Frederik

Hi Jaja I would say given instability in every direction that any kind of passive stretching of the shoulders should be reconsidered strongly. If you did not have a problem of dislocation I might have said something different. But in this instance it is pretty straightforward. There is lots of other things to work on anyhow. You can still hang with the shoulders actively engaged, and it is that connection that you will need to master to do pull ups safely. Which definitely is a worthwhile undertaking. (more below) You can still get stretching of lats and upper back in other ways, and I suggest this instead. Grip can be trained a myriad of other ways than passive hanging. Does this reach into other aspects of life? I am talking mostly about training, but I would suggest not eating a low calorie vegan diet if you are after adding more mass around your shoulder. There may or may not be a small effect of getting more collagen in the diet, but that is very speculative. It wont hurt you though. Get to making some stew. I know that you have been doing bench pressing, squatting, overhead pressing etc that is to say classic strength work. Have you done any shoulder specific prehab/rehab work? My suggestion would go along the lines of doing a program that : a) does not cause discomfort or risk of dislocation - but I am not talking about a restrictive approach either. Maybe a heavy dose of rows, benching, tricep extensions, etc. Basically anything that puts muscle in the major muscle groups around the joints in question b) identify what triggers the funky sensations. c) You may or may not want to play with how much you push, the main thing here though is to learn how to use the muscles to provide protection. I think that some isometrics may help here. Definitely be careful with this. d) similar to the major exercises, experiment with rehab exercises for the shoulder, it would make sense for me to do rotator cuff drills particularly for the external rotators (anterior dislocation is countered by the movement of these muscles if I am not mistaken) - it will be very apparent from trying out these drills whether they pull in the correct direction. Think seated external rotations with a dumbbell, Kit has a external rotation band drill too. Face Pulls and other rear shoulder activating drills may also be useful. In all, I would stick to such a program for at least 3 months. Do some tests before the three months. Take pictures. Videos. Then work this approach for three months and see what happens. That will tell you more about what you can do than any physio or doctor will be able to say. It is a shame to push yourself out of physical work from excessive caution. Better to learn for yourself. hope this helps.

Just had a 'deload week' ie no workouts for 7 days. Dips and Pull ups have regressed or gone side ways. But I got a few the target reps in the squat. If Squat and deadlift is improving then I am not worried. When I fail to improve in the top set I try to add weight and/or reps to the latter sets. Back Squat 110kg x6, 100x6, 90 x6 Pull Ups 25kg x4, 18 x5, BW x11 Dips 45kg x4, 37kg x5, 25kg x8 Peterson Step Ups 20kg 3x12

Deadliftin' before 9 in the morning: Deadlift 180kg x5, 160kg x5, 140kg x5 Pendlay Rows 75kg 3x5 Press 67.5kg x4, 62,5kg x5, 60kg x7 Peterson Step Ups.

No idea! I was not squatting when I pulled 200. My best back squat is ~125-130 for 5.

Very brief session today - even though it was short it was still reasonably intense: Deadlift 175kg x5, 155 x5, 140 x5 Press 67.5kg x3, 62.5kg x5, 60 x6. Pendlay Rows 72.5 3x5

Most recent workout: Squat 110kg x5, 100kg x6, 90kg x6 Pull Ups +25kg x4, +15kg x5, Bodyweight x10 Peterson Step Ups +20kg 3x10r Dips +45kg x5, +35kg x6, +25kg x6

With a new year comes a new training log. My main focus is to continue developing The Harmonious Body and run a number of classes. **** Currently limited time and energy is available for my own physical cultivation and stretching. A major goal is simply to maintain a good level of consistency. Current frequency is ~ 2 workouts a week and stretching whenever I can squeeze it in. I will be sticking to very basic strength training approach maybe with a detour or two into more specialized programs; Quads I command ye to grow. If I can clear up more space in my training schedule I would like to pursue some basic Muay Thai. I have recently started doing deadlifts again after a very long hiatus. In my latest deadlift workout I did 170kg for 5 reps without it being a max effort. I am interested to see how far I can take that in 2017. There is an old PR of 200kg that needs to be beaten. But I am stalling on testing my 1RM - at least until I can thrash the old PR. Other loose goals. Press bodyweight Squat double bodyweight Do chin-ups with 50% bodyweight attached. Make side splits part of normal movement repertoire (preferably accessible 'cold')

As a general rule: yes. There maybe some exceptions - but for all intents and purposes there is classes year round.

