulders continue to be sore as well. If by Wednesday morning I still feel soreness in the shoulders, I may switch back to regular pushups.
New idea from Mindful Mover for rest-pause reps in unilateral exercises with Accommodating Resistance. The idea is to perform the concentric part of the movement on one side, then on the other side. You would then pause for a few seconds, then perform the eccentric on each side. Someone asked about applying this to Mixed Grip Chinups. The suggestion was to use a chair. After performing the concentric on both sides, use the chair to lower yourself so that you won't have to do the eccentric. After your pause, you step up on the chair to get into position for the eccentric.
I used less assistance from the suspension trainer and focused on making my lower body work harder in the pistol squat, so the reps went down.
Wednesday morning: 3 antagonist pair sets of Pseudo Planche Push Ups and Archer Pull Ups, both with Accommodating Resistance. Performance was about the same last week, except for some reason my abs worked harder. I did the finisher pretty much the same as last week.
I had trouble getting up early enough to do any exercise on Thursday and Friday. As of Friday night, my abs were still sore from the Wednesday session. Both my shoulders continue to be sore as well. If by Wednesday morning I still feel soreness in the shoulders, I may switch back to regular pushups.
New idea from Mindful Mover for rest-pause reps in unilateral exercises with Accommodating Resistance. The idea is to perform the concentric part of the movement on one side, then on the other side. You would then pause for a few seconds, then perform the eccentric on each side. Someone asked about applying this to Mixed Grip Chinups. The suggestion was to use a chair. After performing the concentric on both sides, use the chair to lower yourself so that you won't have to do the eccentric. After your pause, you step up on the chair to get into position for the eccentric.
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
Calisthenics: Week 9
Monday session: Assisted Pistol Squats: 6 5 4 4 Suspension Hamstring Curl: 4 4 4
Wednesday morning: 3 antagonist pair sets of Pseudo Planche Push Ups and Archer Pull Ups, both with Accommodating Resistance. I paused for a about 10-20 seconds between reps, and rested 3 min. between sets.
I felt a little stronger in the AR Pseudo Planche Push Up than I did last week, though for one rep I did lean a little too far forward out of the isometric hold and started to actually fall, so I pulled up my knees and feet to stop the fall, shook my body a bit, then restarted the rep.
If I had really split the load 53-37 during the concentric of the AR Archer Pull Up last week, this week the split felt more like 60-40. I felt the working side of my body taking more of the load, and the assisting side really just assisting. I was also relieved and happy to be able to load up the left arm more, to force the eccentric to start, without aggravating the shoulder or Golfer's Elbow. I was also able to sink further down into the bottom position, and even hang with elevated scapula for at least 10 seconds, which is another improvement from the perspective of pain and range of motion.
As I reached the top of the Archer Pull Up, I increased the amount of assistance from the assisting side to help me get my working elbow as far back as possible and contract the bicep as much as possible to get the working side ready to take the weight shift that will force the eccentric to start. For some reason, my knees went up when I put in the most effort.
I finished the workout with drop sets of incline pushups on NOSSK suspension trainer. I decided not to do any pulling exercise as a finisher. I want to see what gains in strength and muscle will be stimulated by practicing the AR Archer Pull Ups, without a finisher, as Mindful Mover reported that Accommodating Resistance might subject the muscles to enough time under tension to stimulate hypertrophy.
Thursday session: Did GMB Recovery session, emphasizing reaching and twisting. Abs were sore, probably from the Wednesday session.
Friday session: Assisted Pistol Squats: 5 5 6 Suspension Hamstring Curl: 4 4 4
For a finisher, I did assisted shrimp squats, then cossack squats for some lateral mobility.
Cool lower body flow for hip mobility and strengthening muscles around the knee
Lower body flow for hip opening and spine twisting
Wednesday morning: 3 antagonist pair sets of Pseudo Planche Push Ups and Archer Pull Ups, both with Accommodating Resistance. I paused for a about 10-20 seconds between reps, and rested 3 min. between sets.
I felt a little stronger in the AR Pseudo Planche Push Up than I did last week, though for one rep I did lean a little too far forward out of the isometric hold and started to actually fall, so I pulled up my knees and feet to stop the fall, shook my body a bit, then restarted the rep.
If I had really split the load 53-37 during the concentric of the AR Archer Pull Up last week, this week the split felt more like 60-40. I felt the working side of my body taking more of the load, and the assisting side really just assisting. I was also relieved and happy to be able to load up the left arm more, to force the eccentric to start, without aggravating the shoulder or Golfer's Elbow. I was also able to sink further down into the bottom position, and even hang with elevated scapula for at least 10 seconds, which is another improvement from the perspective of pain and range of motion.
As I reached the top of the Archer Pull Up, I increased the amount of assistance from the assisting side to help me get my working elbow as far back as possible and contract the bicep as much as possible to get the working side ready to take the weight shift that will force the eccentric to start. For some reason, my knees went up when I put in the most effort.
I finished the workout with drop sets of incline pushups on NOSSK suspension trainer. I decided not to do any pulling exercise as a finisher. I want to see what gains in strength and muscle will be stimulated by practicing the AR Archer Pull Ups, without a finisher, as Mindful Mover reported that Accommodating Resistance might subject the muscles to enough time under tension to stimulate hypertrophy.
Thursday session: Did GMB Recovery session, emphasizing reaching and twisting. Abs were sore, probably from the Wednesday session.
Friday session: Assisted Pistol Squats: 5 5 6 Suspension Hamstring Curl: 4 4 4
For a finisher, I did assisted shrimp squats, then cossack squats for some lateral mobility.
Cool lower body flow for hip mobility and strengthening muscles around the knee
Lower body flow for hip opening and spine twisting
Tuesday, April 12, 2022
Calisthenics: Week 8
Monday session: Assisted Pistol Squats: 5 5 5 Suspension Hamstring Curl: 4 4 4
Wednesday morning, my shoulders felt fine enough for resuming upper body calisthenics. I did not feel as much soreness when reaching out to the side or reaching up and to the side.
I did 3 antagonist pair sets of Pseudo Planche Push Ups and Archer Pull Ups, both with Accommodating Resistance.
I think I did ok in leaning forward into the planche lean to start my Pseudo Planche Push Ups, at a sufficient angle for a 3-5 second isometric hold - not too easy, and not too hard to hold for the minimum 3 seconds. I might be tending to reduce the leans as I go down, which would make the eccentric easier. I did have one rep in which I leaned even more after the isometric hold to force the involuntary eccentric, and that felt more intense than on my other reps. This is probably the correct way to do the exercise.
I call my chosen pulling exercise "Archer Pull Up", but I am really practicing it as a variation of the Mixed Grip Chinup. I practice pullups on Duonamic Eleviia, which are a pair of pullup handles that clamp onto a wide variety of door frames. The handles can rotate, which is great for protecting the elbows. I followed the guidelines for Mixed Grip Chinups with AR as much as I could in my practice of the Archer Pullup. I practice Archer Pullup with my working palm facing the side at the top position, and pronated in the bottom position. In the Mixed Grip Chinup, the working palm is supinated at the top position and may turn out at the bottom position. The reason I went with Archer Pullup instead of Mixed Grip Chinup is it seems less likely to cause reinjury to my shoulder or elbow. My shoulder does not feel good when the arms are extended overhead with supinated palms, although it does feel better when the palms are rotated more to the side. Any position from the bicep curl movement, with the palm supinated, can trigger Golfer's Elbow unless I am being very mindful of using the spiraling action from the back to reduce load on the elbow.
The Mixed Grip Chinup guidelines stipulate full range of motion - from elevated scapula at the bottom position to working elbow pulled back as if you are trying to hit someone at the top position. Both shoulders still feel uncomfortable when the arms and scapula are pulled p past a certain point. So, I worked within the ROM that was comfortable for me. I may not get the same gains as I would have gotten with full ROM, but any gains will be better than nothing.
