Easy Muscle: Week 8

For the final kettlebell session, I held the kettlebell in the normal goblet squat grip, for the goblet squats, because my forearms were feeling beat up from the combined work of holding the KB in the bottoms up position, the calisthenics work, and hanging for time.

I managed to do 35 total reps of pullups and dips for the Monday calisthenics session. For the Friday session, I managed to do 40 total.

I got quite a spike in appetite after my calisthenics sessions. I presume it's because the workouts stimulated muscle growth.

I'll give my body a few days to recover, then evaluate the following:

• 24kg KB press repetition max
• Double 16kg KB overhead press mobility
• Arm width

Current Mobility Training

I've been starting my workouts with a mobility warmup, starting with a warmup of the legs and hips. For my hip/leg warmup I've been doing most of the exercises from the GMB Muay Thai mobility routine. They make my hips feel good.

I occasionally change up my hip/leg warmup by instead doing prying goblet squat for 5 reps, then cossack squat until my legs/glutes start to feel a little burn - with the 8kg kettlebell held bottoms up.

I then move on to kettlebell arm bar and bent arm bar for t-spine mobility and loosening up the chest and front of the shoulders. T-spine mobilization seems to loosen up my lats despite not directly stretching the lats all that much. This article by Jon Engum lists 4 items on which to focus for the kettlebell arm bar, with the 4th item being the arm on the ground, which is supposed to be moved to your rear as much as possible and stretch the lat.

One of the latest mobility exercises I've added to my routine is the kettlebell pullover, which is supposed to help improve mobility for overhead lockout. There are straight leg and hip bridge variations taught in this video:


Doing the hip bridge variation first for about 3-5 reps seems to increase ROM (Range Of Motion) for the straight leg variation.

I did passive hangs in the past, but gave up on them because I thought of hanging as a lat stretch and found the quadraped side bend to be more productive for getting the lats to loosen up. This FitnessFAQs video inspired me to try hanging again. I don't agree that total hanging time per day should be 5 minutes, as that looks like an arbitrary number rather than a number backed up by research. However I do agree that the 2 sets of 20-30 second holds I was doing 3x a week might not have been enough to improve grip strength or lat mobility. 2 weeks of hanging 5 days a week, 3 or more sets per day resulted in my left elbow being less susceptible to tendonitis pain from playing guitar. However this week I'm taking a break from passive hangs because of accumulated soreness in my forearms - which might be caused by hanging combined with bottoms-up goblet squats and other work with the 24kg kettlebell.


My hamstrings are not particularly flexible. I've tried various stretches and other mobility exercises in the past with some improvement, but have admittedly not focused much on improving hamstring flexibility, other than the Muay Thai routine above. One of the exercises that I attempted was pike compression - aka "pike pulses" - which were just too hard for me. In the below video, Eugene Teo shows easier pike pulse variations, and how to progress in difficulty. I've been doing 3 sets of pike pulses on my recovery days, as well as after my Easy Muscle calisthenics days.

Easy Muscle: Week 7

Not much to report, other than showing up to do the workouts.

Easy Muscle: Week 6

The Monday calisthenics session prescribed a number of reps per set that was pretty much my rep max in both movements at the start of this Easy Msucle training block. I managed to do 3 sets of each exercise. While doing the 4th set of pullups, I had to stop 2 reps short, rest for a bit, then do the final 2 reps. I also had to pause while doing the 4th set of dips. After the calisthenics session, I once again did a mini circuit of hand-elevated tuck planche and ring-assisted pistol squats. Hand-elevated tuck planche is shown here by Simonster:

Simonster's video inspired me to try the hand-elevated tuck planche and assess where I am in the progression towards the tuck planche. I can get my knees level with my hands. However, I decided to play it safe with my shoulders and stop practicing it. My shoulders have not manifested ill effects from doing it so far, but I will wait until I've gotten strong enough to press the 32kg kettlebell overhead before thinking about trying it again.