That's cool. I am not sure what you mean with "how long we will be running classes for"? There is currently a break because of Christmas/ New Year and holidays. Classes will commence again from early January and with it another 10 week block. That said, you do not have to start from the beginning of a 10 week block - it is simply an option for regulars, offering a small discount. Of the top of my head: I should have the first class of 2017 on Thursday 5th of Jan and I think Dave starts on Monday the 9th. Just call or email beforehand for confirmation. regards, Frederik

Todays Physical Cultivation with @Robbie C. Deadlifts 170kg x5, 150kg x5, 135kg x5. Chin Ups: Dropped the weight to +33kg and still only got a measily 2 reps. Dropped to +25kg and the same happened.* Press 65kg x6, 60kg x6, 57.5kg x6 Pendlay Rows 70kg 3x5 * )Two very plausible explanations: doing heavy weighted chins after heavy deadlifts is not ideal - at least the chins after suffering. I am already taxed and grip is a bit fried. Some holiday weight has been added which means that I probably should be adding less weight anyway. I will change the order of exercises, rows works just fine. This will probably be the final post in this training log as it is getting a bit long and a new year will soon be upon us.

I am sure it will. I love how many different creative 'Gua Sha' tools there are. I am sure I haven't heard half of it yet.

Thanks Luke. I really like the reverse pyramid style of training. Your form looks good. Squat could possibly be a little deeper? And major bonus points for doing the workout in what clearly is your living room. Since I am already commenting: I am not sure I understand why you are doing every exercise with fat grips (and I am huge fan of fat grip training)? If used in every exercise it will severely limit the poundage that you can use. Especially if you are only doing weighted work once a week, then I would suggest that not every exercise have a massive forearm emphasis (as much as a I love forearm training.) I am guessing that the weights you have don't allow for a max effort deadlift. In this case it does makes alot of sense to do the deadlifts as a finisher with a major grip emphasis (fat grips). Comment #2: If you are going to do reverse pyramids I would suggest having the rep-range be a bit more narrow. And the weight drop be closer to 10% - Taking 10kg of the bar in the squat works around to a bit less than 10% - where as 10kg in the press is 20%. I would not be anal about hitting 7,5 or 10% exactly just be in the ball park. Review: http://www.leangains.com/2008/12/reverse-pyramid-revisited.html

Not much time energy being put into physical cultivation these days. One or two short workouts a week. To compensate for this I have re-started doing heavy squats and deadlifts. As @jon.valentine told me to do (a long time ago). Squatting 100kg for 6 reps left me with DOMS that are only starting to recede now 4-5 days after the fact. Interestingly heavy deadlifting does not have the same effect. Yesterdays workout: Deadlift 160kg x5, 145kg x5, 130x5 Chin Ups 35kg x3, 25kg x6, 15kg x6 Press 65kg x5, 60kg x6, 57,5kg x6.

Have recently discovered reverse pyramid training. Probably one of the most time-energy efficient ways of training. Hence I am going to give it a go and see what happens. Today: Chin Ups +31kg x6, +20kg x6, +10kg x6 Press 65kg x4, 60kg x6, 55kg x6 Ring rows played with weighted and Inverted "L". Box Bridge Push ups.

Got a few workouts in this weekend. Lower body yesterday: Split Squats 57,5kg 5x5 (already having DOMS from these) Hamstring Curls 5x5 Peterson step ups with 4kg Lower Back Awakening work Quad stretching, Side Split ballistics Today with @Robbie C Chin Ups +31kg 5x3 (felt close to a max effort on last rep) Behind Neck Press 52,5kg 3x8 Then went to nearby park: Box Bridge push ups 3x10 + 10s? Front Lever rows "L" 3x7 Half assed set of Korean Dips. (glutes getting in the way) More side splits ballistics later.