Training Archives
I'll organize this a bit better, I just wanted to get it off the main page to help load time.
October 4th, 2005
Suffered a slight set-back this past month, as I managed to pinch a nerve in my right hand and soon thereafter strained my right wrist. Both courtesy of work. Pulling motions didn't hurt, but any compression on the hand or wrist didn't feel too good. I've been slowly getting back to planche work with the parallettes and will resume regular handstand work soon as well.
This is a straddle planche I hit last night, and things felt much better. I've started working straddle planche pushups anyway I could as well. Which means negatives, slow negatives, and ugly, ugly pushups. When I get stronger at that motion, I should be able to hold a full planche much better. I'll give things another week or two before I take this to the ground again and test my wrists.
Still working towards the iron cross on rings. I've been playing around with various arm positions and different muscular tension. I've started rolling my shoulders forward rather than back because it helps me to lock my arms straight.
In addition, I've started a 331 scheme for the negative (3 secs), isometric (3 secs), and concentric (1 sec) movement of the band assisted iron cross, as prescribed by Coach Sommer in his iron cross tutorial. I'm seeing some slight improvement in the skill overall, but this thing is still driving me crazy. I think this will soon be replacing the planche as the skill that keeps me up at night...
But onto better news, my one arm chin is rock solid. I've been progressively adding weight to my one arm negatives (2 reps of 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10lbs for a workout). And I can now chin with 5 additional pounds (~2.2 kg). I'm also looking to get two OACs in a row on a consistent basis.
And because my basement has rafters - it's time to start training for the rafter chin. This'll also be a good start to my grip training revival. Get a single rafter chin and close the #3 gripper.
Right now it's rafter chins with half the range of motion on rafters about two feet apart. When I can pull a full range rafter chin at that hand distance, I'll grab two rafters that are one foot apart and start the process over again. The closer the rafters, the less you can squeeze your chest inwards to help lift yourself.
In the picture you can see my set-up to get to the rafters - cinder blocks, a stepstool, and then a bathroom scale on top of it all. If you can't pull yourself up off the ground just yet, then the scale will tell you how far you have to go. A brilliant idea I picked up from rafter chinning guru, Brad Johnson.
August 13th, 2005
Still doing plenty of work on rings, including working on the iron cross.
As you can see, I'm using surgical tubing for assistance. 3-5 sets of 5 reps of cross pulls are really helping me with the skill. The most important thing about this practice though is focusing on proper technique. I always make sure my arms are straight through the whole movement.
In addition, I think I better understand the technique in order to properly recruit the correct muscles. I use to squeeze my upper back and lats together a great amount, resulting in hunched shoulders. But a greater push out and down with my arms is opening up my upper body and making things feel much stronger.
Besides the cross, I've been working my front lever strength with hopes of an eventual one armed front lever in the future. It's been several sets of 3 second holds as well as some pull-ups with one leg tucked in.
I've started working one arm assisted handstand pushups against the wall at varying heights (with and without a stool). I want this to lead to an eventual one arm handstand pushup. Even leaning against a wall, that would be a great accomplishment. But if I work this alongside my one arm handstand, perhaps I can bring the two skills together for a freestanding one arm handstand pushup.... within 5 years....
The exercise looks a bit ugly right now, but it's definitely stressing the arm and shoulder to a much greater degree than two armed handstand pushups. I still haven't decided the best position for my hand, arm, and body for the eventual one armed handstand pushup, but a bit more experimentation should get me into a consistent position.
With the one arm chin, I'm very excited to announce I was able to pull two chins in a row with my left arm. Now I only lowered to about 135 degrees (?) for my second chin, but it's definite progress. The skill is touch and go right now, but I'm hoping to get it more consistent with further practice. The right arm has yet to perform two in a row, but I'm working on it.
Since getting the one arm chin, I haven't done any weighted chins, but rather I've been working on one arm chin exercises. I'll one arm chin up and then either lower down with weight in my hand, or lower down and immediately pull back up by using a draped towel over the bar for assistance.
On a completely random note, I managed a one arm HEADstand the other week. Really not that difficult, just a matter of making sure your weight is leaning over your supporting hand. Here ya go...
July 31st, 2005
Extremely busy right now, but I've snapped a few photos of my training.
Took a bit of practice, but I've started working the straddle planche up on my fingers. Not that high right now, but it's definitely there. This position is much easier on the wrists, but of course much harder on the fingers.
Regular straddle planche is always feeling stronger, and I've been working on holding it for longer and longer times.
The one arm elbow lever is the real sleeper that's started to come around now. What really made things click was a simple piece of plywood. I usually practice upstairs in a carpeted room where there is more space. Anyways, I had a 2' x 3' piece of plywood that I put down on the carpet, then practiced on top of the plywood. Balance with the hand was much more responsive on the hard plywood, as opposed to the softer carpet. Plywood sheets run really cheap, so it might be something to try in your training.
Lots of ring training lately. I'm learning the iron cross for the first time. Started playing around with the planche on rings and this position which I guess I could call a tucked maltese position? In any case, I've been hitting the rings hard each workout with dips, lever, cross work, and L-seat work. Great piece of equipment.
July 9th, 2005
As I had mentioned before, I'm pulling full range one arm chins and pull ups now. After I was able to lower myself slowly (with controlled stops) on one arm I started lightly adding weight to these one arm negatives. Repetitions were always kept very low for training (1-3 at a time) to build strength and prevent tendonitis. I've been working on increasing my numbers so that I can pull more than one OAP/OAC in a row.
The one arm handstand is very difficult, but I think I'm seeing some progress. I've been working near daily practice in short intervals to develop my balance. I'll also only work this skill when I feel refreshed as any exhausted practice does not feel beneficial. I can begin to control things, but only for short times.
The planche is coming, slowly but surely. I've started working the straddle planche for longer holds in order to increase strength for my full planche (held only briefly at the moment). Workouts have been several rounds of several seconds straddle planche holds, with a fair amount of rest in between each set.