The Wednesday kettlebell session went fine. The 24kg kettlebell began to feel lighter as the session went on, which was interesting.

The Friday calisthenics session prescribed a lower number of reps, so I was able to do more sets, and thus a higher total number of reps, compared to the Monday session. I managed to do 7 sets.

Easy Muscle: Week 5

The Monday kettlebell session went fine.

The calisthenics session also went fine. At the end of the session, I got into the top position of a dip on the rings, then attempted to get as close as possible to tuck planche by contracting my abs and pulling up my hips and knees, and held the position for as many seconds as I could. Simonster in this video advises to start working on tuck planche with hands elevated - as they would be at the top of a dip - instead of with the hands on the floor. That's where I got the idea. I then practiced ring-assisted pistol squats. My real leg workout in this Easy Muscle training block is the KB goblet squat, so in this case I only did a couple of reps per leg. I then did another little circuit of regressed tuck planche hold and assisted pistol squats.

The Friday kettlebell session was a bit more challenging than the Monday session, because I had to do 4 reps per set. Each 4-rep set in this session drained more of my energy compared to the Monday session. I managed 3 sets in the prescribed time period. For the goblet squat portion of the workout I managed to complete all sets without letting the kettlebell flop over.

Easy Muscle: Week 4

This week called for pushing oneself a little harder than normal. It basically amounts to taking shorter than usual breaks between sets.
The calisthenics workout scheduled for Monday presented a bit of a dilemma. 6 reps per set were prescribed. Last time I attempted 6 reps per set, I was able to complete all 6 reps for first couple of sets. For the remainder of that workout, I could not complete each set without taking breaks. But per the guidelines I had to push myself for this week. I think I found a reasonable balance in the Monday workout - not resting too long and at the same time doing the 6-rep sets without stopping during the set.

The clean-and-push press workout was relatively easier. I aimed to do at least 10 total reps per arm and I achieved that. I stopped counting reps after that as I wanted to focus on good quality execution during the prescribed workout time instead of chasing reps. I think I did 13 per arm. The squat workout mostly went fine, although my hands tired enough to allow the kettlebell to flop over on one of the later sets. One thing I changed was setting up my feet wider apart, about where the feet would be if I were doing a double kettlebell front squat. I haven't been squatting with the feet this far apart for a while. I figured I'll eventually progress back to double KB front squat so might as well ge used to the foot placement since double KBs require more space between the feet for the double KB clean to set up for the squat, and then the reverse clean to park the KBs on the floor.

The Friday calisthenics workout called for 4 reps a set. I pushed for as much volume as possible, and even raised the training time an extra 5 min. I was able to do 8 sets of pullups and dips. This should help prep me for doing more sets of 6-rep sets.

Red Delta Project on lower back isolation exercise

I just watched this video posted by Matt (Red Delta Project) on his channel a few months ago.

Matt contends that the lower back is more like a joint, so saying "work the lower back" is like saying "work the knees". Just as "feeling the knees working" is a sign that something is wrong with your knees (joints), "feeling the lower back working" is not a good sign either. Matt does teach exercises that target the posterior chain, which includes the lower back, but at the same time, he also teaches that you should engage your lats, glutes, and hamstrings - so that force travels through the lower back instead of being concentrated on the lower back.

One question that often comes up is What calisthenics exercise is an alternative or replacement for the barbell deadlift?. Matt does not mention it in the video but I think the majority of the people who asked Matt about lower back isolation exercises were thinking about the barbell deadlift. The barbell deadlift is believed by quite a few people to be a lower back exercise. The muscles that actually do the heavy work in the deadlift are the glutes and the legs, with emphasis on the hamstrings although other leg muscles such as the quadriceps also contribute. What we think of as lower back muscles are the spinal erectors and transverspinalis groups - both muscle groups just work to stabilize the spine when the deadlift is done in proper form. If you mess up and try to use the spinal erectors and/or transverspinalis to lift the barbell, you'll probably injure your back - I unfortunately learned this from direct experience.

