Drop the ashes

[Francesco]

Hello everyone; my name is Francesco, I’m 20 years old and I’m from Italy.

I’ve been reading the Forum for quite some time now but haven’t posted much; however, I’m at a point now where I think I can contribute to the communal knowledge with my personal practice, so I decided to open this log. Plus I’ll attend the “ST for performance” workshop in Berlin, in September, so it’s also a way to introduce myself to others who will be there.  

A bit on my background: I have never been very active in my childhood; I started going to the gym when I was 16 and got interested in training, then I stopped going to the gym and trained at home; I focused on weighted dips and chins and deadlifts, and I became reasonably strong (but also quite tight); then I found out Gymnasticbodies and GST and got injured (elbow) due to approaching back lever with no preparation. Then I also got sternum pain from dipping 50kg after the short full break that followed the elbow injury (smart, I know).

It took a long time to heal, but I’m now back at it with a different mindset, more knowledge and a different body.

As for my current practice: I started bouldering last November, so in these past months my training has been centered around it – mainly as an antagonist training/injury prevention practice. After having fixed the last problems I had, I have now started back working on strength.

My goals are the usual ones – one arm chin, front lever and such, BUT, I’m also not super obsessed in reaching them, since they are a lot less useful than, say, awareness and meditation practice (things I am getting more and more interested in, as I have noticed they have a profound influence on my life when I take them seriously – and even more when I don’t), even for climbing. Still, I enjoy training, so I keep working on those goals, but I truly am more interested in the journey.   

Finally, I plan to go trying acrobatics and martial arts this September, both as a movement practice and for fear-busting (to get outside of my comfort zone, since I’ve always been a shy person).

 

Without further ado, this is what I did yesterday.

“4 directions of work” bent arm strength session:

Warm up: deep breathing, joint rotations, forearm prep, 1x5 arching hang and 1x30sec ring support

A1: 3x5 weighted ring chin ups (+3kg; 3sec pause at top)

A2: 3x(1 ring muscle up + 3 dips)

B1: 2x3 tuck front lever rows (fully retracting scapulae before pulling)

B2: 2x5strokes lizard crawl level 3

Since this was a deload session I also did some casual playing around: kip extensions (paired with passive standing pike), one-arm hanging l-sit, meathook, tuck shoulder stand on parallel bars. Some pec and lat stretching as well.

Later in the day I did a “pump & prehab” session:

A1: lying external rotations with dumbbell (6kg, 4020 tempo)

A2: wall internal rotator cuff stretch

B1: 45rep band pushdown

B2: pasta-eating

C1: 45rep DB curl complex (7kg, 51x1 tempo)

Then some biceps, triceps, forearms and neck stretching, plus wall pec stretch and human crossbow (both with directed breathing)

 

Here’s my Instagram account, if anyone is interested:https://www.instagram.com/droptheashes/

Comments and questions very welcome! Thanks for reading.

[Nathan]

9 hours ago, Francesco said:

B2: pasta-eating

This is one of my favorite exercises! 

Nice bridge you've got there!

[Francesco]

@Nathan, and thanks.

 

Today, in the early morning:

10min zhan zhuang. A bit unfocused since I didn’t do any serious meditation work in the past week, plus I felt that my L leg was shorter (I have a slight leg length difference) and this was both disturbing and awesome (since I never realized it in daily life).

Then taking advantage of the increased awareness I did some wall pec stretching with directed breathing and couch stretch to “correct” the leg length difference (I don’t know why, but this works).

 

Then, before lunch; today it should have been my “park session”, ie. normally I bring the rings to the park and train with some friends (doing muscle ups/meathooks/hanging/supports), but since it was raining (and my setup doesn’t allow me to do muscle ups and meathooks comfortably) I decided to do a hybrid bent arm strength/legs session at home.

Plus, since it was again a deload session I experimented with some stuff I hadn’t done in a while (namely - SL RDLs and KB swings), which I will probably keep doing in the near future.

Warm up: deep breathing, ankle and knee prep, joint rotations, 1x5 arching hang, 3min horse stance.

