Improving mobility for reaching overhead (lat mobility)

I want to be able to press 2 kettlebells overhead at the same time. In order to do this without risk of shoulder injury, I need to be able to lock out both arms overhead.

I am currently exploring the Geoff Neupert P3 protocol, which aims to cure movement dysfunction by restoring motor control. From what I've observed so far on the Strongfirst P3 discussion thread, the "side lying" position seems to be the hardest to progress through for the majority of participants. I can do about 20 breaths, and 30 reps of each of the head movements, on each side. It took me a while to work up to these numbers. The next step in the progression is quite a jump in difficulty for me, so it's best for me to be patient and let my CNS and body develop at its own pace.

P3 practice so far has indeed seemed to loosen some muscles, including the lats. However, P3 is somewhat promoted as a mobility method for people who hate stretching, whereas sometimes I do get a nice satisfying feeling out of a good stretch once in a while. Tightness in the lats is one of the reasons I"ve had trouble reaching overhead. I found these suggested lat stretches.

In the past, I've explored flexibility/mobility exercises taught by GMB Fitness. Locomotion exercises are key components of the GMB way of achieving fitness goals, including flexibility/mobility. GMB trainer Adele Jackson posted four recommended locomotion exercises for improving mobility for reaching overhead, and general shoulder mobility, along with the recommendation to practice each movement for 1-4 minutes. These same exercises are mentioned in GMB's article How to Fix the 4 Most Common Shoulder Restrictions. The article recommends practicing the locomotion exercises after stretching. This helps consolidate the mobility gains from more isolated stretching exercises.

First session of Easy Muscle Prep Week 2

I did a 20 minute session. The change from Week 1 is doing 3 reps per exercise instead of 2 reps. In the 20 minute period, I managed to do only 3 full rounds of the 3 exercises. I wonder if it is because I needed more rest after each set of assisted pistol squats. I did manage to squeeze in a 4th set of ring pushups.

Before the workout my quads were still sore from last week's assisted pistol squatting. I was able to get through today's training without feeling like I damaged anything in the legs. However, I'm thinking of splitting up the workout into a 10-minute upper body session and a 10-minute pistol squat session, with rest times between sets determined by autoregulation. There would be a rest period between the two 10-minute sessions that would also be determined by autoregulation. I believe that by doing this I can increase the training volume for the upper body exercises, since there wouldn't be any pistol squat sets taking up time between the ring pushups and bar pullups. Practicing the pistol squat in its own 10-minute window would allow me to train this movement at its own volume. For example I might end up doing 5 rounds of the 2 upper body exercises and 3 rounds of the assited pistol squats - thus training at volume levels appropriate to each exercise.

For cooldown I did a session of P3 mobility. I decided to do P3 five days a week instead of just in the recovery days, between the strength training days. I am close to achieving the requirements to pass Level 2 of the Side Lying position, which is 30 breaths, 30 nods, and 30 neck rotations. I figure I'd be able to graduate to Level 3 sooner with more frequent practice.

Completed Easy Muscle Prep Week 1

Completed the training week without further setbacks - no pun intended - to my lower back.

Feeling DOMs every day in my quads from practicing assisted pistol squats.

Out of the 3 selected strength exercises, I'm feeling the strongest in the Pull Up. I've been doing them with my hands slightly closer together than shoulder width. I currently don't have anything on which to hang rings or suspension trainer at enough of a height to do pull ups or chin ups without having to hold my feet in front of me, which adds extra effort per rep. So I've been doing pull ups on my trusty door pull up bar. I still use the shoulder external rotator muscles and back muscles to generate a spiraling action with my hands, as taught here:



t Even though my hands do not rotate during the pull up, I try to use the spiraling action of those muscles to bend the pull up bar between my hands. The tension, generated by trying to use the spiraling force to rotate the pinky side of my palms towards each other, seems to add more power to the pull up and protect my elbows and shoulders.

Low Back Recovery setback, but not entirely derailed from Easy Muscle prep

I woke up Sunday morning with low back soreness, as soon as I started getting out of bed. It was just like how my back felt every morning, during those first few days after my back injury this past August. The back felt tight and painful. The pain diminished as I started walking around.

