Kuchedav's log

[nick_kuchedav]

Upper pic=after (May-2016)

Lower pic=before (Oct-2015)

 

Thanks Kit, it is mainly because of your work I believe, and that is the reason I think my very ugly pancake can improve

 

Will check S&F again.

[nick_kuchedav]

Monday: PM

(I didn't think to train so hard but however it was ok).

HS facing wall 3x40sec

 

HS run against wall 4x 12 "steps"

HS lean facing wall 3x12

Headstand Push ups 6;3;2;2 (it feel tough after the morning bench)

+pancake limbering- skandasana-x2 reaching triangle-x2 tailor pose-x2 

+back bend limbering- Bench Kettlebell Back Bendx2;

(every stretch went great I take all the time I want to do it right)

 

Front lever raise 4x5 (this version- https://youtu.be/N4N9SPIyHxo)

 

EMOM 15 burpees+ strict push ups+ 10cm box jump

x3

 

(today my front delts are a bit sore)

 

Tuesday:

BSQ 7x3 116kg

RDL 3x12 90kg

wallk lunge 2x18kg 3x20steps total

Front plank 30"- Kneeling abwheel 2x8reps ( i think this can help my shoulders to improve my lower traps strength and help with Press2 HS)

 

Limbering: pigeon stretch, side spine stretch, hams stretch- straight and bent leg, modified plough

[Frederik]

It is a bit hard to ascertain from your video. So forgive me I am mistaken, but it looks suspiciously like you have bent elbows in the Front Lever Raise.

 

Unless you are going for a move like the Yewkis (Dead hang to bent arm front lever), you may want to try scaling back (tuck/advanced tuck/straddle) or using another progression for the Front Lever (isometric, rows, tick-tocks).

[nick_kuchedav]

thanks for the comment Frederik! It isn't me at the clip, I think half-lay version isn't very popular and I decide to just post something from UT. But will try to film mine set and will be happy to hear your opinion.

 

I hear for the first time for Yewis exercise and can eperiment with it.

 

 

Wed:

-nothing special a few limbering exercises, joint rotation, a few squat exercise and so on; A few Feldenkrais style exercise for the spine (did it with my client with scoliosis and it impress me, how little awerness he has about his hips at first and how to control his spine movements)

 

Thurs:

-BB Press 7x3 56kg

-pullups (neutral grip)- 15/12,8reps 5kg/10reps BW/10reps (I did 4x12 but it was a bit shorter ROM at the end of the set, so i won't count them)

-assis work.

[nick_kuchedav]

Fri:

DL- 7x3 145kg

Good Morning- 3x12 60kg (I haven't feet it so great since my 18th b-day maybe; very deep and erectors or QL or psoas doesn't cramp which is very new for the last year and my low-back injury)

BB step up- 3x10steps each leg 70kg

Kneeling abwheel 3x6 (my shoulders don't open enough yet otherwise it isn't hard)

Daily five stetches and I feel again very very tired.

[nick_kuchedav]

I do continue with my program, but since Tuesday I feel some strange strain in front of my left leg, up high somewhere around where I feel hip flexor stretches. It make my squat day very close to full failure. I have some experience with different pains which are squat related but this is something new. I feel it mostly when I walk and emphasize on hip extension.

So this week summary:

bench 5x3 105kg

back squat 5x3 130 125x4

Press 5x3 61kg

chest2bar pullups 3x10 +15kg (91kg BW-yesterday)

front split stretch (combination between psoas stretch and straight leg hams stretch); a few exercise from master the pancake. 

joints articulation

And hope to find the time to experiment with the picture from the seminar Kit and Olivia post on facebook.

Today London seminars were confirmed. I can't wait the time to past. Will someone from here be there :)? 

