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5/3/1 - Back from the Dead(lift)

Day 1

A1) Press: 135 x 3,3,3, 8
A2) Chins x 10, 10, 10, 15

B1)Pyramid Squat 52 kgs x 10,10, 10

C1) Band Ys, face pulls, Rows, Curls

Goo d press day. This lift has moved very well, but it’s also had two first days in a row but this is a big, PR, I think my best before France was 135 x 6. Chins felt good with supine grip. Pyramid squat is just standing on plates and holding the weights like a sumo DL but maintaining an upright posture. LEGO weights are held in hands for these. More pulling work with bands , including curls because they make my slightly banged up elbows feel good.
 
Day 1

Squat(low bar)
Warmup-
135 x 5, FS 135 x 5, OHS 135 x3

240 x 3,3,3
x 14 Top Set

OAP 3x 3
Band Rows 20 x 5 sets
Bridges, HKR

Two days off and good squat session. Wanted 15 but got tired. Hard to say what gives out first. I don’t have a belt anymore so maybe it’s the core needs work. Reviewing the video, my hips, knees and torso extend simultaneously with no hint of good morning-ing the bar. Quad work paying off. Don’t know when I’ll try the 355-365 (3 plates). I think I still need to zercher it and up my front squat a tad as there’s no spotters or racks. I must be ? certain of making it.

Trying to think of using the LEGO weights somehow to add a 5th plate but it’d have to be on my back where the bar is racked, which makes no sense. The top set was exhausting and it took me sometime to get to the assistance work.

 
Haven’t posted in so long. Much has happened since then. Been in France, fell in love, left France for YS for two months, came back to France. Returned to my park to find the bar and plates all gone. I’m going, going back back to Cali-sthenics. Here’s my first week back and all workouts, if I am recall them...

Day 1
A)’1) Muscle ups- 1, 2, 3,3
A2) One Arm pushups - 3, 4, 5, 10
B1) Horizontal Rows - 20, 20
B2) Airborne lunge - 8,8

Day 2
A1) Squat Jump x 6 x 3
A2) Front Lever holds
B1) Handstand Pushups 8, , 8, 5
B2) Hammer Grip Chins 10, 10, 12

Day 3
A1) Power Pull-ups 3 x 8 sets
A2) Planche practice

Day 4
A1) Lunge jumps
A2) One Arm Chin practice
B1) Pistols x 5 x 2 sets
B2) Dips x 20 x 2 sets
 
Nice to hear from you. I have often wondered what's up with you.

What do you mean by "YS"?

Wasn't it so that you previously found calisthenics very enjoyable and with lots of carryover? So not a lot to lose there, then?

How is it in France? I think I read there are new record numbers of infected or such. It's such a big difference to around here. I yet don't know anyone who has had anything. Things were strict in the spring but come autumn I don't really notice a thing anymore.
 
Nice to hear from you. I have often wondered what's up with you.

What do you mean by "YS"?

Wasn't it so that you previously found calisthenics very enjoyable and with lots of carryover? So not a lot to lose there, then?

How is it in France? I think I read there are new record numbers of infected or such. It's such a big difference to around here. I yet don't know anyone who has had anything. Things were strict in the spring but come autumn I don't really notice a thing anymore.

Thank you Antti. Things have been crazy, and still are. Glad everyone is still keeping up with training and everyone’s health. Lol, I meant US not YS. ?. I did have great results with Calisthenics but would love to squat and do some pull, Olympic or deadlift like. France has has new cases lately...so it seems the trend is going back to what it was before, unfortunately.
 
Day 1

A1) Muscle Ups 3,3,3,3,3,3
A2) O.A.P x 3, Feet Elevated x 3,4,5
B1) Airborne Lunge x 10, 10
B2) Horizontal BW Row x 25, 20

Muscle up technique is feeling better to where I can hit many in a row. This works as my dynamic exercise of the day, although my technique can use a little cleaning up. It feels very smooth and easy but a lot of lower body english here. O.A.P feeling pretty good. Warmed up by doing a set of three from the floor, then elevated the feet but only a couple of inches but it adds quite a bit those few inches! Didn't do a RM set like I did the week before, maybe would've hit 8 or so but felt the volume was sufficient for strength training. Right side feeling stronger than left with OAP which is odd because it is my weaker arm but that's okay I'll take it. Added a couple of reps to airborne lunges would felt stronger this week than last, also hit 25 for first set of BW rows. Good training day.

