GMB exercises for Tendon Health and Strength

GMB does caution that these exercises are intended for people who have been training for several months without feeling pain or other issues of tendon health

Shoulder Tendon

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A variety of strengthening methods would be best for tendon health and strength. Depending upon your current condition (training status, injury status). Isometrics, heavy and light training, slow and ballistic training. - If you are nursing an injury and currently have pain (tendonitis) then you would approach your exercises differently than if you were feeling great and have several months of consistent good training. - Let’s start with some examples for the latter, and assume you aren’t dealing with any significant tendon/joint issues. - Shoulder Swings: Use your lower body to drive the speed of the swings. 1. Both hands swinging up overhead 2. One hand swinging up overhead 3. One hand swinging at angle to side and behind 4. One hand swing at angle in front and to the side - Hanging side to side swaying: Rings is best but bar is okay. Whatever you feel is best. - Pushup plyos: 1. Both hands 2. One hand Give these a go and see how it feels! - . . . . . #gmbfitness #gmbtrainer #goldmedalbodies #shoulderhealth #jointhealth #happyjoints #bodyweightexercises #bodyweightworkout #shouldermobility #mobility #mobilitytraining #movement #flow #shoulderswings #pushups #plyopushups #physicaautonomy #physicalfreedom #exerciseathome #fitness #physicafitness

A post shared by GMB Fitness (@gmbfitness) on Jul 21, 2020 at 1:56pm PDT

Wrist and Elbow Tendons

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On Monday we showed a variety of exercises for Shoulder tendon health and strength. Today we’ve got some more goodies involving the wrists and elbows! Check out the following exercises demonstrated by GMB Trainer Eduardo @eorihuela. - 1. Backhand weight shifts: Hold a few seconds then shift over - 2. Wrist flexor plyos: Emphasize pushing off fingertips - 3. Pronated drop and grab: Could be any weight or sturdy object. Eduardo here uses a piece of cut up wood with a pinch grip. - 4. Pushup plyos Both hands/One hand: From knees is great because you focus on quality reps. - Give these a go and see how it feels! - . . . . . #gmbfitness #gmbtrainer #goldmedalbodies #shoulderhealth #jointhealth #happyjoints #bodyweightexercises #bodyweightworkout #shouldermobility #mobility #mobilitytraining #movement #flow #shoulderswings #pushups #plyopushups #physicaautonomy #physicalfreedom #exerciseathome #fitness #physicafitness

A post shared by GMB Fitness (@gmbfitness) on Jul 23, 2020 at 12:39pm PDT

HSPU Program Session 27

Prepare
Quadruped Shoulder Circles
Mulligan shoulder rehab exercise
Other band-assisted shoulder mobility

Practice
Main circuit 
A-Frame Inverted Press w/ 4-sec. negative - 30 sec. - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Ring Reverse Row w/4-sec. negative - 4-6 reps - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Bridge Pressup  - 30 sec. - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
3 rounds with 2-3 minutes of rest in between rounds

Play
Scapular Shrugs with elevated feet
Test attempt at straight-leg raise from Top Position on rings

Push
Circuit
Knee Pushup - 4-6 reps
16kg KB bicep curl in goblet squat position - 8-12 reps
Band rotator cuff external rotation - 8-10 reps
3 rounds with 1 minute of rest in between rounds

Brachial Hang for about 1min.

Ponder
I did a test rep of Front Scale Leg Lift on each side and was able to raise my foot to waist level or even just above.  So my curiosity was piqued enough to test if I could do a full straight-leg leg raise to parallel with the ground, from top position on rings by exhaling more forcefully.  Nope.  I felt the quads contracting hard, which tells me that while my quads have gotten stronger from shrimp squat practice, they're still not strong enough to do their part.

The shoulder isn't fully recovered but it's continuing to recover, feeling better than yesterday.

While I was somewhat advised by GMB to practice Bent-Arm Bear in my Push sessions, there's such a disparity between my overhead pressing strength and my forward pressing strength that I think I better work on my pushup instead.    I suspect this disparity contributed to my latest repeat shoulder subluxation and/or impingement.

