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Francesco last won the day on February 11 2017
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About Francesco
- Birthday 04/10/1996
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I had the same kind of feeling just before straining my hamstring. May not be your case but I wouldn't stretch or massage the area at the moment
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Cupping Therapy
Francesco replied to Bumanov's topic in All topics relating to the three "R"s; now the "six 'R's"
My tutor at the internship (massage therapy) also studied traditional chinese medicine and uses them sometimes, both from a TCM perspective and simply for increasing bloodflow to prepare an area instead of using the hands, eg. if she wants a short break after she has just done a few massages in a row. I think that's the best use from a western perspective, though I can't say if it really makes a difference for recovery. Also, I had her try them on me when we had some spare time and they definitely help a bit with flexibility - probably because they allow a better glide of the skin on the superficial fascia (much like gua sha does). -
Doing the laundry but aware, relaxed, and connected
Francesco replied to zenwoof's topic in Workout Logs
Two questions: 1) what are you doing for feet awakening? 2) what diaphragm stretch were you thinking of? -
Damn, I forgot to post about this. I've been experimenting with this both on myself and a few other people with dramatic effects. What I found though is that it does not work as well as I thought while in the couch stretch (but it is the perfect position to see the before-after change), but it does while in the basic quad stretch; I have people start mostly upright and work on the VMO and VL, then they slowly start lowering (every single person I've tried this onto has been able to lower all the way down after working on the vasti, even the tight ones) until they are lying on the floor; then I start working on the rectus femoris (having them keep PPT). One interesting thing I noticed is that it's as if the rec fem can't be accessed if you don't first work on the vasti. The results is a massive decrease of the tension felt in the couch stretch, both immediately after and in the following days. The result also seems to be long-lasting (I've done it on two of my students in our long class three weeks ago, and yesterday they were at the same level they were immediately after receiving it).
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Lat stretching tips for new ROM
Francesco replied to Demetris M's topic in All topics relating to 'Stretch Therapy'
Hanging is good, but I feel that there is another great option that is not as limited by grip strength - Physical Alchemy's fascial lat stretches. See here for the basic one. The big advantage is that with this one you can play with many different options (eg. internal/external rotation of the humerus; stance width and orientation; flexion/extension of the spine) to target various areas of the lats. See here for an example. Also if you are on Facebook get into the group "Walking through fire"; the admin recently posted a manual technique to increase overhead ROM that I've found to work very well. -
I'm very curious to see how you deal with weight training given your background and current practices. Once you get the hang out of deadlifting I think it would be interesting if you tried high rep kettlebell swings with a relatively heavy weight, they produce a strong systemic effect that could be nice to explore with your level of body awareness; I'm experimenting with it lately and I believe @Dave or @Robbie C alluded to it somewhere, too
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The importance of skin elasticity?
Francesco replied to JoachimG's topic in All topics relating to 'Stretch Therapy'
Very interesting; I don't know if this is true, but from anecdotal experience there is definitely a relationship between skin(/fascia) elasticity and flexibility; my skin is very elastic and I gain flexibility very, very quickly (once I started using the correct methods, 2-3 months for the splits, 10 days for the head to toe, etc), same for my brother; all of my students are the opposite and gain flexibility at a much slower rate. Did you ever commit to a serious stretching protocol (ie. both loaded and passive stretching) before losing weight? If not, you may simply be a fast responder like I am. I believe "restoring sliding surfaces" may be about breaking up adhesions so that the fascia and skin slide better; this can bring quite a dramatic improvement if done correctly. At the ST workshop I attended @Kit_L demonstrated a fascial release of the back which led to a nice improvement in the pike. -
Many breakthroughs in yesterday's long class: did my best ever bridge (shoulders well past hands) and spent around 5 minutes sitting in front split (per side) doing some experiments - rotation of the front and back leg, dorsi/plantarflexion, backbending (backward head to toe), front folding (normal head to toe), various types of partner assistance; see here for an example Some comments: in the last few days I stopped doing the ballistics and decided instead to slowly press in and out of the position, going from "all passive" to "all active"; this allowed me to get into the hip flexors much more, particularly on my tighter leg. As a result, I can now sit in front splits feeling very little tension. I'll probably keep doing FS presses everyday for the next week and then focus on something else. I've also been working on the outer hamstring pulses from the "front split 4 pulse prep" program; these allow me to get into a very nasty line of tension. Bridge keeps improving with no direct work as a result of the lats stretches I posted and of the front splits. I've been working on @Craig's soft tissue release for the calves with good results; I feel this will need at least 2-3 weeks of daily practice to produce serious results, so I'll report back on this later on. I'll probably also work on rolling the outer part of the calves with a lacrosse ball as this is my tightest area.