One point where I need to improve though is initiating the eccentric. The guideline is to shift so much weight to your working arm, that the added weight forces you to start sinking. What I did instead was voluntarily start sinkng, then shift weight to the working arm as I was sinking. I was afraid I'd shift too much weight and thus cause an accident. Oh well that's part of the learning experience.
Mindful Mover feels the One-Arm Chin Up is the best calisthenic (bodyweight only) exercise for pulling strength, because of the intense load on pulling muscles of the arm, back, etc. It makes sense to being the journey towards the One-Arm Chin Up by first achieving the pull up, then progressing beyond that by redistributing the load, so that one arm takes more load than the other. I feel like I was able to split the load maybe 53-47 - 53% on the working arm, 47% on the assisting arm - on the concentric and maybe a 60-40 split on the eccentric.
I finished the workout with drop sets of incline pushups and rows on NOSSK suspension trainer.
Friday session: Assisted Pistol Squats: 5 5 6 Suspension Hamstring Curl: 4 4 4
For a finisher, I did assisted shrimp squats, then cossack squats for some lateral mobility.
Wednesday morning, my shoulders felt fine enough for resuming upper body calisthenics. I did not feel as much soreness when reaching out to the side or reaching up and to the side.
I did 3 antagonist pair sets of Pseudo Planche Push Ups and Archer Pull Ups, both with Accommodating Resistance.
I think I did ok in leaning forward into the planche lean to start my Pseudo Planche Push Ups, at a sufficient angle for a 3-5 second isometric hold - not too easy, and not too hard to hold for the minimum 3 seconds. I might be tending to reduce the leans as I go down, which would make the eccentric easier. I did have one rep in which I leaned even more after the isometric hold to force the involuntary eccentric, and that felt more intense than on my other reps. This is probably the correct way to do the exercise.
I call my chosen pulling exercise "Archer Pull Up", but I am really practicing it as a variation of the Mixed Grip Chinup. I practice pullups on Duonamic Eleviia, which are a pair of pullup handles that clamp onto a wide variety of door frames. The handles can rotate, which is great for protecting the elbows. I followed the guidelines for Mixed Grip Chinups with AR as much as I could in my practice of the Archer Pullup. I practice Archer Pullup with my working palm facing the side at the top position, and pronated in the bottom position. In the Mixed Grip Chinup, the working palm is supinated at the top position and may turn out at the bottom position. The reason I went with Archer Pullup instead of Mixed Grip Chinup is it seems less likely to cause reinjury to my shoulder or elbow. My shoulder does not feel good when the arms are extended overhead with supinated palms, although it does feel better when the palms are rotated more to the side. Any position from the bicep curl movement, with the palm supinated, can trigger Golfer's Elbow unless I am being very mindful of using the spiraling action from the back to reduce load on the elbow.
The Mixed Grip Chinup guidelines stipulate full range of motion - from elevated scapula at the bottom position to working elbow pulled back as if you are trying to hit someone at the top position. Both shoulders still feel uncomfortable when the arms and scapula are pulled p past a certain point. So, I worked within the ROM that was comfortable for me. I may not get the same gains as I would have gotten with full ROM, but any gains will be better than nothing.
One point where I need to improve though is initiating the eccentric. The guideline is to shift so much weight to your working arm, that the added weight forces you to start sinking. What I did instead was voluntarily start sinkng, then shift weight to the working arm as I was sinking. I was afraid I'd shift too much weight and thus cause an accident. Oh well that's part of the learning experience.
Mindful Mover feels the One-Arm Chin Up is the best calisthenic (bodyweight only) exercise for pulling strength, because of the intense load on pulling muscles of the arm, back, etc. It makes sense to being the journey towards the One-Arm Chin Up by first achieving the pull up, then progressing beyond that by redistributing the load, so that one arm takes more load than the other. I feel like I was able to split the load maybe 53-47 - 53% on the working arm, 47% on the assisting arm - on the concentric and maybe a 60-40 split on the eccentric.
I finished the workout with drop sets of incline pushups and rows on NOSSK suspension trainer.
Friday session: Assisted Pistol Squats: 5 5 6 Suspension Hamstring Curl: 4 4 4
For a finisher, I did assisted shrimp squats, then cossack squats for some lateral mobility.
Friday, March 04, 2022
Hybrid GSCARVE: Week 3
The Monday leg session went smoothly. The pistol squat performance was almost the same as Friday, except I used a little less assistance from the NOSSK suspension trainer. I sank a little too quickly into the bottom position, however, so next session I will make myself do a 4-count eccentric. I progressed on the suspension hip hinge to cross-ankle, then to fully single-leg hip hinge after finding the cross-ankle variation almost as easy as the two-leg version.
For some reason, I woke up earlier than expected on Wednesday morning, thus getting less sleep than desirable. I felt a little weaker in my Pike Pushup practice. There were a couple of times in which I stalled on the concentric, failed to shift enough weight away from my hands, and had to restart the con centric. I decided to try rest-pause, inserting at least 15-second rest between reps. I think part of the problem is that I had my feet on a chair that was sliding too much because of the sliders on its feet, despite the chair being up against the wall. I originally started using the chairs because I thought I would be practicing Pike Pushup with my knees on the chairs. But I don't really need the chairs anymore. So next week, I'll practice this move with my feet on the stairs, and the P-Barz against the wall - as they were sliding a bit too and thus distracting me from the weight-shift.
I did these reps for the pull up sets: 7 7 9. The Backfill strategy from GSC appears to be working better than my previous strategy of doing reps to failure, or close to it, on every set, which resulted in rep numbers like: 9 7 5. By doing only 7 reps per set for the first two sets, even though I could have done more, I had enough energy on reserve to do 9 reps for the last set. Thus the Backfill strategy promotes greater overall training volume.
For the finisher set, I did archer rows on the NOSSK, alternating working arms and using the assistance arm as little as possible. I tried to focus on keeping the shoulders down.
I wanted to make up for my disappointing Pike Push Up performance, so I did a finisher set by setting a timer to 90 seconds, then doing Bent-Arm Bear for as long as I could, then regular Bear. I didn't make it to the full 90 sec. so I stopped the timer, and did hands-on-floor push ups to finish burning out the pushing muscles.
For the Friday session, I did 4 antagonist pair (assisted Pistol Squat and one-leg suspension hip hinge). The results in reps:
Pistol Squat: 3 3 3 3
Hip Hinge: 4 4 4 4
These are the 3 mobility drills that Mindful Mover recommends the most for people who are training for general-purpose strength (not for specialized purposes): Split Squat (aka "ATG Split Squat"), Jefferson Curl, Brachial Hang. I finished the Friday session with some ATG split squatting with the front foot elevated on a thick book, then some Jefferson curls with a couple of soup cans in a bag for load.
For some reason, I woke up earlier than expected on Wednesday morning, thus getting less sleep than desirable. I felt a little weaker in my Pike Pushup practice. There were a couple of times in which I stalled on the concentric, failed to shift enough weight away from my hands, and had to restart the con centric. I decided to try rest-pause, inserting at least 15-second rest between reps. I think part of the problem is that I had my feet on a chair that was sliding too much because of the sliders on its feet, despite the chair being up against the wall. I originally started using the chairs because I thought I would be practicing Pike Pushup with my knees on the chairs. But I don't really need the chairs anymore. So next week, I'll practice this move with my feet on the stairs, and the P-Barz against the wall - as they were sliding a bit too and thus distracting me from the weight-shift.