There was a time that I too wondered what calisthenics exercises might be good substitutes for the barbell deadlift. This was when I still believed in the deadlift as the best low back exercise ever invented by humankind. However I eventually realized that the deadlift is really a good dynamic exercise only for the leg and glutes - because if you attempt to use it as a dynamic exercise for your low back, you could very well destroy your lower back instantly. The deadlift is at best a decent isometric (static) exercise for the low back. Some people have a good reason to practice the deadlift. If you care more about "lower back strength" than, say, achieving a double or triple bodyweight deadlift, you probably don't need to practice the barbell deadlift

The Red Delta Project channel and other Youtube channels like Knees Over Toes Guy have videos teaching posterior chain or "lower back" exercises. But if you pay close attention, most of those exercises do not involve dynamic movement of the lower back itself, but instead have you keep the back fairly straight and have other muscles - typically the hamstrings, glutes, hips, and/or lats - do the dynamic work.

One dynamic exercise for the lower back that seems to be in fashion at the moment is the Jefferson Curl - however just about all the coaches that advocate that this exercise advise training with light weight - this is not an exercise in which you should be working towards a double bodyweight lift! In fact, just about all the advocates say you should start with no external load at all. Another dynamic exercise that has always been in fashion are side bending exercises such as the one advocated by Knees Over Toes Guy. Knees Over Toes Guy posted their latest lower back exercise video here, including the side bending:

Easy Muscle: Week 3

I was able to do 5-rep sets of the calisthenic exercises without pausing before the last or 2nd to last rep. This is an improvement over the previous week.

I also noticed improvement in performance of the kettlebell exercises. Still a little slop here and there, but noticeable improvement over the previous week.

Easy Muscle: Week 2

The first calisthenics day prescribed a number of reps that was very close to my 8 rep max for both pullups and ring dips. I managed to do all the reps for 3 sets for each exercise. For the last couple of sets, I was able to do 4-5 reps, then I had to pause before attempting another rep. I tried to do one more set per exercise when the timer rang, and managed to do 4 reps. I could feel that was it for the day for both exercises.

The kettlebell day prescribed clean-and-push press singles. I thought I might be able to just do singles left and right, over and over without break, for the prescribed number of minutes, but I did end up needing some rest between singles. The prescribed reps per set for squats seemed daunting for bottoms up goblet squat, but my hands were able to hold up, though the very last set required noticeable effort to keep the KB from flopping over. I tried to think of keeping my weight under the KB, which helped.

The 2nd calisthenics day prescribed 4 reps per set of pullups/dips, which was easier for me compared to the first day. I think I managed 5 sets of each exercise within the prescribed period. I didn't keep count because the idea is to do as many sets within the time period as allowed by autoregulation guidelines, rather than to go for a specific number of sets

I started doing these exercises again with the Flexbar because of intermittent elbow pain, which is sometimes manifested during guitar playing or working with the 24kg kettlebell. I'm not sure if the cause was overuse from too much guitar playing or practicing isometric drag curls with the IsoMax.

Easy Muscle: Week 1

Week 1 is now in the books.

The calsthenics day mostly went fine. I was unable to do all the prescribed reps for the last set of ring dips, so I just did a rest pause - about 15 second rest - then finished the set. I have a tendency to lean too far forward on the dip, so I've been working on not looking down so much, and turning the rings out at the bottom of the dip to engage the shoulder external rotators to help protect the shoulders. For the remainder of the week, I had DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) in the chest and anterior deltoids from the ring dips.

The 2nd kettlebell day prescribed a slightly higher number of reps per sets of Clean And Push Press. I realized that on the 1st KB day I was not really doing the Clean And Push Press - I was actually cleaning the KB once then doing reps of Push Press. Doing a clean before a push press on each and every rep ramped up the level of effort. By the end of the prescribed minutes of training, I was starting to fail with my normally stronger arm, because of accumulated fatigue, even though I was resting a generous amount of time between sets under autoregulation guidelines.

