Crow Pose Program Session 16

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

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The forward shoulder roll happens to be one of our favorites @gmbfitness - it’s one of those moves that checks off a lot of physical preparedness boxes, combining and training strength, flexibility, and control all at once when done correctly. - This move encourages use of end range shoulder patterns, it engages the core the entire time (including neck stability muscles which are often a struggle for people), and it calls on flexibility from the back and posterior chain (spine, hamstrings, hips and calves). - Here’s how it’s done: -Start in quadruped. -Place one arm in a fully internally rotated position on the ground. -Let the weight transfer onto that arm, while you make a window with the other arm to look through. -As you look through the window, keep your head lifted. Do not let it touch the ground the entire time. -With weight on the shoulder (and balancing with the “window” arm, gently straighten your knees. -Then walk your feet forward until it feels natural to allow your body to fall (controlled) forward into a sit. - Don’t forget to spend more time in the areas that are tougher for you. This is where true growth happens. Your strengths will take care of themselves. Focus on your weaknesses for rapid progress. - For more on how training moves like this will help your overall #athleticism , see this article: https://gmb.io/athleticism/

A post shared by GMB Fitness (@gmbfitness) on Mar 11, 2020 at 7:27am PDT

Shrimp Squat Progression

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SHRIMP SQUAT TUTORIAL - The Shrimp Squat is a single leg variation similar to the Pistol Squat and Single Leg Deadlift. This movement helps you build strength in the lower body, flexibility in the ankles, and overall better balance. Here are a few Progressions to help you get your first Shrimp Squat: - 1. Step Back Lunge 2. Stall Step Back Lunge 3. Negative Shrimp Squat 4. Shrimp Squat with legs assistance 5. Shrimp Squat with arms out 6. Shrimp Squat . . . . . . #gmbfitness #gmbtrainer #gmb #goldmedalbodies #bodyweight #bodyweighttraining #bodyweightworkout #bodyweightexercises #homeworkout #hometraining #homeexercises #exerciseathome #exerciseanywhere #workoutanywhere #calesthenics #yoga #gymnastics #crossfit #physicalautonomy #physicalfreedom #shrimpsquat

A post shared by GMB Fitness (@gmbfitness) on Oct 3, 2019 at 1:10pm PDT

Crow Pose Program Session 15

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.

P1 Assessment:

Inverted Press - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Challenging

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

Mountain Climbers - Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Crow Pose Program Session 14

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.

Crow Pose Program Session 13

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:

Arm Line Flow Sequence:

Crow Pose Program Session 12

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

Today's Musical Discoveries

A lot of the following were discovered via a discussion on "minimalism".

I think I set a new record for today

OP-1 Quick Start Guide

Always nice to see a new perspective on teaching others how to use their OP-1

Also, Liam Killen also posted a bunch of recent OP-1 tutorial videos on his channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcDhRSTD-ba6Di5Kt9gy68g

Crow Pose Program Session 11

Prepare
GMB Knee Mobility routine  

Today's GMB Mobility session focusing on Fundamentals

Practice

Today's Paralletttes One (P1) Week 1 Day 1 session

Play

Playing with the Forward Roll setup as taught in Vitamin.

Push

Some extra practice of the Tuck Sit, to assess the level I should be working at and to drill the cues taught by GMB: 
1. Shoulders should be pulled back and down into anti-shrug
2. Chest should be up
3. Hands should be directly below shoulders
4. Butt should be directly under shoulders
5. Elbow pits facing forward
6. Arms should be locked out and pushing hard down into the parallettes.

That's a lot of cues to remember and keep track of at once, actually.

Ponder  

I haven't done much pressing exercise aside from the recent Crow Pose related activities.  Also, while the stability of my previously injured shoulder has improved thanks to Turkish Getup practice, I know I need to ease it into parallette work.  Thus it was an easy decision to work at Level A in P1.

Assessment of todays P1 work:

Plank Push-Ups From Knees - 5-6 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid.

Front Dips - 6 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Solid.  Searched for a position that would not stretch the shoulders in a painful way - feet too far from the p-bars seems to cause that uncomfortable stretch.  I also need to learn to not use the lower body to power the movement.

Plank Hold - At least 15 seconds. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid.

Tuck Hold - 14 sec. Quality: Rough. Ease: Solid.  I forgot to review the updated L-Sit tutorial, which breaks down the progression into more steps than just Tuck Hold and full L-Sit.  I did another assessment after the workout and confirmed I can hold the position with both toes on the ground without much trouble.  After review of the public tutorial and the instructions in Integral Strength, I figured out that the stage of the L-Sit progression I should be working at is with one knee pulled up as high as possible with the toe of the other leg touching the ground.

Mt. Climber Climbers - 6-8 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid


A more recent video by GMB shows the pushup from knees and the Front Dip (or what they now call Tricep Dip) at a better angle for learning purposes

Another more recent article by GMB recommends using the thumb to determine optimal grip position - yet another piece of info new to me:
https://gmb.io/parallettes-intro/

Crow Pose Program Session 10

Prepare 

GMB Knee Mobility routine  

Today's GMB Mobility session focusing on 4 movement planes

 

Practice

Today's GMB Vitamin session focusing on Monkey

 

Play

Crow Pose from face down, isometric pushing to lift face for 1 min.