I'm not a medical professional, so I can only speculate on possible causes:

• Back spasm during sleep, which apparently could happen
• Not enough hydration during the day and evening before going to sleep
• Somehow tossed and turned in bed, while sleeping, into a position awkward for the back
• Cumulative injury from training with the 24kg kettlebell before the low back had healed enough to tolerate the load
• Combination of the above

I did some yardwork, which involved some squatting down. My back held up fine. I later did a P3 mobility session.
Come Monday morning my low back was mostly pain free when I got up out of bed. I had a "mini spasm" accompanied with some pain, when I was sitting on the toilet. This scared the bejesus out of me but the pain quickly subsided after I was standing again and walked for a bit.

I practiced the Easy Muscle prep routine, as planned last week. The back felt fine until I did a set of goblet squats with the 24kg kettlebell. I did not feel a back spasm or acute pain, but there was just enough discomfort to make me reconsider the KB goblet squat. I quickly decided to replace it with assisted pistol squat, which felt much better.

I decided to work on pull ups (pronated palms) instead of chin ups (supinated palms). Last year I did partial chinups on the Eleviaa rings, which was ok because my shoulder did not let me drop all the way into a full dead hang. But now that I can work out of the dead hang again, I find the rings too low for my taste, even at the highest setting. To do pullups/chinups with these rings out of a dead hang, my knees and feet in front of my torso, which adds difficulty to the movement. For some scenarios this may be ok, but if the goal is to get in as much volume as possible in each session, you don't want to add unnecessary difficulty to the movement.

The DOMS in my lats from the first couple of sessions of Easy Muscle prep subsided. I've made steady progress in the P3 mobility method and continue to practice it on my recovery days. But I've gone back to stretching, instead of doing an abbreviated P3 session, for cooldown from my strength/hypertrophy training sessions.

Easy Muscle Prep: Week 1

My low back is feeling about as good as it did before this latest injury, although I still exercise some caution in getting out of bed.

The next exercise routine I want to do is Easy Muscle, Schedule B, which is one of the three schedules included in Geoff Neupert's Easy Muscle program. Schedule B is the one which has alternating sessions of kettlebell exercise and calisthenics. However, my performance in the two calisthenic exercises - dips and pull ups - is not even close to where I need it to be. Doing one pull up took a lot more effort than I remember, and my technique was rusty. My dip performance was worse, as I felt shaky and needed to use my feet for assistance. Even with foot assistance, I needed a lot of effort to push myself back up.

So, I'll be starting a preparatory program to improve my performance in 3 key exercises for Easy Muscle:

• Ring Push Up
• Pull Up
• 24kg Kettlebell Goblet Squat

The inspiration to substitute Ring Push Up for the Dip came from this Red Delta Project video:

I'll follow the Red Delta Project recommendation to include Ring Reverse Shrugs and Ring Knee Raises in my warmup routine. The rest of the warmup will be scapular pull ups (called "pulling prep" by GMB) and ATG split squats on the stairs.

For this week, I will set a timer to 20 minutes, then do 2-rep sets of each of the above exercises, resting for as much time as I need between sets. This follows the autoregulation principle used in several Neupert programs. So I would do 2 dips, rest as much as I need, then 2 pull ups, rest as much as I need, then 2 goblet squats, then rest as much as I need. Then I'd continue rotating between the 3 exercises, doing one set of each, and resting between sets, until the timer rings to indicate the end of the 20 minutes.

I will try to practice the RTO variation of the Ring Push Up, since it's the variation that is closest to a Ring Dip. If I lack the strength to do RTO push ups, then I'll practice the regular variation with the ringsa at an appropriate height, gradually working towards the lowest possible height before switching to

Over the course of several weeks, I will gradually increase the number of reps per set. Barring any unexpected setbacks, practicing this preparatory program should lead to improved technique in these 3 exercise, as well as improved strength and work capacity. Hopefully I'll be able to perform 10 consecutive reps of each exercise with good technique by the end of this program, and the start of Easy Muscle.

Guitar lessons

Soumia Ghechami breaks down how she composed the original track, her approach to chord voicings and progressions, and how she incorporates chords into heavy riffs.

Beautiful guitar chords recommended by Ichika Nito

I've been working through the Jazz Guitar Pathway on Pickup Music. Most recently, I worked through lessons on the major and minor 2-5-1 chord changes and how to practice for them. One of the practice ideas is to practice scales, changing the scale as needed as you play through the chord progression. The practice ideas taught in the pathway are ok but I think the Barry Harris method might be a little better for reinforcing the sound of the chord changes in your head while practicing the scales. Some of the videos on Pickup Music have a gear icon which must be clicked to access teh speed settings, so that the video may be slowed down. One annoying bug is the popup menu with the speed setting appears and immediately disappears. A hack I found is to click the transcript icon. The transcript will take up half the video space. The gear icon should reappear in the other half of the video space. Now you can click the gear and select the speed.