I have a pretty standard warmup I use now which is basically circles for the joints with a few of max Shanks flow exercises which include Hindu pushups, Bridges, squats, and other basic movement drills. I finish with stretching. Tomorrow is front lever work and HSPUs with jump squats.
 
Day 2

Sprint Drills for warmup

8 rounds
A1) jump squat x3
A2) Front Lever Practice
A3) Hindu pushup x 3

B1) Chins hammer grip x 10,10,12
B2) Dips x 10, 10, 23

Stretches

Did more lower body explosive work today yo get my spring back. Few sprints too. The jumps each require a reset as they’re done with maximal intent. Front lever practice consists of a few drills. Holds in advanced tuck, lower with one leg out, leg raises. 8 sets is typically the westside protocol for DE so i use that and it seems like plenty of sets to warm up and warm down for the tension exercise of the day. Some Hindu pushups for a fuller drill for shoulders and torso mobility.

The rep work was a bit hard as my lats were quite fatigued from levers and yesterday’s rows but dips went smoothly. Have had a mental block about surpassing 20 for some reason so it was nice to break that today.
 
Day 3

8 rounds
A1) Plyo Pushup x 3
A2) Pistol x 1,2,3 weighted x 1,2,3,4,5
A3) Lat Stretch

B1) Headstand Pushup x4, 8, 12
B2) Band Rows ad infinium

Plyo pushups for DE work. I like to do these like my jump squats. I start from bottom, chest on floor, hands off ground and a full reset in between reps as opposed to using the stretch reflex.

Pistols done as ladders. I used my backpack for added weight and pause at the bottom, that way I can milk the exercise for all it’s worth. Felt legs needed their own strength emphasized day but this’ll become more challenging as I don’t know how to make it harder. Maybe jumping pistols or sitting completely on the ground? More load would be nice here.I’ve found legs are the hardest to train maximal strength without the bar so I’ll have to find something.

Headstand pushups make for a nice repetition move but I’ll have to increase ROM at some point which means they’ll take up more of a ME spot as my reps will surely drop. Also, what to use to elevate my hands. Books perhaps? Band rows done for upper back without counting reps. Just done for a squeeze and pump
 
Day 4

8 Rounds
A1) Power Pullup x 3
A2) 6 x Tuck Planche holds (10 seconds each) Hollow Body Pushups 5 x 2 sets
A3) Cossack Squat 3 (per side)

B1) 50 Walking lunges

Reverted back to basic holds. re-read Christopher Sommer's recommendation to work up to 60 seconds before moving on to next position in planche/levers. Seems so much, I'm nowhere near this mark but did sets up to 60 seconds total. Cossack squats felt nice, really straining on the adductors. Forward lean pushups are great, super hard and tension based. It feels like a good transfer over to the planche, as the torso goes way in front of the shoulders creating a large lever arm. I think this hits an undertrained portion of the chest, as the hands are nearly placed near belly button. It's like performing a (near) bodyweight fly from the waist to shoulders. Did a long set of lunges and called it a day.
 
Day 5

8 rounds
A1) Bounding
A2) One Arm Chin Work
A3) Handstand Practice

B1) Band Rows x 20,20,20
B2) Diamond Pushups feet elevated x 12,12,12

Bounding needed a little work by started finding my groove and rebound strength. One arm chin work was done mostly with a band used with non working arm. Pull up with band assistance and lower very slowly. Handstand practice is not too strength demanding so it found a home after the chins. Tried a few freestanding trues and succeeded only the first time to hold one for any significant time on the first try, then moved to wall and practiced kicking up and pushing myself off wall and doing a hold there.

Felt I worked the chins enough to not merit rep work so opted for rows supersetted with pushups. The diamond pushup is quite tough for me. All close grip pressing is difficult for me so it needs a bit of work. Get my triceps working.
 
Powerful P

Planches, Pullups, Pistols, Power Swings and Pushups (one Arm)

So for the past two weeks, I've had very scattered focus of training. Not unproductive, but not goal oriented. It was not much of a plan but definitely got me in shape quickly to re-assess my goals and establish an understanding of where to proceed. I've decided to focus my energy on a few set goals organized through training blocks. After analysis of my past training weeks, I've come to what I'm looking to develop. I want to perform a "perfect one arm/one leg pushup, achieve a set of 20 pullups ( I will train with as near perfect form I can but for my set of 20 if it's not a "perfect set" i.e. I use a little english, and I stress a little, no kipping or cutting ROM, I'll be happy and achieve a perfect pistol with my left leg on the ground.) I'll also be working on the planche as a long term project.