Push

Bent-Arm Monkey #3 practice over the afternoon

Couple of sets of Shrimp Squat Variation #1 (Step Back Lunge with slight back foot assist)

 

Ponder  

No knee ache during the Supine Hip Circles exercise from today's GMB Mobility session for 2nd day in a row!

 

The Vitamin session amounted to about 10 min. of practice of the Monkey variations - Basic Monkey, Straight-Leg Monkey, and Bent-Arm Monkey.  I decided to call it a session instead of proceeding to the Elements Core Conditioning routine because


My legs were fatiguing quickly when I practiced Shrimp Squat - I think it was because of the more intense than intended Shrimp Squat practice the last couple of days, in which I forced the working leg to lift my body without the rear foot assistance.

Best Crow Pose hold today was 9 seconds.

My less stable shoulder isn't clicking any more.

I switched my P-Barz parallettes from the Pro height to the standard height.  I am pondering mixing in some shoulder stand practice on the P-Barz, since the parallette Shoulder Stand is pretty close to a Crow Pose.  I'd achieved the Shoulder Stand before but never really worked on holding it for more than 30 seconds.  I think if I work on it again, it will help my progress with the Crow Pose.

I think I will drop the kettlebell work altogether.  I'll continue to do GMB Mobility and Vitamin every day.  I will start Parallettes One again, at Level A, practice it on alternating days with the Elements Core Conditioning routine.    That way I will get the training for pressing strength that I need for Crow Pose, and the core training I need for both Crow Pose and Handstand.

Crow Pose Program Session 9

Prepare

GMB Knee Mobility routine  

Today's GMB Mobility session focusing on Hips

 

Practice

Today's GMB Vitamin session focusing on Duck Walk

 

Play

Duck Walk play

Push

Shrimp Squat Variation #1 (easiest) spread through afternoon

 

Ponder  

No more knee ache during the Supine Hip Circles exercise from today's GMB Mobility session.  Thanks to GMB's Knee Mobility routine and the Shrimp Squat practice!

 

Some improvement in outer hip mobility.

I'll probably continue practicing Duck Walk as it has potential for strengthening my feet and ankles.  I felt some tightness/soreness in my feet but no acute pain.

Some training ideas that are not directly related to Crow Pose but worth saving anyway:

https://www.strongfirst.com/strength-aerobics/

Tips on Press to Handstand for L-Sit
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0q6JI_jnVt/?hl=en

Crow Pose Program Session 8

Prepare
GMB Knee Mobility routine  

Today's GMB Mobility session focusing on Fundamentals

Practice

2 Turkish Getup singles per side with 16kg Kettlebell

3 reps of Windmill with 16kg KB overhead, supersetting the TGU practice

Play

Beginner Core Conditioning Routine from the bonus section of Elements for two circuits

Push

Shrimp Squat Variation #1 (easiest) spread through afternoon

Ponder
Heard and felt some clicks in my lower spine during the Windmill practice again but still no pain.
Shoulders fatigued after two supersets of Turkish Getup + Windmill so I didn't do a third.

Lingering shoulder soreness even during brachial hang which is the last stretch I do for my cooldown.  Will definitely give the shoulders a break for tomorrow's exercise session.

Knee didn't ache during the lying hip circles or sumo frogger exercises from today's Mobility session, which is a nice improvement.  Shrimp Squat is looking like the best choice for strengthening my quads without any knee pain.

Came across these articles about strength and flexibility training for today's young competitive gymnasts - even though they don't apply directly to me, it's interesting to see that gymnastic coaches are still looking to evaluate and innovate training for their students:
https://shiftmovementscience.com/ultimategymnasticsstrengthguide/
https://shiftmovementscience.com/gymnasticsflexibilityguide/

On an even less related note, a neat demonstration of dantian usage in Dai Family Xinyi

 

Crow Pose Program Session 7

Prepare
GMB Knee Mobility routine  

Today's GMB Mobility session focusing on Legs.

Practice

3 Turkish Getup singles per side with 16kg Kettlebell

3 reps of Windmill with 16kg KB overhead

Beginner Core Conditioning Routine from the bonus section of Elements

Play

Exploring Backward Roll, walking legs around arm, then touching toe to the rear.

Push

Reverse Lunge with 16kg KB in rack

Bent-Arm Monkey #3 with minimum 1-sec. pause

Both of the above spread through the afternoon.

Ponder
Heard and felt some clicks in my lower spine during the Windmill practice.  I have not felt any pain but will monitor closely. 

Knee was still acting up in deep squat for Monkey and Frogger.  I found however if I squat with my feet closer together - much narrower distance than shoulder width, the knee ache goes away.

The knee seem to like the Reverse Lunge and the lower level Shrimp Squat variation which is a lot like Reverse Lunge.  I'll stick to those for strengthening the leg to reduce knee pain.

Best hold in Crow Pose today, working out of Bent Arm Monkey #3, was 14 seconds.   At my level, the hands have to be active, with the fingers applying pressure as more of my weight shifts forward, and my palm heels working when the weight starts to shift back.

Crow Pose Program Session 6

Prepare

Today's GMB Mobility session focusing on Hips.