Nice lesson on the Barry Harris approach to practicing scales for a jazz standard and practicing the chromatic scale


If the above lesson is too challenging, this is a more basic intro to the Barry Harris way of practicing scales for chord changes:

Not really a lesson, just a fun backing track for practicing funk guitar riffs, stylings, etc.

Another video that can be used for practicing soloing ideas

Low Back Rehab: Week 4

My low back healed enough so that I could practice all the movements in all the Phase 1 positions of Geoff Neupert's Sore Joint Solution mobility program, aka "P3". P3 practice includes the Dead Bug exercise. While the Dead Bug has a specific role in P3, it just so happens to be the same exercise Neupert recommends for improving your reflexive core stability. So while one obvious way to prevent a repeat back injury is to avoid exercises that caused that injury - the deadlift, bent-over row, and seated row in my case - another approach is to also improve that reflexive core stability. I don't want to find out the hard way, what other exercise might also be harmful to my lower back. So I'm going for Neupert's performance standard for the Dead Bug - either 4 sets of 25 reps, or 3 sets of 30. I've been making good progress towards this standard, achieving 3 sets of 25 reps.I tend to run out of time before I have to get ready to go to work, so I'm going for 3 sets of 30 rather than 4 sets fo 25, because that 4th set just takes time.

After my P3 practice, I do the chest expander exercises to try get my upper body strength back to where it was before the back injury, while waiting for the back to finish healing. Before the injury, my overhead press was in the 105-112 lb. range, which in theory is enough to press double 24kg kettlebells overhead at least once. My drag curl numbers were also high, though I have yet to test how these gains would carry over to my chin up performance. If I can get back to being ready to press a 24kg KB overhead with one arm for 3-5 reps, and be able to do 10 chinups, I'd be satisfied. The KB clean-and-press and the chin up are both part of Easy Muscle Schedule B, which is the next exercise program I plan to do after my back has healed.

Squatting is also part of Easy Muscle. I guess if you cannot do more than 10 bodyweight squats, then you could just do bodyweight squats. Otherwise you would squat with a weight that not too heavy nor too light - just enough so that you can do 10 reps at most with this weight. Before I can figure out what weight is right for me - single 16kg KB, single 24kg KB, or double 16kg KB - I need to make sure my low back has healed enough to tolerate the squatting motion. During the first couple of weeks of recovery from the injury, my low back was sensitive to certain movements. If it didn't like how I was moving, I would immediately feel stabbing pain. Reaching forward while flexing the spine was an obvious no-no move. Squatting down was ok, unless I did one slight thing wrong, and was punished for it with that sudden acute pain.

Days later, my back is not as sensitive to movement but I still have that fear of squatting. So before I can do high volume weighted squats, I need to eliminate that fear. After that? I think a reasonable next milestone would be to work up to 20 consecutive reps of unweighted squats. By the time I achieve that goal, my back should be able to handle 10-rep max testing with the kettlbells.

The condition of my low back also improved enough that I regained the confidence to sleep in bed again. I'd been sleeping in my armchair because it was easier to get up from the armchair without back pain. It feels so good to sleep in bed again.

Low Back Rehab: Week 3

I continued the low back rehab routine that I settled on last week. The low back continued to heal nicely. As of the end of the week I no longer have to constantly monitor my body positioning and movement to avoid triggering that acute, spine-about-to-snap pain.

I also started using the Baraban chest expander as part of my morning routine. The chest expander workout, as influenced by the Alex Leonidas video:

• Overhead press and curl in 2 antagonist sets. 3 springs for both exercises
• Overhead tricep extension and reverse curl in 2 antagonist sets. 2 springs for both exercises
• Vertical Pull Apart w/ Underhand Grip, then Vertical Pull Apart w/ Overhand Grip in mechanical drop sets

6 tips for appreciating art

Tips for appreciating art

Thoughts on Chest Expander video by Alex Leonidas

After my first shoulder injury, I went to physical therapy for as long as my medical insurance would allow, which I recall was roughly a month. Afterwards, I was on my own to figure out exercise programming to bridge the gap between rehab and regular strength training with the shoulder. Part of the answer was to get a Lifeline Chest Expander, then choose exercises utilizing it. I chose some exercises that were published in a Reg Park book of chest expander exercises. Chest expander training did bridge the gap as I had hoped, then I transitioned to ring calisthenics.