A1: 3x8 KB rows (1x16kg, 2x20kg; 3sec pause at top)

A2: 3x5 harop curls (40X0)

A3: 3x5 slightly RTO push ups

A4: 3 sets of quad stretching

 

B1: 2x8 single-leg snatch-grip Romanian deadlifts (18kg)

B2: 2 sets of ballistic hip flexors stretching (exploring various degrees of torso to hip angle and of knee flexion to find tight lines)

B3: 2 sets of feet and calves strengthening (Dave’s “Flamin’ 8”, single leg calf raises, “high-heel walk”)

 

C1: 2x30 KB swings (16kg)

C2: feet and HF stretching, again

[Francesco]

Yesterday, before going to bed: quick “stretching and forearm” session:

• ·        tailor’s pose; supinated passive hang; one-arm passive hang; 90-rep forearm complex [1x20 pronations, 1x20 wrist curls and 1x20 reverse wrist curls, all with 7kg DB; then 1x15 radial deviation and 1x15 ulnar deviation, with 2.5kg]

Today, in the morning: tailor’s pose and advanced piriformis, sitting meditation.

In the afternoon, brief stretching session in between sets of supervising my girlfriend training (and doing 2 ring chin ups in a row for the 1^st time!):

• ·        tailor's pose; 3min horse stance, supinated passive hang, ballistic advanced piriformis; couch stretch

A quick note on the horse stance, since I saw @Kit_L has a similar problem: on the 17^th of July I began working on a ballistic version of the Cossack squat, moving the foot of the straight leg from dorsi- to plantarflexion, as I found out that doing this “unzippered” the fascia that ties together the gracilis and medial hamstring.

I made some nice progresses in just a couple of days – that area felt completely different; however, one evening (on the 20^th) while I was doing some pancake exploration I felt a “click” coming from the right ischial tuberosity. It turned out that I had strained a little that area, and doing the Cossack bounces in the following days was then slightly unpleasant; I tried to work around it and explore the sensation, but it only got worse.

So I decided to give it some rest; then I then went on holiday and did no stretching for about 10 days.

Once at home I decided to have a side split session, so I did my usual horse stance as a warm up; then I tried lowering into the SS, but the R ischial tuberosity was giving me an uncomfortable feeling – so I stopped.

However, since the horse stance didn’t give me any pain, I decide to work on it for a couple of days in a row. I made it to 7 days of 5-step 5min horse stance, then took a day of rest; guess what? The pain was no longer there; I could do Cossacks with no problems.

I continued to work on the horse stance, this time using a wider stance for less time (3min) for a couple more days; the pain was completely gone, so I thought the problem was solved. I then went on holiday and stopped doing it.

Guess what? The painful sensation came back again. And as soon as I started back doing horse stance everyday (today it’s the 5^th day) the pain has gone away completely.

I have no idea as to why, but this works, so I plan on continuing to do it (along with some strength work for that area as well – RDLs, harop curls and swings), probably until the workshop, to see if this effectively solves the problem. In any case, it has visibly hypertrophied my sartorius and rectus femoris, it has probably improved my side split (since I am working on slightly widening the stance every day or so) and it is a nice mental challenge, as well – if anyone wants to try it.

[Nathan]

I worked up to a nice, long horse stance a while back, but haven't done them for a while. I haven't aggravated the IT, but I do feel some resistance there on the right side every now and then when doing my pancake work. I always back off and attempt to loosen it up by coming at it from different angles. So far it hasn't turned into a problem, but maybe I need to add horse stance back in. I really don't want to, which is a good sign that I probably should 

[Francesco]

On 1/9/2016 at 3:15 AM, Nathan said:

I really don't want to, which is a good sign that I probably should 

Indeed.

 

This afternoon - straight arm strength oriented session.

Warm up: joint rotations, 1x5 arching hang, 1x30sec ring support

A1: experimenting with front levers to find the appropriate progression, I think I’ll stick with the one leg version for some time.

A2: 3x40sec slightly RTO ring supports

B1: 3x5 one-arm active hang (4sec pause at top)

B2: 2x5 slightly RTO push ups

Then human crossbow with directed breathing (2x), supinated passive hang with directed breathing, 1x20sec one-arm passive hang, 3min horse stance, 60rep DB forearm complex [1x20 pronations, 1x20 wrist curls, 1x20 reverse wrist curls, all with 8kg]

[Francesco]

Yesterday – went hiking, so I did all of my practice beforehand: sitting meditation, 3min horse stance, tailor’s pose, ballistic hip flexors, floor piriformis.