Now, I've included many of these moves in my program already, but the constant variations, added volume of other accessory movements and a focus on too many ducks has made my training somewhat aimless and random. While it's developed my body, I have not achieved anything concrete. My one arm pushups have been very "Rocky style", elbows flared, feet splayed apart and all my pistol work has been done with a counterweight or heels elevated, thus I have not performed a pistol on the ground with my left leg and can not without falling. I've decided to set aside this block to master these moves in different ways. This is my powerful P program to follow and how I approach each lift. Swings are also added to keep my posterior in check. I don't think I have to rationalize the use of swings in this forum.

Max Strength vs Repetition strength
I have Three maximum tension moves in this program, OAP, Planches and pistols. Two presses because I must push myself in this department....get it? However, the planche is dynamic. The pullups and swings fall on the lighter end of the spectrum and constitute more repetition strength My implement for swinging is a 26 kg disc so the load is fixed. How I approach each lift differs for each lift, addressing each unique challenge presented with the individual movements.

OAP
The perfect OAP is something I've greatly wanted since learning of the discrepancy in mine. Flaring my elbows always proved stronger for me in every press because of my build. However, watching the SF instructors and seeing a perfect OAP lit my eyes up. The level hips, tucked elbows, rigid torso. It exemplified great strength. Over the past week, I've analyzed my own form. Much work needed. I've tested various heights, objects and performance anomalies that make this movement an outlier from the others. This will be my GTG movement for this reason, trained daily. I've found, so far, working from different heights, my baseline.

There is a difficulty in finding the perfect heights/objects of which to practice off of. Rails, benches with a convex edge and ramps serve me best. Any sharp 90 degree angle such as a curb or step represent a difficult angel for the wrist to press from. This is because of the bodies natural inclination, roughly 45 to the ground, puts the wrist at a position to only direct force purely vertical (hand flat on curb) or purely horizontal (like the hand is on a wall). Soft edges thus allow me to press more at the angle of the body. Here's where I'm at.

Easy 5 x 5 at waist height
Sets of 3 at around knee height.
Shin height, controlled negative but loses tension on pressing back up.
Floor- not even close yet.

The method of training the OAP is thus wavy. Volume will be acquired by working the easy heights more often and easing the lower heights to more reps over time, after they become easy. One Arm planks will also be practiced but for the most part, training will be vary the heights of the same move. Eventually, possible floor variations may be utilized such as Archer pushups or something similar, but for now, the progressive movement training and GTG is the main method.


The OAP is the only move I will use to GTG. The other 4 moves will be trained 3x a week on alternating days, one max strength move and one repetition move.

MAx Strength- Planche/Pistol
Repetition Strength- Pullups/Swings

As you can see, the back of the body receives volume and the front of the body receives max strength training. In the future, these two will reverse, however, I don't know what my PC move will be without a DL bar =(

So now that OAP are out of the way, here is the programming for these other P-lifts

Day 1) Planche/Swings
Day 2) Pistols/Pullups

Repeat

I like the mix here, haven't decided to superset or to leave alone yet. Swings would be easier to superset with Planches than pistols and pullups. Can't say for certain why, but pullups always seemed for overall draining and swings always feel more energizing to me. Here's how I plan to train each lift.

Planche
The planche will require a slow, steady progress of work. My biggest challenge will be trying not to do too much too fast, adding pushups and getting bored with repetition of the various holds. It will require prep work as far as stretching the wrists, hollow position warmup, etc as will the pistol. MY trouble with the planche has been my wrists. They take quite a bit and with my long arms, the forward lean nearly draws me up onto the fingers. A dedicated time slot, three times a week, will really help me nail down what needs to be done. In between my little sets, I will swing. I aim to complete 100 swings per workout this should be easy. Planche work, your break is 10 swings. As far as planche goes, my goal is to reach 5 sets of 20 seconds in each position before advancing to the next. However, an advancement to the next doesn't mean you abandon the previous progressio completely. It will still be needed to add volume and practice as in the beginning, the next progression may not even last a second. Since this will take much time to reach100 seconds for each hold, swings are easily added in between stretches and actual practice of each lift.

