Kuchedav's log

[nick_kuchedav]

Great! I will be there, too

[nick_kuchedav]

Sooo, again amazing experience for which I can write a book, but just want to share a few things.

-To be at these seminars is so helpful. You learn a lot of details that you have missed learning from the books and videos, also had reality check for many of your suggestions (from people who have huge experience in different fields) and also revised all old pieces of information (this is also gold!). Just listening to what @Kit_L has to say and to the topics that he think of is very valuable.

-At friday climbing was fun, but I'm so grateful to @Emmet Louis for his HS tips. I think he is also a great coach, and manage to see my biggest mistakes there, so I hope my HS will improve very much in the next few weeks. Last night after the flight I did about 5sec freeHS, and I haven't done anything more than 1 or 2 in the past.

-The seminar was great. Before the beginning I have met something like 40% from the attendances, but I felt like I'm with my friends to just practice some funny stuff.

-On day 1 I think I did my best hip flexior session ever- didn't felt any pain in them, just the tension from the partner's weight.

-Did the strongest Cobra pose at my life. I didn't work at all on it until than, because I was scared it may irritate my lower back, but it was ok. But I think I will experiment more with hanging cobra with partner. I feel like my abs need to be stretch, because of all these years of trying to just tighten them.

-Again did one tough version on tailor pose but it wasn't so bad. Even touch the floor with my head, which is definitely a PR. I also did a PR at pike.

-My side split was very mediocre, but it is a starting point.

-Y-pose is the key exrc for my hamstrings, I believe.

-Kit and Liv gave me also a tip for my handstand. I will work on it too and report soon. 

-The biggest wonder after the seminar is my Partner squashed frog. I can't tolerate even 2kg pressure, what about whole person. Which I believe wasn't the case for anybody around the room. So because my physical development almost never have followed some dogma/sports methodology  make me suspicious what I have missed. I used to do pretty extended sumo DL, but I remember while growing that my legs always had rounded form; ( )-this way. 

-I think I didn't show my best pancake but I felt my hamstring not ok at this day, and it was last exercise so my body didn't want any more pain .

At this stage at my life I think I must to work primarily on my weaknesses, so I went out from the seminar with both identifying them and tips for improving them. 

I met a lot of nice and friendly people, so hope see you all again soon.

[MarkusO]

It was nice seeing you Nick! I have a nice picture of your tailor pose somewhere, must search for it.

20 minutes ago, nick_kuchedav said:

-The biggest wonder after the seminar is my Partner squashed frog. I can't tolerate even 2kg pressure, what about whole person. Which I believe wasn't the case for anybody around the room. So because my physical development almost never have followed some dogma/sports methodology  make me suspicious what I have missed. I used to do pretty extended sumo DL, but I remember while growing that my legs always had rounded form; ( )-this way.

I have been there too but I can tolerate a whole person on my back now, just give it some time and increase the intensity slowly. It can be a very intense stretch and when your body is not used to the stretch it will give you some feedback

[Emmet Louis]

It was great to meet you too. You'll have that handstand nailed in no time.

Anytime you want to come back to Berlin  let me know

 

[Craig]

great to meet you Nick! keep being awesome, Im sure our paths will cross again

[nick_kuchedav]

21 hours ago, MarkusO said:

It was nice seeing you Nick! I have a nice picture of your tailor pose somewhere, must search for it.

I have been there too but I can tolerate a whole person on my back now, just give it some time and increase the intensity slowly. It can be a very intense stretch and when your body is not used to the stretch it will give you some feedback

Thanks, mate! I will start to work on it, so we will see in a few months I suggest

19 hours ago, Emmet Louis said:

It was great to meet you too. You'll have that handstand nailed in no time.

Anytime you want to come back to Berlin  let me know

Thanks for the encouragement, Emmet ! I tried a few times and the balance is better, but I think my forearms are still a bit weak.

