Nathan's Nook

[Nathan]

Bicep got aggravated again  Was feeling okay after the light UB workout, so not sure if it just took time to start complaining or if something in my last skill UB session triggered it. Either way, stayed away from heavy UB today and did skill UB instead, paired with heavy LB.

Bouncing, Yuri sequences, handstands, and dislocates, followed by:

• Dragon Flags: Did these last session so dropped to adv. tuck instead of full DF to allow for focus on quality.
• Horizontal Scap Protraction/Retraction: Continued with same reps.
• Vertical Scap Depression/Elevation: 10kg plate again for elevation.
• Windshield Wipers: Still solid.
• Manna Work: Trying to de-emphasize bicep as much as possible, but this puts a stretch on it which really makes the off sensation (it's not pain) noticeable.

 

• Weighted Cossack Squats: Same weights here. Did one low set raising the toes and one keeping the foot planted. Felt more solid than last time.
• Snatch Grip Deadlifts: Added another rep. Think I'll add another set next time before changing the weight.
• Romanian Deadlifts: Increased depth on these today. Plates are touching the ground at the bottom even with the smaller plates since my hams are pretty loose.

Followed by:

Prehab: Cuban rotations.

Lying relaxation and stretching before bed.

[Nathan]

Bicep felt okay after a two-day rest, so went with normal light day, again. Have a feeling things will probably end up like last week with two skill/accessory sessions next  Slept really well last night for some reason.

Yuri sequences, dislocates, and handstands, followed by:

• Floor Advanced L-sits: (tuck) Hands forward. Increased sets/hold times.
• Ring Rows: Still feel solid, but not quite solid enough to increase reps yet.
• Pike HSPU (on parallettes): Managed planned reps again, but not ready to increase.
• Bar Pull Ups: Same as above!
• Pseudo Planche Push Ups: Hands forward still. Interesting how it changes the movement. 3x12 was pretty comfortable, so I think I will increase the lean next time.
• Barbell Paused Front Squats: Decided to try upping the weight and seeing how it affected the wrists. Went with 40kg, 4s eccentric, and 1s or so pause at the bottom. Wrists didn't seem too bothered with 3x7 of this, so I will add some sets and reps before trying a bit more weight. Still, no squat rack is the biggest hurdle to heavier weights.
• Glute Ham Extensions: Used the same killer pattern and added an extra set. I feel the weak links with this movement are my knees and a line along the inside of my thigh. Not sure what the line is, but it's basically the same location as the sartorius muscle. I think I might need to move the padding to just behind my knees to take some pressure off of them.
• Frog Pumps: 2x50 again with a bit of stretching prior to open up the hips.

Followed by:

Prehab: Cuban rotations only.

Like last time, bicep felt pretty good throughout the workout. Will see how it feels over the next few days.

Stretching/lying relaxation to come.

[Nathan]

Shorter sprint intervals this morning, followed by one long sprint for a finisher. Since my right ITB started acting up after jumping into downhill jogs I just assumed that the right ITB was the tight one, but I think I've started to realize that the left is actually even tighter. In fact, the whole hip musculature is much tighter on the left side. Always more to work on!

[Nathan]

Skill/accessory session today. Bouncing, Yuri sequences, handstands, and dislocates, followed by:

• Dragon Flags: Solid. Will up reps next session.
• Horizontal Scap Protraction/Retraction: Upped the FL retraction sets one rep again. Will continue with this for a bit.
• Vertical Scap Depression/Elevation: Feel like I'm getting some extra elevation with the 10kg plate. There is some kind of movement of the clavicle or first rib or something in there that reinforces my idea that a lack of mobility or proper activation is coming into play.
• Windshield Wipers: Still solid. Will definitely up reps next session.
• Manna Work: Have to be careful and really focus on tricep activation with these as to not stress the bicep more than needed. Getting better very slowly.
• Pike/Straddle Compression
• Natural Leg Extensions/Extended Clamshells/Frog Pumps/Hip Thrusts: Dropped the reps and upped the weight on the hip thrusts. Really felt the burn today. Unfortunately, current setup makes using any real substantial weight on the thrusts difficult. Will play with the setup in future sessions. Plan to up the clamshell reps next time.

Bicep felt good before the session and after, although I could feel the issue during certain movements. Still being careful to minimize stress on it.

Lying relaxation and stretching later.

[Nathan]

Set of longer sprint intervals this morning. Using these longer intervals to work on form, which is helping. Was getting some soreness toward the outside of the foot previously and I think it had to do with placing pretty much all of the stress of the impact near the big toe when sprinting. Basically, running completely on the balls of my feet, and even shifted toward the big toe side. Working on a forefoot/midfoot strike, but allowing more of the foot to touch down.