 

Today, before lunch – bent arm strength solo session.

Warm up: deep breathing, joint rotations, 1x5 arching hang, 1x30sec ring support

A1: 5x5 weighted ring chin ups (+4kg; 3sec pause at top, 2sec pause at the bottom)

A2: 3x4 ring dips (1sec pause at top and bottom, without touching rings and straps) + 2x5 ring push ups

90sec rest between each exercise, then 5 minutes of rest (breathing while lying)

B1: 2x8 KB rows (16kg, 3sec pause at top)

B2: 2x6strokes lizard crawl level 3

C1: 45rep DB curl complex (8kg, 51X1)

C2: 45rep band pushdown

D: 2x5 lying external rotation with dumbbell (6kg, 4020)

 

Some comments:

• Weighted ring chin ups: I decided to experiment with both adding 1kg per week and not using a warm up (besides the arching hang).

The idea is to both see if by adding such a small increment

1) I can get to pulling 30-40kg (50-60% BW) for 3x5 without plateauing, and

2) if I can get my body accustomed to pulling, say, 10kg and 20kg as a warm up, before my working sets, so that I don’t have to do many warm up sets (eg. first BW, then 5kg, then 10kg and so on until I reach my working weight, as I used to do) and so that my working sets feel lighter.  Basically I want to see if I can “heighten the threshold”.

I haven’t found any info on this “approach”, since I see everyone either saying “add 2kg each time you can complete the prescribed rep range” or “don’t increase the weight until you can do 3x8 (starting from, say, 5x5), so I guess the only option is to try and see if it works.

I don’t mind the slow progress since I am in no rush - even if the OAC is one of my goals, it is not my first priority - my first priority is not getting injured so that I can climb and do what I like to do.

As I mentioned my idea is to get to pull at least 50% BW before starting OAC-specific work (eg. archer chin ups) – even though I know Ido and others say it’s not necessary, I respectfully disagree, since I realized I wasn’t able to do even the first progression (normal chin ups with archer negative) properly.

I’m also experimenting with a 3sec hold in the top of each rep (chest touching rings), since it is the portion I struggle with the most (I can hold a one arm lock off in the middle portion no problem, and I can do one arm active hangs), and I do a 2sec pause at the bottom (passive hang), between each rep, to eliminate most of the stretch reflex’s help. This is to maximize strength development, so that OAC-specific work will be easier.

I am also having a friend of mine do this, to make sure this approach works (since I’ve already pulled 60% BW in the past, before getting injured).  

 

• ·        Ring dips: the low volume is due to the fact that my sternum is still adapting, which means that I still get a slight discomfort, but it goes away immediately. Again, I’m in no rush: my goal is RTO dips, but they are not my priority – my priority is not getting injured.

As an aside: maybe not surprisingly, the pain I had never went away with rest and traditional methods – it diminished drastically only when I started “taking a small dose of poison” – ie. doing short ring supports (and stretching the pecs well afterwards).

 

• ·        KB rows: I found that I like these better than ring rows because I can focus a lot more on the proper scapular retraction (which is also why I hold the top position for 3sec), plus they have a slightly longer ROM (since I do them unilaterally, and go from maximum protraction to maximum retraction).

 

• ·        Curl complex: I started experimenting with this in March, when my elbow problems came back. Doing this curl complex helped (together with getting scapular and external rotation strength) me heal; again, as with the horse stance, I don’t precisely know why this works (though I think it’s due to the big pump that it creates, ie. lots of blood and nutrients to the tendons), but it does.

The thing to keep in mind is to start very light (I started with 2kg, and I’ve just switched to using 8kg) and increase the weight by 1kg every 4-6weeks; I took some ideas for this by Paul Carter, Steven Low and Joshua Naterman and combined them.

To be more specific on what I do: it’s a mechanical advantage drop (tri-)set – I start with reverse curls and do 15 reps, then switch to hammer curls and do 15 reps, then regular curls for 15 reps. All this without putting the dumbbells down (which will give you a nice forearm soreness, as well), though it’s allowed to rest between reps. Tempo is explosive up, 1sec squeeze at the top, 5sec negative, 1sec pause at the bottom contracting the triceps to do the maximum ROM possible.