Practice

Realized I forgot GMB Knee Mobility routine so I went through that.

Play

Today's GMB Vitamin session focusing a combination movement incorporating Forward Roll, Merry Go Round, and Backward Roll.  

Occasional play with Bent-Arm Monkey Variation 3 (hold a Crow Pose pause for at least 1 second), spread through the afternoon.

Push

Taking it easy today so no push.

Ponder

The Vitamin session was a hoot!  Because of my failure to nail the Forward Roll, I knew I had no chance of properly executing either version of today's combo move.  So I spent both Play sessions within Vitamin exploring the same level of the combo move.  One problem I've had with Forward Roll is the struggle to get the shoulder, neck, and head into the proper setup position for it.  But today, I discovered another issue - not being sure what side the legs need to pass by my extended arm.  I figured out that the legs pass on the opposite side of my head.

While reviewing Brett Jones' Windmill 101 article, I came across his other article on the Lock and Rock technique for identifying the ideal foot position for a deadlift or squat position.  My problematic left knee tends to ache when I get into a deep squat for the Monkey or Frogger.  I was surprised to find that my "ideal" foot position, per the Lock and Rock technique, calls for my feet being turned out even further.  I tried turning my feet out more and the knee ache went away!

Although this was supposed to be a sort of rest day, I couldn't resist the urge to try Bent-Arm Monkey Variation 3.  I realized that I could practice this more productively by entering into Crow Pose slowly, and thus slowly bringing my weight forward, as the weight on my toes decreases, until the feet start to float.  I was thus about to achieve a new personal record in the Crow Pose - 16 seconds!

Crow Pose Program Session 5

This wasn't really a Simple and Sinister session, as I didn't practice kettlebell swings.  I didn't work a lot on Crow Pose either, but I'll call it a Crow Pose session.

Prepare

GMB Knee Mobility routine, then today's GMB Mobility session focusing on Fundamentals.

Practice

Reverse Partial Turkish Getup - from standing to the bridge instead of Tall Sit.  The reason is that I noticed a tendency to allow the shoulder of the supporting arm to shrug by the time I settle into the Tall Sit.  So I figured I would stop at the bridge to work on improving the shoulder alignment, as well as improving the quality of the bridge.

Beginner Core Conditioning Routine from the bonus section of Elements

Play

GMB Vitamin session focusing on Backward Roll.

Push

No real Push work today.

Ponder

I woke up this morning with sore triceps, which was probably the consequence of playing with Bent-Arm Baby Frogger and Fall Forward to Negative Pushup yesterday.  I was feeling a bit too beat to do kettelbell swings.

The Vitamin session was a lot of fun.  I was always more comfortable with backward rolls than forward rolls.  I lack the hamstring flexibility to perform it in a pretty way, but I think I can nail this move sooner than the Forward Roll.

Going forward, I will continue to practice the Turkish Getup in some form or another because it's been good to my shoulder.  I may start supersetting it with a Windmill as described in Brett Jones' Windmill article.   I will stop practicing kettlebell swings for now.  Swings have strengthened my back as promised but I still have lingering aches in the hips when I sit and lie down in bed.  Lately my core training has been split between the Turkish Getup and Swing.  After about 6 months of this, I want to try replacing the KB Swing with the Elements Core Conditioning Routine and see what that does for my core.

Found another thing to ponder - Breathing.

Crow Pose Program Session 4

Prepare

GMB Knee Mobility routine, then today's GMB Mobility session focusing on Shoulders.

Practice

1 min, 10 sec. Crow Pose practice sets for a total of 3 sets.  This time I just left my face on the ground, didn't try fighting to look up.

I then worked through today's GMB Vitamin session focusing on the Pilot Freeze. As with other Vitamin sessions, I failed to master all 3 variations but I'm starting to understand why mastering the movement is not the point.  Rather, the point is to explore the movement and observe what can be learned.  What I learned was that I did not shift enough weight over to my upper body to free up the hips and legs to float.  Could I shift enough weight over to achieve the necessary balance?  If not, is it because I lack the strength to support the weight?  These questions will have to be answered another time.  

 

In my exploration of this position, I went over too far to the side and fell on that side.  Luckily, while the wrist felt a bit sore afterwards, there does not seem to be any lingering pain.

Play

3 minutes of Bent-Arm Frogger with the minimum 1-second Crow Pose hold.  My max hold was 5 seconds.  I think the effort expended to push into the ground during the Vitamin session drained me a bit.  It's also possible that not expending the additional effort to raise my face off the ground during Crow Pose practice somehow affected my performance here.

Push

2 minutes of Bent-Arm Monkey.  Shoulder complained just a tiny bit.

 

Front Scale practice spread through rest of afternoon.

Ponder

I'll try to take a look at what the upcoming Vitamin session looks like before my next Crow Pose training session.  If it looks like it will challenge the upper body more like the Pilot Freeze then I should probably schedule the Vitamin session the Push section.  I don't think I'm supposed to be this tired before the Play section.

For Bent-Arm Monkey I should work more on pushing through my hands into the ground to elevate my feet, instead of initiating the jump at the feet.  This would make the Bent-Arm Monkey more of the strength training exercise that will help me with Crow Pose.  