I'm always exited for the opportunity to communicate with you and exchange some opinions. Hope the next time there will be an option to dig deeper in such kind of topics. You are also always welcome in Bulgaria

 

18 hours ago, Craig said:

great to meet you Nick! keep being awesome, Im sure our paths will cross again

Hope so! I'm really interested to hear more about your development path.

 

Otherwise everything is fine. I wasn't very sore just felt like some places are worked the previous day. I take a 2 days off from my training, so tomorrow I will start again :). But when I limber my body my right hams is still kind of strange.

 

[Emmet Louis]

Nick its not that your forearms are weak its just that they don't have the sensitivity to control the balance. Check my youtube video hands as feet and it explains it nicely

[nick_kuchedav]

So, a few words about me. 

These days I decided to slowly increase my training volume. And after Berlin I haven't a big desire for the strongest stretches, but tried a few ones.

At the morning I did a few gymnastics exercises with a lot of limbering exercises, and at the evening (3 times/week) will do starting strength tamplate with very low starting weights (bsq-60 DL-70 Pr-40 bench-50).

A try to do one of the tougher stretching exercise every day.

Since London I countiniou doing Relaxation practise but I don't notice progress doing them. nevertheless I feel myself (body and mind) more calm and less hurried. It is very surprising when other people tell me I'm sullen/angry. Maybe don't do it right

I also practice HS. And even did small PR- 20sec tuck HS. But I wounder whether I didn't start to lean with the shoulders too far forward.

I again found my pation for weight, so hope my lower back is better because in the next 3,4 months the weights will go higher  

[nick_kuchedav]

I slowly progress in my gymnastics training, and even slower in the weights. I did better bent arm bent knee planche and BSQ @ 65kg yesterday. I feel strange lowering my work sets with nearly 100kg, but it will be interesting (both physically and mentally) how I come back to the bigger weights. 

this morning was HS day so I did:

HS vs wall (I think this is useless for me, couldn't do any alignment or hold the balance)- 3x30sec leaning on the wall

HS facing wall- 5x5sec (I succeeded to go off the wall only with my palm and I think this is my HS key exrc)

tuck HS jumps- 4x3 jumps (if I do it ok I can hold 15+sec)

DB's OH carry- 3x40sec with 2x13kg

hollow hold with DB's overhead 3x30sec

Stretches: kneeling neck stretch and my exercise for upper back (I know Kit said it isn't strong enough for this part but it is the only one which I can feel there. I suspect serratus posterior superior but I feel the problem place a bit (3,4cm) lower.

 

Just saw this video. It is interesting to see that they work on our Masters the... program + 1,2 other exercises

 

 

 

[nick_kuchedav]

Last week I managed to create a template for my workouts for at least the next few months. I want to do too many things at once so this is a way to do the most of them.

-I have clients session both at the morning and evening so I decided to train also twice and try to do some limbering and relaxation practice around lunch time. 

Monday:

Workout1: candle stick, dragon flag (negatives), cobra-limbering, HSPU 4/3/4, shoulder flexion-limbering, L-circular-pullups, stall bar lats stretch, hangin

WO2: BSQ 90kg, bench 70kg, DL 90kg, HS 2W iso (6sets)

Stretch: shoulder pec biceps stretch (2positions) with partner for wrist curling

Tuesday:

WO1: stall bars toes to bar, DB windmill 10kg/8, Side lever twist 5/4/4, pike pulses, skandasana 10kg on the back, hyperextension 50kg/8

WO2: landmines BB row 20kg, pike pulses, tuck HS (w/o wall support), zottman biceps curl

S: Y-pose lunge hamstring

Wednesday:

WO1: HS facing wall run 3x8/8, HS 2W 3x1min, HeS leg raise, rev palm wrist walk, rev crunch hang

WO2: BSQ 73kg, bench 57kg, DL 83kg,

S: solo HF lunge stretch w foalded leg (did some pulses- 50 with the hips + 50 with the heel)