Suspension Shoulder Extension

This exercise on rings or similar suspension trainer looks fun. Here Matt introduces it primarily as a hypertrophy exercise - that is, an exercise for increasing the size of shoulder and upper back muscles. He recommends the pike pushup or other overhead pressing exercise as the main exercise for this purpose, paired with the Suspension Shoulder Extension as a finisher or as a pre-exhaust.

Matt also mentions that it can be used as a mobility exercise because it stretches the lats. That caught my attention. I'm currently following Easy Muscle, which, unlike other hypertrophy programs, is not built on muscle exhaustion, but I like the idea of doing a set or 2 of suspension shoulder extensions as part of a warmup for Easy Muscle.

Easy Muscle: Day 1

Today was the start of my latest hypertrophy training block, under the Easy Muscle Schedule B program. The exercises and training load, based on program guidelines and testing:

Clean and Push Press - 24 kg

Bottoms Up Goblet Squat - 24 kg

Pull Up - unweighted

Ring Dip - unweighted

The CPP (Clean and Push Press) practice that I did a couple of weeks ago was good preparation for this first session. I still need to keep working on driving more of the weight from the lower body. There were a couple of CPP attempts that failed because I didn't generate enough force from my lower body to help my upper body press the KB to lockout. However, I was able to complete the majority of my CPP reps on each arm.

I chose the Bottoms Up Goblet Squat because holding the KB this way lets the KB act as a counterbalance, so that the torso can lean back. As Mark Wildman explains in this video, keeping the torso fairly vertical in this way allows for greater squat depth and reduces risk to the lower back. Towards the end of the squat session, my hands began to tire and thus I started having a harder time keeping the KB from tipping over. Review of the video shows I should have squeezed the glutes and pulled up the kneecaps at the top of the movement.

Easy Muscle Prep/Rest Week

For Monday training, I did 20 minutes of ring dips and ring pull ups with autoregulation. I did 2-3 reps per set of dips and 2 reps per set of pull ups. The main purpose here was to practice these movements, in hopes of being able to execute them competently when I start Easy Muscle next week. I then did 5 minutes of ring-assisted pistol squats.

For Tuesday training, I did 5 sets of ring dips and 5 sets of assisted pistol squats, alternating between the two exercises and resting as much as I wanted between sets. The lower part of the chest and the front deltoids accumulated quite a bit of soreness so I stopped at 5 sets.

I thought of doing some more ring dip practice on Wednesday but I still felt sore in the chest and front delts and so decided to just walk for about 20-30 min, then take the rest of the week off from training.

IsoMax 6x6: Week 6

For the Monday session, I decided to only do the Overhead Press on the IsoMax. I was still feeling that residual soreness in the hips/groin/glute areas from Zercher Lunge training, and soreness in the abs from Drag Curl training, so I decided to take a break from both exercises. I raised the target load for the Overhead Press from 80 to 82 lbs. because I did 117 lbs. or more 2 sessions in a row.

For the Wednesday session, I tried the Zercher Lunge and decided I was done with it after 5 reps, because of how the glutes/hips were feeling. My Overhead Press performance was the best so far. I hit 134 lbs. on one of the 6 reps and 133.2 lbs. on the last rep. My weakest rep was 124 lbs. I also tried the Drag Curl and did 3 reps before deciding that was enough, because the abs were sore after just 3 reps.

Because of my Overhead Press performance, I decided to try pressing the 53 lb. (24kg) kettelbell. I was able to press the KB a little closer to half way, compared to when my overhead press was in the 115 lb. range.

