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Strong mobility

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jef

I am a student of strength.
Elite Certified Instructor
It has been a while, and it might be time to have a log here on StrongFirst forum.
Main reason is to publicize some of my training for my students to see that we are not special. Many "instructors" like me are just average Joe. Consistency is what makes he difference.

Small background :
- use to be lazy until about 19. Was in good shape (we all were at this time), but not athletic.
- went into martial arts (classic shotokan karate, full contact, some krav maga, judo, etc) , and was very active for most of my twenties. Ran a marathon in 3h34min, following a 8 weeks preparation, following a drunk decision at a company ball.
- life happened. Got fat and weak. Bit by bit, as Dan John said
- decided to get things in order. First pushup was hard. Hurt my back on the second one (ego was even more crushed).
- found a better way. Lost 10kg, gain some stength. Ran half marathon in 1h32.
- discovered RKC, Pavel, and my view on strength and flexibility changed. For the best.
- Did Starting strength. Great results. But still self-coached.
- Went to SFG KB course. Was tricked by a senior SFG to go for SFG (he will recognize himself)
- 2016 : SFG, FMS, Flexible steel. Game changers. Not only for me, but for my students too!
 
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2016 was dedicated to Simple and sinister, until I was able to do it with 32kg, then SFG preparation and SFL preparation.
I went to Plan Strong in June and applied it to myself in Squat and KB press. My fellow SFG and french friend Benoit is programming my bench press.
First month was great. It felt relatively easy, and I still could lift at least once my max in most of the lifts. I will continue a plan strong approach for most of the remaining of 2017. I will go to SFB in december, so november may be more concentrated on OAOLPU.
 
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I have been on holidays for a week in Bulgaria.
Daily practice :
- morning, around 6h45-7h00, at the beach in front of the hotel.
Super joints. A set of pistols (1 to 3, depending of the day), 1 OAPU. Flexibility: split training. One day front split, the other side split.
Following, about 100m of swimming in open water, free style, alla Tim Ferris.

During the day : GTG pistols (1 to 3, volume varied every day), and OAPU (ony 1 rep for the time: focus on perfecct technique). It's holiday, I am not pushing anything.

Funny thing with GTG and NW is that you really can do it everywhere. I did at least 4 sets of 3 pistols both sides today in an aquapark. Nobody noticed. When you stop worrying about what people might think about what weird thing you are doing on one leg, nobody cares. Just practice wherever you are!
 
Thank you @Justyna Mackova

Sunday 6th August, yesterday
Morning routine on the beach. No swimming in the sea this time, a bit tired after a late night and a few rhums.
I went up to 4 reps on pistols, with hand holding the airborne foot. It starts to be kind of easy. Progresses are fast. 7 sets throughthe day, 28 pistols per legs, always fresh. OAPU limited to one rep. Still needs work.
Swimming done at the pool. I start to really get the move. Happy with that.

Monday 7th August, today
Morning routine çn the beach. No swimming, late night and sea a bit agitated. Will do the swimming again at the pool.
Down to an easy day, Half as many OAPU, and only one pistol per set, but with no hand holding the foot. The real pistol.

Thinking of the day: it is not that you should not pay attention to what people think, and still do your weird pistols everywhere. It is that people do not even notice. I could do them all the time in semi-crowded places, and people I was with did not even notice.
 
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Tuesday 8th August, today
Morning routine on the beach. Simply super-joint, 2 reps pistols, one rep OAPU, and easy relaxed stretches.
During the day: GTG pistols, 2 reps. I am at 9 sets at 5 PM, may have a couple of more sets till the night.

Thought: I had regressed pistols to the variation where I hold my free leg with my hand, before coming back to the real move.
Ah moment: holding the free leg forced me to really lean forward. I thought I was, but I was not. It is what prevented me to perform pistols (I was stuck at the bottom), even though my back squat showed I had enough strength. Regressions are good. It is not holding you back, it helps to progress faster. Technique is everything.
 