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Last saturday - bouldering in the morning, some prehab in the afternoon. On Tuesday - bent arm strength deload session: A1: 3x5 weighted ring chin ups (+15kg, 22X3) A2: 3x5 weighted dips (+3kg) B1: weighted ring chin up 1RM attempts: 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45kg; failed 50kg once I get to 90° of elbow flexion. B2: 2x2-3-5 ladder of one-arm DB press (14kg) C1: 45rep band pushdown C2: 45rep curl complex (22.5kg EZ bar, 11kg dumbbells) D: 2x4 (8kg), 2x5 (7kg) lying external rotations (40X0) Everything going well, got a 5kg improvement in my weighted chin up 1RM compared to 6 weeks ago which is great. I experimented with 2-3-5 ladders (alternating between hands, so no pause before completing the whole round) for the DB press and I liked them a lot, so I'll keep doing them for some time (for rows, too) in order to get some more volume in. Yesterday - straight arm strength oriented deload session: A1: 2x3 straddle ice cream makers on rings A2: 2x3 RTO dips (with a small elbow extension and pause at the bottom) B1: 1x2 piked skin the cats (with short supinated german hang hold) B2: 1x5 trap-3 raise (5kg, 5sec pause at top) I believe ice cream makers are rapidly improving my FL - I'll test next week, but I think I am now able to hold a proper straddle FL for 1-2sec. RTO dips improving as well; I'll now work on slowly (eg. 5cm every 3-4 weeks) lowering the support I lean onto, and manipulating the tempo to get more control in the ROM I use during those 3-4 weeks. Shortly after - 1hour bouldering.
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Yesterday AM - straight arm strength oriented session. A1: 3x3 straddle ice cream makers A2: 3x3 RTO dips A3: 4x5 harop curls B: 2x3 skin the cats (with short supinated german hang hold) C1: 3x5 trap-3 raises (5sec pause at top) C2: 3x30sec one arm passive hang I believe I have now found the right SAS session for the moment - low volume so as to avoid being tired while climbing, but still enough to get some strength work in; some assistance work and prehab as well. Then in the early PM - 1.5 hours bouldering. Worked a lot on technique and finished with some dynos on the 45° overhanging board. In the late afternoon - arching hangs, lats stretching (shot a quick video of the 2 main stretches I do, which you can see here), ballistic pike & HFs & front splits.
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Day 7; things are going very well. In today's 2nd set I hit the floor with both hamstrings and upper thigh with both legs, from about bounce number 20 on my L leg (which has the tighest HFs) and from the start on my R leg. I haven't taken a day of rest yet because I don't feel like I need it and because I am adjusting the volume based on how I feel each day, both from a general fatigue perspective and from a HFs/hamstrings DOMS perspective; in general, I do 2 sets of 30-72 reps (which is quite a low volume, both because I don't want to be super sore and because I don't feel I need more than this at the moment, as I respond very well to stretching and also since I already had the position; so ymmv). Today - bent arm strength session. A1: 5x5 weighted ring chin ups (1x10kg, 4x14kg; 22X3) A2: 5x5 weighted dips (2kg; 31X1) B1: 1x10, 1x8 one-arm DB rows (28kg; 21X3) B2: 2x6 one-arm DB press (15kg) C1: 45rep curl complex (22.5kg EZ bar, 11kg dumbbells) C2: 45rep band pushdown D1: 2x6 lying external rotations (7kg, 40X0) D2: wall subscapularis stretch Nice session; increased weight in the chin ups, dips, rows and curls with no problems - linear progression still working well. Ballistic shi da pan 1 with toes elevated, ballistic lunge HF and ballistic front splits in between sets of the first pair; also 3x5 knee-height step ups with 16kg in front rack (unilateral; these get a bit into the problematic hamstrings area, not as effectively as romanian deadlifts and KB swings, but I don't want additional hamstrings soreness at the moment).
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Day 5: Some notes: another important reason that made me decide to do this is that I think it will heal my ischial tuberosity problem, which I feel is not completely solved; it worked when I did isometric FS (I had the some problem on the other side), and so far it seems to be working as well. I have had basically no DOMS until now, which is probably due to the fact that I am using ballistics to stabilize a ROM I already had, not to gain a new one. I decided to experiment and take the shoes off; this works much better, as it allows me to first push out a couple of times with my front foot pointed, thus getting into a better position by gaining some more height (and therefore more hip extension), and then to keep the hips more squared. The only downside is that it requires a big amount of extension in the toes. I also started doing a ballistic side bend and ballistic pu bu with foot of the straight leg elevated - both are giving nice results; Shi Da Pan 1 with feet dorsiflexed still improving - I was bouncing head off 2 fingers today.
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Snapping triceps syndrome (?)
Francesco replied to AntonisP's topic in All topics relating to 'Stretch Therapy'
Also maybe you should give us some more details, like: what caused the problem? What physical training do you currently do? How is your flexibility like (especially shoulder and thoracic spine)? etc.- 6 replies
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- triceps
- ulnar nerve
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May I suggest ice cream makers pausing in a straddle FL? I suspect these may be the key to transitioning to a straddle FL with minimal time commitment, and I'd like to see if this works on someone else