For the Friday session, I decided to test my clean and push press on the 24 kg KB. My technique was rusty but I had the strength to push press the KB, compared to the first time I tried to push press it last year and simply lacked the strength to consistenly push press it all the way. I then decided to cancel my IsoMax session for the day and move on to testing my readiness for the KB focused days in Easy Muscle Schedule B. I was able to do 7 reps of Bottoms Up Goblet Squat with the 24kg KB before I lost control of the KB. While I didn't get to 10 reps before form breakdown, I felt the performance was close enough to go ahead with 24kg for this exercise. I could have tested the clean and press with the 20kg KB instead but this 20kg KB is powder coated, and I don't feel comfortable doing 15 min. of clean-and-press with the powder coated handle, as opposed to the smoother handle of the 24kg KB. I then did 10 min. of 24kg KB Clean and Push Press practice with autoregulation to practice the movement. Thus ends this IsoMax 6x6 training block.

IsoMax 6x6: Week 5

Kicked off the week with a decent workout. My abs were still feeling the effects of last week's training, especially the curls. It's the kind of soreness that you don't feel until you start applying full-body tension for isometric exercise. The glute/hip area is in a similar situation - no soreness when not doing strenuous exercise, but once I start applying full-body tension, here comes the soreness.

I recalculated my overhead press training load because I logged 115 lbs. or higher for 2 sessions in a row. Thus the new load is 80 lbs. which is 70% of 115. My max for the first rep was 102 lbs. My max for the 2nd rep was 123 lbs. Then my max force numbers dropped until my 6th and last rep which produced 128.4 lbs. I guess the way the CNS (Central Nervous System) works is it can produce the highest possible force once or twice a day, then it needs a day or two to "recharge". My guess could be totally wrong but that's how my CNS seems to work at least. Thus, just because I pressed for 128 lbs. once does not mean I will be able to press 128 lbs. again that same day. Even so I decided to test press the 24 kg kettlebell. Once again, I was able to press the KB just under half way. I think I'll wait until I press 120 lbs or higher for at least 4 reps before I try another test with the 24 kg KB, because consistent numbers at a certain force level is a probably more accurate indicator of whether I can reliably apply that same level of force to dynamic movement.

By the end of the week, I had accumulated quite a bit of soreness in my abs from doing the curls and soreness in my hip/groin area from doing the Zercher lunges. I felt this soreness intermittently rather than constantly. I decided to let my abs and lower body take a break for the Friday session and did only the overhead press. My force numbers were generally in the 115 to 117 lb. range, but hit 122 lbs. on the last rep.

IsoMax 6x6: Week 4

For the Monday session my overhead press max was 113 lbs. That was the 2nd session in a row that my max was 113 or higher, so I treated 113 lbs. as my new 1-rep max, and increased the overhead press target load from 74 lbs. to 79 lbs, which is 70% of 113 lbs.

For the Wednesday session, my press was in the 119 to 122 lb. range, so I tested my progress on the 24 kg. kettlebell press. It might be wishful thinking but it seemed like my press got stronger. I was able to press the KB just short of 1/2 of the way up, compared to 1/3 of the way up as tested last week, when my press was in the 115 lb. range.

I was curling in the 160 lb. range or higher last week, so I decided 160 lbs. was my new 1-rep max, and thus increased my target load from 108 lbs. to 112 lbs., which is 70% of 160. Having to work harder to get the IsoMax beeping made me a bit wary of injuring my low back. My abs work so hard in this exercise, that I fear they might quit on me if I pull too hard. At any rate, my max force numbers dropped with the raise in target load, but trended up by the end of the week.

I've been wondering if I've been setting the IsoMax bar too low for the Zercher Lunge. I've been feeling my hip/glute area working the hardest in this exercise. The soreness in this area has accumulated to the point where the soreness starts on the first rep, and lasts for seemingly days on end. I haven't been feeling my quads working anywhere as hard. So for the Friday session, I raised the IsoMax by one slot. I still felt my hip/glute working hard because the position was still low, but I also felt my quad working. The force numbers were lower but the exercise felt more like a proper lunge than, say, a Bulgarian split squat.