I did these reps for the pull up sets: 7 7 9. The Backfill strategy from GSC appears to be working better than my previous strategy of doing reps to failure, or close to it, on every set, which resulted in rep numbers like: 9 7 5. By doing only 7 reps per set for the first two sets, even though I could have done more, I had enough energy on reserve to do 9 reps for the last set. Thus the Backfill strategy promotes greater overall training volume.
For the finisher set, I did archer rows on the NOSSK, alternating working arms and using the assistance arm as little as possible. I tried to focus on keeping the shoulders down.
I wanted to make up for my disappointing Pike Push Up performance, so I did a finisher set by setting a timer to 90 seconds, then doing Bent-Arm Bear for as long as I could, then regular Bear. I didn't make it to the full 90 sec. so I stopped the timer, and did hands-on-floor push ups to finish burning out the pushing muscles.
For the Friday session, I did 4 antagonist pair (assisted Pistol Squat and one-leg suspension hip hinge). The results in reps:
Pistol Squat: 3 3 3 3
Hip Hinge: 4 4 4 4
These are the 3 mobility drills that Mindful Mover recommends the most for people who are training for general-purpose strength (not for specialized purposes): Split Squat (aka "ATG Split Squat"), Jefferson Curl, Brachial Hang. I finished the Friday session with some ATG split squatting with the front foot elevated on a thick book, then some Jefferson curls with a couple of soup cans in a bag for load.
Friday, February 25, 2022
Hybrid GSCARVE: Week 2
Monday was a holiday. If it was a normal workday, I would have done the Leg session. However, I slept in a little late, and decided to skip training so I could shop at the grocery, eat lunch, and spend the majority of the day practicing on guitar, in preparation for a guitar-focused virtual teaching summit that I'm thinking of attending this weekend. Most of the practice time was devoted to Sean McGowan's arrangement of Have You Met Miss Jones, for solo fingerstyle guitar, which is a mix of single-note lines and chordal passages. I also practiced some riffs from Chapter 5 Grooves, from the Neo-Soul Guitar Book, because rhythm guitar is part of guitar playing and I don't want to neglect that aspect. I was able to get in a fair amount of practice until the Golfer's Elbow area started to feel sore - once that happened, I put the guitar away, because I don't want a full-blown flare up again.
For Tuesday, I warmed up with closed-chain elbow rotations, then played with Twisting Bear, Crab, and Twisting Bear to Crab transitions as shown in GMB's Shoulder Prehab article. My shoulder recovery progressed well in 2021, thanks to high-effort Shoulder Press on the Isochain, but I believe the GMB Elements practice that I did on my recovery days also helped. A lot of the Elements sessions featured Twisting Bear and Crab. I also practiced those two movements, among other Elements moves, as part of the shell warmup for Isochain training. What was new to me in the GMB article was the focus on internal-external shoulder rotation in Twisting Bear, as well as incorporating shoulder movement into closed-chain elbow rotation.
In the Wednesday session, I struggled again with the concentric phase of the Pike Pushup, in particular, shifting my weight away from my hands when I get stuck on the way back up. I set the P-Barz a little too far from the chairs for my first set. I moved the P-Barz closer for subsequent sets but I still could not figure out how to shift my weight back. On the bright side, even with the sloppy performance of the concentric, I still got a good workout on the eccentric, even having some fun letting the feet float a bit. The ideal form is for the hips to be above the shoulders and I got pretty close.
The reps I did for my pull up sets were: 8, 7, 6, 6. Thus I did 4 antagonist pair (pike pushup and pull up) sets, with 3 min. rest between each exercise.
Later in the afternoon, I got into pike pushup position and lowered myself to try to figure out how to shift my weight away from my hands when I get stuck on the concentric. I figured out that I need to pull my hips back. Hopefully on the next session, I won't forget to to shift the weight back to my hands as leverage makes the load feel light again, on the last quarter of the concentric movement.
I did a GMB Recovery session on Thursday. Apparently, GMB updated the Recovery program with more total sessions. When I logged onto the GMB site and selected the Recovery program, I was taken to the very first session in the program, which introduced the Iquana Walk and hand-assisted backward walk to Squat. I don't mind restarting Recovery. My only issue with Recovery is I keep forgetting to look for the lacross ball that I bought for the self-massage drill in the program.
For Leg session on Friday, I did 4 antagonist pair sets of assisted pistol squats and suspension hip hinges - which are also called "hip extensions" on the Red Delta Project Youtube channel. The rep numbers:
Assisted pistol squat: 3 3 3 4
Suspension hip hinge: 8 8 8 10
I applied the Backfill strategy taught by Red Delta Project, to spread out the reps more evenly from set to set. This looks like an improvement over how I did calisthenic exercise two years ago, which would be to push the reps for the first set, then do the rest of the workout with a significant reduction in reps for subsequent sets because I had expended too much for that first set.
Some Instagram finds:
J-Curl variations
Using Monkey to work on tuck planche, bent-arm stand, and other skills
Example preparatory movements for single-leg squats
For Tuesday, I warmed up with closed-chain elbow rotations, then played with Twisting Bear, Crab, and Twisting Bear to Crab transitions as shown in GMB's Shoulder Prehab article. My shoulder recovery progressed well in 2021, thanks to high-effort Shoulder Press on the Isochain, but I believe the GMB Elements practice that I did on my recovery days also helped. A lot of the Elements sessions featured Twisting Bear and Crab. I also practiced those two movements, among other Elements moves, as part of the shell warmup for Isochain training. What was new to me in the GMB article was the focus on internal-external shoulder rotation in Twisting Bear, as well as incorporating shoulder movement into closed-chain elbow rotation.
In the Wednesday session, I struggled again with the concentric phase of the Pike Pushup, in particular, shifting my weight away from my hands when I get stuck on the way back up. I set the P-Barz a little too far from the chairs for my first set. I moved the P-Barz closer for subsequent sets but I still could not figure out how to shift my weight back. On the bright side, even with the sloppy performance of the concentric, I still got a good workout on the eccentric, even having some fun letting the feet float a bit. The ideal form is for the hips to be above the shoulders and I got pretty close.
The reps I did for my pull up sets were: 8, 7, 6, 6. Thus I did 4 antagonist pair (pike pushup and pull up) sets, with 3 min. rest between each exercise.
Later in the afternoon, I got into pike pushup position and lowered myself to try to figure out how to shift my weight away from my hands when I get stuck on the concentric. I figured out that I need to pull my hips back. Hopefully on the next session, I won't forget to to shift the weight back to my hands as leverage makes the load feel light again, on the last quarter of the concentric movement.
I did a GMB Recovery session on Thursday. Apparently, GMB updated the Recovery program with more total sessions. When I logged onto the GMB site and selected the Recovery program, I was taken to the very first session in the program, which introduced the Iquana Walk and hand-assisted backward walk to Squat. I don't mind restarting Recovery. My only issue with Recovery is I keep forgetting to look for the lacross ball that I bought for the self-massage drill in the program.
For Leg session on Friday, I did 4 antagonist pair sets of assisted pistol squats and suspension hip hinges - which are also called "hip extensions" on the Red Delta Project Youtube channel. The rep numbers:
Assisted pistol squat: 3 3 3 4
Suspension hip hinge: 8 8 8 10
I applied the Backfill strategy taught by Red Delta Project, to spread out the reps more evenly from set to set. This looks like an improvement over how I did calisthenic exercise two years ago, which would be to push the reps for the first set, then do the rest of the workout with a significant reduction in reps for subsequent sets because I had expended too much for that first set.
Some Instagram finds:
J-Curl variations
Using Monkey to work on tuck planche, bent-arm stand, and other skills
Example preparatory movements for single-leg squats
Saturday, February 19, 2022
Hybrid GSCARVE: Week 1
This was the first week of my new exercise program, which I call Hybrid GSCARVE (Grind Style Calisthenics-Accommodating Resistance Vertical Emphasis). It combines ideas from the Grind Style Calisthenics method taught on the Red Delta Project Youtube channel and Mindful Mover's adaptation of Accommodating Resistance to calisthenics. I'll use GSC's Tension, Stability, Strength, and Finisher phases for my leg training. The Mindful Mover influence will be in the application of Accommodating Resistance to pike pushups and the exercise selection. Almost all execises are from the Mindful Mover Big 5, which have been found to deliver free gains in many other exercises.