 

[nick_kuchedav]

Deadlifts today, again upper back cramp. I feel it as it need to just crack somewhere around medial scapula borders but hope tomorrow will be better

DL- 160kg 5x3

Goodmorning 3x10 60kg

Step up 70 80 80kg 3x8steps per leg

Dragon flag

ST: adv piriformis, LB twist, elephant walk, shoulder IR stretch, pec stretch with fascia dim. and a few more I suggest

Today will do again pancake work. I post my publicly so let see after a couple of months 

https://www.facebook.com/Kuchedav/photos/a.591542214250181.1073741827.424726350931769/1082786208459110/?type=3&theater

[nick_kuchedav]

This week

mon- bench 112/to failure=3

thu- back squat 137/to faiulre=4

pancake work- this will be epic battle

[Kit_L]

Nick, from the image above of your pancake, I feel there is only a small amount of anterior pelvis movement there. Bend your knees, stuck your butt out, and work on that movement. Standing is a way better use of gravity, too. I am working on the same problem set myself, and have felt that the bent-leg exercises in their many forms gets the pancake much faster than any other approach. I will be making a program on this soon, but in the meantime:

Is a place to start.

Add to this the brief tutorial, also on YT, of the Cossack squat and its variant, Skandasana:

And the original Cossack tute:

All these will help pelvis movement, by reducing the hold that the adductors and inner hamstrings have on the ischial tuberosities (the bones we sit on).

[nick_kuchedav]

Thanks a lot , Kit!

I did very often skandasana version from Master the pancake program and also feel that flat frog exercise (especially partner version will help too). I think the other problem here are my TFL-region - I often feel cramps and tightness there. It reduce when I do partner hip flexor stretch and I think I often need to do supine pendulum exercise. Every advice is highly welcome

[Kit_L]

Nick, the key to pancake is feeling how to move the pelvis. In both your pancake and your pike, you are showing a beautifully supple back (perfect curve from sacrum to head) but almost no pelvic movement (the sacrum is almost vertical). Do a standing bent-leg pancake next to a mirror: this will show you. Stick your butt out, bend the knees 90°, and make the whole spine a straight line. I will bet the restriction will be felt high under the glutes. 

When the hamstrings and adductors do not let this movement happen, the back rounds instead. I doubt that there is any problem in TFL; it is cramping just like the abs sometimes do when bending forwards: they are trying to help you get deeper, but because they are working in their most contracted end of their range of movement the result is a cramp, just like when you point your foot.

It took me a long time to learn this point (and it was Olivia who kept insisting on it) but the key to both of these fundamental movements is the movement of the pelvis not the length of the hamstrings. Once you feel how to position your pelvis, hold it there, and use leg-straightening actions or contractions to lengthen the hamstrings and the long adductors. Feeling the desirable position of the pelvis first is the absolutely essential first step. 

[MarkusO]

9 hours ago, Kit_L said:

Nick, the key to pancake is feeling how to move the pelvis. In both your pancake and your pike

For the pancake I find it very useful to internally rotate the legs a bit to initiate the pelvic tilt. I was wondering for a long time how I could get my pelvis moving and paying attention to leg alignment worked very well for me. Give it a try  It also works great in a single-legged pancake where you just play around with the leg rotation to explore new ranges of movement and sensations. 

[Kit_L]

I will try this in my practise today. I am currently working on the rolling the leg out transition (from  Cossack to Skandasana) but have not tried rolling in, though Skandasana does have the straight leg's foot flat. Personally, hip abduction is easier for me with the legs in external rotation, but I will try internal today (from the standing position). Thanks Markus!

[nick_kuchedav]

Thank you guys!

In the last few days I try to move my pelvic throughout the different stretches. I do know that the pancake is my weakest stretch and now to see some improvements in 1-2 months period.

@kit I will try this exercise, and maybe I have underrated the high hams link, because on all the hams stretches I feel it somewhere in the middle of the muscle. Now I wonder whether I rotate posterior my hip in cheat pike for example.

 

Markuso, I will try too, today is a pancake day.