I looked for more examples of Bent-Arm Frogger and found the Bent-Arm Baby Frogger in this Locomotion Circuit Conditioning video featuring Ryan of GMB:

What I notice is different about Bent-Arm Baby Frogger compared to standard Frogger:

• Standard Frogger starts out of a squat - preferably a deep squat, whereas in Baby Frogger, the feet are closer together
• The arms are outside the thighs instead of inside the thighs.

I tried Bent-Arm Baby Frogger for a bit.  I can probably work it a bit but I'll have to be careful about how much load I put onto my arms and shoulders - especially the suspect one.

While browsing the GMB channel on Youtube, I stumbled upon the video and article on exercise for bone health.  The Fall Forward to Negative Pushup exercise reminds me of the forward breakfall that I was taught in Jujutsu class.  The idea of improve bone health in my feet, knees, and shoulders appeals to me, but the article does advise to not do this routine more than 2x a week.

Today's Simple & Sinister session

I started the session with the GMB Knee Mobility routine. I've practiced pieces of this routine before but have often forgotten to include the jump. 

Then I worked through today's GMB Mobility session which focused on Hips.  This time I remembered to do the leg lifts in the Half Frog.  Hardly any of the dull ache I've been feeling in my ailing knee while practicing the Sumo Frogger. 

Practiced the reverse partial Turkish Getup that I thought of yesterday.  The idea is to start in the standing position with the kettlebell supported overhead,  work through the movement down to the Tall Sit position, then work back up to standing position again.  This practice mostly went well.  I realized that I tend to rush the transition from the Lunge to the Leg Sweep by  putting the supporting hand onto the ground so quickly that I'm practically dropping onto that hand.  I also noticed a tendency to shrug the shoulder after I put the hand on the ground.  I don't know exactly why I do that so I'll have to monitor this more closely, as it compromises my stability.

Swing portion:  2-arm 32kg swings for 2 sets, followed by 4 sets of 1-arm 24kg swings.  I called it after noticing significant drop in the quality of movement due to fatigue.   I think I didn't rest enough during the Play portion of the GMB Mobility session.

A bit of play with the Bent-Arm Frogger with minimum 1-second Crow Pose hold.  The max hold I was able to manage was 5 seconds.

For the afternoon, I practiced Front Scale Leg Lifts.  The knee felt much better today than yesterday.

Good article on Diatonic Harmony

Comes with audio examples:

https://www.artofcomposing.com/08-diatonic-harmony

Third session under new Crow Pose fitness program

Prepare

GMB Knee Health routine, then I used today's GMB Mobility session in its 15-minute entirety for Prepare.  Today's mobility focus was on Fundamentals.

Practice

1 min, 10 sec. Crow Pose practice sets for a total of 3 sets.  Barely got my face off the ground a couple of times.

Play

3 minutes of Bent-Arm Frogger with the minimum 1-second Crow Pose hold.   I landed a 14-second hold early, then managed a 11-second hold towards the end.

Push

2 minutes of Bent-Arm Monkey.  Shoulder still held up ok.

3 sets of 5-6 reps of Back Leg Elevated Lunge to try to strengthen quads for knee health.

Vitamin session focusing on a movement called Merry Go Round - joyful fun!

Sissy Squat practice spread through rest of afternoon.

Ponder
Reviewed the video of the Bent-Arm Monkey:

The next time I practice Bent-Arm Monkey, I should start with the first variation, which is just to place the hands on the ground in the diamond formation and load them.  Then I should practice the 2nd variation, which is the variation I practiced today, and work on being able to perform it more slowly like Chris does in the video.  In order to do it more slowly, I need to load more of my weight into my hands, to allow the toes to float over the ground.  Working this way should build the same kind of strength that is needed to lift the knees off of the elbow to play from the Crow Pose like this guy does here:

Starting to feel some muscle soreness in the shoulders from the Crow Pose training but not the kind of soreness to worry about.  What was more disappointing was how the left knee felt after trying out Back Leg Elevated Lunge and Sissy Squat.  It's possible these exercises put too much load on the quad for this knee, or something about the leverage on the knee is just off. 

For tomorrow I will try a reverse partial Turkish Getup.  The idea is to start in the standing position with the kettlebell supported overhead,  work through the movement down to the Tall Sit position, then work back up to standing position again.   This way, I can avoid the Prone to Elbow stage that was causing trouble to the knee in the first place and resume some progress in this movement through this partial practice.  Then in the afternoon, I will practice reverse lunge with the kettlebell racked, to hopefully strengthen the quads without further aggravating the knee, as well as improve performance in the Turkish Getup.

Second session under new Crow Pose fitness program

I don't think I'll post an entry for every single session but since this is a new direction that is evolving to address my concerns, I guess I'll have to record notes.

Prepare

GMB Knee Health routine, then I used today's GMB Mobility session in its 15-minute entirety for Prepare.  Today's mobility focus was on Spine.

Practice

1 min, 10 sec. Crow Pose practice sets for a total of 3 sets.

Play

3 minutes of Bent-Arm Frogger with the minimum 1-second Crow Pose hold.   I landed a 12-second hold early, then managed several 5-second holds for the rest of the set.

Push

1 minute of Bent-Arm Monkey.  This was mainly a test for the suspect shoulder.  It held up ok.