Thinking about my next lower body/core training day, I wanted to assess where I'm really at with my shrimp squat.  Turns out I can do a full shrimp squat already.  Taking one balancing arm away to hold on to the non-working foot did change the balance challenge a bit, but I was able to adjust quickly.  I didn't experience the foot cramping that I got the first time I tried - and failed - to perform a full Shrimp Squat.  I'm going to continue working on Shrimp Squat and progress to the elevated version before switching to Front Scale Leg Lifts.

Rolling Flows from GMB

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Rolling Flows and PB & J - Flexibility and stability are like peanut butter and jelly. They are both pretty freaking awesome on their own, but you put them together on a sandwich and they are even better. - Rolling flows are the PB & J of the body. They take flexibility and stability, and put ‘em together in a way that will challenge you to approach your end ranges of motion (flexibility) and control those ranges (stability) - which translates into #physicalautonomy #resilience and #longevity - Outside of the muscular benefit, rolling flows also challenge body awareness through the vestibular system. With your head, neck and spine rolling through postures and adapting to variations as you move, it’s a symphony of input to the nervous system, wiring the body to lay down pathways of adaptability and responsiveness to minute changes in position, direction, and speed. - There is no exact script for working on rolling flows. Take yourself through pieces of movements you already feel comfortable with, and string them together in patterns that give you elements of rolling. If that sounds too daunting, and you feel your body is up for the challenge, check out this rolling flow tutorial cued by @gmbtrainer JJ @primalphysicaltherapy - Or if the components of this flow still seem just a little out of reach, check out our #mobius program: https://gmb.io/m/ - . . . . . #pbandj #stability #mobility #resilience #rollingflows #rolling #vestibularsystem #rollingpatterns #flow #fitness #gmbfitness #abs #obliques #posture #flexibility #spine #stability #motorcontrol #core

A post shared by GMB Fitness (@gmbfitness) on Jul 22, 2020 at 7:14am PDT

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.

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#FrequentlyAskedFridayMM: One Arm Chin-Up Progressions . Of all the bodyweight pulling goals, the One Arm Chin-Up (OAC) sits at the TOP of the list by FAR. Gaining the ability to pull your entire bodyweight up with ONE ARM is a level of strength that probably exceeds whatever you’ll need in life and MORE whether it’s strength, useable mass, improved sport performance, transfer to things like Weighted Chin Ups, etc . But most people don’t need to be convinced to train the OAC. They know the gains are worth it. Most people have the problem of not knowing HOW to train the OAC. Many trainees will work up to being able to do 8-10 normal chins, then immediately start working on OAC eccentrics. They go from half bodyweight on each arm to full bodyweight on each arm and then wonder why they end up with tendinitis in a month 😂 😆 . Others try to go down the path of Weighted Chin-Ups but many people find the level of transfer is NOT what they thought it would be. So what do we prefer? We prefer the Mixed Grip Chin. Here is how to perform it: . Step One: Hang on a bar or rings with one hand facing you (working hand) and the other hand facing away (assist hand) . Step Two: Start pulling with the working hand FIRST by DRIVING the elbow back HARD like you want to elbow someone in the face behind you! You should be basically TRYING to do a OAC. You will get stuck at some point (maybe even at the beginning if you are new) and when you do, THEN will add the assist hand for help AS NEEDED to get you to the top. The KEY here is to pull with the working hand FIRST! Not with both hands right away. . Step Three. On the way down, remember, we are stronger when we lower than when we lift. So shift even MORE weight into the working hand and lower down with as MUCH load as you can. More advanced trainees can even perform a OAC eccentric! Some will even need extra load around the waist to make this part challenging enough! Alternate hands each rep . Perform these 3 steps with precision and you’ll be on the Gain Train towards Gainsville to pick up your first OAC! Give it a try tag, a friend who needs to do the same, and check the IG stories!

A post shared by Martina & Philip Chubb (@the_mindful_mover) on Oct 4, 2019 at 1:07pm PDT

...and ideas from Mindful Mover for training towards the Planche - in this case, it's the pushup with forward lean.