Wednesday 9th August
Morning routine on the beach.
Lightest day, less volume (6 sets of 2 during the day). Pistols are a lot more controlled. Pausing longer at the bottom is now easy.
I focused on pushing hard with the heel. I wonder what will be the carry-over to back squat when I start them again next week.
 
Thursday 10th August
Morning routine on the beach. Super-joints and some easy stretches.

Low volume GTG pistols: 2, 1, 1, 1, 2. When I was not feeling the second rep, I prefered to stick to singles. I do not want to force reps for the sake of the number. The goal is to do a proper pistol, not to brag about a number.

A few OAPU. I still need to gain stability, but I got to feel my lats a lot more. I start to feel the move better. I imagine the lats activation will have a good carry-over to my other presses. Good, this is what I need.
 
Friday 11th August
Morning routine on the beach. Last time before coming back home. Super-joint, one pistol, one OAP, easy stretches, not forcing anything.

Pistols will be done according to possibilities. I am going to the airport in about one hour.

My plan was to work a progression on box pistols to be able to do a proper one by the end of the holidays. I am glad I was actually able to do the full range almost from day one (with a slight help by holding the foot with my hand at first). This is a lot of pistols for someone who had not done one in years. I re-read the technical part of Naked warrior in the plane. There were a few ah moment that allowed me to perform better than expected. Happy with the results. Now, I need to finalize my program for the next 4 weeks.
 
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Saturday 12th August
Back to normal.
Morning routine, not on the beach anymore. Less glamour, but still good: SuperJoints, and a single pistol on each leg.
I started to work on my programming for KB press and squat. I have to be ready by Monday morning.

I did 100 2H swings with the 40, EMOM. Felt good, comfortable, even though I have not done any power work in almost three weeks. I am always puzzled by people who worry about losing strength or conditionning in holidays. Come on! If you lose it in two weeks of rest, is it worth training at all? My swing session showed that if you have trained with consistency, a two-weeks break is nothing to worry about. Think long term, and you will never have to worry about taking some rest.

I still did a few single pistols during the day. I think I will keep on doing singles here and there, just to practice and keep the technique, while increasing strength with barbell back squats. Same for OAPU and BB/KB presses.

Tomorrow's plan: rest...
 
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Sunday 13th August
Planned as a rest day. I always experiment a lot of soreness when starting again to back squat. After making the same mistake of starting too high about 4 times, I will try to learn from it. Monday's session will be light both in volume and intensity.
But to be sure to prepare my muscles (especially adductors where I feel most soreness and are not worked with pistols), I also did 3x5xgoblet squats with a 32kg, prying and curling at the bottom. We will see if it helps.

Monday 14th August
Easy start. Low both in volume and intensity.
KB press: 20kg x 6/2
Bench press: 55x5, 60x4, 65x3/2.
LB back squat: 80kg x 6/2

Single pistol here and there.
 
Doing 3 sets of 5 prying goblet squat at 32kg a day before was a good call. Usually, starting BB Back squat at even only 80kg after a lay off provokes soreness. This time, I don't feel anything at all.

Tuesday 15th August
KB press: 24kg x 3, 5, 3, 4
Happy to see that I have not lost too much. I can still do 5 good reps at 24kg. Still a long way before the 32kg press, but I have time.
I weighted at 68,8kg. Despite two weeks of holidays, little choice of good food, and alkohol consumption, I have not gained any significant weight.

A friend of mine, whom I "coached" a few years ago, went to the gym with me yesterday. Since the time we trained together, I have been to SFG, SFL, Flexible stell and passed FMS1. That is a whole new world. I catch things I did not back then. Going to the cert may have been costly, but the benefit is huge.

We did a few dips at the end (he just loves dips...). I don't do them, normally. I remembered how it was a hard move for me just a few years ago. I went to the bars, applied StrongFirst principles (GLAG), and did 5 reps, super easy. Principles apply to all lifts, no need to practice them all!
 
Wednesday 16th August
Session in the morning, 6:30, with my friend/new student (let's call him JM).

3 pistols with hand handling foot, each side, as a warmup move, then Barbell back squat.
Barbell back squat (kg) : 80x6, 90x5, 100x1, 90x3

I like the approach of reducing the biggest lifts to singles or doubles. No drama, I know I can do it without troubles, and focus on technique, not survival.