Kettelbell swings - This isn't directly related to Crow Pose but I want to keep up my swing practice because it's been good for my back.  2 sets of 10 2-arm swings with the 32kg. 4 sets of 1-arm swings with the 24kg.  2 sets of 2-arm swings with the 24kg, trying to go for overspeed eccentrics.

Modified Pigeon and Half-Pancake for cooldown.

Some play with the Forward Roll Setup.

Front and Back Scale practice spread through rest of afternoon.

Ponder

Basically it's working on this blog post.  There's still a dull ache in my left knee MCL when I lock out my left leg to support as I practice Front Scale/Front Scale Leg Lift with my right leg.   This is the same issue that led me to halt Turkish Getup practice.  After perusal of GMB's selection of Advanced Leg Exercises, I decided to replace the Scales with Back Leg Elevated Lunge and Sissy Squat.  So now my path to better knee health looks like this:

1. Improve Quad Strength - Back Leg Elevated Lunge and Sissy Squat

2. Hip Flexibility - GMB Mobility program

3. Unusual Movements - GMB Knee Health routine

First session under new Crow Pose fitness program

Today was the first session under the new program to build towards a solid Crow Pose, inspired by GMB's 5P framework.  Here are my comments on each of the 5Ps for today:

Prepare

I used today's GMB Mobility session in its 15-minute entirety for Prepare.  Today's mobility focus was on Hips, which is suitable enough for the Crow Pose.

Practice

1 min, 10 sec. Crow Pose practice sets for a total of 3 sets. The extra 10 seconds is to account for the gradual, back and forth movements as depicted in the Crow Pose tutorial.  For a first session mostly dedicated to Crow Pose, three sets felt like enough, as I was taking breaks during the 2nd and 3rd sets.

Play

3 minutes of Bent-Arm Frogger with the minimum 1-second Crow Pose hold.  I was surprised to be able sustain holds of 5 seconds or more in the Crow Pose, with a maximum hold around 15 seconds.

Push

This doesn't really count as a Push section specific to Crow Pose.  I just wanted to continue progress through GMB Vitamin.  Today's 15-min. Vitamin session focused on the Plow pose.  My spine was already getting some flexion from Crow Pose training and this took it up a notch.  The session called for more than 3 min. of practice of each of the following:  Plow Setup, Sink Knees into Plow, Work into Full Plow.  My hamstrings have always been tight, though slightly loosened by kettlebell swings and GMB Mobility but I also had tightness in the upper back and back of the hips..

Ponder

Basically it's working on this blog post.  For tomorrow, I'll keep the Practice portion as it is, and add 2 min. of Bent Arm Monkey to the Play section.

Changing fitness routine after today

The Simple and Sinister kettlebell training program has been good for me.  My back feels stronger and less susceptible to pain when practicing Squatting Monkey or any other exercise with deliberate reverse breathing.  My shoulder feels more stable, thanks to Turkish Getup practice.  I will continue to practice the swing exercises to keep improving the strength and stamina of my back, as well as enjoying the other benefits.

However, because of all the Turkish Getup practice sessions in which I allowed the knee to collapse inward, the previously injured MCL in that knee is now more susceptible to dull pain during the movement.  I was hoping the knee mobility routines i started practicing again, as well as the Front Scale and Back Scale exercises would help correct the knee issue, but I can't figure out the correct tweak to make to the Turkish Getup movement to eliminate the risk of continued aggravation to the knee. So I have to give up practicing the TGU for a while.  It's a shame because I'd just worked up to 3 singles per side, per session.  The TGU improved my shoulder stability and mobility as promised but I don't want to continue at the cost of potential knee damage.

The TGU, while being a true hole body exercise, was my only exercise for upper-body strength training.  I've always wanted to work on hand balancing skills but haven't been consistent in this type of training, except when I followed the GMB Elements program all the way through.  Elements is not specifically focused on hand balancing, but the locomotion exercises are beneficial for hand balancing.  In any case, my plan is to replace the TGU with hand-balancing work for training the upper body.

The two hand-balancing skills I want to work on are the Crow Pose and the Handstand.  I haven't worked on bent-arm strength for some time, since the TGU was all straight-arm, so I'm going to try the Crow Pose... again.  This time I intend to be more consistent in my pursuit of this skill.  GMB's Crow Pose tutorial is still the same great tutorial I raved about a few years ago, but it does not say much about how to incorporate it into your training program.  GMB's recently updated Handstand tutorial does have a sample training program, based on their recently develop 5Ps concept, so I will draw upon that to create my new program, which tentatively looks like this:

	Session A	Session B
Prepare	GMB Knee Mobility followed by 15-min. GMB Mobility session	GMB Knee Mobility followed by 15-min. GMB Mobility session
Practice	10 minutes total: • Crow Pose holds with attempts [1 minute work set, rest in between]	10 minutes total: • Crow Pose holds with attempts [1 minute work set, rest in between]
Play	5 minutes total: Choose a movement at an appropriate level and explore. Some examples: • Bent-arm Monkey • Bent-arm Frogger with 1-sec. Crow Pose Pause • Bent-arm Bear	5 minutes total: Choose a movement at an appropriate level and explore. Some examples: • Bent-arm Monkey • Bent-arm Frogger with 1-sec. Crow Pose Pause • Bent-arm Bear
Ponder	5 minutes total: Spend some time reflecting on the session and prepping for the next one.	5 minutes total: Spend some time reflecting on the session and prepping for the next one.