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#TrainingTipTuesdayMM: Accommodating Resistance Pushups . By using Accommodating Resistance, you can get MORE intensity out of your exercises and use that to make each rep “count” for more. By doing that, you can train less frequently and STILL gain big! Let’s look at how you can do that with Pushup variations . For pushups on the ground, you can perform Leaned Forward Pushups. Lean forward as MUCH as you can, then lower down slowly. At the bottom, try to push back up and bring your shoulders back ONLY when you get stuck. If you do it right, the ENTIRE movement will be a grind . That same concept can be applied on the rings. Lean forward as far as possible, lower down SLOW. Try to push back up, and then bring your shoulders back ONLY as needed so that the movement is maximally hard! . Give these a try and make each of your reps “count” for more. And that can let you make your gains will having to train LESS at the gym! . And check the IG stories for more!

A post shared by Martina & Philip Chubb (@the_mindful_mover) on Mar 3, 2020 at 5:21am PST

Training progression for Pseudo Planche Pushup on Rings

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A post shared by Martina & Philip Chubb (@the_mindful_mover)

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.

HSPU Program Session 26

Prepare
Shoulder dislocates with band
Shoulder external rotation with band
Standing Knee to Chest
Single-leg Deadlift

Practice
Lower Body Circuit 1 - 4 rounds with about 2 min. rest between rounds:
Single Leg Deadlift w/ 16kg KB - 4-5 reps/leg
Top Position Knee Raise w/ 4-sec. negative on Rings - 3-5 reps
Shrimp Squat - Arms to front, knee touch with 4-sec. negative - 3 reps/leg
Shoulder Bridge with Side Leg Raise - 3 reps/leg

Play
Shoulder external rotation with band
Searching Youtube for more videos of exercises with mini-bands for shoulder

Ponder
Looks like some modest improvement in performance of the leg and core exercises.

The Fit Simplify mini-bands that I ordered for shoulder rehab arrived a day early, so I started exploring exercise with them.  The green one is has the lightest resistance and is perfect for the rotator cuff external rotation exercise(s).  It's too light I think for bicep curls.  I'm pretty happy with them - the price was reasonable for the set of 5 and a storage pouch that's small enough to take anywhere.  It's possible I'll have to keep on doing rotator cuff external rotation exercises with these bands indefinitely, if I want to ensure that the shoulder doesn't randomly subluxate again, so the travel friendly size is handy.

HSPU Program Session 25

For this session, I was inspired GMB's home bodyweight workout video. The exercises looked like they might allow easy scaling of the load to an appropriate one for my shoulders.

Prepare
The two band exercises from the FitnessFAQs video on using Reverse Plank to fix rounded shoulders.
The "Mulligan" technique from this video:

Practice
Two rounds of above 5-min. bodyweight workout circuit

Main circuit 
A-Frame Inverted Press w/ 4-sec. negatives - 3 reps/side - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Ring Reverse Row - 6-7 reps - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
3 rounds with 1-2 minutes of rest in between rounds

Push
1 Turkish Get Up per side

Circuit
Knee Pushup - 4-6 reps
16kg KB bicep curl in goblet squat position - 8-12 reps
Band rotator external rotation

Play
Shoulder traction with band attached to stairs.

Brachial Hang for about 1min.

Ponder
Quickly felt sore in the chest because of all the extra rotator cuff internal rotation exercise I did with the band over the weekend, which drove home the point I've seen some physical therapists make that internal rotation exercises for the rotator cuff may not be needed if you're already exercise your pecs via an exercise like the pushup and variations.

The shoulder proved more finicky than I'd hoped for the bodyweight circuit - hard to tell exactly when acute pain would come whether doing Spiderman, Sumo Frogger or Baby Frogger Stall.

The shoulder remained pain-free when I switched to A-Frame Inverted Press - probably less variety of angles than what would be introduced by locomotion.

The shoulder felt best during Reverse Row when just maintaining neutral grip - didn't feel so good when I moved to pronated grip (chinup grip) at the top of the movement.