Apart from the “healing properties”, this also has the nice aside of giving you huge biceps, brachialis and brachioradialis.

 

Then, after lunch: gua sha on forearms, biceps and triceps while listening to a podcast with Simon Thakur.

Later in the afternoon I’ll also do some lower and upper body stretching while supervising my girlfriend training.

[Nathan]

Curious - how do you do ballistic hip flexors? I have tried bouncing in the standing HF stretch and in the couch stretch. Neither really felt "right" though.

As for the chin ups, it wasn't totally clear how your approach differs. Do you mean that you're using a submaximal weight and simply increasing 1kg per week regardless of intensity level (i.e. not doing more even if you feel you could)? I can imagine it would help with bringing up any weak points in the movement, as the strongest muscles will not need to take over as much/soon.

Regarding the warm up issue, I do a couple of arch holds and maybe 5 BW chins before jumping into sets of 50%+ BW added, so I would say it's certainly possible. Then again, maybe that's why I'm having to take it easy on my bicep right now... who knows  But I don't like the idea of having to go through extensive warm ups to work up to all of my work sets, because that means I'm not able to express my strength without all of that. Of course I do warm my scaps/wrists, etc. up at the beginning of sessions and by the time I get to chins I've done a few other movements, so I don't just walk into the room and strap weight on and chin.

[Francesco]

@Nathan From a lunge position, like this; I do it both freestanding, as shown, and with a support by my side so that I can explore with different degrees of torso lean and rotation and also of knee flexion (plus it's better to start off since it's more "comfortable", ie. less intense and you don't have to balance). To me it feels great, I used it to get the front split by simply sliding further down and aiming for hip to floor.

As for the couch stretch, I prefer to use it as a passive stretch and again explore with different torso positions.

As for the chin ups, yes, it's exactly what you said, thanks for clarifying  - I am using a submaximal weight so that I am not doing more, even if I could, thus making sure to bring up any weak link. Nothing revolutionary, it's just different from what I did in the past and what I see others doing.

[Rik]

Here's Helgi doing ballistic front split stretching:

I did the drill Francesco mentioned for a while. The goal is up-down, trying to avoid front-back or side-to-side movement.

[Nathan]

@Francesco I see! Yes, I've tried like that. With the slider as well. I wasn't really fond of the movement... perhaps because my HF are just so tight  I found that I preferred moving in and out of the stretch with the slider rather than bouncing. I may need to come back to ballistics once my HF have loosened up a bit.

@161803398874989 Impressive to watch, but I have a long ways to go before I am anywhere near that  Actually, I can't even remember the last time I attempted the front splits. So maybe I have them and just don't realize it

[[DW]]

@161803398874989 Holy crap! Tea-bag that Earth, over and over. 

@Francesco Nice log, maaaan!

[Emmet Louis]

@Dave My students get all the cool toys:
 

 

[Francesco]

Oh yes, that's where I got the idea; I also experimented with that as well..with a small upgrade. Though after doing it I had hamstring DOMS for about 2 weeks so I took a step back and focused on isometrics.

@Dave thanks man

 

Yesterday - poor sleep, no training; I found my 1st client, though, which is great.

Today, after waking up: sitting meditation. 

Later in the day - park session, forearm and rotator cuff work, stretching. 

 

EDIT - before lunch: 30min walk in the wood, then quick session at the park. 5x1 false grip tuck front lever rows -> muscle up -> support; negative straddle front levers and ring l-sit; kip extensions; hanging leg raises; meathook; rope pull ups drop set (2 reps of "Czech 2", 2 reps with lower arm between czech 1 and 2, 1 rep of "Czech 1", each side)

 

Before dinner: human crossbow, 1x5 arching hang, supinated passive hang, 2x8 cuban rotations (4kg), 3min horse stance, quad stretch, ballistic hip flexors, ballistic advanced piriformis, 90-rep forearm complex. 

[zenwoof]

Cool log - you're a beast! Also, we have the same birthday

[Francesco]

Not feeling very well these past days, so yesterday I took a day of rest from everything.

I went to sleep at 10PM and woke up feeling well, so I did a straight arm strength oriented session, with some leg stuff as well. It ended up being a good session overall.