Session A and B are the same for the time being.  I was thinking I might do something different on alternating days but that might be down the road.  There is no Push stage because unlike the Handstand, there's no lower-difficulty version of the Crow Pose other than the Crow Pose itself.  I will have to pay attention to how my shoulder responds to all the bent-arm locomotion exercises.  After all, I halted all upper-body bodyweight training because of the shoulder stability problem.

What I will do on alternate sessions after the Crow Pose training session:

Session A - Kettlebell Swing Practice per Simple and Sinister protocol

Session B - GMB Vitamin session

For cooldown this week I started working on the GMB Forward Roll progression and will probably continue. 

For the rest of the day, I will practice GMB Front and Back Scale exercises to continue trying to rehab and strengthen the knee, with practice sessions spread out about 1-2 hrs apart. For today I skipped this practice because my left thigh was more sore than usual from the intense contraction of the quad that the Front Leg Raise with hold on the last rep demands.

Front and Back Scale for the knee, and progress in the Turkish Getup

I haven't been allowing my bent leg to move very much during the Turkish Getup.  I think this is why I'm starting to feel some soreness in my knee, where I suffered an MCL strain years go.  I'm letting the knee collapse inward too much.

I've started practicing GMB's Knee Mobility routine to help recover.  I've also started practicing the Front and Back Scales to try to strengthen the knee and hopefully improve the alignment between the hip, knee, and foot to make it less susceptible to collapsing inward.  At first I was feeling the hip flexor work hard in the Front Scale leg lift, but lately I've been feeling more intense quadriceps contraction and not so much hip flexor work.  The knee health article recommends anything that will strengthen the quads to go with the mobility routine.  I looked into the pistol squat first, but the questionable alignment between the hip, knee, and foot seems to aggravate the knee in that movement.  The scale exercises are probably a better choice for me since they not only work the quads and balance but also apply a bit more directly towards the L-Sit, a feat which has long eluded me.

I finally did 3 Turkish Getup (TGU) singles per side in one session of Simple & Sinister.  Just one TGU was burning out my CNS just a few weeks ago.  I'm working more often with the 32kg kettlebell for 2-handed swings.

Exercise Update

I've integrated GMB Mobility with my Simple and Sinister sessions by replacing the prescribed warmup with a 15-minute GMB Mobility session.  I have also been practicing 30-min. GMB Mobility sessions on days that I haven't felt like doing Simple and Sinister.

GMB Mobility is organized into 42 sessions. Each session focuses on range of motion for a body area (hips, spine, shoulders, etc) or a cardinal direction (extension, rotation/sidebending, flexion, etc.). Each session has Prepare, Practice, and Play portions, all of which have exercises chosen for the topic of the day.  GMB's Ultimate Guide to Bodyweight Exercise describes their 5P Framework in detail.

The Prepare portion is what I guess you could call a warmup.  The Practice portion gets into deeper stretches under a simplified version of the Focused Flexibility protocol.  The Play portion has a selection of locomotion exercises which you may recognize from Elements - this is where you get to play with the range of motion you worked on increasing in the Practice portion.

GMB recommends that you take breaks if you get tired during any of the Play exercises, because Play is more about trying out your newly increased range of motion and observing how your quality of movement has changed. Play is not meant for conditioning - this is a major difference compared to GMB Elements.   I like bringing my iPad to my workout area and running the session on it. It did interrupt on several occasions to ask me permission to let it use some iPad space, but lately it hasn't done so. I like how each exercise has a looping video for explanation/instruction with cues beneath the video. I like how all the exercises are timed for you, yet you have control over when to start the exercise. With Integral Strength I had to manually enter times into a timer app on my phone.

One change I've noticed is when I work on the kettlebell Turkish Getup with the KB on the right side. There's just a wee bit more restriction/tightness, somewhere between my right shoulder and my left glute, on this side vs. practicing the TGU on the left side. This movement restriction seems to be going away. As for the TGU itself, I'm glad to be able to work on the full-range movement now with the 16kg kettlebell.

I've been wanting to work on something different for the upper body.  GMB recently updated their Handstand tutorial, which led to me taking another assessment of how far I can walk my feet up the wall.  My shoulder stability and strength has improved enough from TGU practice that I can walk my feet up a little further than before.   However for now I'm going to give their Crow Pose method another shot, since I feel like I'm already getting plenty of work on my straight-arm supporting strength.

Violin Double Stop exercises for violin

Double-stop exercises are helpful for improving intonation and control on the violin and viola.  This video shows some really good ones, including some cool polyrhythmic stuff

Chad LB channel for Jazz Music Theory

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV17kvWvljT0Zw_5CZ4CFcA/videos

K-On! My Love is a Stapler clips

One of my favorite songs from the anime K-On! is Watashi no Koi wa Hotchkiss, which literally means "My Love is a Hotchkiss".  Hotchkiss was a brand of stapler, so the song title is also translated as "My Love is a Stapler".  Click the linked article to see the lyrics - it'll make more sense.