IsoMax 6x6: Week 3

For the Monday session, I raised the target load for the curl from 108 lbs. to 112 lbs. I'd been curling at around 160 lbs. or higher consistently up to last week. My initial 1-rep max in the curl was 154 lbs.. 112 lbs. is 70% of 160 lbs.

We take up strength training in hopes of, well, getting stronger. However, progression from say, lifting 75lbs to lifting 100lbs., is not linear. Progressions is more like a wave, with weaker results on some days and stronger results other days, but with an overall upward trend. I've found this to be true for the 6x6 program for isometric strength training. The Monday and Wednesday sessions produced force results that were lower than last week's. Before the Friday session, I was thinking of switching from 6x6 to Bruce Lee style, which would be doing 1 rep - instead of 6 reps - of a 6-second hold for each exercise. I wasn't sure if the drop in performance was just the usual progression I've experienced before under 6x6, which is to log peak performance on some days, but have drops in performance between those peak days... or if my body needed more recovery time. When I do Bruce Lee style, I'm only doing 1 rep per exercise instead of 6, and thus can recover much more quickly between workouts.

The Friday session resulted in the best performance of the week. I logged a max of 87.6 lbs in the Zercher Lunge, a PR for my right leg. I I logged a max of 118.8 in that drill, a PR for my left leg. I scored 115.4 lbs. in the overhead press, yet another PR. I did not achieve a PR in the curl, but I wasn't expecting one because of the raise in target load.

With the new PR in the overhead press, I just had to test my progress towards pressing the 24kg kettlebell. Where before my pressing force was just enough to move the KB up about a centimeter, today I was able to press the KB closer to the midpoint (arm and forearm at right angle). So for, that's the difference that being able to generate 9 lbs. more force makes.

This the mobility routine I've settled on for the recovery days:

• GMB Muay Thai mobility routine except for the last 2 exercises in the interest of saving some time
• Kettlebell Arm Bar
• Tall Kneeling Arm Raise to Side
• Quadraped Side Bend
• Locomotion

I found that working on thoracic spine mobility before any lat stretch seems to loosen up the obliques and lats. The Kettlebell Arm Bar is my choice here for t-spine mobility, as well as stretching the chest. Viewing this StrongFirst video and I can see some details that I missed before. Zack Henderson has a video that walks through the movement with pretty much the same details. One detail I've tended to skip is pausing in the side lying position with the upper foot hooking on the lower leg (thigh) and the upper knee folded over, to check the stacking of the shoulders and hips. I've also skipped the step of sliding the knee up past 90 degrees of hip flexion and pausing there with a few deep breaths. I think I've been making one of the common mistakes of letting the shoulder slip forward. What should be happening instead is the shoulder stays stacked on top of the other shoulder, even if I straighten the top leg and try to bring the top hip to the ground.

The Tall Kneeling Arm Raise to Side, Quadraped Side Bend, and Locomotion are all from GMB's shoulder restriction article, and recommended for people whose low backs arch when reaching overhead. One detail I missed with the Quadruped Side Bend was I should be actively pressing the hand of my working side away from my torso, instead of just reaching with that hand. Actively pressing the hand makes a difference in this stretch. Another difference maker is expanding the ribs during a 4-second inhale, and thus gently increasing the stretch - in addition to stretching on the exhale. I start the Locomotion section of my mobility routine with Monkey 180 or Monkey 360, then do Twisting Bear forward and Backward Bear backward, then finish with Sumo Frogger.

My double arm overhead reach is getting better. My arms improved from about 45 degrees away from vertical to 30 degrees.

One-arm Pullup/Chinup Perspectives

Discussion between two accomplished calisthenics athletes on the one-arm pullup. They agree working on weighted pullups for some time before starting on assisted one-arm pullup training:



This guy shares his discoveries of the biomechanics of this movement which helped him achieve his one-arm pullup/chinup - for example, the angle of the chest to the bar. Interestingly, he too advises putting the assistance band directly under the working hand, and he also found pulleys not to be that useful.