 

Other things these week:

Press 67.5kg 6reps

Deadlift 176kg 5reps (open grip, and a little PPT during the late reps but I was wearing a belt again so all was ok) 

Step up- 85kg 6reps (I was very tired and almost the movement stopped at stickipoint a couple of times)

Yesterday I did a presentation at the second biggest mobile operator at Bulgaria. First time speaking in front of 60-70+people. I was big skeptic about the event but I the experience was so great. 

[Kit_L]

41 minutes ago, nick_kuchedav said:

Yesterday I did a presentation at the second biggest mobile operator at Bulgaria. First time speaking in front of 60-70+people. I was big skeptic about the event but I the experience was so great. 

Wonderful: being able to be coherent in front of a large group is a big step. Congratulations!

[nick_kuchedav]

Today my morning starts with a little hanging and light limbering, and my LB feels ok which is great.

About the talk, I'm sure there were some many mistakes, but I believe the mood was positive. The lecture was planned for 90min total and about 140min mark (during the Q&A session) there were about 10 people waiting at the exit door. Then I said something like "well I think enough BS* for now, sorry if it was too boring" and the answer was something like "All is great, we just have work to do, but don't want to go there and missing anything" (the talk was in work time). Which if I dare to say in most humble way possible- really make my day.

I think my biggest problem was that I talk way too fast. When I listen to podcast I played them at 150%-250% speech speed, and yesterday at the moments I spoke much faster , which thinking now is big embarrassment, but anyway. This is another reason to feel great respect to you Kit, you can tell so great thing without hurrying and with such calm, and with much less word. 

[Kit_L]

If it's any consolation, I still speak too quickly when I am really excited, like on workshops; Liv reminds me about this all the time! Anyhow, yesterday's experience was your first big one; the hardest one. Make sure that you are not trying to fit in too much (always whats behind the urge to speak more quickly), and consider a "dress rehearsal that you record and listen back to. And ask your audience to ask questions while you are presenting; this is a refreshing approach for most audiences, and will get much more involvement (less people sitting back with folded arms!). And if you stick to your planned time, then Q&A can happen. It might still go over, but that's OK too, if all your main points have been covered (to take account of the people who have to leave). 140 vs. 90 suggests you were trying to pack too much in! All good.

[nick_kuchedav]

Thanks for the encouragement, Kit! I'm really thrilled about every your post.

Today I start my new program.

AM

-bent hollow hold 5x1' (+ back bend limbering)

-sPL lean shrugs- 5x15 

-pullups (neutral grip) 4x50sec (+cat-lat stretch)

It was harder than I thought. Also take me more time.

I have wounder- why on partner stretch hip flexor we must be not on the glutes but lower than them? I feel horrible strong sensation when the partner is on my butt and think that I don't overextend my low back. Am I missing something?

[Kit_L]

9 hours ago, nick_kuchedav said:

I have wounder- why on partner stretch hip flexor we must be not on the glutes but lower than them? I feel horrible strong sensation when the partner is on my butt and think that I don't overextend my low back. Am I missing something?

You are not missing anything; we teach the sit-on-leg technique first; when this is not strong enough, we progress to the sit-on-glute variation. Most people find the first one quite enough! Not extending the lower back too much is critical, too, and another reason we recommend the first approach: if the force is below the pivot point, the back extending moment is almost zero.

[nick_kuchedav]

Hi guys, nothing so new by me but anyway.

Previous week I did my 1RMs, they wasn't as good as I expect but I was happy that my low back work almost normally. DL=190kg BSQ=150kg bench=125kg Press=80kg

The most interesting thing is my experience with bent-cossack squat First I really didn't feel anything special and I decide to sit for several min (watching Kit's cues) and see what will be happen. It turn that I need 3min at least to start feeling my underbutt. But the sensation is unbelievable good. I think my pancake will improve very soon- now I can move  (APT and PPT) the pelvis while I'm in strong pancake position.