Thursday:

WO1: bent-arm-bent-legs planche 5", RTO dips, tuck FL, archer hinge row, side lying leg raise +5kg, shoulder flexion pulses from wall-supported HS, hanging cobra, 1arm hang

WO2: behind neck Press- 30kg, landime BOR 30kg, HS scissor jumps

S: 1 leg dog stretch with partner

Friday:

WO1: stall bars toes to bar, DB windmill 15kg/8, Side lever twist 5/2/5, pike pulses, DB lunge from deficit 2x15kg, stallbar GHR

WO2: BSQ 74kg, Pr 47kg, DL 84kg, tuck HS feet wall slides

S: Cobra

Sunday:

WO: jump rope 5x30", EMOM 8x3 C2B pullups+20kg, cubean press 2x4kg, EMOM 8x4 dips+10kg

S: lunge hip flexor stretch with 2 partner (so happy that I have 2 partners already!) something like 5min each leg.

other:

I try to do relaxation practice every day, but sometimes don't, unfortunately. 

Also I do everyday (sometime even more) limbering for my wrist and piriformis.

 

This post takes me about 1 week to be written, so a few things are a bit better now and try to improve the template. I felt great frustration because of the long period in which I tried to do HS (mainly unsuccessfully) but will continue trying  

[nick_kuchedav]

Everything is going well in my training, and even there is some noticeable progress at the HS. I try to do many things at once and feel some pain/discomfort at my right forearm but nonetheless  I manage to do some partial ranges tuck human flags/side lever. I often do the whole Kit's hand sequence but the tight place is new for me and I haven't yet found the best exercise for it. Also am much more active at instagram reporting progress if someone has interes.

Yesterday I had training with relatively new client of mine- boy 18y.o. with no previous training background. His strength seems to increase fast (for an about a month he already do DL 80kg/5 bench 50kg/5 BSQ 50kg/5 11chins @ 60kg BW) but when he is squatting his pelvis always tuck under (posterior pelvic tilting- so called "butt wink"). For the previous few workout I tried with different coaching cues, bar placement, squatting style, SMR all around hips, quads, hams, calves, stretching piriformis, quads and calves. Counter weight squat (goblet) seem to have some success but not enough. Yesterday was the big day in which I introduced his to lunge hip flexors stretch with partner and his squat become more than perfect. This was the first time when I saw so huge before/after difference. Also I have another 12 y.o. boy client which has really tight hip flexors, so I think that the smartphone culture gives its negative effects much sooner that it used to be 10-15 years ago.

In the past I did a lot of work on both side of the body- quads+hams, calves+tibialis anterior, pecs+lower traps/serr anterior and think it worked good but after Kit's explanation about this topic think this has to be default starting approach by everyone. In this case- problem in hip flexion was resolved by- contrary to expectations- stretching the hip flexors.

[nick_kuchedav]

Tomorrow I'm going to donate blood for the surgery of my friend's father. I'm wounder whether it is a problem to train prior the donation? I think after it I wouldn't train for the next 24h.

Any advice are welcome

[Nathan]

I think training before is fine, although you might not want to do it immediately after

Here's some more info on how it will affect training.

[nick_kuchedav]

I colored the different thing I did this week. 

On 11/10/2016 at 2:45 PM, nick_kuchedav said:

Monday:

Workout1: dragon flag (1leg bent)-https://www.instagram.com/p/BNEqZteBrM_/  cobra-limbering, HSPU 4/3/4 (didn't do it because of pain in the forearm), shoulder flexion-limbering, L-circular-pullups, stall bar lats stretch, hanging

WO2: BSQ 90kg, bench 70kg, DL 90kg, HS 2W iso (6sets)

Stretch: shoulder pec biceps stretch (2 positions) with partner for wrist curling (with wrist toward the ceiling it is a great relief for the wrist extensors)

Tuesday:

WO1: stall bars toes to bar, DB windmill 10kg/8, Side lever twist 5/4/4, pike pulses, skandasana 10kg on the back, hyperextension 50kg/8

WO2: landmines BB row 20kg, pike pulses, tuck HS (w/o wall support), zottman biceps curl

S: Y-pose (there is some progress here)https://www.instagram.com/p/BM3JI3bBNXk/

 

Wednesday:

WO1: HS workout- missed, only a few wrist limbering exercises

WO2: BSQ 80kg (this felt heavy! I can't believe I said it ), bench 60kg, DL 90kg,

S: solo HF lunge stretch w foalded leg (did some pulses- 50 with the hips + 50 with the heel)

 

Thursday:

WO1: bent-arm-bent-legs planche 5", ring dips, tuck FL, archer hinge row, side lying leg raise +5kg, shoulder flexion pulses from wall-supported HS, hanging cobra, 1arm hang (I'm not sure whether loading the arm help me or not but the pain is definitely less so I will just deload and continue to train)

WO2: behind neck Press- 35kg, landime BOR 30kg, HS scissor jumps

S: 1 leg dog stretch with partner

Friday:

WO1: high bars toes to bar, DB windmill 20kg/8 (it really help my problematic right hamsting), pike pulses, DB lunge from deficit 2x15kg, stallbar GHR

WO2: BSQ kg, Pr  kg, DL  kg, tuck HS feet wall slides, free HS (big improvement finally!!! almost 20sec, just after one set in which I though that I'm totally hopeless. )  This is my first free HS more than 3,4sec. https://www.instagram.com/p/BNNLWpaBDpV/

S: Cobra

 

Sunday:

WO: box jumps 5x10 @ 80cm box - https://www.instagram.com/p/BNWnIY5h1nQ/

S1: lunge hip flexor stretch with 2 partner (so happy that I have 2 partners already!) something like 5min each leg. https://www.instagram.com/p/BNCO6vvBFwc/

S2: pike with partner on the back https://www.instagram.com/p/BNYsfIBBTgX/

S3: partner assisted box bridges 5 attemps

 

other:

I did 2 times stronger piriformis stretches something like 5min per side looking for the strongest stretch.

[Kit_L]

8 hours ago, nick_kuchedav said:

S: Y-pose (there is some progress here)https://www.instagram.com/p/BM3JI3bBNXk/

Definite improvement. Your hamstring problem mirrors my own; my R hamstring was always my loosest, then became the problem one. Excellent now, so it's only time and not aggravating it. The Adv. piriformis pose was critical, too, so I suspect that had something to do with it all along.

[nick_kuchedav]

Hi there, 

We did 2 local ST workshops this month. There were 20 people at the first event and 12 at the second. And actually, I'm pretty happy with the end result (although I would do so many things differently now).

However I wrote a few advertisement posts at FB and @Nathan was interested in one of them, so I decided to translate it in English. I will be happy to hear your thoughts what it.

[Nathan]

Hey Nick!

Great to see you doing workshops, and really nice turnout! Excellent work! How do you feel about the workshops vs your normal classes?

Thank you for making this chart in English! I'm actually always interested in your posts, and I use FB translate when I can, but it couldn't translate the image  I can usually get a pretty good idea of what you've written from the machine translation, but sometimes it's pretty bad too 

The chart is really interesting. One thing that occurs to me is that there are so many possibilities as to what each practice encompasses depending on the practitioners own individual goals. I think that the two can actually be much more similar depending on those goals. For example, one of the things that appeals most to me about ST is the incredible depth (I think of it as the hidden layer) of the system that takes it beyond just feeling good and into mindfulness and embodiment. At the same time, for many people yoga is simply a trendy form of aerobics. I suppose we have to qualify the chart by specifying it is the "generic" view of each practice.