Interesting video by Frinks who did a survey of people who achieved one-arm pullup. After Frinks and his friend collected survey data, their analysis found that those who successfully achieved a one-arm pullup were able to do weighted pullups with external load of about 75% of their bodyweight. After further research and testing, Frinks concludes that a weighted pullup with 60% bodyweight as external load is the recommended prerequisite before transitioning to one-arm pullup specific training. Among those who are still unable to perform a one-arm pullup/chinup, the highest external load they are using for weighted pullups is 90% bodyweight. The guys in the first video did not state what the external load should be before transitioning from weighted (bilateral) pullups to assisted one-arm pullups. The guy in the second video felt the external load should be 50% of bodyweight.


The One-Arm Pullup is an interesting skill I would like to achieve someday. Given my history of left elbow tendonitis, I would be content to put off the switch to assisted unilateral pullup training until the day I can do weighted pullups with external load of 75% of my bodyweight. Heck I might wait until I'm doing weighted pullups with 90% of my bodyweight. I plan to practice pullups, and eventually weighted pullups under the Easy Muscle program, because the load will generally not be high enough to be a danger to my tendons/joints. Achieving strength goals gets easier with muscle added on by a hypertrophy program like Easy Muscle. The guys in the above videos make good points regarding biomechanics and specificity of movement - the amount of strength required to achieve this skill can be diminished by learning and training the most efficient movement pattern. Still, there's no denying that possesing more strength, as measured by how much weight you can pull in weighted pullups, increases your odds of success in this skill.

In theory I might be able to speed up my progress in pullup strength by practicing overcoming isometrics with the lats in a stretched position. This could be done by wearing a dip belt, and securing a heavy kettlebell to the dip belt. The KB would have to be heavy enough to prevent me from being able to complete a full-range pullup - if my 32kg KB is not enough I'd just add another KB. Partial movement would be ok and might even be desirable because your CNS (central nervous system) allows your muscles to work harder if muscular effort produces even the slightest movement, and will put the brakes on the muscles if there is no movement at all no matter how hard the muscles work. The main thing is to pull hard and as far up as the weight will allow, and sustain the hold at that position for 6 seconds. It might be possible to rig the IsoMax bar to measure the force being applied via dip belt but it seems convoluted, plus the weight of the kettlebell(s) is already available for assessing the force being applied. So if I do my isometric pullup with a 32kg KB and manage to pull it up with me even just a few millimeters, I know I'm applying at least my bodyweight plus 32kg of force.

Then again, the lats will probably be getting some gains in strength, along with muscle mass, by just training under Easy Muscle. I might try this isometric idea with the KB the next time I do a Bruce Lee style isometric training block.

IsoMax 6x6: Week 2

Zercher Lunge performance has been good with the left leg. I finished the week with a PR of 109.6 lbs. Right leg performance did not quite match the left leg but that's ok. One or more of the glute muscles on the right side developed a soreness that persisted over more than one followup session. Another issue is by the 4th rep, I was too tired to figure out whatever body adjustments needed to be made to get the rear knee off the ground.

Overheard Press performance was also great, with max force logged in the 106-112 lb. range

Curl performance was decent. I'm holding back a little out of concern for my elbow tendonitis and low back. With all the attention paid to squeezing the glutes, working the abs hard, keeping the chest up, and initiating the pull from between the shoulder blades, rotating the shoulders out while pulling through the pinkies, risk to both issues is minimized. I don't feel any tendonitis effects immediately afterward at least. However I do start to feel the spinal erectors a bit if I let the glutes slack off. I want to make sure the abs do not give out at any point because if they do, bye by low back. The abs do work pretty hard in this exercise.