The schedule will be:
I rewatched this video, in which Matt of Red Delta Project shared his updates to Grind Style Calisthenics. One thing I missed from earlier viewings of the video, is the recommendation to not use the same exercise for both the Strength and Finisher phases of GSC. For example, if you were doing pull ups for your Strength phase, doing an easier pull up variation for the Finisher phase is not recommended. What he recommends instead is to choose a different exercise, for your Finisher phase, that works the same tension chain as your Strength phase exercise. So if you did pull ups for Strength, do a row variation instead of pull ups for Finisher. The idea is change enough variables - bilateral vs. unilateral work, angle, cadence - to flood your system with new information. I'm not really keen on adding yet more muscle mass to my already large - for my size - thighs, so I will skip Finisher for my leg sessions. In my Upper Body sessions, I will do drop sets of push ups on the NOSSK, as the Finisher for the Pike Pushup; and drop sets of rows on the NOSSK as the finsher for Pull Ups. I believe I saw a post from Mindful Mover somewhere recommending being able to do a set of 10 pull ups before beginning training with Mixed Grip Chin Ups, which is the next exercise in the progression towards One-Arm Chin Up. If I do progress to Mixed-Grip Chin Up training, I probably won't do a pull-chain Finisher, because I don't want to risk a flareup of Golfer's Elbow but I'll see how it goes.
I also rewatched the RDP video on why Matt prefers close grip for pull ups. The reasons sound pretty good to me, and I am all for anything that is easier on the joints.
The Monday session went fine for a first Legs session. The first set of pistols required a lot of effort and were a bit sloppy, which was not a total surprise as I hadn't done pistols in almost 2 years. The 2nd and 3rd sets were better, because I increased the amount of assistance from the NOSSK, while trying to be mindful of not taking too much load away from the working leg. The hip extensions were about 6 reps per set. For finisher, I did a set of walking prisoner lunges, then a set of close squats, then a set of regular bodyweight squats. The legs, especially the quads were hit by DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) lasting several days.
The GMB Elements session for Tuesday focused on Baby Frogger and Bear to Crab transition. I did not try too hard to achieve Baby Frogger stalls, which are practically a Tuck Planche, as I had the heavy upper body session scheduled the very next day.
The Wednesday session was also fun and interesting. I set up the P-Barz parallettes in front of two armless chairs facing each other for the Pike Pushups, with the idea of putting my knees on the chairs, as that is the easiest variation shown in Mindful Mover's pike pushup video. My main fear that I had to overcome, was that I might drop too fast into the bottom of the pike pushup, and somehow hit my head on the floor. This fear went away with I did my first rep, and felt like I was in good control of the movement. In fact, the movement felt too easy. Also, the chairs started sliding because the legs have sliders on them to prevent scratching the hardwood floor. So I paused to move the chairs next to the wall to stop them from sliding, and finished the set trying to keep the feet instead of the knees on the chairs. The pike pushup felt too easy with my knees on the chairs, so I tried to shift my weight to my feet, when I needed to shift weight away from my hands. I was surprised to see my feet floating in the air, even for just a second or two, when I was in the bottom of the pike pushups. From the bottom position, when I started grinding the concentric, I kind of got stuck when I tried to shift my weight to my feet, to reduce the load from my hand just enough to continue the concentric. The problem was my hamstrings were not flexible enough to let my legs extend the feet to the chairs with enough leverage to take the load. Thus I ended up falling to my knees for a bit, before I got high enough in the pike pushup to shift more of the load back to the hands and get the knees off the chairs. So next time, I'll try setting up the P-Barz further away from the chairs, so that the angle of my legs to my torso will be greater, and thus tight hamstrings should be less likely to stop my legs from extending and applying pressure to the feet when I need to shift weight there.
It was a fun first pike push-up session AR, despite the hiccups. It's always more fun when you discover you're stronger than you thought you would be, after more than a year passing since the last time you did full-range pike push-ups, with the shoulders going down to the height of your hands. I finished my latest Isochain session with my 1-rep max in the Shoulder Press just under half bodyweight, so I did not think I would be this far up the pike pushup to handstand pushup progression. However, I did not account for my overhead pressing strength being greater at the lowest position of the Shoulder Press, which is also the lowest position of the pike pushup.
The pull-up session also went better than expected, despite not practicing pull-ups in a year. I got nowhere close to 8 pull-ups in one set last year, partly because the Golfer's Elbow bothered me more and my shoulder was not feeling that great. I felt the Golfer's Elbow a little this time around, but for most part, I was able to do the pull-ups without any pain as long as I focused on initiating the pull from between the shoulder blades and allowing the palms to turn with the movement.
By Thursday, I had upper body DOMS from the Wednesday session, as well as some lingering leg/glute DOMS from the Monday session. So, I decided to do a GMB Recovery session, instead of GMB Elements.
For the Friday leg session, I went lighter, by using more NOSSK assistance for the pistol squats and setting the foot slings lower for the hip extensions. I did 3 antagonist pair sets, and 4 pistol squat reps and 8 hip extension reps per set. For the Finisher phase, I tried a few reps of the plie and grand plie squats, from this ballet dancer exercises article. I tried them out of curiosity about how it feels to do those movements. My fitness goals are to achieve a handstand pushup, one-arm chin up, full planche push up, front lever row, and pistol squat with a 32kg kettlebell. I've had those goals since I saw B-Boy Junior flow into planche push ups with ease, saw Jackie Chan do handstand push ups, and learned about front lever and one-arm chin ups in the Dragondoor forum. Thus I bought into Mindful Mover's fitness methods when I realized their Big 5 matched my 5 goals. So, I don't know if those ballet dancer exercises are relevant to my goals. I might even get free gains from those exercises from Big 5 training and weighted mobility drills advocated by Mindful Mover, Tom Merrick and others. win a movie despite not being convinced I need to do them to reach my fitness goals.
In the afternoon, I tested myself a little to see if I would be comfortable with practicing pike pushups with the parallettes about 2 feet or more further away from the chair. I found I could indeed put enough of my weight onto my hands to move the feet back and forth on the chair. 2 years ago, I would have been shaking because working with this much weight on my hands was more difficult. I still have some DOMS from the Wednesday session but that's fine.
The schedule will be:
- Monday - Leg (Pistol Squat and Hip Extension)
- Tuesday - GMB Elements
- Wednesday - Vertical Upper Body (Pike Pushup and Pull Ups)
- Thursday - GMB Elements
- Friday - Leg
I rewatched this video, in which Matt of Red Delta Project shared his updates to Grind Style Calisthenics. One thing I missed from earlier viewings of the video, is the recommendation to not use the same exercise for both the Strength and Finisher phases of GSC. For example, if you were doing pull ups for your Strength phase, doing an easier pull up variation for the Finisher phase is not recommended. What he recommends instead is to choose a different exercise, for your Finisher phase, that works the same tension chain as your Strength phase exercise. So if you did pull ups for Strength, do a row variation instead of pull ups for Finisher. The idea is change enough variables - bilateral vs. unilateral work, angle, cadence - to flood your system with new information. I'm not really keen on adding yet more muscle mass to my already large - for my size - thighs, so I will skip Finisher for my leg sessions. In my Upper Body sessions, I will do drop sets of push ups on the NOSSK, as the Finisher for the Pike Pushup; and drop sets of rows on the NOSSK as the finsher for Pull Ups. I believe I saw a post from Mindful Mover somewhere recommending being able to do a set of 10 pull ups before beginning training with Mixed Grip Chin Ups, which is the next exercise in the progression towards One-Arm Chin Up. If I do progress to Mixed-Grip Chin Up training, I probably won't do a pull-chain Finisher, because I don't want to risk a flareup of Golfer's Elbow but I'll see how it goes.