I got so into ring and parallette training that I gradually forgot about the chest expander. Years and couple of repeat shoulder injuries later, I randomly found some chest expander videos on Youtube featuring steel-spring chest expanders.

I've experienced the effectiveness of 2-4 second eccentric exercise for relieving elbow tendonitis. Apparently this type of exercise might work for tendons in general, including those that are part of my repeatedly injured shoulder. Every chest expander exercise has a decent eccentric load because it can be dangerous to suddenly relax and/or let go after completing the concentric movement.
Another aspect of chest expander training that I appreciate is how it can be used to target the rear deltoids and upper back for improved shoulder stability.

Here is one of Alex Leonidas's videos on steel-string chest expanders. It's interesting because his perspective is informed by several months' worth of personal experience training with a steel-spring chest expander, as well as his experience with contemporary bodybuilding methods. He is not just repeating what was published in an old chest expander book.

These are the exercises he likes:

• Vertical Pull Apart w/ Underhand Grip - thickness builder, developers upper traps and rear delts
• Vertical Pull Apart w/ Overhand Grip - targets same muscles as above, with more triceps. Suitable as a drop set after the above.
• Horizontal Pull Apart - Rear delts and great for posture
• Archer Pull - targets small muscles of upper back, injury prevention and relief for achy shoulders.
• Curl - of course targets bicesp
• Violin Extension - targets triceps long head
• Sideways Extension - his favorite triceps drill
• Back Press - Compound pressing exercise, great for behind-the-neck mobility
• Overhead Press - Shoulder press alternative that hits the triceps harder

Programming Tips:

• 5-10 rep range. Move up a spring after doing 12 reps for all sets, or 15 for one set
• 2 exercises per targeted muscle.
• 4-6 total sets per workout
• One set per exercise might be enough, especially when doing drop sets - either dropping a spring or the mechanical drop set approach
• If not doing drop sets, 2 regular sets will be enough

I tried most of the above exercises - the one exception being Sideways Extension as it just didn't feel comfortable. I settled on Overhead Press, Curl, Violin Extension, Reverse Curl, and the Pull Apart variations as my exercises of choice. I do like the Archer Pull, but my left shoulder feels a little uncomfortable when I hold my left arm out to the side while my right arm does the work. It will probably feel more comfortable after I've added a little more strength and muscle to my rear delts and upper back. I'll probably alternate between Back Press and Overhead Press as the compound pressing exercise of choice

Got my first steel-spring Chest Expander

I randomly found this video:

I found that 2-4 second eccentric exercise with a Theraband Flexbar relieved my elbow pain, corroborating with research finding that eccentric exercise movement lasting 2 seconds or longer was effective for reducing pain and strengthening elbow tendons, as well as other tendons. I quickly realized that the controlled eccentric required for safe usage of a steel-spring chest expander would likely benefit my tendons, including the ones in my shoulders, which have been injured multiple times.

This video and other vidoes I've seen on Youtube featuring steel-spring chest expanders tend to play up the bodybuilding applications. I do have an interest in hypertrophy so this is fine. Chest expanders can be used to stimulate hypertrophy of the biceps and triceps. Granted, other equipment can be used to do th same. Where chest expanders shine is in stimulating hypertrophy of the rear deltoids and upper back, in a way that is difficult to achieve with other equipment

The chest expander sold by the Robert Baraban online shop is mentioned in the above and other videos. I ordered one out of curiosity. It arrived today, at a time that I am recovering from a back injury and thus not feeling comfortable or confident about my back being able to handle strength training with kettlebells or Isochain/IsoMax or even just calisthenics. So now I have a way of resuming training for upper body strength and muscle, with virtually no risk to my lower back. I should be back on track to be able to take on Easy Muscle Schedule B in about a month - maybe less - better than working only on dead bugs and low back rehab exercises.

Low Back Rehab: Week 2

I've settled on the following for my daily morning routine for back rehab and core work. Before I could even get started I had to get over my fear of squatting down and possibly triggering acute back pain. I also had to get over my fear of transitioning from standing to supine position, because of how painful it was to get out of bed the previous week.

ATG Split Squat on stairs - Done getting into position, then gently pulsing in and out of the full stretch for 5-10 reps, before holding the stretch for 20 seconds. The purpose is to loosen up the hip flexors, and the hamstrings and even the back to a lesser extent.

Dead Bugs - 4 sets - Working towards 25 Dead Bugs in one set, using backfill strategy. This should improve reflexive core stability, to reduce the odds of a repeat back injury.