One change I made to how I do 6x6 is getting rid of the 1-rep max retest sessions. The reason to retest 1-rep max is to reset the target load. So if your 1-rep max test result is 100lbs, your target load would be 70%, or 70lbs. Later if you retest your 1-rep max, and it's now 110lbs, your new target load would be 70%, or 77lbs. Instead of giving up a regular training sessino for 1-rep max testing, I just decide when to increase my target load. So in the case of my overhead press, my initial 1-rep max was determinded by testing to be 102 lbs. AFter recording a 106lb. or higher max force for 2 sessions in a row, I decided to reset my training load to 70% of 106lbs, which is 74 lbs. I similarly raised my curl training load.

If I can press with 106 lbs. of isometric force, does that mean I can press a 53 lb. kettlebell?

The answer is no.

106 lbs. is roughly the weight of 2 24kg (approx. 53lbs) kettlebells. Because I've been getting close to 106 lbs. in my overhead press force during my IsoMax 6x6 sessions last week, I thought I'd take a look at my max force after every overhead press rep during today's morning 6x6 session. I hit a max force of 106lbs or higher for at least half the reps today.

So in the afternoon, I tried to press a 24kg kettlebell. I was able to press it about an inch upwards - or less... probably less. I was a bit disappointed but not surprised, because the force we can generate at the bottom of the overhead press is higher than the force we can generate at the middle position; and greater still than the force we can generate near the top (lockout) of the press. I discovered this within the first few months of training on my Isochain - my first overhead press (aka shoulder press) sessions were near the middle position, then one day I tried lowering the bar to a position close to the start of the press and was surprised to discover a significant different in pressing force.

Thus, scoring a 106lb. max force reading at bottom position just means I can press a 53lb. KB with one arm for only a short distance, which is what happened this afternoon... and it probably means my max force at the middle position is quite a bit less than 106 lbs. and thus not strong enough to press the KB to full lockout overhead. So the middle position is most likely a better position than the bottom for assessing my readiness for pressing a 53lb. KB with one arm. I set the IsoMax to Feedback mode and tried pressing as hard as I could, and it read a max force of only 68lbs. Max force reading at middle position is not a perfect assessment either, because a 16kg KB is about 35 lbs. and thus I should have - in theory - needed a 70lb. max force at middle position to press a 16kg KB. But in reality I was doing sets of 4-6 reps of 16kg KB presses while I was working through the ICT program. That's because when one is pressing a KB overhead, the KB is actually in motion at the middle position. The greater the velocity of the KB, the less force is needed to keep the KB moving. Thus I probably don't need to press with 106 lbs. of force at middle position to be able to press a 53 lb. KB - the actual required force will be less than that because the KB's velocity will not be zero at middle position, assuming I have the strength to even get it going as high as middle position. So it will be interesting to see how much max force I need to be able to generate at bottom position in order to send the KB upward at a high enough velocity so that I can press it all the way to lockout.

I'm not so concerned about the near-lockout position because current thinking in exercise science is fast concentric stimulates greater strength gains - when I get strong enough to press the KB explosively up to the middle position of the movement, it will likely have a high enough velocity at the near lockout position to require relatively lower force to keep it going all the way to lockout.

I will still do my main overhead press training at the bottom position because that is where the primary muscles (chest, triceps, anterior delts) are at their longest lengths, and as previouly mentioned, research found greatest hypertrophy and carryover to dynamic performance from isometric training with muscles at longest possible lengths. To assess readiness for pressing the 24kg KB, I'll try one overhead press rep in Feedback mode at the middle position once a week - maybe sooner if I see a sudden jump in bottom position performance.

Less disappointing results for today was performance in the Zercher Lunge with the toes of the rear foot pointing back so that the instep is touching the ground instead of the toes. Performance on the left leg dropped very slightly, while performance on the right leg, which had been lagging by as much as 15 lbs., improved to even with the left leg. I tried to keep the rear knee from touching the ground, but I don't think there's any real reason to do so, because then the exercise would be more like the bottom of a Shrimp Squat - one of the regressions for Shrimp Squat has both arms forward and the knee of the rear leg "kissing" the floor before standing back up. I'll probably experiment and see if there's any difference in force production.