The shoulder was surprisingly less tolerant of the Turkish Getup than last week.

Going forward, for my upper-body training days, inverted press without locomotion and reverse row with neutral grip only seem to work best for the shoulder.   The bicep curl was one of the exercises prescribed when I was in physical therapy for my shoulder, because the doctor thought my injury could be impingement or subluxation, and strengthening the biceps tendon is part of recovery for subluxation.   I don't really care about building big guns but if curls will help my shoulder recover and bulletproof it, then I'll do curls.   External rotation exercises for my rotator cuff will also be part of my finishing circuit, for the reason as the curls.

I also remember wall pushups being part of my physical therapy routine, so I will also continue practicing some regressed version of the pushup.  GMB teaches a pushup progression from knee pushups all the way to full pushup.  However, other trainers prefer having their trainees regress by doing pushups against a kitchen counter, table, etc. and gradually working down towards the floor - the argument being that the trainee would start working on integrating the core into the movement earlier in the progression.   At this point, all I care about is what my shoulders can tolerate and knee pushups are enough for my rehab needs.   I've done full pushups before, so I'm not worried about not being able to learn how to integrate the core.

Shoulder Rehab exercises with bands

The pain in the shoulder continues, but it's more of an annoying ache that shows up once in a while as I move around, just kind of "flickering" in and out.  When I first injured this shoulder, the doctor was not absolutely sure what the exact injury was, but he thought it might be subluxation or impingement.

There are a lot of videos which show exercises for shoulder rehab with bands.  This one stands out because the presenter places a lot more emphasis details that are glossed over in most other videos, such as positioning the body in relation to the band, positioning the band.  He also differs from the physical therapists in other videos in that he doesn't find a lot of patients who really need to practice internal rotation exercises for the rotator cuff.

I found one exercise in this video, unique to this video, that works well for my shoulder - it's just pressing the hand down on a chair or table and backing off while maintaining the pressure:

I went ahead and ordered a set of exercise bands, since physical therapists seem to generally recommend rotator cuff exercises with bands.

Kyoto Animation - One year anniversary of arson tragedy

Crunchyroll interview with Kyoto Animation President Hideaki Hatta

Impressively edited tribute video, with music by Clever Girl:

Tribute video made last year, shortly after the arson:

HSPU Program Session 24

Prepare
Shoulder dislocates with band
Shoulder external and internal rotation with band, from this video:

Practice
Lower Body Circuit 1 - 4 rounds with about 2 min. rest between rounds:
Single Leg Deadlift w/ 16kg KB - 3-4 reps/leg
Ring Rollouts

Lower Body Circuit 2 - 4 rounds with about 2 min. rest between rounds:
Shrimp Squat - Arms to front, knee touch with 4-sec. negative - 3 reps/leg
Ring Bird Dog

Push
Single-leg Shoulder Bridge with Side Leg Lift

Modified Pigeon
Half Pancake

Ponder
Today I tried two new ab exercises for the first time.  My thoughts:

Ring Rollout - Unfortunately, not as shoulder friendly as advertised.  I don't think more damage was caused to the shoulder but it was definitely not in a good comfort zone.  I tried a variety of ring heights and kneeling vs. standing.  The activation of the abs was not as intense as in the single-leg shoulder variation or the knee/leg raise progression from either a hang or the top position of a dip.

Ring Bird Dog - Actually friendlier to the shoulder despite load being placed on shoulders.  Protracted scapula per instructions helped.  I think though that the given purpose of the exercise - strength and control of the trunk with upper body in fixed position - is just as achievable with GMB's Monkey variations, especially with High Monkey (hips higher in the air) and Straight-Leg Monkey.  I felt more core activation in the Monkey variations than Ring Bird Dog.