Cat-Cow - 30 reps

Prone Press Up - 10 reps with 10-sec. hold at top (see below)

Child Pose - 60 sec. hold

While I credit the Bob and Brad video for "Flexor" back pain sufferers for giving me idea to do the Prone Press Up, there was only the bare minimum detail on how to do it. This article says to do a 10-second hold at the top of every rep. I like the 10-sec. hold idea. This video has a lot more technical details on the exercise. I notice none of the videos teaching this press up show the arms perpendicular to the ground. While everyone has their elbows locked, the arms are more at a diagonal.

I also practice ATG Split Squat several times a day. I got the idea from this video to practice with the front foot elevated fairly high on the stairs, then practice with the foot elevated at a lower height

Figuring Out a Low Back Rehab Routine

My lower back feels much better, one week after the injury I suffered last week. If it was still feeling as bad as it did that day or worse, I would have gone to a doctor. The reason I did not go to a doctor is the similarity to my previous back injury, which occured when I attempted an isometric Bent-Over Row. The injury occurred with a popping sensation in my spine, immediately followed by acute pain, then the pain gradually subsided over the next several days.

The experience this time around was worse in that the sleeping experience was worse. Getting into bed was a bit tricky but ok. Getting out of bed was the problem. I had to figure out how to maneuver my body out of the supine position then out of the bed with the least pain posssible. One wrong move would result in acute pain, as if a giant was about to snap my spine in two. Every time I managed to get out of bed, I tried to remember how I did it but just never could. By the end of the week, I'd given up on sleeping in bed and started sleeping in an armchair instead, using a step stool with a towel and cushion on top for resting my feet. It took some getting used to but at least I can get out of the chair with less risk of acute back pain.

I took ibuprofen to reduce the inflammation and the pain that goes with it to tolerable levels on the day of the injury and the following day. Then I bought and tried Advil Dual Action Back Pain, which combines ibuprofen - at a slightly lower dose - with acetaminophen, which is not anti-inflammatory but does work as a pain reliever. I believe there is Motrin version of this product but the Advil was what I found in stock. This combination of the 2 drugs seemed to give me more pain relief overall than just the ibuprofen but since it was 2 days after the injury, the reduced pain could have also just been part of the healiing process.

By the weekend, the pain had subsided enough that I didn't feel like I needed Advil or Motrin any more. I spent some time of course looking into what I could do for low back rehab, since my condition had improved enough to not require a visit to a doctor or physical therapist.

I like the Bob and Brad Youtube channel. They say there are at least 2 types of back pain sufferers. This video focuses on the Extender and Flexor types. Knowing which type you are will help select rehab exercises appropriate for your particular condition.

I'm a Flexor type so I'll probably follow this video:

Great tips for patients who struggle to get started with the back extension press ups

Spinal Decompression with Countertop - looks promising for those who have trouble hanging from a pullup bar for decompression. I won't be trying this anytime soon though, because it seems like only specific stretches are recommended for patients with my condition - the Cobra pose (as it is known in yoga) and hip flexor stretches. Some also recommend Child pose. Nobody seems to recommend spinal decompression.

I might try some of these exercises too:

I might also try some of these exercises as well, although there is some overlap with the other videos.

Isometric variation of Dead Bug

What the Multifidus is, and how to exercise it

Last IsoMax session for a while? Back setback

I finished Week 8 of my Bruce Lee routine with good progress in the majority of drills. On the Friday session, I hit a new PR of 111.4 lbs. in the overhead press. I do not agree with all the error listed in Thomas Kurz's Errors in Training for Strength in Sports and Martial Arts, but "Error: Changing your exercises or adding new ones when the old exercises still cause considerable improvements in your strength" makes sense to me. So I figured I'd do another week of the Bruce Lee.

Today's session went fine, until I got to the last exercise of the routine, which was the Seated Row. I was sure that I braced my abs and pulled my chest up to prevent any backwards curve of the lower spine. However, that was not enough. It might not have been a good idea to lock my knees out either. As I started pulling harder, I felt something pop in my spine, followed by acute low back pain, just like the very last time I did a bent-over row on the Isochain. I had no choice but to stop training immediately, and try walking around a little to try to walk off some of the pain.

I bought some ibuprofen (previously tried Advil and Motrin - both seem to work the same for me), and started taking it. It seems to relieve the pain a little bit. NSAIDs like this are not a great long term solution for pain relief, but they're suitable for short term relief. I spent most of my work day standing up. In the past when I've had back pain, my back would hurt when I stood up after sitting in a chair too long.