I also rewatched the RDP video on why Matt prefers close grip for pull ups. The reasons sound pretty good to me, and I am all for anything that is easier on the joints.
The Monday session went fine for a first Legs session. The first set of pistols required a lot of effort and were a bit sloppy, which was not a total surprise as I hadn't done pistols in almost 2 years. The 2nd and 3rd sets were better, because I increased the amount of assistance from the NOSSK, while trying to be mindful of not taking too much load away from the working leg. The hip extensions were about 6 reps per set. For finisher, I did a set of walking prisoner lunges, then a set of close squats, then a set of regular bodyweight squats. The legs, especially the quads were hit by DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) lasting several days.
The GMB Elements session for Tuesday focused on Baby Frogger and Bear to Crab transition. I did not try too hard to achieve Baby Frogger stalls, which are practically a Tuck Planche, as I had the heavy upper body session scheduled the very next day.
The Wednesday session was also fun and interesting. I set up the P-Barz parallettes in front of two armless chairs facing each other for the Pike Pushups, with the idea of putting my knees on the chairs, as that is the easiest variation shown in Mindful Mover's pike pushup video. My main fear that I had to overcome, was that I might drop too fast into the bottom of the pike pushup, and somehow hit my head on the floor. This fear went away with I did my first rep, and felt like I was in good control of the movement. In fact, the movement felt too easy. Also, the chairs started sliding because the legs have sliders on them to prevent scratching the hardwood floor. So I paused to move the chairs next to the wall to stop them from sliding, and finished the set trying to keep the feet instead of the knees on the chairs. The pike pushup felt too easy with my knees on the chairs, so I tried to shift my weight to my feet, when I needed to shift weight away from my hands. I was surprised to see my feet floating in the air, even for just a second or two, when I was in the bottom of the pike pushups. From the bottom position, when I started grinding the concentric, I kind of got stuck when I tried to shift my weight to my feet, to reduce the load from my hand just enough to continue the concentric. The problem was my hamstrings were not flexible enough to let my legs extend the feet to the chairs with enough leverage to take the load. Thus I ended up falling to my knees for a bit, before I got high enough in the pike pushup to shift more of the load back to the hands and get the knees off the chairs. So next time, I'll try setting up the P-Barz further away from the chairs, so that the angle of my legs to my torso will be greater, and thus tight hamstrings should be less likely to stop my legs from extending and applying pressure to the feet when I need to shift weight there.
It was a fun first pike push-up session AR, despite the hiccups. It's always more fun when you discover you're stronger than you thought you would be, after more than a year passing since the last time you did full-range pike push-ups, with the shoulders going down to the height of your hands. I finished my latest Isochain session with my 1-rep max in the Shoulder Press just under half bodyweight, so I did not think I would be this far up the pike pushup to handstand pushup progression. However, I did not account for my overhead pressing strength being greater at the lowest position of the Shoulder Press, which is also the lowest position of the pike pushup.
The pull-up session also went better than expected, despite not practicing pull-ups in a year. I got nowhere close to 8 pull-ups in one set last year, partly because the Golfer's Elbow bothered me more and my shoulder was not feeling that great. I felt the Golfer's Elbow a little this time around, but for most part, I was able to do the pull-ups without any pain as long as I focused on initiating the pull from between the shoulder blades and allowing the palms to turn with the movement.
By Thursday, I had upper body DOMS from the Wednesday session, as well as some lingering leg/glute DOMS from the Monday session. So, I decided to do a GMB Recovery session, instead of GMB Elements.
For the Friday leg session, I went lighter, by using more NOSSK assistance for the pistol squats and setting the foot slings lower for the hip extensions. I did 3 antagonist pair sets, and 4 pistol squat reps and 8 hip extension reps per set. For the Finisher phase, I tried a few reps of the plie and grand plie squats, from this ballet dancer exercises article. I tried them out of curiosity about how it feels to do those movements. My fitness goals are to achieve a handstand pushup, one-arm chin up, full planche push up, front lever row, and pistol squat with a 32kg kettlebell. I've had those goals since I saw B-Boy Junior flow into planche push ups with ease, saw Jackie Chan do handstand push ups, and learned about front lever and one-arm chin ups in the Dragondoor forum. Thus I bought into Mindful Mover's fitness methods when I realized their Big 5 matched my 5 goals. So, I don't know if those ballet dancer exercises are relevant to my goals. I might even get free gains from those exercises from Big 5 training and weighted mobility drills advocated by Mindful Mover, Tom Merrick and others. win a movie despite not being convinced I need to do them to reach my fitness goals.
In the afternoon, I tested myself a little to see if I would be comfortable with practicing pike pushups with the parallettes about 2 feet or more further away from the chair. I found I could indeed put enough of my weight onto my hands to move the feet back and forth on the chair. 2 years ago, I would have been shaking because working with this much weight on my hands was more difficult. I still have some DOMS from the Wednesday session but that's fine.
Sunday, January 23, 2022
Isochain 6x6: Week 3
The book The Ultimate Isometrics Manual by Paul Wade states that for each rep of high-tension isometric exercise, a 6-second hold produces maximum strength gains according to scientific research. The book also states that 6 reps of 6-second holds is optimal for strength gains, mosty based on a chart by researcher Verkoshansky which appears in Supertraining, the well-respected book he co-authored with Mel Siff. Thus the 6x6 Program in the Ultimate Isometrics Manual is based on this ideal rep-hold scheme. The 6x6 guidelines say to measure your 1-rep Max values using the 1-Rep Max protocol in the book, then train with target loads set to 70% of your 1RM values. They also say to retest your 1-Rep Max every 2-4 weeks. So I began the week with the Monday session spent on 1-Rep Max testing.
The results in pounds:
Jefferson Lift - 240.33
Shoulder Press - 50.6
Drag Curl - 36.93
Based on the results, these will be the new target loads in pounds, which are roughly 70% of the above values:
Jefferton Lift - 170. Rounded up from 168.231
Shoulder Press - 36. 70% is 35.42, but I decided to round up instead of down
Drag Curl - 26. Rounded up from 25.851
The apparently loss of shoulder press strength was disappointing, but not entirely surprising. My low back did not feel fully recovered from the injury last week. Effort in the shoulder press did not add pain to the lower back. I paid attention to not tucking in my tailbone. Some people can cheat on the shoulder press by tucking in the tailbone and thus leaning back and adding their back strength to the press, so I tried to avoid that. Still, the thought of avoiding aggravating the back may have caused me to hold back from a true maximal effort shoulder press. All I can do is work at the lower target load, compared to last week, and continue practicing scapular protraction, squeezing the bar harder, and firing up the triceps more.
The Wednesday session began with my lower back feeling much better. This seemed to have been reflected in my performance in the 3 drills. The max force readings upon the last rep of each of the 3 drills were higher than my official 1-rep max values, despite the Jefferson Lift set making me sweat and feel a little fatigued before I did my Shoulder Press and Drag Curl sets.