This is a clip of Yui practicing the song by herself.  It's from the opening episode to Season 2 of K-On!, which reintroduces the viewer to the characters and their world in ways that remind us of the passage of time, in particular reminding us that 4 of the 5 members of the Light Music Club (K-On) are now high-school seniors.  It simultaneously draws us into the beauty of the moment, time and place that were are in, as of this opening episode, and reminds us that it is a fleeting moment.
Yui practicing "My Love is a Stapler"

This is a clip of the same song being played by the full band, when there were only 4 members of K-On.  What I find remarkable is how they made the band sound like they're actually playing in a high school auditorium.
The band playing "My Love is a Stapler"

Eugene Friesen Cello Looping Lesson

Nice lesson by Eugene Friesen, which mentions accompanying sheet music:

Kettlebell Simple And Sinister Program - I'm still at it

 An article for home exercise that gives me some ideas for incorporating Front Lever and some other skills into my training.  For the most part I intend to stick to Simple and Sinister as my main exercise program but it's nice to be able to switch to something else once in a while:
https://medium.com/@physicalstrategies/the-gym-dwellers-guide-to-home-training-d99df216153f

An article offering an alternative approach to achieve the Sinister standard under Simple And Sinister.  I will probably never go for it as I don't see a 48kg kettlebell in my future.  If I work up to Turkish Getups and 1-arm swings with my 32kg kettlebell, my base of general physical preparedness would be more than sufficient to pursue other fitness goals that interest me more than achieving Sinister - these include Front Levers, Planche Pushups,  Handstand Pushups, and performing the Flows from the now-discontinued Rings One and Parallettes One programs.  However, perhaps the advice in this article will be useful for transitioning from the 24kg to the 32kg kettlebell when the time comes.
https://thekettlebelllocker.com/blog/f/how-to-progress-with-simple-and-sinister-by-levi-markwardt#7a6b29d3-2439-4a5b-9c8d-099be96b6c85

I sort of kept a training log on a discussion forum, but didn't bother to update my own blog.  So I copied and pasted the log entries from the other forum.   It's interesting to see all these entries in one place.  Among the lessons learned:

1. Check the swing forum thoroughly.  As the entries show, there was a setback in my progress due to swinging with incorrect form and having to relearn it.
2. Start practicing the Turkish Getup at the Prone to Elbow Stage as soon as you can.  Substituting another exercise like the military press will not help with the Turkish Getup.

Aug 20, 2019
Still training in the style of Simple & Sinister with the KBs. Shoulder presses in the mornings, swings in the evenings after biking home. I'm up to 10 sets of 10 2-arm swings w/ the 24kg KB. I will start working in some 1-arm swings in my swing sessions this week. I've temporarily replaced the KB reverse lunge with exercises to strengthen the arches of my feet. I've been told I have flat feet since I was a child but rarely attempted to fix them. After experiencing back and knee issues, I gained a greater appreciation for strong foot arches. There are so many websites and videos teaching foot arch exercises but I decided to go with this simple routine, since it's on a website for powerlifters: https://www.elitefts.com/education/build-your-arch-why-flat-feet-kill-your-squat/

Sep 28, 2019
I've continued pressing the 16kg KB and practicing reverse lunges with it, working up to a 7-rep max in both movements. Shoulders feel a lot more stable. The insteps of my feet don't get sore as easily after practicing the lunge with the "tripod foot" which is mentioned in a couple of articles - just Google "tripod foot squat". There's still plenty of room for improvement in my tripod foot technique but practicing it seems to have activated my foot arch. In the swing portion of S&S I've worked up to 10 sets of 10 swings with the 24 kg KB. I was doing a mix of 1- and 2-arm swings until I realized I was still rounding my back. I got rid of the back rounding by looking up more during the bottom half of the swing while still ensuring the hip hinges back instead sinking down. There's noticeable improvement in my hamstring flexibility as a result of the swing practice. I'm currently working on the prone-to-elbow stage of the Turkish Get-up, as well as reverse lunge with the KB held overhead with a locked-out arm. Both movements are a step up in difficulty for me. The prone-to-elbow movement places a surprising amount of load on the abs and oblique.

Nov 10, 2019
I've been practicing only 2-arm swings with the 24 kg KB, and at the lower volume of 5 sets of 10 reps, as I work on fixing problems with my form. I'd forgotten one is supposed to give the glutes an extra squeeze at the top to protect the back and hips, and on the downswing I should wait until my forearms slam into my gut before hinging at the hip. I improved from struggling to perform just 2 reps of the Prone-to-Elbow stage of the Turkish Get-Up to 5 reps. I'll keep practicing at this stage as my form still needs a lot of work. Once in a while I hit the perfect groove - the perfect combination of the angle of torso movement in relation to the straight leg, coordination of the muscle groups, etc. - but the rest of the reps there's some slop. Part of the problem is my body sliding on the floor a bit but that can't be helped.

Nov 24, 2019
Started practicing the next stage of the Turkish Getup, which is Elbow to Tall Sit. The Simple & Sinister book says to practice the Turkish Getup in stages, with the goal of 5 perfect reps per stage. I asked on the StrongFirst forum if I practice Elbow to Tall Sit by itself until I get to 5 perfect reps or if I practice the TGU from starting position (Prone) to Tall Sit. The responses seemed to indicate that either approach is fine. For me, a "perfect rep" is the one in which the kettlebell is moved with minimal effort, while the arm supporting the KB stays vertical. Practicing Prone-to-Elbow stage in 6-rep sets now. About half the reps are effortless, the other half a struggle.