I'm not sure what to call the single-leg bridge variations I got out of Element Core Conditioning.  The closest thing I found on Youtube was this:

Most single-leg bridge variations I found showed somebody lifting a foot into the air, then pressing with the other foot into a bridge, which is different from the Elements variations, where you get into a bridge, and then lift a knee/leg while maintaining the bridge.  What makes the abs, well the core really, work so hard is the effort of maintaining the bridge while also controlling the lifted knee/leg.  It's clear to me that John Garey has a pretty strong core, because it's a harder variation than the bridge variation at the intermediate level of Elements Core Conditioning, due to moving the straight leg in a circle and also using a band for extra resistance.

HSPU Program Session 23

New exercise today - it's the Reverse Plank.  In this video, Daniel of FitnessFAQs claims it will not only fix rounded shoulders, but also improve shoulder stability (my main shoulder problem) and mobility:

Prepare
The two band exercises from the video.
Reverse Plank (Seated variation) - 10 reps, 3 sets - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Relaxed

Practice
Main circuit 
Turkish Get Up w. 16kg KB - 1 rep/side - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Incline Pushup on stair landing - 4-6 reps - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Reverse Row Sit Back - 6-7 reps - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
3 rounds with 2-3 minutes of rest in between rounds

Modified Pigeon, Half Pancake

Push
Standard Bear for 1 min.

Brachial Hang for about 1min.

Play
Shoulder traction with band attached to stairs.

Ponder
I continue to feel the impingement/subluxation pain in my shoulder so I thought it'd be best to tone down the volume and train around the shoulder pain instead of risking making it worse.

Kettlebell Turkish Get Up had a near magical positive effect on my shoulder before so it's back in the exercise lineup.
The Incline Pushup is a regression in the sense that it seemed it might be less risky for my shoulder than any exercise in the Inverted Press progression.  At least, less risky than the Bent-Arm Bear, although oddly enough the A-Frame Inverted Press seemed just fine for my shoulder compared to Bent-Arm Bear.
Reverse Row Sit Back is a regression from Reverse Row w/ feet on chair.  I remember some kind of rowing exercise being part of my shoulder physical therapy before.

This video presents two ab exercises that I will try tomorrow - the ring rollout and the ring bird dog.  A major selling point of the ring rollout is that Daniel claims it will be friendly to shoulders.  I tested the "bird dog" position with my shoulder by putting my feet on the couch and putting my hands on the floor with straight arms.  The shoulders seem to feel fine.

This video is more for future consideration than trying anytime soon, due to my current shoulder situation.  Here Daniel says that scapular control is keep for advanced bodyweight exercises and presents some exercises to improve scapular control.

HSPU Program Session 22

Prepare
GMB Hip Strength & Mobility Routine

Practice
Lower Body circuit - 4 rounds with about 2 min. rest between rounds:
Turkish Get Up w/ 16kg KB - 1 rep/side
Single Leg Deadlift w/ 16kg KB - 3-5 reps/leg
Top Position Knee Raise on Rings - 3-5 reps
Step Back Lunge w/ racked 16kg KB - 3 reps per leg, per KB rack side
Straight Leg Side Raise out of Shoulder Bridge - 3-5 reps

Push
24kg KB Front Rock-It for 3 sets

Modified Pigeon
Half Pancake

Ponder
Today I experimented with ideas for my lower body training day.  I got the idea to try the Front Rock-It from Mark Wildman's Youtube channel.  He say's its great for building muscle around the butt and knees.  It's fun but I think I'll go back to one- and two-arm KB swings, working up to 1-arm swings with the 32 kg KB before trying the Front Rock-It again.  It's because the swing is better suited to GPP (General Physical Preparedness) while the Rock-It according to Wildman is more in the SPP (Specific Physical Preparedness) range.  I'm still not fit enough to graduate from GPP.

I don't want to do too many different exercises for my lower body session, so these are the changes I'll make for the next lower body session:

TGU - move to the upper body session.  It'll be the last exercise of the main circuit, for shoulder rehab/prehab.
Single Leg Deadlift with KB - Need to get more serious about hamstring flexibility/strength.  This stays.
Top Position Knee Raise - Main ab exercise so it stays.  Less risk to shoulder than Hanging Leg Raise.
Step Back Lunge - Effectively replaces shrimp squat, with the intention to eventually progress in KB weight
Shoulder Bridge Side Leg Raise - Great core exercise that doesn't impact the shoulders so it stays
Front Rock-It - Replace with Swings

I forgot to practice the Wheel Pose (full bridge) to prepare for the next Vitamin session that will hit that darn rotation into bridge again.  My shoulder is still not recovered enough to go for the very next scheduled Vitamin session, which is the Pilot Freeze.