Pistols and Pullups
My ankle mobility of the left leg is what really restricts my pistol there. However, this could also be a hip imbalance, muscular imbalance, confidence issue, etc. For the pistol, I plan to do something along the lines of Karen Smith's BW strength program here, having a light, medium, heavy day. The light day would be pistols on a ramp. These I find pretty easy and could probably churn out several reps. Will this help me achieve y first pistol? The weighted pistol also helps and I'm very enthusiastic about not only mastering the pistol without the weight, which is harder for me as I just fall on my butt with my left leg, but to maintain absolute leg strength for when I meet the barbell again. Thus, I will include it as my heavy day with the 26 kg plate. My medium day will be pistols done to an increasing lower box. One thing I noticed in practicing my pistol today was that I put so much focus on my left leg, that my right leg was just in the way When I read the tip, drag your heel, I immediately made it just a tad bit lower to my calf high bench before losing tension. Something to note. As for pullups, my goal is to reach 50 every session. This will be accomplished in different ways depending on how I feel. Ladders on days when my technique needs work, a high rep first set if I'm feeling giddy or just sets that shy way short of failure if need be. For me my biggest challenge with pushups is my timing. I often find my body swinging, wasting energy on reps. Working on my hollow position could help here, which is where ladders would come into play. I'll have to play around a bit with them, and film to see where I'm losing myself and make adjustments if necessary.


Thus, this is my new plan and goals. Let's get to work.
 
10/11/20-10/1620

Day 1

A1) pullups - 5,8,8,8,7,7,7
A2) O.A.P (shin height) 1,2,1,1,1,1
B1) Airborne Lunge 5 x 3 sets'

Day 2
A1) Chinups- 10,10,10
A2) Power Pushups-15,15,15
A3) Reverse Lunge -10,10,10

Day 3
A1) Pullups - 10, 8, 10, 8, 7, 7
A2) O.A.P (waste height)- 5,5,5,5,5
A3) Pistol Squat (heel elevated) -1,2,3, Box Pistol 5 x 2 sets

Day 4
A1) Chinups (hammer Grip) x 10,10, 10
A2) Feet Elevated Diamond Pushups- 20, 15, 15
A3) Step-up x 10, 10, 10

Day 5
A1) Pullups- 10,10,10,10,10
A2) O.A.P (knee height)- 3,3,3,3,3
A3) pistol (off bench) 1,2,3,4,5

Shin Height O.A.P.


Waste Height O.A.P


Box Pistol


Knee Height O.A.P.


Pistol (off bench)


I scrapped my other plan because...I just need to train full body all the time. If I don't it seems something is missing...But this plan suits me well, I believe. It is a weekly cycle of O.A.P done from vary heights/intensities, chin sand pullups of varying volume nd intensity and pistol variations daily. A daily practice of variation. I feel the O.A.P is coming along, the trouble with doing them off objects, you don't get specifically measured heights and angles to press from so I've used what is around me and it seems to work. Set-up is important because aligning my body is hard to judge until the rep has commenced and as you see, some sets require mid set adjustments. However, they're feeling solid and grooved. Sometimes it takes some set to get there.

Pullups got easier throughout the week to the point where I was able to hit 10 for all 5 sets. I'll probably progress by pushing the first set on Wednesdays and treat Monday as a prep day, as it's a heavy day for the O.A.P. The two days between are leverage advantage days with 60 % of the main days volume. I feel like constantly hanging from the bar but changing grip adds variety yet continuity. The palms towards is second easiest then hammer grip is easiest after Wednesday. There is a surge I feel after a few sets that makes the reps seem to be more coordinated.

My pistols are coming along I feel. It seems my weakness in left leg pistols is my right leg not being flexible enough to be raised appropriately but I still believe this to be a product of ankle weakness in my left leg, as if my knee is able to pushes further forward, it would allow the hip to rotate appropriately to raise that right leg. The off the bench pistols will give me a guage to how this improves over the weeks.

My warmups have been simple joint circles and hindu-pushups and single leg RDLs. I also like to end each sessions with bridges and cobra stretches before stretching all other muscles. Much of my movements require a lot of flexion at the spine so I've decided to sprinkle in extension movements to wrap it up.
 
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