For the Friday session, I decided to skip the 5-min. "shell warmup" period recommended by Ultimate Isometrics Manual because I figured doing the Jefferson Lift set first would warm up my body by itself. I also decided to raise my Shoulder Press target load to 38 lbs., in recognition of my offical 1RM values being temporarily lowered by the back injury. I still got a max force reading of 49.4, which is very close to the official 1RM of 50.6. I then decided to raise the target load to 40 lbs. for the next Monday session. My Drag Curl last-rep max reading of 39.1 was a little lower than what I scored Wednesday, but it was still higher than the official 1RM of 36.93. So I decided to raise the target load to 28 lbs. for the Monday session. I'm being a little more cautious about how quickly I raise the target load for this drill because my Golfer's Elbow isn't entirely gone and could flare up if I gamble too much with any bicep curl. The 6x6 guidelines seem to say that I should stay at the same target load until the next 1RM test but, again, my latest 1RM values were lowered by the back injury so I'm allowing modest raises whenever a 6x6 set feels a little too easy.
Instagram finds:
Mindful Mover on training at Rate Of Progress
Eduardo Orihuela on Locomotion Exercises for Handstand Training
Eduardo Orihuela on Improving Handstand Balance for HSPU
Some information on Nordic Curl, the exercise I plan to pair with Pistol Squat for my next calisthenics cycle:
Reddit post on Nordic Curl: What it is, why do do it, etc.
Nordic Curl using Yoga Strap and Door
The results in pounds:
Jefferson Lift - 240.33
Shoulder Press - 50.6
Drag Curl - 36.93
Based on the results, these will be the new target loads in pounds, which are roughly 70% of the above values:
Jefferton Lift - 170. Rounded up from 168.231
Shoulder Press - 36. 70% is 35.42, but I decided to round up instead of down
Drag Curl - 26. Rounded up from 25.851
The apparently loss of shoulder press strength was disappointing, but not entirely surprising. My low back did not feel fully recovered from the injury last week. Effort in the shoulder press did not add pain to the lower back. I paid attention to not tucking in my tailbone. Some people can cheat on the shoulder press by tucking in the tailbone and thus leaning back and adding their back strength to the press, so I tried to avoid that. Still, the thought of avoiding aggravating the back may have caused me to hold back from a true maximal effort shoulder press. All I can do is work at the lower target load, compared to last week, and continue practicing scapular protraction, squeezing the bar harder, and firing up the triceps more.
The Wednesday session began with my lower back feeling much better. This seemed to have been reflected in my performance in the 3 drills. The max force readings upon the last rep of each of the 3 drills were higher than my official 1-rep max values, despite the Jefferson Lift set making me sweat and feel a little fatigued before I did my Shoulder Press and Drag Curl sets.
For the Friday session, I decided to skip the 5-min. "shell warmup" period recommended by Ultimate Isometrics Manual because I figured doing the Jefferson Lift set first would warm up my body by itself. I also decided to raise my Shoulder Press target load to 38 lbs., in recognition of my offical 1RM values being temporarily lowered by the back injury. I still got a max force reading of 49.4, which is very close to the official 1RM of 50.6. I then decided to raise the target load to 40 lbs. for the next Monday session. My Drag Curl last-rep max reading of 39.1 was a little lower than what I scored Wednesday, but it was still higher than the official 1RM of 36.93. So I decided to raise the target load to 28 lbs. for the Monday session. I'm being a little more cautious about how quickly I raise the target load for this drill because my Golfer's Elbow isn't entirely gone and could flare up if I gamble too much with any bicep curl. The 6x6 guidelines seem to say that I should stay at the same target load until the next 1RM test but, again, my latest 1RM values were lowered by the back injury so I'm allowing modest raises whenever a 6x6 set feels a little too easy.
Instagram finds:
Mindful Mover on training at Rate Of Progress
Eduardo Orihuela on Locomotion Exercises for Handstand Training
Eduardo Orihuela on Improving Handstand Balance for HSPU
Some information on Nordic Curl, the exercise I plan to pair with Pistol Squat for my next calisthenics cycle:
Reddit post on Nordic Curl: What it is, why do do it, etc.
Nordic Curl using Yoga Strap and Door
Sunday, January 16, 2022
Isochain 6x6 Week 2
The week began with the low back still feeling sore from the injury last week. My performance in the shoulder press was a little compromised because I could feel my low back working to keep my body upright and maintain the floor-to-hands pressure while I did the shoulder press. I did not want to risk aggravating the back by pushing too hard.
By Wednesday morning, the back felt better, so I felt more confident about pushing harder on the shoulder press. The max force reading on my 6th, and final rep was 52.2 lbs, which was a new high at the 40 lb. target load. I decided to raise the target load by 2 lbs. for the Friday session. I also saw a performance jump in the drag curl, with a max reading of 41 lbs, up from a 33 lb. reading on Monday.
I changed my mind a couple of times about exercise selection for the 3rd and 4th exercises of this 6x6 routine. I finally decided to replace the Zercher Lunge with the Jefferson Deadlift, which is also called Straddle Lift in the Ultimate Isometric Manual, and have only 3 exercises instead of 4 because the Jefferson DL as an asymmetrical exercise takes more time than symmetrical ones like the shoulder press and regular deadlift. The Zercher Lunge looks like it would have more direct carryover to the Shrimp Squat and Pistol Squat because of the angle of the working ankle, knee, and hip. However working on it under 6x6 protocol seems to fatigue my legs enough that they feel prematurely sore when I try practicing the ATG Split Squat for mobility. I figure the Jefferson DL won't have the same effect. Also I have been curious about the reported benefits. As an anti-rotational exercise it's supposed to activate the obliques and multifidus to a high degree. It also introduces less shear force on the spine than the regular deadlift and has been known to help people with back pain work towards a regular deadlift.
Wednesday morning was my first trial of the Jefferson DL, with the target load set to a very conservative 100lbs. I was of course tentative for the first 3 reps because I didn't want to mess up my back. As my confidence grew, I was able to exert more and more force without feeling any increase in back pain. I was able to connect my fingers to my upper back while maintaining mixed grip, so that I did not feel any elbow pain. I played with hand positioning on the bar, and decided to grip near the bar ends, so that I would be less likely to rest my front hand on my thigh. I chose parallel feet alignment because of Mark Wildman's influence, who favors parallel feet for just about all kettlebell and heavy club training, because he feels trainees are too susceptible to allowing the knees to collapse inward otherwise. Before applying force, I make sure my shoulders were mostly in line with my hips. They're not perfectly in line because one hand is in front and the other hand is behind for holding the bar, but close enough that I did not feel any twist in the spine. The exercise felt good enough to keep it in my 6x6 routine. On one side I got a max force reading of 193.8 lbs on the final rep, and 248 lbs. on the other side.
The Friday session went smoothly. Shoulder press and drag curl max force readings on the final rep were down from Wednesday, as expected by the 2 lb. raise in target loads. This time I set a target load of 160 lbs. for the Jefferson Lift. This was sort of an arbitrary choice, as there was such a disparity between the max readings of each side on the Wednesday session. 70% of 194lbs seemed low for a target load. 70% of 200lbs would be 140lbs. which still looked low. Another change from Wednesday was turning the feet out, so that they were closer to 90 degrees from each other. This was because all the instructional articles and videos on the Jefferson Lift I could find advised the 90 degree angle. I did feel a stronger activation of muscle groups, particularly the glutes and hip adductors, compared to the parallel feet alignment. Last rep max force readings were 207.6 left-side and 215.8 right-side. In my training log, I will try to stick to a convention of left-side meaning the left foot is in front of the bar.
Later I tried a couple of pullups to see how my elbow and shoulder felt. I felt the Golfer's Elbow flare up a little on the first rep. By the last couple of test reps, I was able to eliminate the elbow pain by really focusing on pulling through my little fingers from the back. The shoulder however was not quite ready for brachial hang. I will wait until my very last training session under the current 6x6 program to test how my shoulder elbow and feel during pullups and hanging.
Some Instagram posts from Mindful Mover and Eduardo Orihuela that I'm saving here for future reference.