Jan 11, 2020
Continuing my practice of the kettlebell Simple And Sinister program. Progressed to 7-10 sets of 10 2-arm swings with the 24kg KB. In the Turkish Getup, progressed to lifting the 16kg KB from prone position to tall sit position - an improvement over my starting point in 2019 when just lifting the KB from prone position to elbow position was an epic struggle. Biking to work off to a slow start for 2020 due to a snowstorm and lingering ice on the ground. It's just enough of a workout to get the adrenaline going to start the work day, and wake the body up after the work day.

Mar 13, 2020
Progressed to 6-8 sets of 1-arm swings with the 24kg KB, with 2-arm swings for a total of 10 sets per session. Once I get to 10 sets of 1-arm swings (5 per arm) I'll start increasing the power to further challenge my grip. In the Turkish Getup, I'm working on the transition from the Tall Sit to the Lunge position. I was stuck on the Tall Sit stage until I realized I need to sit a little taller and keep the KB overhead for a little longer, to build up the necessary stamina to keep the KB overhead while slowly working from prone position all the way to Lunge. I currently work into Tall Sit, play with support hand/arm positioning, then raise the hips off the floor to test the support arm. I was climbing up the hill to my house on speed 3 or 2 on my 35lb 8-speed bike. Lately I've been pedaling on speeds 4 and 5. Probably the result of bike commuting more times a week, getting some leg strengthening and gradually refining pedaling technique and stuff. There may also be some carryover from the KB S&S practice. Latest addition to the routine is clubbell practice, for some supplementary forearm strength and conditioning - at least until I get a Captains of Crush grip trainer. To keep it simple I just practice the Shield Cast and Side Pendulum movements, working towards the Mill/Reverse Mill.

Apr 12, 2020
What a difference a couple of weeks make. Got the mandatory telework order, roughly the same time everyone else (who isn't "essential personnel") did, so no more biking to work. Doing 8 sets of 1-arm swings with the 24kg KB consistently, thanks to the grip not giving out as easily. Hanging from a pullup bar was the optional part of the cooldown routine in Simple And Sinister, so I skipped it on days that I got up a bit late and had to rush to the office. But now I have more opportunities to do this hang, and it's great for strengthening the grip, as well as the primary purpose of stretching the shoulders and spine. Still working on getting stronger in going into and out of the Lunge position in the Turkish Getup progression. My latest tweak is to superset Prone to Elbow reps to get stronger in that phase of the movement.

Apr 19, 2020
First session with full Turkish Getup movement using the 16kg kettlebell. The time spent working on strength and control in segments of the movement (Prone to Elbow, Prone to Tall Sit, Tall Sit to Lunge) is paying off. Last year when I tried the full movement it was a mess - nearly fell down and bumped my knees and elbows.

Apr 25, 2020
Completed the first week practicing the full Turkish Getup. 1 single per side seems sufficient for me. 2 singles per side with a couple minutes rest between singles is pushing it a bit - definitely feel the CNS wearing out after the 2nd single. Tried just the Prone to Elbow stage of the TGU with the 24kg kettlebell. Doable for 1-2 reps but with a lot of effort. I got the idea to try partial movements with a heavier KB from a more recent Karen Smith (StrongFirst coach) video. I'll wait until my body adapts to the full TGU with the 16kg before mixing in partial movements with the 24kg. Also started mixing in two-arm swings with the 32kg KB.

Nice Matt Holborn violin lesson on warming up with scales and chords

Will check out Matt's other Jazz Violin Advice videos

Stepping Exercise and good video showing fundamental Suit training

 From a Mike Sigman post:

As in all the Chinese martial-arts, you should constantly keep your weight and the weight of anything you hold or lift in the sole of your foot/feet ... without ever letting the forces rise above the soles of your foot/feet. If you're just standing, always allow your complete weight to rest in the soles of your feet. If you're holding something, feel the weight of that something always resting in the soles of your feet. If you lift a leg for a step, feel the rising leg's weight rest in the sole of the other foot. And so on. If someone put their hand on your rising leg, they should feel the sole of the grounded foot.

As you lower the raised foot, let your weight first sink into the grounded foot, going into the other foot only when it is positioned properly.

 https://vimeo.com/334527996

...another forward and backward stepping exercise that is taken from the Oblique Walk and the Step Back Whirl Arms (Repulse Monkey) of the Laojia Yilu. I'll put a brief clip of Zhu Tiancai showing the movements from the form; mine look slightly different, but it's the same natural winding of the body. The idea is to do the stepping while including the whole-body winding and unwinding (Open and Close) as it moves.

When you're moving forward, as an example, think of your molecules as all moving forward as one group, but imagine/feel that there are elastic spider webs attached to each molecule, slightly resisting your forward movement. Same idea as imagining moving through water, more or less, but I like this particular visualization sometimes.

https://vimeo.com/346631007 

And here is a good video showing good exercises for training Suit fundamentals: