Ned

LRP. Suitcase and then rack carries with the 24kg kettlebell to warm up and introduce some grip isometrics for the elbows. Limbering with Cossack squat transitions, quite a bit of soreness in the adductors and hamstrings from yesterday's new range of motion with those so not as deep as usual. It's mostly absent in my day to day movements which is nice. Program 8 - shoulders, neck It never ceases to amaze me how my 'stiff' and tight now is a significant improvement from where I started. I used the floor version since it's a little more intense than the wall version for the shoulder exercises. I can feel the effects of the kettlebells in this one. Range of motion is good, but there's some resistance that wasn't there the last time until I let it go. Palm down felt harder today than palm up for some reason. Nice to just relax into them. I followed it up with the lying rotation from the daily 5 because my back wanted it. For the arm across the front of the body shoulder stretch I used to rely on momentum to get it there, but now I can bring it there in a slow and controlled way. I appreciated the side to side neck exercises quite a bit today. The vertical ones were nice to loosen up from it afterwards.

Quick update tonight. LRP in the mornings. Kettlebell work with the 24kg 4 days this week. The usual QL straddle, 90/90, and half pancakes afterwards. Everything is feeling light and low volume. I've noticed quite a bit of lower abdominal and mid-back activation during the goblet squats. I have one more planned session at the current volume before I add a couple more sets. I'm finding the insights I've gotten from LRP and LRP itself immensely useful in staying relaxed afterwards and not accumulating systemic fatigue. I had a breakthrough with my half pancake tonight. I used the cue of lifting my straight leg off the ground (unsurprisingly, it just stays there) but it brought my torso about 6" closer to my leg than it's been in that position for at least a few decades. I'm also noticing that my left leg is now tighter than my right which is an interesting reversal. I applied that same cue to the full pancake afterwards and it worked there too. Then I applied it to a sitting pike and that was significantly deeper too. I still a ways to go (much more for the pancake than the pike), but it feels like my body understands those movement patterns now in a way that it hasn't in years. 90/90 - continued isometric lifts with the trailing leg to work on internal hip rotation. I'm already seeing and feeling a big difference from that and I can stay quite a bit more upright when I do it too. Less cramping the last few days, but still a long way to go with it. I'm planning to run through program 8 and maybe 9 tomorrow depending on how I feel.

LRP in the mornings. Longer session tonight. Elbow stuff (flex bars, finger extensor band work) Kettlebell work (goblet squats, swings, TGU, staggered rows) with the 24kg. I'm keeping this at a relatively low volume with the plan to make gradual volume increase feel easy the whole way. Skipping afterwards. Followed by 90-90 (working on isometric lifts (read: inducing cramps until I've remapped them enough) of the trailing leg's foot to even out my internal hip rotation between sides), QL straddles, and the half-pancake with the variations Kit suggested above (consistency more than progress at the moment, but that will make all the difference in the end). Program 5: Elephant walks - skipping always introduces some calf tension, so I preemptively stretched them to avoid it. Less pushing to get my legs straight today and more just relaxing where I felt it was strong enough. Wide legged elephant walk - I felt this much more in the small groin muscles I associate with the Tailor's pose and much less in the inside line of the hamstrings/gracilis than I used to. Hip flexors - I like lunges. I'm also fascinated by how different things I'm doing influence how they feel. I did explore some different lines with this one and applied some C&R in a couple spots that needed it. Back bend - pretty loose with this one as well. I modified it to the straight arm version for a pleasant stretch through the abdominals. Program 6: Side bend - still remarkably loose from the last session, pleasant lat stretch but less intense The spine rotations were quite pleasant in my mid-back with a fair bit of compression on the side I'm rotating towards that feels good. Hip flexor plus quad - I like this one, it's like a more easily moderated version of the wall quad-hip flexor. I spent some time playing with it and my tightest lines. Spine flexion - I'm not real tight in this line generally, but I worked with the one foot forward positions to get a gentle stretch in a couple spots in my mid/upper-back. Program 7: Foot sequence It's been a while since I've done this one and I feel that difference (both before and after). My toes spread pretty well at this point and I make it a point to do do that movement often through the day so I don't every lose it. After the finger interlaced one today there was a hint that I can bend (at least some) toes individually rather than just all of them together. I suspect it will be a long time before there is any consistency to that because I can't do it at all while I'm writing this, but for a brief bit of time there was more awareness and control. I liked the stretch for the top of the foot quite a bit today, just the right intensity. "Rod of correction" on my calves to finish things off. I emphasized the sides of them more than usual today. I expect I will feel that in the next few days.

LRP in the mornings. Kettlebell work Saturday and again today. An extra day off after a (relatively) arduous hike on Sunday. I worked on some Cossack squats afterwards before this session. Also worked a little on hip internal rotation with bring the knees towards the floor while sitting and leaning back. Program 3: Forward bend - calf tightness. Hands flat on floor. It's comforting in a way to see that those two things aren't mutually exclusive anymore and that 'tight' is still remarkably loose compares to how I used to be. Calf stretches - skipping is still generally tightening those up, but less than it used to. My ankles are also generally feel stiffer than previously (side effect of boots in the winter), but that will improve fairly quickly and the reality is that I keep working the end ranges so it feels like they are. Piriformis - I need the stronger version of this, the top of the thigh is pressed right along my belly and chest. Elephant walks - Working at keeping my torso pressed onto both legs during straightening movements rather than just one. I'm still warming into straight legs by the end (can't do it cold yet). I sometimes grab my opposite wrists behind my calves and pull myself into it to keep my torso from coming off the thighs. Forward bend - no more calf tightness. Hands flat on floor. Not quite a rest position unless my torso is off my thighs. Program 4: I like the warmup movements. I notice the little stabilizer muscles a lot more than I used to. Still not 100% on controlling them consciously yet, but I have the awareness to feel them now. Pulling on a wall - Very pleasant today. The cue to lean back into the wall and then come off it is helpful. I'm still trying to figure out (a partner is almost certainly the answer) a good way to get my hand up towards my spine and not just across. I do this one pretty frequently as a part of my limbering without the wall, and the increased range of sideways motion is a good reminder to revisit different forms of movements I do while limbering more frequently than I have. Arm over shoulder - so much easier to keep my head and neck straight now. More depth, still slow (because I've neglected them for a while). But it's funny how much the body remembers ranges of motion once you've been there. My neck is pretty loose up and down.

I had too much going on for a bit to take the time to post and it has mostly been kettlebell sessions and wrist/elbow things in the last month. LRP in the mornings. Kit, your advice for the half-pancake is excellent. It's in my regular rotation. Enough snow has melted to resume barefoot walks outside so I've been enjoying the varied textures of natural surfaces again. Absolutely delightful after spending the winter in boots. My elbow (p)rehab continues, I bought some knockoff flexbars and they seem to be doing the trick. More finger extensor work too, I've gone up to a heavier band with that too. I've noticed improved range of motion in the wrist I've rehabbed previously too, but that's also necessitated a bunch more time spent on stretching and strength there to get the right equilibrium. 1x3 pullups today. No elbow sensations. So it's promising, but I'm not going to assume no issues until that's been consistent for a while. My kettlebell work continues, but I've reduced the frequency to 3 days a week. I'm mostly using the 24kg and slowly adding volume with it to make sure my tendons have time to acclimate. I generally finish those sessions with skipping, 90-90 stretches, half pancakes, and the straddle QL. I started going through the starter course again to build in more usual stretching again. I always find it to be a good way to check-in with different areas and see what needs some extra attention and what cues I've forgotten since the last time. Program 1: My back feels well wrung out after this one and deeply relaxed. The side bend was especially lovely and reaching the arm out in front stretched my lats in a way that I've been missing for a while with the reduction in hanging (elbow related). Program 2: I'm generally not real tight in the areas for this one. I did have a small breakthrough with understanding the quad stretch though. It has seemed odd to me for a while that in all of the other quad stretches I have a much greater range of motion than with this one (and that isn't just that I do the tail tuck here and not in others). Today I figured out why. I've always heard the cue "pull the thigh back" and then for reasons unknown (maybe to limit the pulling sensations in my knee from when I first starting stretching) I engaged my quad to move the knee back. That obviously limited how far back it could go significantly, so as soon as I noticed what I was doing today and how counterproductive it was, I relaxed it and pulled it back with my arm. That was a significant increase in my range of motion (and more in line with what I'd expect from other variations), so I'm curious to see how doing it with C&R goes.

I've been slack on posting. Not a whole lot of news, just continued work most days. My morning LRP suffered a little with combination of the recent time change and needing to wake up earlier for other stuff coinciding, but is back on track again (next fall, I'll aim to keep the ~4:30 wake up so when it jumps ahead to 5:30 again next spring I don't run into the same issue). My kettlebell sessions are continuing. 60-80% with the 16kg, 20-40% with the 20kg. A mix of one and two hand swings depending on the day followed by Turkish getups. Goblet squats, halos and the heel slide outs to warmup. I seem to be finding 4-6 days a week to be the sweet spot for it. I'll keep going with those because it's an activity that doesn't seem to aggravate anything. I've been doing a fair bit of walking as well. My stretch sessions are sort of blurring the line between C&R and limbering depending on the day. I'm not really trying to push the range of motion beyond where it is for a lot of them, just spending a good chunk of time in them and trying to make the range of motion I have a normal part of my day. Cossack squats - mostly limbering, I'm sure a bit of strengthening as well with the transitions. 90-90 stretch - my head (nose) made it to onto my ankle on both sides comfortably today which is a significant jump compared to previously. Straddle QL - I spend a fair bit of time exploring this one (one leg bent) and working to stretch the inner thigh. I also do the QL lean for it to get that loosened up. Half pancake - lots of exploring this one and how I can move (or not) in it. It's getting easier though, and I'm normalizing the slight tilt of the hips forward Wall hip flexor - still quite intense, but I'm working on different areas as what was intense becomes less so. Otherwise, general limbering (lunges, elephant walks, neck, floor shoulder, calves, feet). My elbow rehab is continuing, not sure on how effective it is at this point though. Day to day is good, but occasionally I do something that wakes it up for a while.

LRP in the mornings. Relaxation through the days. Metta in the evenings. Blending together beautifully. My knee feels pretty well normal at this point. I've been using the kettlebells pretty well daily since my last post. I'm mostly sticking to the 16kg since it's non-aggravating for everything. The last few days I've added a couple sets of two handed swings and Turkish getups with the 20kg. No soreness and minimal fatigue which is nice so I'll likely keep going with it. My elbow is feeling somewhat better, but pullups still aggravate it. Two hand hangs don't seem to though. I've started reading Overcoming Tendonitis by Steven Low. So I'll likely change what I'm doing for it based on the advice there. I did end up stretching on the Saturday, but didn't have time to post. Today: Half pancakes - tightest line is new and very tight, so something I was compensating with somewhere finally relaxed enough to stretch this one. I'm able to actively tilt my pelvis forward a little bit now when I do it too. Cossack squats - feeling the tight line with these as well despite getting quite low. Transitions and some longer holds in the bottom position. 90-90 stretch - working on the rotation towards my front knee and getting lower. Occasionally, I notice some compression in the outside of the back leg's hip before I get into the position. I think that's from greater relaxation so I'll play with it a bit. Seated piriformis - Tighter than often, or maybe I'm just relaxing enough to notice it more. Wall-quad hip flexor - pleasantly intense. Side bends - necessary today. Kneeling variant. Bar hangs - working on stretching the lats.

LRP in the mornings. Metta in the evenings. Mindful relaxation through the day. Wrist rehab blends with the inner elbow tendon exercises. I added dowel rolls with a weight on a rope and started doing some heavier finger extensor training again. Occasional pullups, but the volume is pretty low. My knee is feeling better, but not 100% and still some obvious bruising. The heels slide outs and returns from the one legged hip bridge are getting easier and I have less (but still some) cramping. It's a strange feeling exercise for me. I'm looking forward to exploring its nuances more when I'm not as prone to cramping. 2x7/side. These ones if anyone is curious, I'm just try to come back smoothly and controlled instead of using momentum. I also keep the resting foot pointed. I axed the box squats (too unstable to add the right amount of height) and just started going down to where the knee of my other leg hits the ground and going up from there. 1x30 full depth squats Sideways leg lifts continue, but the volume is probably too high at this point to have much effect on strength. I did some kettlebell work with 16kg over the weekend and again this evening because it isn't heavy enough to aggravate anything but it keeps me moving a bit. Goblet squats 3x8. One arm swings 10x10 alternating after each set, 10x1 Turkish Getups (TG). I used to do quite a bit of kettlebell work a few years ago. I'm sticking with the daily 5 for limbering at the moment. I'll likely stretch this weekend.

LRP in the mornings, mindful breaths through the day, metta in the evenings. Bodyweight pullups on Sunday 2x5,4,3,2,1. I ended up feeling the ones from my last post in medial side of the back of the elbow (mostly on the left side, slightly on the right) afterwards, and felt these in the same spot yesterday. I plan to start (p)rehabbing it a bit to hopefully stave off longer term problems. I'll probably shift to rings as well to hopefully avoid issues. I banged the front/inside of my knee late last week. It feels alright (slightly bruised), but my MCL (based on where and when I'm feeling it) was a little unstable feeling when I was standing on that leg tying my boot, so I'm doing some exercises aimed at strengthening the area for a while. 2x5/side hip bridge hamstring eccentrics/contractions (sliding the heel of the working leg forward until I'm nearly flat and then pulling it in until I'm back in the starting position (one leg is in the air resting)). Significant hamstring cramping with these when doing them so it's worth keeping them in the mix for a while. 3x15/side Single leg partial squats on box down to floor ~35cm up. 1x20 full depth bodyweight squats - slow 3x20/side sideways lying leg lifts (inside and outside) The daily 5 have been my main stretching/limbering for the last few days.

LRP in the mornings. Mindful breaths through the day. Metta in the evenings. No longer wanting to be anywhere but here and now. Skipping 8x45s on 10s off. I'm jumping faster than I did (~2.5 jumps/s). Pullups + 10kg (14 total) as 1,1,3,3,2,2,2. These are continuing to get easier. 3s pause at the top. I did 7 at bodyweight after this. Bulgarian split squats 2x10/side with 16kg - I'm planning to make these a regular part of the routine for a while. Romanian single leg deadlifts 2x10/side with 16kg. L-sit 1x15s full floor, 2x20s/side one leg up one leg down. 3x20 captain's chair leg raises - doing them quickly lets me get my toes about level with my eyes. Before I started stretching my hamstrings were too tight to get my feet level with my hips when my legs were straight. Triangle pose - lots of room for improvement here, left side is tighter than the right today. I did it 3 times on the right and 5 on the left. I played a little with the hip alignment to find the tight spots. I'm very aware of just how tight my hamstrings are too. Wide legged elephant walk - this feels much more intense than often today, but I'm also working a range of motion that's quite a bit deeper than usual so it feels more like fascia and less like muscle tension. Half pancake - increased range of motion in this one. Quite a lot of intensity in the adductors with it, but the bottom of my belly is now touching the thigh of the bent leg (just) with the forward pelvic tilt. I've started feeling along gracilis during this one as well--not quite the full release, but not a dissimilar method either. Tailor pose - a bit of a pulling sensation in the inside side of my right knee today. I'm not sure on the cause of that since the depth is about usual in the end position. My contractions are getting stronger there though. Wall quad hip flexor - very pleasant one today and (what felt like) a significant increase in end range of motion. I like noticing the changes in the feeling of the stretch from moving the hips side to side a little.

LRP in the mornings. Mindful breaths throughout my days. Metta in the evenings. Skipping 8x45s on, 10s off. I felt much springier today than I have in any previous session. I'm still noticing it in my ankle afterwards, so I'm going to stick with the slow progression (2 weeks before I can move on) so I don't over do it. I was doing about 100 bounces each set so my pace is up a little bit from where I started too. 12x1 pullups +10kg neutral grip. 3s pause at the top. 3 minutes between sets. It's remarkable how much easier those feel than they did when I started doing them. 30s/side one arm hangs Knee ab-wheel rollouts 3x5 Short xc ski along the shore this afternoon ~30-40 minutes, strange texture relative to the powder or groomed trails I've skied on before. I was planning to stretch when I got back, but I cooled off too much and now I'm stiff (fell on the way in and worked some of the stabilizing muscles in the legs/hips that I seem to only use in any significant way when skiing). I'll probably do some limbering with the daily 5 later this evening.

That about sums it up.

LRP in the mornings. Mindful breaths through the day. Beautiful sunset over the lake tonight. A relatively short session to write about today (longer to do). I did 8 rounds of 30s on 10s off sessions of skipping on Saturday and Sunday. I did 8x45s on 10s off skipping today. Roughly 2 jumps/second. I'm noticing an old ankle sprain a bit with the skipping (from the beginning), so I'm hopeful that continued practice in the right amount rehabs it eventually. 10x1 pullups +10kg. These are feeling a little easier which is nice. I'm generally pausing for a few seconds up at the top. 2-3 minutes of rest between them. Tuck front lever position -> controlled floor dismounts. I don't really know what to call these. But when I first tried doing the tucked front levers I had to get into them awkwardly from above, and didn't really have a smooth dismount out of them. Now I'm trying to build the strength to be able to get into and out of them smoothly. Getting into them is still not possible without momentum or else a toe hook on what I'm grabbing onto to pull myself into it, getting out of them is now smooth and quiet though. Bent leg L-sits - focusing on figuring out lat engagement and the press off the floor more than the core aspect of it. Single leg dose pose - No ladder bars, exploration of tight lines. I should have taken a long break between sides. There was some burn in the trapezius by the end. Tailor pose - Heading South for a bit and will likely bring some more weights back with me to see if the weighted bounce technique will work with more weight than I have with me. Right now, I'm using the spend ~10-20 minutes sitting in the end position between sets of contractions with little bits of rocking the pelvic forward and backwards. I think I've reached a plateau with this one at the moment, so I'll keep practicing it. I ran through the hand/finger sequence while I was waiting. I ended the session with the Rod of Correction on my calves. The skipping made that more intense than usual.

Thanks Kit, I will give that a try. Edited to add: That makes quite a difference to the feel of the movement generally and no cramping which is nice. I made it to 16s with a full floor one with that cue, so that's definitely a piece that I was missing.

LRP in the mornings. I'm planning to try metta during lunch break to see if moving it earlier helps with consistency. Skipping again yesterday, same 8 rounds of 30s on 10s off. I'm feeling it less in my calves today than I have previously, but still sticking with the the same volume for a couple more sessions before I change it. I'm quite aware of an old ankle sprain when I'm doing it, so I'm hoping it helps rehab that some more. 8x1 pullups + 10kg yesterday. Shorter rest between sets. --- 4x30s alternating one arm hangs (no rest) - for anyone wondering about the significant time jump compared to recent posts, I wrapped an old wide and thin resistance band around the bar so I wasn't slipping off from lack of friction. The problem with that method is the likelihood of blisters from too much friction, so chalk or handle bar tape still seem like they are probably better solutions in the long term. Pulling myself up high enough to get my other hand up onto the bar to switch was harder than I thought it would be, more practice needed. 3x12/side sandbag (20kg) split squats 15 minutes in a resting squat - I mostly spent the time exploring hands and wrist mobility. It's been a while since I sat in the bottom of a squat for a while, but still basically effortless. I went through this one today. Hip circles - tight left adductors with this one today for some reason and somewhat tight right hamstring. Side bend - not really significant, but I find I always bring the arm up and and over rather than across and up to bring on more stretch and assume that's a side effect of that movement being patterned from dead hangs and pullups. I liked the Sumo squat rotations a lot. I'm going to incorporate them more often. Good stretch in the groin. Added in some calf stretches before the squat <-> standing forward bend sequence to alleviate some of the tension in the back of the leg. Limbered into straight legs at the end. The triangle pose variant and contractions are quite intense today. My left side is quite a bit looser than the right. Hip swing -> lunge was interesting. My pauses before putting the foot down were very brief, so I'll work on those. Seated piriformis stretch. Very deep with this one today and not a whole lot of stretch on the right side, more stretch on the left side. The rotation that followed was novel. I'm not sure what I make of it, it didn't feel intense so much as unusual. There was a spot that stretched wonderfully just above my right hip that went away when I did it properly with the slump. There are some areas in the middle back that clearly haven't moved in that way in a long time too, but they weren't stretched so much as stiff. The diamond pose was an interesting comparison with the sensations in the Tailor pose, and I spent some time afterwards working on the same pelvis shifts (I can do that a little bit now, whereas previously there was much less ability for that). I'm finding more nuances in the sensations in the inner thighs and groin, and also with the muscles at the back of the hips that pull the knees down. Back bends - these were much needed today. I finished off with 20s tucked L-sit that for some reason cramped my triceps significantly since I was focused on pushing myself off the floor.