3 Stretches that will benefit anyone
Front Split
Weighted ATG Split Squat
Weighted Seated Good Morning
Eagle Hang Nordic Leg Curl
How To Get Into Ring Handstand
Nordic Leg Curl Mistakes
More Weighted Mobility Exercise variations
I changed my mind a couple of times about exercise selection for the 3rd and 4th exercises of this 6x6 routine. I finally decided to replace the Zercher Lunge with the Jefferson Deadlift, which is also called Straddle Lift in the Ultimate Isometric Manual, and have only 3 exercises instead of 4 because the Jefferson DL as an asymmetrical exercise takes more time than symmetrical ones like the shoulder press and regular deadlift. The Zercher Lunge looks like it would have more direct carryover to the Shrimp Squat and Pistol Squat because of the angle of the working ankle, knee, and hip. However working on it under 6x6 protocol seems to fatigue my legs enough that they feel prematurely sore when I try practicing the ATG Split Squat for mobility. I figure the Jefferson DL won't have the same effect. Also I have been curious about the reported benefits. As an anti-rotational exercise it's supposed to activate the obliques and multifidus to a high degree. It also introduces less shear force on the spine than the regular deadlift and has been known to help people with back pain work towards a regular deadlift.
Wednesday morning was my first trial of the Jefferson DL, with the target load set to a very conservative 100lbs. I was of course tentative for the first 3 reps because I didn't want to mess up my back. As my confidence grew, I was able to exert more and more force without feeling any increase in back pain. I was able to connect my fingers to my upper back while maintaining mixed grip, so that I did not feel any elbow pain. I played with hand positioning on the bar, and decided to grip near the bar ends, so that I would be less likely to rest my front hand on my thigh. I chose parallel feet alignment because of Mark Wildman's influence, who favors parallel feet for just about all kettlebell and heavy club training, because he feels trainees are too susceptible to allowing the knees to collapse inward otherwise. Before applying force, I make sure my shoulders were mostly in line with my hips. They're not perfectly in line because one hand is in front and the other hand is behind for holding the bar, but close enough that I did not feel any twist in the spine. The exercise felt good enough to keep it in my 6x6 routine. On one side I got a max force reading of 193.8 lbs on the final rep, and 248 lbs. on the other side.
The Friday session went smoothly. Shoulder press and drag curl max force readings on the final rep were down from Wednesday, as expected by the 2 lb. raise in target loads. This time I set a target load of 160 lbs. for the Jefferson Lift. This was sort of an arbitrary choice, as there was such a disparity between the max readings of each side on the Wednesday session. 70% of 194lbs seemed low for a target load. 70% of 200lbs would be 140lbs. which still looked low. Another change from Wednesday was turning the feet out, so that they were closer to 90 degrees from each other. This was because all the instructional articles and videos on the Jefferson Lift I could find advised the 90 degree angle. I did feel a stronger activation of muscle groups, particularly the glutes and hip adductors, compared to the parallel feet alignment. Last rep max force readings were 207.6 left-side and 215.8 right-side. In my training log, I will try to stick to a convention of left-side meaning the left foot is in front of the bar.
Later I tried a couple of pullups to see how my elbow and shoulder felt. I felt the Golfer's Elbow flare up a little on the first rep. By the last couple of test reps, I was able to eliminate the elbow pain by really focusing on pulling through my little fingers from the back. The shoulder however was not quite ready for brachial hang. I will wait until my very last training session under the current 6x6 program to test how my shoulder elbow and feel during pullups and hanging.
Some Instagram posts from Mindful Mover and Eduardo Orihuela that I'm saving here for future reference.
3 Stretches that will benefit anyone
Front Split
Weighted ATG Split Squat
Weighted Seated Good Morning
Eagle Hang Nordic Leg Curl
How To Get Into Ring Handstand
Nordic Leg Curl Mistakes
More Weighted Mobility Exercise variations
Monday, November 08, 2021
GSC Month 1: Week 3
I continued the schedule of Workout #1 on Monday, Workout #2 on Wednesday, and Workout #3 on Friday. On the morning of Workout #1, I used my newly acquired Beurer BC57 Blood Pressure Monitor and got a reading of 118/96 with an 80 pulse.
Workout #1
For the Tension phase, the isometric pushup was still a struggle, so I just did it standing, pushing hard against the yoga strap.
Floor pushup strength sets: 8 7 7 4
Getting closer to the minimum 3 sets of 8 reps, which is an admittedly arbitrary goal I set for myself to achieve. Once this goal is achieved, I would feel ready to start working on Pseudo Planche Pushups, aka "Leaned Forward Pushups", which is the next major step in the progression towards Planche Pushups.
I once again forgot to time the finisher pushups. I did have the NOSSK straps set long enough to allow me to start the Finisher Phase with sets of RTO pushups, gradually working to greater and greater incline to drop the intensity, then swith to regular incline pushups without missing a beat.
Workout #2
For this morning, my blood pressure readings were 113/80 and 58 pulse.
Tuck Front Lever Row strength sets: 5 5 5
Level 4 Suspension Straight Leg Hip Bridge strength sets: 3 3 6
Finisher rows on NOSSK: 3 min. set.
Finisher Isochain Romanian Deadlift 110lbs: 30s hold
No obvious progress on Tuck Front Lever Row. I think I started to get the hang of Suspension Straight Leg Hip Bridge on the last strength set.
Workout #3
I once again forgot to do the Lateral Push Down as part of the Tension phase and also forgot do the T-Planks as part of the Stability Phase. Maybe I'm still not taking the lateral chain aspect of Workout #3 as seriously as I should.
Assisted Jumbo Shrimp Squat strength sets: 4 4 4
Moving Side Plank strength sets: 5 5 5
Finisher Jump Lunge: Managed just over 50s
Finisher Side Plank: 25s hold
This was my first workout with the Jumbo Shrimp Squat, aka "Elevated Shrimp Squat". I think I may have focused too much on folding my torso forward rather than on just sinking my hips straight down.
Great video by Eduardo Orihuela on progressing from Pseudo Planche Pushup to Tuck Planche Pushup - probably works best with parallettes or 2 sturdy chairs. Great post by Mindful Mover on an exercise that can be used for progressing past the Tuck Planche - starting in Tuck Planche and increasing difficulty on the eccentric portion of the movement, by extending the legs, then setting the feet down and doing a Pseudo Planche Pushup on the concentric portion.
Workout #1
For the Tension phase, the isometric pushup was still a struggle, so I just did it standing, pushing hard against the yoga strap.
Floor pushup strength sets: 8 7 7 4
Getting closer to the minimum 3 sets of 8 reps, which is an admittedly arbitrary goal I set for myself to achieve. Once this goal is achieved, I would feel ready to start working on Pseudo Planche Pushups, aka "Leaned Forward Pushups", which is the next major step in the progression towards Planche Pushups.
I once again forgot to time the finisher pushups. I did have the NOSSK straps set long enough to allow me to start the Finisher Phase with sets of RTO pushups, gradually working to greater and greater incline to drop the intensity, then swith to regular incline pushups without missing a beat.
Workout #2
For this morning, my blood pressure readings were 113/80 and 58 pulse.
Tuck Front Lever Row strength sets: 5 5 5
Level 4 Suspension Straight Leg Hip Bridge strength sets: 3 3 6
Finisher rows on NOSSK: 3 min. set.
Finisher Isochain Romanian Deadlift 110lbs: 30s hold
No obvious progress on Tuck Front Lever Row. I think I started to get the hang of Suspension Straight Leg Hip Bridge on the last strength set.
Workout #3
I once again forgot to do the Lateral Push Down as part of the Tension phase and also forgot do the T-Planks as part of the Stability Phase. Maybe I'm still not taking the lateral chain aspect of Workout #3 as seriously as I should.