  

HSPU Program Session 21

Prepare
Tall Kneeling Arm Raise
Tall Kneeling Arm Raise to Side
Quadruped Shoulder Circles

Practice
HSPU Main circuit 
A-Frame Inverted Press - 20 second set - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Reverse Row - 20 second set - Quality: Rough, Ease: Challenging
5 rounds with 2-3 minutes of rest in between rounds

Push
Push circuit
Bent-Arm Bear - 20 second set. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Reverse Row Sit Back - 20 second set. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
3 rounds with 1 minute of rest in between rounds

1 min. Waiter Walk w/ 16kg KB

GMB Hip Strength & Mobility Routine
Half Pancake
Brachial Hang for about 1min.

Ponder
Still feeling the damage in my shoulder from last week's MindfulMover influenced experiment - that's all on me, not anyone else as I was the one who decided to take the risk.  However I was very encouraged by being able to resume practice of the A-Frame Inverted Press without moving into pain, as long as I kept the elbows from flaring out.

I did feel some discomfort in the rowing exercises until I discovered I could eliminate the shoulder discomfort by having my thumbs facing each other in the bottom position of the rowing motion, and twisting the rings to a neutral grip as I row myself up.

Exercises I forgot to do as part of Prepare:
Handstand Wrist Prep routine
A-Frame Shrug

HSPU Program Session 20

Prepare
Standing Knee to Chest
Single Leg Deadlift
Vitamin Prepare

Practice and Play
Vitamin session focusing on Merry Go Round

Push
GMB Hip Strength and Mobility Routine

Ponder
I should do the Hip Strength & Mobility routine more often, as I felt great afterwards.  While the article does not mention sets or reps, in the Youtube video comments, in response to viewer questions, GMB does stated that up to 10 reps of a strength move is fine, and do as many sets as what makes you feel good.

The next Vitamin session revisits the Pilot Freeze, which is fairly demanding on the shoulders and wrists.  I'm going to wait until Wednesday at earliest to do the session.  My shoulders are still feeling beat up from this week's experiments with Pike Pull Through, Arch Pullup, etc. and they could use more rest.

Koala Sampler app tutorials

Nice short lesson by Josh Smith on Soul/R&B rhythm guitar

HSPU Program Session 19

Prepare
Skipped prepare again, and later regretted it.

Practice
Lower Body circuit - 3 rounds with about 1-2 min. rest between rounds:
Beginner Pike Pull Through - 2-3 reps
Shrimp Squat (Knee to Ground, Arms to Front) - 3 reps
Hanging Leg Raise - 3-5 reps
Weighted Seated Straddle Good Morning on Couch w/ 16kg KB - 30 sec. hold.
Full Bridge Hold - 15-20 sec.

Play
Messing around with Middle Split

Push
2 sets of 5 16kg KB halos
Morning and afternoon sets of Brachial Hang

Ponder
Shoulders still sore before workout but the soreness seemed diminished enough to give me confidence to try this workout.

I should have at least done Standing Knee to Chest and Single-Leg Deadlift in the Prepare part.  I had more trouble than usual balancing on my right foot for the Shrimp Squat practice.  

Left shoulder seems less stable this week - felt it click a lot more than before while doing the Halos.  I think the combination of the HSPU work with 4-sec. negatives, the modified Arch Pullup, start of Hanging Leg Raise work, and the start of Pike Pull Through was just all too much for the shoulder.

Tomorrow I'll do the Vitamin session reviewing the Merry Go Round as it seems innocuous enough, with no shoulder impact.

For next week, I'm going to restructure my routine to allow more recovery time for the shoulders, as well as swap out the exercises that I don't think my shoulders are ready for:

Arch Pullup (modified or not) to Reverse Row on Rings
Pike Pull Through to Shoulder Bridge with Straight Leg Side Lift (from Elements Core Conditioning Intermediate ciruit)

I tried the Weighted Seated Straddle Good Morning out of curiosity.  I might try it again after I get the hamstrings and adductors looser than they are right now.  I've noticed that my straddle isn't particularly wide and feels kind of tight when I try moves like the Cartwheel, Merry Go Round with straight legs, and various kicks shown in GMB Vitamin.   I can get my legs wider apart in the Middle Split, which suggests the limiting factors in Pancake are the hamstrings and adductors rather than the groin. 

So instead of Pancake, I'm going to work on the Side Lunge Squat.  GMB seems to also call it Cossack Squat, though other people say the two types of side-to-side squat are different.  In any case, it looks like a nice exercise for straight-leg hamstring strength, which should help in the quest for hamstring flexibility.

Mon, Thurs - HSPU strength sessions
Tues, Fri - Leg + Core sessions

Today's Musical Discoveries

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/03/arts/music/black-composers-classical-music.html?fbclid=IwAR3nsdaUB8MYtrF7izgX212IRmcAvcxNLyBCyNuUCN0CxFBFj0tUCG_sH2Y

Sun Ra Arkestra with cool visuals and other recently posted cool stuff on CDM:
https://cdm.link/2020/07/plunge-into-the-world-of-sun-ra-and-the-outer-space-visual-communicator/

https://cdm.link/2020/07/hypnospace-outlaw-is-set-in-a-weird-90s-fake-internet-and-it-has-its-own-music-sequencer/

https://cdm.link/2020/07/transfiguracion-decolonizing-ai-in-hexorcismos-shamanistic-music-and-art/

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/03/arts/music/black-composers-classical-music.html?fbclid=IwAR3nsdaUB8MYtrF7izgX212IRmcAvcxNLyBCyNuUCN0CxFBFj0tUCG_sH2Y 

HSPU Program Session 18

Shoulders and other upper body areas still sore as hell from training yesterday and preceding days.  Goes without saying that today is an active recovery day.

Prepare
GMB Shoulder Mobility routine
GMB Vitamin Prepare routine

Practice
Studied and worked on this prep routine for GMB-style rolling was posted this morning, which is great timing because today's Vitamin session included both forward and backward rolls.  I haven't been able to solve the problem of inadequate mobility for rolls on my own.

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Ready to Roll? Rolling. Sounds so simplistic and easy. We did it when we were babies, how hard can it be? Well. It’s actually a pretty high level activity. Here’s why: It not only requires a decent amount of baseline mobility, but it demands an automatic reactivity and coordinated movement between the head, neck, spine, pelvis, and vertebrae to the rest of the body. It also stimulates the vestibular system, the part of the body that provides information about body position and stimulates reflexes that allow us to respond quickly to both self induced and externally generated forces. If it is so important, why is it so tough to do for most adults? Because as babies, we train these patterns like it’s our full time job. All day long, working on patterns that connect the eyes, head, neck, and spine to the rest of the body. As adults, we spend less time working on these intricate movements, and so we lose some of that innate patterning. The good news is that our bodies respond well to just a little bit of targeted training. Here #gmbtrainer JJ @primalphysicaltherapy demonstrates some exercises you can do regularly to prime the muscular and vestibular systems and prep for success with rolling. As with all exercises, take your time, and listen to your body. Allow yourself time with these exercises and don’t push the rolling until you feel “ready”. #rollwithitbaby #rollingpatterns #rolling #babiesdoit #fitness #vestibular #obliques #neck #spine #gmbfitness #bodyweightexercise #vestibular #balance #primalmovement

A post shared by GMB Fitness (@gmbfitness) on Jul 8, 2020 at 8:06am PDT

Attempted shoulder stretches on rings, L-Arm,  Tall Kneeling Arm Raise to Side, Clasped Hand Extension, Modified Pigeon, Half Pancake, and Brachial Hang (posterior pelvic tilt)

Play
Vitamin session reviewing Plow and Combo moves of Forward Roll, Merry Go Round and Backward Roll.