The one point that I would have no argument with is empirical vs. tradition, although with the caveat that many people think of empirical/evidence-based as relying on the science and that is not quite what we mean here. Evidence in ST often comes from the students and teachers of the system, rather than scientific studies. That said, there is no "because the guru says so" in ST, and we should always be able to provide sound reasoning for positions, techniques, etc., even if that reasoning is because it has worked for hundreds of others so far. We also do not claim to "know best" and are always seeking to improve and expand the system. It is an open, living system (beyond simply including goats). That is a very important distinction, I think.

Again, thank you for sharing. I may eventually make something similar of my own, and I'll share it here if I do!

[Kit_L]

Nick, thanks for posting this.

I would add (to the ST side of the chart) that ST is about becoming more flexible, and stronger, efficiently. The is no doubt that a person can become flexible by doing Yoga (assuming it's a school that does the asanas (poses); some do not, like Raj yoga (they chant and do devotional practises), but it will be a slower process. And if someone does Astanga yoga, they will become strong in some ways too, because their Vinyasa resembles GST more than, say, Iyengar yoga. 

The big plusses of ST are the efficiency of the flexibility acquisition, and the accompanying strength, particularly at the end of ROM. Add to that all our limbering work, and one's movement skillset also improves (and, apart from Astanga) that does not happen in Yoga. As well, with the recent re-emphasis on one's internal state, ST parallels some older forms of yoga that had that emphasis, too (development of interoception).

The Vedas only talk about the sitting poses, too; scholars assume that this emphasis was to be able to sit for long enough to possibly transcend the limited sense of self (via meditation and breathing practises). All of the modern poses of Yoga, and in particular the Astanga school, are recent inventions (last 60 years). It is worth recalling that the four major schools of Yoga (Iyengar, Astanga, Viniyoga [Desikachar], Mohan yoga) all had the same teacher, Krishnamacharya. I talk about this on workshops because these four schools of yoga are very different to each other just because each teacher embodied Krishnamacharya's teachings—this is how it works and this is an essential part of the process, even though this is not how the teachers talk about it.

Last point of distinction is this: until the modern era, all yoga was taught and practised one-on-one. The group class is a new phenomenon. One of the great strengths of ST is its capacity to find the right pose for each student in the class situation. This is unique, in my experience.

[nick_kuchedav]

Kit, I think I only missed the efficiency part. Rewrote a few things and now I will edit the first image.

Quote

How do you feel about the workshops vs your normal classes?

Well, I work mainly with people that are out of shape and actually don't want to devote a lot of time to their bodies/diets. On the other hand, every person that came to those workshops were maybe more interested to help themselves than my typical client. So this is the good side.
The time was too little (~2h30min) to explain most of the things and both groups were totally different (from an old woman with scoliosis to climbers, personal trainers, ballerina, and even a yoga teacher).
I think a normal class would be more efficient for every participant in terms of the body improvement/impact, because here I spent quite a lot of time on theoretical topics and "how to do it by yourself".

Quote

Thank you for making this chart in English! I'm actually always interested in your posts

Really happy to hear this. My English skills pull me backward but hopefully, in the forum, I could share something useful with the world

Quote

there are so many possibilities as to what each practice encompasses depending on the practitioners own individual goals

 

Absolutely, I wanted to list a few bullets so that people know what to expect when they show off.

Quote

Evidence in ST often comes from the students and teachers of the system, rather than scientific studies

 

I agree, but IMO ST is both based on teachers experience and scientific data simultaneously. 

Quote

I may eventually make something similar of my own, and I'll share it here if I do!

I will be so happy read yours! Probably it would be nice if we (as ST teachers) start to produce more info about the system here so its popularity spread wider. And Kit and Liv could share their opinion and correct us if needed.

[nick_kuchedav]

And one more thing:

this is a screenshot from my back bending sequence today.  I need more t-spine extension and after that shoulder flexion, do you agree?

[Nathan]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts about classes vs. workshops. I ask because I may not be able to establish regular classes for some time, but I am considering the possibility of running some workshops in the meantime.