These days I did more gymnastics and BB are secondary. Also a lot of my clients ask me to organize my version of "boot camp" with trainings, food, seminars somewhere in our mountains, so I continue to research all of ours work for inspiration and experience. 

[nick_kuchedav]

Hi guys, just a little update from me. It isn't a big deal for the most people but it is for me. For first time I feel the pancake primary (only) as hams stretch. And my hip movement (APT) increase significantly his ROM. Hope I'll post new progress pic soon.

 

[nick_kuchedav]

Today I saw this: 

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10153536792706020&id=514671019

I've followed for a while Andreo Spina's interviews and his words have some very big claims, but those " progressive articular isometric loading and regressive articular isometric loading" (P.A.I.L's and R.A.I.L's) sound very similar to some form of contract relax (pushing from the both sides), aren't they?

for example : pigeon stretch (adv. piriformis)

PAILs- push the leg into the ground

RAILs- push the body to the leg

It is more interesting to me, the way that he treat "not normal joint" (he use such definition- there are many aspects but simple feeling pinching IMO). Because in his words- if one segment of the body doesn't work normal, stretching will only make the things worse. I have experienced this a few times in my own body, as well as in my clients bodies. 

For example

-all pancake and pike versions didn't work for improving my "butt out" function (the solution comes when Kit recommends me bent cossack squat- in which my calfs and low back/erectors are in pretty strong position and my underbutt start to stretch)

-my client feel outside knee pain during piriformis stretch (the solution was simpler position)

-other client feel all calf stretch right behind kneecap (solution was piriformis, bent cossack and core-activation)

In my minds potential solutions can be found in some form of diagnostic before stretching (as leg raise test in ONBP) and knowing more about the potential mistakes that can be found in different poses/stretches.

In many areas of my job often I can't find/tell my clients the shortest path or the single most effective activity for solving their problem. In those cases I just try to make the whole body working normally. This is a method I used in my math work (I used to have experience there)- when you can't find the error just start with everything right again from the beginning. Maybe not the most time efficient way, but definitely with huge return on investment later on.

Any feedback about my thoughts?

[Kit_L]

Nick, this is interesting, and the guide from your maths work (and mine in logic) is instructive: one of the starting points of Relevant logic (look for Richard Routley > Sylvan; he was my mentor) is that there are no contradictions in nature—only errors in starting assumptions or errors in the methods used to represent nature or in the calculations made based on the starting assumptions. Looking at everything this way clears the way to actually see what's there, or to learn something new (rather than try to fit what's happening into a flawed model).

The only real difference in Anthony's and my work is that his active work in the end ROM following a contraction is explicit from the start; in ours it is added later in the process once additional movement has been experienced (and a deeper state of relaxation in the tissues involved has been achieved). Once that is experienced, adding the active movement deeper in the ROM achieves activation of the agonist, too.

The work with your clients is instructive: in almost (perhaps all?) cases, the solution is an easier (from the perceptual perspective) version. I would say that this stems completely from the experience the client is having (and this is why I went back to basics with all students in my old advanced class every dix weeks or so). The reason? If you can really do a pose, then you can feel more (if you can't do it, you experience only the restrictions). I say this on workshops every time: you can always make a pose more difficult on a second attempt; you cannot go back in time (which you will wish you can if you hurt yourself!).

[nick_kuchedav]

Again so informative answer, thanks Kit!

So I accept my logic is in right direction.

At sunday I did almost all exercises from master the squat program and yesterday was my light back squat session, where I felt some sort of very unstable right hip (my tighter hip flexor side). Also my left ankles bothers me (I think I did too much plantar flexion exercise). 

But I think light exercise will help. 

Have a great day all.

 

[nick_kuchedav]

Today I realized how long I haven't written anything. Today I had a reminder for pancake progress picture, but didn't find a person to shoot me.

However my last progress from several hours ago is this, I really am interesting in all your opinion