Ponder
Rolling with arm to the left side still wasn't perfect but noticeably improved.  I'm sure the improvement will continue with continued practice of the above prep routine.

Just noticed this new Instagram post from GMB which I find inspiring:

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BACK ROLL EXTENSION TO HANDSTAND - Getting upside down is straight up scary and rolling can be awkward but if you’re in situations of constant level changes like BJJ or you’d like to be a little more supple, this can be a cool skill to work up towards. Having the ability to recover from a roll into a standing position helps a lot especially so you don’t just flop on the floor after a slip, fall, or takedown. Here’s a step by step breakdown on how to Back Roll to a standing position demonstrated by GMB Trainer @eorihuela - 1. Strengthen your Inverted Press to be able to push yourself from rolling to standing 2. Improve your back flexion to roll comfortably one vertebrae at a time 3. Practice rolling at your ability level. Gradually, as your strength and flexibility improves, extend your arms and hips more. - Set a good foundation for yourself with strength, flexibility, and body control and over time, it look and feel better! - . . . . . #gmbfitness #gmbtrainer #gmbmobius #goldmedalbodies #flexibility #mobility #bodyweightworkout #mobile #bodycontrol #bodyawareness #cheer #gymnastics #backroll #notyoga #yoga #backwardsroll #martialarts #bjj #juijitsu #warmup #tumbling #flips #tricks #levelchanges #physicalautonomy #motorcontrol #physicalfreedom #physicaldevelopment #physicalfitness #fitness

A post shared by GMB Fitness (@gmbfitness) on Jul 9, 2020 at 9:31am PDT

HSPU Program Session 17

Prepare
Handstand Wrist Prep

Practice
HSPU Main circuit 
A-Frame Inverted Press - 20 second set - Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Modified Arch Pullup - 20 second set - Quality: Rough, Ease: Challenging
3 rounds with 2-3 minutes of rest in between rounds

Push
A-Frame Inverted Press up on toes to maximize load on hands. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid

Push circuit
Bent-Arm Bear - 20 second set for 3 sets w/ 1 min. rest between sets. Quality: Smooth, Ease: Solid
Arch Pullup or Reverse Row - 20 second set. Quality: Rough, Ease: Challenging
3 rounds with 1 minute of rest in between rounds

Attempted shoulder stretches on rings, L-Arm,  Tall Kneeling Arm Raise to Side, Clasped Hand Extension, Modified Pigeon, Half Pancake, and Brachial Hang (posterior pelvic tilt)

Play
Backward and Forward Roll to loosen up upper back and practicing the rolls

Ponder
In recent years, I've aggravated my shoulder by attempting pulling exercises that were too much for the shoulder, too soon, which was what led me to abandon training for Front/Back Lever, HSPU, etc. in favor of Simple & Sinister with kettlebells in the first place..  While I like MindfulMover's idea of practicing a modified version of the Arch Pullup to improve mobility for the Bridge, I don't think I have the necessary tendon strength to practice any version of the Arch Pullup without risk of aggravating the shoulder yet again.   I think Reverse Row with feet on chair is the right fit for me at this time as a main upper back pulling exercise.  So, I'll go back to just practicing the Bridge directly with holds for time.  What I'll try next time I practice the Bridge is elevating the scapula to increase my upper back range of motion.

My shoulders were still extra sore from the Monday session.  I don't know if the Pike Pull Through and Hanging Leg Raise from yesterday's session further contributed to the shoulder soreness.  I felt my left arm pull out of its shoulder socket a bit more than usual when I was practicing rolls to that side.  There doesn't seem to be lingering pain.  There's some acute soreness for certain motions but the feeling is the same for both shoulders.

If my shoulders still feel sore tomorrow, I'll probably just work on shrimp squat, one-leg Romanian deadlift, and the leg lift out of shoulder bridge from the Elements Core Conditioning routine.

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