So where to go from here? At present, all I can do is keep taking the ibuprofen, and try doing a Sore Joint Solution routine tomorrow morning. Barring further setback, I'll work towards doing SJS 5 days a week, working towards being able to do 4 sets of 25 Original Strength-style Dead Bugs to improve my reflexive core stability and thus reduce the odds of repeat injury to the low back.

After I've achieved the 4 sets of 25 dead bugs, I'll do the Bruce Lee routine on the IsoMax again, with some changes:

• Reduced target loads for the exercises, since I'll be coming off of injury and thus want to take my time to get my strength back to where it was before the injury.
• No more Seated Row. Just don't want to risk re-injury so soon. I put up greater force numbers in the low position curl, so I'm fine with the curl being my only upper body pulling exercise in my Bruce Lee routine.
• No more Overhead Tricep Extension as there does not seem to be any reason to have 2 upper body push exercises to 1 pull exercise.

I think the hand-and-thigh lift might help restore stability to my spine, because after I hurt my back in the bent-over row, I immediately did a hand-and-thigh and it reduced so much of the pain I didn't need to take ibuprofen. I just didn't attempt the hand-and-thigh this time because I would have had to squat down to pick up the IsoMax bar and platform, and my low back pain just would not allow that.

Anyway, I'll do the Bruce Lee again until my overhead press is back in the high 100s, then I'll switch to a hypertrophy block with Easy Muscle, Schedule B as the program of choice. Schedule B alternates between a kettlebell day and a calisthenics day, which features chinups and dips. I ordered a dip belt to use with a kettlebell, in the event I find I can easily do over 10 reps of each calisthenic exercise. I'm guessing my rep max will be 10 or less for both exercises, for this hypertrophy block. However I don't think it will be long before I progress to about a 10-rep max with a 16kg kettlebell on the dip belt, for both exercises.

I've never had low back problems caused by bodyweight-only chinups, unlike with row variations on Isochain/IsoMax. I think weighted chinups will be also be fine for me, because I only plan to do them in the context of Easy Muscle. As long as I stick to the 10-rep max guideline (eg. if I can do 10 weighted chinups with a 16kg KB, and 3 weighted chinups with a 24kg KB, I should train with the 16kg) in Easy Muscle, the load should never be heavy enough to pose a threat.

IsoMax Bruce Lee: Week 7 and 8

Finished Weeks 7 and 8 with strong performances in the low overhead press. Lowering the bar from loop 21 to loop 20 was a difference-maker. The slightly shortened strap made it easier for me to generate muscular tension for the overhead press. So from Wednesday of Week 7 until the end of Week 8, I achieved max force readings of 100 lbs or more, with a PR of 111.4 in the overhead press to end Week 8.

Progree was also good in the high deadlift, shrug, and calf raise. Drag curl performance was kind of at a plateau until I lowered the setting from Loop 9 to Loop 8 to lengthen the biceps a little more.

I gave up on trying to practice Zercher Lunge on the IsoMax and switched to doing it on Isochain instead. The IsoMax's platform design does not allow a nice surface area of contact with the foot, which can result in the platform being pulled up. The Isochain's flat metal platform allows for foot placement that feels more secure and stable.

Today's Music Discoveries

https://www.npr.org/2023/08/08/1191257294/composer-joan-tower-is-finally-going-easy-on-herself

Achieved 100+ lb. Overhead Press today!

The latest science tells us that want our working muscles as long as possible, for the greatest carryover to dynamic movement. Lately I've noticed that I still have some slack in the IsoMax strap when I practice the overhead press, so I might be able to lower the bar one more loop in the strap. Sure enough, after lowering the bar, I was still able get my hands under the bar for the press, yet also get a tighter stretch on the chest when I pull my shoulder back and down in preparation for pressing.

The max reading was 103.2 lbs. New PR! Load was set to 68 lbs.

I'm sure the extra stretch to the chest helped. The chest musculature was able to contribute more force. The slightly shortened strap length reduced possible movement of the bar, since the strap would not stretch as much. Reduced velocity means more force can be generated, per Force Velocity Curve.

IsoMax Bruce Lee: Week 6

The hot weather seems to be everywhere. Some tips for staying cool without AC.

I've been enjoying the Bruce Lee routine on IsoMax. It takes so little time compared to other strength training routines.