3 hours ago, nick_kuchedav said:

The time was too little (~2h30min)

Yeah, 2.5 hours seems short for a workshop. I would probably be shooting for 4 hours minimum, and up to perhaps 6 hours total, split into two with a break in the middle. I'd really prefer to run classes for a while first to develop my own teaching style and build some confidence, but that's not really feasible at the moment.

3 hours ago, nick_kuchedav said:

My English skills pull me backward but hopefully, in the forum, I could share something useful with the world

Your English is excellent! You have a lot of good things to share, so I'd love to see more of your posts with English - maybe even just short English summaries  

1 hour ago, nick_kuchedav said:

And one more thing:

this is a screenshot from my back bending sequence today.  I need more t-spine extension and after that shoulder flexion, do you agree?

Looking really good! Shoulders seem pretty open already. I would try working on pushing your shoulders back over your wrists, which should allow you to straighten the legs and might bring the bend more to the thoracic "automatically" without having to focus on more thoracic extension specifically.

[nick_kuchedav]

4 hours ago, Nathan said:

Thanks for sharing your thoughts about classes vs. workshops. I ask because I may not be able to establish regular classes for some time, but I am considering the possibility of running some workshops in the meantime.

2

I will translate the plan for this events, so you can see all the topics that I included there (safety aspects, specificity of flexibility training and so on).

4 hours ago, Nathan said:

Yeah, 2.5 hours seems short for a workshop. I would probably be shooting for 4 hours minimum, and up to perhaps 6 hours total, split into two with a break in the middle. I'd really prefer to run classes for a while first to develop my own teaching style and build some confidence, but that's not really feasible at the moment.

My fear was that there aren't a lot of people that would devote a lot of time to my event. And the gym renting agreement didn't help at all, so totally a financial question here.

4 hours ago, Nathan said:

so I'd love to see more of your posts with English

Thanks, buddy! Probably I will refresh this dairy

4 hours ago, Nathan said:

I would try working on pushing your shoulders back over your wrists, which should allow you to straighten the legs and might bring the bend more to the thoracic "automatically" without having to focus on more thoracic extension specifically.

Thanks! I thought about something similar- start lying on the floor and then do a bridge push-up while keeping the elbows bent. In this case, I would be able to change the pivot point from lower parts of the spine to the upper parts. I will try it a few times and I will make a video if it seems to work well.

[Kit_L]

Nick, that full bridge looks excellent. When you are in that position next time, ask someone to place a hand on your back at about shoulder-blade level and at about 45° to the floor (he/she needs to sit on the floor alongside you), and ask them to push up at that angle gently: it will feel amazing, and then use your leg-straightening action to press the shoulders over the hands as @Nathan suggested.

[Nathan]

3 hours ago, nick_kuchedav said:

I will translate the plan for this events, so you can see all the topics that I included there (safety aspects, specificity of flexibility training and so on).

Thanks! That would be great!

3 hours ago, nick_kuchedav said:

My fear was that there aren't a lot of people that would devote a lot of time to my event. And the gym renting agreement didn't help at all, so totally a financial question here.

Totally understandable. And Czon has talked about that fear numerous times. She was worried that people wouldn't make time for longer workshops too, but she found that they in fact do! When people realize the value of something, they make the time 

4 hours ago, nick_kuchedav said:

Thanks, buddy! Probably I will refresh this dairy

Looking forward to it!

[nick_kuchedav]

10 hours ago, Kit_L said:

Nick, that full bridge looks excellent. When you are in that position next time, ask someone to place a hand on your back at about shoulder-blade level and at about 45° to the floor (he/she needs to sit on the floor alongside you), and ask them to push up at that angle gently: it will feel amazing, and then use your leg-straightening action to press the shoulders over the hands as @Nathan suggested.

Thanks, I will continue to work on the bridges, they don't feel comfortable for sure

Partner has to be in position similar to partner box bridges stretch?