I had not trained with JM for years. He did back squat and military press. I corrected a few issues. He is a good student, athletic, and understand fast. I am just amazed to see how I can apply effectively and efficiently what I have learned at SFG/SFL, even with my relatively low mileage in coaching, for the benefit of the students. The StrongFirst system is excellent, I had good teachers.
 
Thursday 17th August
Today is a planned rest. I often play with a few sets of swings in this case, but... My wife, my kid and myself have had a cold for the past few days. I usually was fine in the morning and it did not interfere with my training, but I will pass on the swings for this time.

I tried a few singles with the pistol, and tested to load them to see what happens. 8 kg went relatively well. 16 kg was very hard. Obviously a 100% effort at the moment. I will leave loaded pistols behind for a while, concentrate on my barbell squat gains, and practice unloaded pistols. We will see how it works.
 
Friday 18th August
Woke up with migraine. Nothing to do, it runs in my family: it comes one day, and the only cure is to wait until it is gone. I had a miserable morning, but it did not interfere with the later training.

In the afternoon:
KB press - 20x4, 24x3, 20x6, 24x5, 20x4, 24x4, 20x4
20kg feels so light that I really can focus on pure technique, feeling the lats, the KB path, pushing myself away from it, etc. It only makes the latter 24kg press better.

Later in the day, with student JM, at the gym.
Bench press - 55x4, 60x4, 65x3, 70x1, 60x3,4,3,4,3
This is my worst lift, thus the weight is fairly low. But it allows me to feel the technique better, and I am confident it will go up nicely. Let's take the time.
Squat - 90x5, 90x(3,4,5)/2
Lot of volume, but it felt good. Every single rep was good, to depth, with no drama, as intensity is still not too high. Nice feeling at the end.
 
Saturday 19th - Sunday 20th August.

Rest. My cold is mostly gone. I avoided to swing this weekend to favor recovery.

I received a text message from my student JM. Only one week back to serious squatting, and he already felt the difference while kite surfing 4 hours. Who said the so called "gym strength" does not apply in real world?
 
Monday 21st August

Morning routine, then gym at 6:30.
Bench press: (55x5, 60x4, 65x3) x 2
Squat: 80 x 3, 90 x 3,4.

Back home, breakfast, then:
KB press: 24x3,4,3

Training done for today. I may do a pistol here and there to keep the practice.

JM confirmed me this morning that the kite surf session went very well the day before. He was surprised that one week only of training could make such a difference
Well, we had only one week of training, but we did 3 sessions with squatting every time. He is not a beginner, so his body remembered quickly. He had a full day of recovery between last squat training and kite session. Once you have been strong, it is relatively easy to get back where you were. More importantly, his strength training is supporting his sport activity!

Train properly, consistently, do not try to peak all the time, and you wil feel the benefit in your actvity of choice.
 
Tuesday 22nd August
Rest.

Wednesday 23rd August

Morning routine, then gym at 6:30.
Bench press: 55 x 4,6, 65x3, 70x1.
I did not feel it this morning. All easy weights, but I was unable to properly get tight, not concentrated. Let's say it is just a day off. Tomorrow will be better.
 
I almost forgot it was Pavel's birthday. I did 110 swings to celebrate.
I did not feel like pushing too much, so just 5 EMOM, 2H 40kg KB swings, for 22 min. I tried to see how it would work to do more sets and less reps/sets.
 
Thursday 24th August
Morning routine, then gym at 6h30.
Back Squat: 80x3, 90x4, 100x1, 90x3, 110x1, 90x4, 100x1, 90x5
That went pretty well. I can go very deep and concentrate on form. I base my program on 1TRM, not 1RM, so all maxes at the gym have to be perfectly fine, with no drama.

Later, back home:
KB press: 20x5, 24x3, 28x1 (missed on right arm), 24x5, 20x5,6.
Let the fun begin. 20 is super easy. 24 is medium, but I have trouble again with the 28. It is going to be a long way to the 32... No stress, I have time. As long as it goes up!
 
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