Was expecting some soreness today after upping the weight on the hip thrusts and getting a real nice burn yesterday, but nothing really. May feel it tomorrow, though!

Stretching and lying relaxation to come.

[Nathan]

Bicep feeling pretty good today. Still not good enough to try a heavy UB session, but decided to go with another light UB session instead of repeating my skill/accessory UB session. Paired light UB with heavy LB.

Yuri sequences, dislocates, and handstands, followed by:

• Floor Advanced L-sits: (tuck) Hands forward. Sticking with 4x15s and working on form.
• Ring Rows: Added a rep to the last set. Will add to the second set also next time.
• Pike HSPU (on parallettes): Still have to be careful with these so as to not aggravate the bicep.
• Bar Pull Ups: Still 3x10.
• Pseudo Planche Push Ups: Increased lean on these, but that aggravated the bicep a fair bit. Have to keep them very slow and controlled to avoid this, so had to drop reps a considerable amount.

• Weighted Cossack Squats: Same plate with high cossacks, but tried the low cossacks with the 10kg bar in back squat position. I like this and will use the same for high cossacks next time.
• Snatch Grip Deadlifts: Scrapped adding another set. Did a couple 1x3 at 60kg, 2x3 at 75kg, and 3x3 at 85kg. Not too tough, but really felt it in the upper back!
• Romanian Deadlifts: Kept the 85kg on the bar and did 3x3 here, to the ground with the deficit. Upper back was screaming after the SGDL. Filmed last set just to make sure form looked okay and no back rounding or anything. Back comes to around parallel with ground and everything looks great.

Followed by:

Prehab: Cuban rotations.

Lying relaxation and stretching before bed.

Holiday here in Japan - will be heading to the parents' house to do grave visiting per tradition, so I'll be resting and relaxing until around Thursday next week. Should be a nice rest for the bicep too!

[Nathan]

Quick sprint session this morning before I head off for a semi-vacation. Short sprints today (followed by one longer). Felt really good - managed to make it over the top of my hill on the last sprint, which means distance covered is up a fair bit. Also means I might need to find a bigger hill! Or just walk back down further between sprints  

Will just be doing lots of walking and some daily stretching most likely until I get back.

[Nathan]

I'm back! As planned, mostly just did a good amount of walking and some nice little limbering sessions in the park in the mornings. Back at it today with a skill UB/heavy LB session. Bicep is feeling good after the rest, but wanted to test the waters with an easy skill/accessory session.

Bouncing, Yuri sequences, handstands, and dislocates, followed by:

• Dragon Flags: Bumped these up to 3x4.
• Horizontal Scap Protraction/Retraction
• Vertical Scap Depression/Elevation
• Windshield Wipers: Bumped these up to 3x6.
• Manna Work: Making the lower traps scream as usual. Think I might add manna wall slides before long and see how they feel.
• Pike/Straddle Compression

 

• Weighted Cossack Squats: Used the bar for both high and low positions this time.
• Snatch Grip Deadlifts: Working sets 3x4 at 85kg. Will go to 3x5 next time and then maybe up the weight.
• Romanian Deadlifts: 3x3 again here to finish things off. Grip is getting a good workout by the end of these. Conventional deadlifting the 85kg off of the ground to get into position is getting laughably easy, so I guess the SGDL do have plenty of carryover! 

Followed by:

Prehab: Cuban rotations.

Bicep felt better than before the break, but I can still feel something ever so slightly "off." Will continue cycling skill and light UB for a while longer.

Lying relaxation and stretching to come before bed.

[Nathan]

Set of longer hill sprints this morning. Would have normally hit these the day before heavy LB, but was on vacation so got them in today instead. Hams were a bit sore from yesterday, but not enough to make a noticeable difference. Sprints felt good and the left TFL area seems to be much more willing to open up recently, which feels great.

As always, lying relaxation and stretching to come later.

[Nathan]

Hams have been sore the past couple days, but felt pretty good just in time for today's light session.

Yuri sequences, dislocates, and handstands, followed by:

• Floor Advanced L-sits: (extending tuck) Hands forward. Staying with 4x15s and extending when possible.
• Ring Rows: Feeling good, but stuck with the same reps as last time.
• Pike HSPU (on parallettes): Feel like shoulder mobility is slowing these down. Same sets/reps.
• Bar Pull Ups: Same sets/reps here, also, but I feel like form is improving throughout the sets.
• Pseudo Planche Push Ups: Hands forward. Did a very careful 3x5 at the new lean and no bicep aggravation.
• Barbell Paused Front Squats: Stuck with 40kg, 4s eccentric, and 1s or so pause at the bottom. Added a set for 4x7 total. Will go to 4x8 next time. Wrists weren't bothered today.
• Glute Ham Extensions: 3x4. Moved the padding just behind my knees and I think it actually increased the difficulty a bit. Wasn't able to extend forward as much at the bottom, but reversed the movement after extending a bit each time instead of collapsing and then reversing. Have a feeling I will feel this in the hams tomorrow.
• Frog Pumps: 2x50

Followed by:

Prehab: Cuban rotations only.