Assisted Jumbo Shrimp Squat strength sets: 4 4 4
Moving Side Plank strength sets: 5 5 5
Finisher Jump Lunge: Managed just over 50s
Finisher Side Plank: 25s hold
This was my first workout with the Jumbo Shrimp Squat, aka "Elevated Shrimp Squat". I think I may have focused too much on folding my torso forward rather than on just sinking my hips straight down.
Great video by Eduardo Orihuela on progressing from Pseudo Planche Pushup to Tuck Planche Pushup - probably works best with parallettes or 2 sturdy chairs. Great post by Mindful Mover on an exercise that can be used for progressing past the Tuck Planche - starting in Tuck Planche and increasing difficulty on the eccentric portion of the movement, by extending the legs, then setting the feet down and doing a Pseudo Planche Pushup on the concentric portion.
Saturday, February 27, 2021
GMB and Mindful Mover on Alternatives to Deadlift
Once upon a time, I had a barbell set and practiced the deadlift using the basic program prescribed in the book Power To The People by Pavel Tsatsouline. This training program had only two exercises - the side press and the deadlift. Pavel has always been a strong advocate of the deadlift. Aside from training the lower back, this quote from the book describes the other muscles trained.:
You work your shoulder girdle, your traps, your biceps, your forearms and your grip. Also, for athletes from sports where hypertrophy in the legs is not recommended, the deadlift is a great exercise.
I eventually achieved a double-bodyweight deadlift. My deadlifting days came to an end when I loaded up the bar a little heavier than I should have and forgot to press hard on the heels of my feet to stand up. The pain in my back was immediate and intense enough to let me know that I did something wrong. I consulted with the sports doctor who treated me for my shoulder injury and he recommended a spine specialist. I went to the spine specialist and he recommended rest and light exercise. While he did not give me a precise diagnosis, he did say I might have a disc issue at worst, but otherwise did not need surgery, which I took as good news. Shortly after, I got rid of my barbell set when it was time to move out of my apartment.
During all this time between getting rid of the barbell set and getting the Isochain. I had pondered what bodyweight exercises I could do as alternatives to the deadlift. Al Kavadlo recommended four bodyweight exercises as alternatives: Bridge, Single Leg Deadlift, Pistol Squat, and Lever Holds . I eventually learned and practiced all four exercises. Without a barbell or an Isochain, I could not really test the effects of these four exercises on my deadlift strength.
GMB has an article in which they state that there are no bodyweight exercises that can truly substitute for the deadlift or other barbell exercises, and then go on to elaborate this statement. One key passage of the article is the description of the benefits of practicing the deadlift, listing the requirements for a strong deadlift, then listing bodyweight movements that would help you meet those requirements. Perhaps another way of describing GMB's recommendations, in response to the question of what bodyweight exercises can serve as deadlift alternatives, is to practice bodyweight exercises that will deliver the same benefits as a deadlifts - those benefits being a strong grip, a strong back, etc. GMB acknowledges in this article that you won't gain the same strength in those areas as somebody who has worked up to a triple bodyweight deadlift, but you'll be stronger in those areas than someone who just sits around all day and doesn't do any exercise.
Around the same time that I saw the GMB article, I saw Mindful Mover's opinion of the Deadlift expressed in this Instagram post. Their message seems to be different than GMB's. It seems to be intended for people who have already achieved a double-bodyweight deadlift. The message is that once this level of strength is achieved, it is no longer necessary to practice the deadlift, but instead practice Single Leg Squats, Nordic Leg Curls, and One Leg Back Extensions. In response to a question about whether Single Leg Squats and Nordic Leg Curls can deliver the same benefits for lower back strength that the Deadlift does, their answer is yes, with Accommodating Resistance. I saw in one the post replies that Phil of Mindful Mover practices the Single Leg Squat (that is, Pistol Squat) with a weighted vest, loaded with over 100 lbs of weight - maybe 120lbs? I forgot. Occasionally, he has a partner add her own bodyweight for extra load. Anyway, they train the eccentric motion with the full load , then use hands (Accommodating Resistance) to assist in the concentric portion of the movement.
Mindful Mover has a video on how to train the Nordic Leg Curl with Accommodating Resistance. E3 Rehab has an informative article that does not mention Accommodating Resistance but does describe in detail how to set up for it. Their view seems more balanced, in that they mention the barbell deadlift as an effective exercise for the hamstrings, yet cast the Nordic Leg Curl as the best exercise for preventing hamstring injury, rather than as an exercise that is superior to the deadlift in multiple aspects.
One other thing I learned from reading through that Instagram post and all the replies is that Mindful Mover no longer considers the Single Leg Deadlift to be essential for improving hamstring flexibility. They now think that the Weighted Pike Stretch is all you need. Hamstring flexibility is not a super high priority for me right now, but I'll keep this in mind for future reference. I'm practicing the L-Hold progression as part of my Trifecta mobility sessions. When I reach the full L-Hold/L-Sit then that exercise will become more of a hamstring stretch. I also plan to try the Single Leg Romanian Deadlift on the Isochain at some point, even if Mindful Mover no longer favors the dynamic version of this exercise for hamstring mobility.
It was interesting to see what GMB and Mindful Mover think about how people who desire the benefits of deadlifting but are unable to deadlift for whatever reason, be it lack of access to a barbell or something else. I don't plan to drop the Deadlift from my exercise menu anytime soon. It's just too quick and convenient to practice with the Isochain. My Deadlift training on the Isochain takes 6 seconds per rep = up to 36
sec. total, plus 100 seconds total rest time between reps, plus 30 sec.
rest between Deadlift warmup sets and the start of work sets, plus about
60 sec. total for the warmup sets = 266 seconds or 4 minutes and 26
seconds. This is so little training time that it makes no sense to me to drop this exercise to save time.
One possible next routine after the 6-8 weeks with Promethean Mk II
are up, is the combined Isochain-bodyweight routine that appears in the manual as "Option C". One of those dynamic exercises is... single-leg
squats! The routine will let me continue building absolute strength
with the Isochain. As GMB states, while pure bodyweight exercises can make a person very strong, these exercises cannot compete with weight training at loads of double-bodyweight or higher, for developing the greatest humanly possible strength. This routine would let me improve my mobility, motor control, and
balance by including single-leg squat, while also letting me continue building my overall strength by including the Deadlift, Zercher Squat, etc. as Isochain drills.
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Mindful Mover ideas on training for One-Arm Chinup and Planche
Today was an active recovery day, so no training for me other than some shoulder rehab work with bands.
Given my shoulder struggles I'm in no shape to seriously pursue the One-Arm Chinup or the Planche right now. That said, it's not a bad idea to save training ideas for the day that I'm ready to pursue either skill.
Ideas from Mindful Mover for training the One-Arm Chinup.
Training progression for Pseudo Planche Pushup on Rings
And finally, a tip to press into planche to start your set of planche pushups. One of the intermediate stages in the progression towards full planche pushups, is doing the eccentric half of a planche pushup and doing a pseudo-planche pushup on the concentric. This is where you would be if you are not strong enough yet to do a tuck planche pushup. So the tip to press into planche applies to trainees who do have this minimum level of strength.
Given my shoulder struggles I'm in no shape to seriously pursue the One-Arm Chinup or the Planche right now. That said, it's not a bad idea to save training ideas for the day that I'm ready to pursue either skill.
Ideas from Mindful Mover for training the One-Arm Chinup.
...and ideas from Mindful Mover for training towards the Planche - in this case, it's the pushup with forward lean.
Training progression for Pseudo Planche Pushup on Rings
And finally, a tip to press into planche to start your set of planche pushups. One of the intermediate stages in the progression towards full planche pushups, is doing the eccentric half of a planche pushup and doing a pseudo-planche pushup on the concentric. This is where you would be if you are not strong enough yet to do a tuck planche pushup. So the tip to press into planche applies to trainees who do have this minimum level of strength.
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