However I've gotten more flab too. This might be a downside of an exercise routine that takes so little time, even done daily. The intensity is high during the workout, as I aim for a new PR for each exercise, but the total calories burned must not be very high. I started adjusting by cutting down intake of rice and bread, to reduce caloric intake. On the caloric burn side, I started trying to raise my NEAT.

The original Bruce Lee/Bob Hoffman isometric routine did not seem to include progressive overload, which is understandable as Bruce trained with a bar-and-chain device that did not have a built-in force dynamometer, unlike the IsoMax or Isochain bar. I have been using the IsoMax in Timer mode, so I can hear it count off 6 seconds as I apply force equal to or greater than the load setting. So when I set the load to 50 lbs., the bar will beep as long as I put out at least 50 lbs. of force, and will stop beeping if my force output drops below 50 lbs.

Until this week, I've been deciding after each session whether or not to increase the load for each exercise by 5 lbs, depending on how easy it felt to trigger ther Timer mode and/or the max force reading for that exercise. I didn't follow any particular rules in this decision-making - just went more with feel. So I've increase the load at a faster rate for some exercises while the load has stayed constant for days or even weeks at a time for others.

Last week (Week 5), for the Low Overhead Press, I had the load set at 70lbs., which was higher than 70% of my estimated max force of 93 lbs., based on Week 4 results. This week I decided to set the load to 64 lbs, roughly 70% of my max force. I also set my grip to roughly shoulder width or a little narrower, which seemed to allow me to get a little more stretch of the chest while pulling my shoulders down and back before initiating the overhead press. In this video, Red Delta Project explains why the shoulders should be down and back to "switch on" the chest muscles. Yes, in this video he's actually teaching a different exercise, which was called the "chest press" but in the IsoMax manual is called the "pec press", but the relationship of shoulders to chest still applies for the low overhead press. My max force increased from session to session. I finished the week with a new PR of 99.6 lbs.

I got the "70% idea" from the 6x6 program in the book Ultimate Isometrics Manual. In that program, you begin by testing your 1-rep max under a particular protocol described in the book, then train at 70% of the 1-rep max until you test it again. I don't know how or why the authors of this book settled on 70%, but there seems to be something to it. I've noticed that if I set the load too high in Timer mode, I expend so much force getting to the target load that I can't seem to achieve as high a max force as when the load is set lower. I'm not sure what the consequences are, exactly, for setting the target load lower than 70% of 1-rep max. However, my understanding of how progressive overload works is that one should not train at the same load forever if strength gains are desired. 70% of 1-rep max seems to be close to the sweet spot for allowing me to produce the highest max force numbers on Isochain/IsoMax.

One difference between strength training on this type of device vs. a barbell is we are aiming for the highest possible max force output on Isochain/IsoMax for every training session while on a barbell we aim to lift as much weight as possible, but can actually only do that once in a while - eg. at a powerlifting meet. For example in the overhead press, I try to press 95 lbs. or higher every session, whereas if I were training with a barbell, I'd probably be pressing overhead a weight less than 95 lbs. - say, around 65 lbs - gradually working up in weight towards 95 lbs.
I guess the above paragraph needs some understanding of the Force-Velocity Curve

Anyway, I've been working with the load set to higher than 70% of the max force readings for some exercises, before this week's discovery with the low overhead press. I decided to not lower the load for those exercises. I'll just keep the 70% idea in mind when deciding whether or not to increase the load for a particular exercise.

IsoMax Bruce Lee: Week 4

For my first full week of practicing Overhead Tricep Extension, I switched between loops 22 and 23 on the strap to try to decide which strap number to use. At loop 22, I can get the best stretch on the triceps while still be able to stand up with straight legs. With the target load in Timer Mode set to 20 lbs., I can trigger the timer by standing up, which feels a little bit like cheating. At loop 23, I can stand up straight with my arms set up for the exercise without triggering the time, so that I have to press the bar upward to trigger the timer.

To set up for loop 22, I hold the bar behind my head with my elbows bent - so that the triceps are stretched a little - squat down a little, pull my elbows back towards my head to stretch the triceps more, then stand up while trying to keep the elbows pulled back. Standing up registers 20-25 lbs. of force on the IsoMax, which is enough to trigger the timer. When I hear the timer start beeping, I try press the bar upwards

I'm leaning more towards training overhead tricep extension at loop 22 rather than loop 23 Loop 22 stretches the triceps and back muscles more, creating more tension, and thus higher force output, compared to loop 23. Higher force output allows faster progression to heavier load settings, making the triceps work harder, sooner.