Threw in some light high-rep curls to feed the bicep. Very minimal aggravation today. Definitely best its felt since it started feeling off.

Lying relaxation and stretching to come.

[Kit_L]

Beast of a workout, Nathan. When are we seeing you again? Best, KL

[Nathan]

Thanks, Kit! I'm looking forward to seeing you in Singapore in October! I'm expecting you to be twice as charming as usual since Olivia won't be there 

Hopefully whatever is bugging my bicep disappears by then so that I can play around on those straps and stall bars - looks like such a nice little studio! Really looking forward to seeing Singapore, too. I hear they have some great Indian and Chinese - two of my favorite kinds of foods 

[Kit_L]

Ahhh: how wonderful! It will be a fantastic workshop; there are many other talented people coming too. And the food here is probably overall the best in the world. We eat at a local food court; charming, real people, incredible food, and ridiculously inexpensive. Our most expensive meal was $19.50, with a large bottle of Tiger beer...

[Nathan]

@Kit_L Sounds fantastic!

---

Did a quick 15/45 sprint interval session this morning, with one long finisher sprint. Expected more hamstring soreness, but nothing to speak of. I did feel slower than usual, but ended up around the same place in the end, so the difference was very small if any.

Stretching/lying relaxation to come later tonight.

[Nathan]

Early skill/accessory session this morning.

Bouncing, Yuri sequences, handstands, and dislocates, followed by:

• Dragon Flags: Feeling good. Will probably continue with 3x4 for a couple sessions and then up the reps.
• Horizontal Scap Protraction/Retraction
• Vertical Scap Depression/Elevation
• Windshield Wipers: These are feeling solid too. Will probably up the reps next time.
• Manna Work: Played with hand placement a bit today. Straight back is still too much stress on the wrists. Will continue with turned slightly out.
• Pike/Straddle Compression
• Natural Leg Extensions/Extended Clamshells/Frog Pumps/Hip Thrusts: Upped reps on clamshells and upped weight/dropped reps on thrusts. This little circuit is starting to get pretty intense  30kg on the thrusts felt nice - would like to up the weight even more, but like I mentioned previously it's pretty difficult with my current setup. Will up reps on NLE next time.

Overall good little session. Nice way to wake up  Lying relaxation/stretching to come.

[Nathan]

Set of longer sprints this morning. Tried increasing the distance a bit with each sprint this time. Mostly a mental thing  Called it at four intervals since tomorrow is heavy leg day.

Have a big job I need to take care of by Saturday that I'm not too happy about. It's not a fun one. On the up side, I won free tickets to a 10-day independent film festival here, so that should be fun once the work is finished!

Lying relaxation/stretching to come.

[Frederik]

Hi @Nathan

Out of curiosity, how long are your "long" sprints?

[Nathan]

Hey @Frederik

Long is probably a bit of a misnomer. I simply used that to differentiate from the 15/45 intervals, which are of course very short (15 seconds sprinting and 45 seconds of rest). Long really refers more to the rest than the sprint, I suppose, since the goal of the "long" sprints is to (near?) fully recover between each sprint. Instead of timing the "long" sprints, I simply run a certain distance up a hill, and then walk slowly back down and repeat. Judging from the distance of my 15-second sprints, I would guess that the longer sprints tend to be somewhere around 30 seconds, give or take.

Initially, I was doing something similar to Lyle McDonald's SFP. I would do 5 15/45 intervals, then walk for 30 minutes or so, and then finish with 5 longer intervals - perhaps 30/30 or 45/45. Later, I replaced the second set with the fixed distance sprints similar to what I do now, and eventually I split them up and do the short intervals on one day and the fixed-distance sprints on another. I feel like I could probably pair them and be fine, but splitting them up lets me do sprints twice per week and feel confident that it's not too much to recover from.

[Nathan]

Bicep feeling pretty good, but I know my natural tendency is to try to jump back in too soon, so I'm going to do the opposite and wait until it feels way overdue

Paired skill/accessory UB with heavy LB. Bouncing, Yuri sequences, handstands, and dislocates, followed by:

• Dragon Flags: Kept these at 3x4 but switched to straight arm.
• Horizontal Scap Protraction/Retraction
• Vertical Scap Depression/Elevation
• Windshield Wipers: Bumped to 3x7 and will probably go for 3x8 next time.
• Manna Work: Paired the BL straddle raises with pike compression during the breaks again. Not fun
• Pike/Straddle Compression

 

• Weighted Cossack Squats: Felt a lot easier today. Not sure why. Did 2x8 in high and low positions with the bar, extended foot flat one set and raised the other.
• Snatch Grip Deadlifts: 3x5 today. Grip is starting to get some real work. Will probably bump the weight up and drop to 3x3 next time.
• Romanian Deadlifts: Did 2x3 and 1x4. Was thinking about adding another set but grip was pretty fried by the end.

Followed by:

Prehab: Cuban rotations. Also added some high rep curls at the end again.

Lying relaxation/stretching to come.

[Nathan]

Light day today. Yuri sequences, dislocates, and handstands, followed by:

• Floor Advanced L-sits: (extending tuck)
• Ring Rows: Finally upped reps on these. Form feels good. Will continue with this until they feel easy again.
• Pike HSPU (on parallettes): Wasn't liking the angles for this, so I raised the legs a fair bit. Made it a good bit harder, but feels better form-wise.
• Bar Pull Ups: Same, but getting easier.
• Pseudo Planche Push Ups: Hands forward still. Went to 3x6 at current lean and wasn't bad. Will probably up again. No bicep aggravation.
• Barbell Paused Front Squats: 40kg, 4s eccentric, and 1s or so pause at the bottom @ 4x8. Not much work for legs, but upper back and wrists felt it.
• Glute Ham Extensions: Added a set for 4x4. This really fries the hams like nothing else.
• Frog Pumps: 2x50

Followed by:

Prehab: Cuban rotations and high-rep light curls for bicep, which is feeling better each time.

Lying relaxation and stretching to come.

[Nathan]

15/45 sprint intervals followed by one longer sprint this morning. Could really feel the glutes today - nice feeling! Started raining right as I began my sprints. Typhoon has given us some rainy/overcast weather the past few days, which has actually been a nice break from the heat. I'm sure they're not happy up north where it hit though  

Lying relaxation and stretching later tonight.

[Nathan]

Skill/accessory UB/LB this morning.

Bouncing, Yuri sequences, handstands, and dislocates, followed by:

• Dragon Flags: Still 3x4 with straight arms. Feels solid, but not quite easy yet.
• Horizontal Scap Protraction/Retraction
• Vertical Scap Depression/Elevation: Still using a 10kg plate for the elevation. Think I'll try moving to the 15kg plate next time.
• Windshield Wipers: 3x8 and still felt pretty solid. Need to focus more on keeping toes low to work compression.
• Manna Work: Swapped in manna wall slides today as a test. I forgot how much I love these. They hit the upper back in a way nothing else really compares to. Definitely going to keep these in for a while and see how it goes.
• Pike/Straddle Compression
• Natural Leg Extensions/Extended Clamshells/Frog Pumps/Hip Thrusts: Upped reps on NLE and hip thrusts. Will up reps on both again next session.

Good session. Everything feeling pretty solid and close to zero bicep aggravation. Finished up with some light, high-rep curls.

Stretching and lying relaxation to come.

[Nathan]

Set of my longer sprints this morning. Increased the distance slightly for each one, and I could feel I was definitely pushing into new lactic-acid-producing territory by the end. Really felt it in the hams today. This felt nice since I haven't experienced this sensation much recently.

Considering doing a higher intensity stretching session later today. I am enjoying the relaxed evening sessions, but think that I'm ready to add in some more focused work again.

[Nathan]

Didn't do the higher intensity stretching yesterday, but played with some of Olivia's pelvis movement from the Slow Flow bonus track instead. I think I'll call it sexy pancake, because that's how I feel doing it 

Early this morning, skill/accessory UB paired with heavy LB. Bouncing, Yuri sequences, handstands, and dislocates, followed by:

• Dragon Flags: 3x4 straight arm again. Harder with only one day of rest between.
• Horizontal Scap Protraction/Retraction: Bumped the FL retraction up one rep.
• Vertical Scap Depression/Elevation: Moved up to the 15kg plate for the elevation. Didn't actually feel any more difficult, other than the plate is larger and hits me in the head 
• Windshield Wipers: 3x8 again working on keeping the toes lower.
• Manna Work: Wall slides again.

 

• Weighted Cossack Squats: Upped reps to 2x10 each for high and low positions with the bar, extended foot flat one set and raised the other. Hips really loose after these.
• Snatch Grip Deadlifts: Upped weight to 90kg and did 3x3. Might need some chalk before long  Grip was getting slippy so I wrapped a towel around the bar, which worked fine.
• Romanian Deadlifts: Kept the SGDL weight and did 3x3.

Followed by:

Prehab: Cuban rotations and high rep curls.

Lying relaxation, maybe stretching, and sleep to come 

[Kit_L]

"Sexy pancake": that will fly!  Does feel good though, I agree. Liv has been saying this for years, but these movements can only be done and learned before the stretch sensations get strong—preferably before any real stretch is felt.