My overhead press max force has gone up from mid 70s to low 90s - about a 20% strength increase after just 4 weeks of training. In the past, my max force increase was about 15% after 6-8 weeks of Promethean or 6x6. It's a shame I didn't try the Bruce Lee with the Isochain in the past so I could compare and see if the faster progress is just the result of higher frequency of training (5x a week vs 3x a week on 6x6 or Promethean) or the difference in loading reflex on the IsoMax strap vs. the Isochain's spring. Another factor besides the loading reflex is the hypertrophy of the triceps and a bit of the chest from 8 weeks of high-volume clean-and-press under the Easy Muscle program. Strength increase will be faster if you have more muscle mass at the start of the training block.

IsoMax Bruce Lee: Week 3

I did not skip Week 2. I did not have anything to report about it, although I did record my data as usual.

I found out about recent research on isometrics published around 2020, which found that isometric training with the targeted muscle at a long length produces the greatest carryover to dynamic performance, compared to training with the muscle at a short length.

This latest research inspired me to change the following exercises in my Bruce Lee routine:

• Replace Zercher Squat with Zercher Lunge - Because of my low back injury history, I was reluctant to train at the lowest possible position. I can get into a lower position in the Zercher Lunge, compared to the Zercher Squat, without worrying about my lower back. The lower position stretches the muscles of the quads, glutes, hamstrings and hips, thus lengthening them for isometric strength training.
• Replace Medium Overhead Press with Standing Overhead Tricep Extension - The medium angle of the overheard press does not put any of the overhead pressing muscles at a long length. The Standing Tricep Extension puts more load on the triceps, which are among the weakest of my overhead pressing muscles, compared to the chest and shoulders. Strength gains for the tricpes should lead to pressing strength gains. It is also easy to find a position/angle for the Standing Tricep Extension that sets the triceps at reasonably long lengths. Thus, the combination of low-angle Overhead Press, which works all the overhead pressing muscles at long lengths, and the Overhead Tricep Extension, which works the triceps at long lengths, is likelier to stimulate strength gains with the greatest carryover to my kettlebell pressing.

I was used putting my working foot as close as possible to the chain when I trained the Zercher Lunge on the Isochain. The IsoMax baseplate is not shaped like a rectangle but actually narrower in the middle, presumably to help keep the IsoMax strap from sliding to either side. As a result of the narrower width in the middle, there is less surface area for contact with my foot.

My performance of Standing Overhead Tricep Extension this week was unsurprisingly week. I just haven't practiced this exercise very much in my life. I might have been shown it once as a dumbell exercise by a trainer when I was going to a commercial gym for exercise, or maybe it was the supine version, aka "skull crusher", which requires a bench. In any case, not only was my force output only 17 lbs., I felt some pressure in my elbows. In this video, fellow IsoMax user Chrys Johnson, who is also a fitness trainer, says that the elbow pressure is not a bad thing, but rather a sign of connective tissues tightening up. In fact he reports it fixed his elbow tendonitis.

I looked up overhead tricep extension Youtube but did not find clues to why my max force was such a low number, other than simply being weak. What bothered me more than being weak was not being able to get that feet-to-hands whole body tension that I can get with other exercises. I knew that the forearms should be moving up. But what I'd missed was that if I were doing this exercise dynamically, the weight should be overhead with the arms straight. The weight should not be in front of the head, because that would be bad for the shoulder joints. For this to happen, the elbows have to be pulled back as the weight goes up. To pull the elbows back, the upper back muscles must be engaged. Once I figured this out, I got the whole body tension I was looking for and my max force jumped from 17 lbs. to 35 lbs.

I continued doing only one rep per exercise, which seems to be the majority interpretation of the Bruce Lee/Bob Hoffman isometric routine. Performance has fluctuated from day to day as expected, but seems to be generally trending higher in the low overhead press, seated row, and a few other exercises. The Lee/Hoffman routine was created long before the Isochain was invented, so there's no particular guidance on using Isochain/IsoMax for progressive overload. For my version of this routine, I've been using IsoMax in Timer Mode, at the default setting of 6 seconds. I do this to use the built-in timer, and to ensure that I produce a particular amount of force at minimum. I've tried to set the target load at about 70% of where I think my 1-rep max might be, and increase the load if I'd been working at the same target load for more than a week, or if I'd logged max force numbers at a higher level for 3 consecutive sessions. This is obviously a much looser approach compared to the Promethean program, in which you raise the target load every session until you can't sustain force for at least 6 seconds, or the 6x6 program, which requires you to spend one session every 2-4 weeks on just 1-rep max testing.