Warm up: 5min zhan zhuang, joint rotations, 1x5 arching hang, 1x30sec ring support, tuck front lever

A1: 4x10sec one-leg front lever (lowering from inverted hang)

A2: 3x5 harop curls (40X0), 3min horse stance (wider than Wednesday)

A3: 3x50sec slightly RTO support, 1x30sec slightly RTO planche lean

B1: 2x8 one-arm bent-over DB rows (22kg; 3sec pause at top)

B2: 1x wall-quadriceps/hip flexors partner stretch followed by 1x8 single leg snatch-grip RDL (20kg); 1x5 single leg good morning

B3: 2x60sec feet-supported supinated german hang (as a PNF stretch)

C1: lats & subscapularis stretching, ballistic advanced piriformis, 30sec passive hang (on rope)

C2: 3x5 lying external rotations (6kg, 4020)

 

 

I decided to try and see if increasing the frequency (and volume) of paused rows and lying external rotations can help with the front levers, since Ido and others often mention that the scapular retractors and external rotators are usually the weak link in the FL (and in general, as well).  

Also I’ve decided to start back doing feet-supported supinated german hangs to begin condition the biceps tendon; plus they are a good pec stretch if you play around with the hand positioning and with the scapular protraction/retraction.

I realized my grip strength on the rope has decreased a lot (not a surprise, since I haven’t used it for some time), so I’ll probably do some random sets of passive hanging when I train the upper body.

 

 

Also, on Wednesday I bought at a thrift shop an adjustable bench and an EZ curl bar for a very low price; many chest-supported rows, rear delt raises, incline curls, skullcrushers, trap-3 raises, hip thrusts and advanced piriformis will be done in the near future.

 

EDIT - in the late afternoon: 1x5 arching hang, 1x20sec one-arm passive hang, 20sec rope passive hang, lats stretching, 2x6 trap-3 raises on 60deg incline bench  (so much harder than freestanding!) with 6sec pause, neck/traps stretching; alternating with lower body stretching: quad stretching, tailor's pose, ballistic advanced piriformis, rectus femoris/vastus lateralis/TFL rolling on diy foam roller (ie. pool noodle)

EDIT2: I forgot to mention - in the past few weeks I've been exploring a very strong (almost like a "burning" sensation, unlike any other stretch I've ever felt) stretching sensation that I feel when hanging passively on one arm with the feet/knees slightly in front of the arm/shoulder (and even more with the legs as in a tucked L); does anyone feel this as well/knows what it could be?

If it's of any help, it think it may be related to the deep front arm line, since I also felt it in the biceps/pec minor the first few times I did this.

Edited September 9, 2016 by Francesco

[Francesco]

Today, in the morning: bent arm strength solo session.

Warm up: deep breathing, joint rotations, 1x5 arching hang, 1x30sec ring support

A1: 5x5 weighted ring chin ups (+5kg; 3sec hold at top, 2sec between each rep)

A2: 3x5 ring dips, 2x8 ring push ups (focusing on avoiding to touch straps/ring with forearms)

90-120 sec between each set. Then 5 min rest.

B1: 2x5 one-arm active hang (4sec pause at top)

B2: 2x5strokes lizard crawl level 3

90sec between each set.

C1: 45rep curl complex II (prone incline reverse curls & prone incline supinated curls with 16.5kg EZ barbell, supine incline curls with 8kg dumbbells)

C2: 40rep band pushdown (mechanical advantage drop set)

Good session overall; the ring chins – ring dips pair is brutal, due to the tempo I am using, but still doable (ie. perfect form on all of the reps, except for the last of the last set, where I pulled with a “hollow body” and closed chest, rather than with an arched back and open chest).

Today I experimented with another tri-set for the curls that I already did once or twice with a ghetto setup, and that I am now able to perform more comfortably, with the adjustable bench. Basically it’s first reverse curls and regular curls done face down on an incline bench, then incline curls done face up.

These provide a different stimulus in regard to the other complex, since they stress different parts of the force curve: the first two have the elbows in front of the body, and the hardest part is thus the end (whereas it is at the bottom/middle when doing them standing); in the incline supine curls the elbows are behind the body, thus the hardest part is the bottom, plus they are a bit more for the long head of the biceps.

I’ll probably alternate between the 2 complexes each week, but I think I’ll keep the supine incline curls every week because they train the biceps in a position I never train, but that I eventually will (with backward rolls/hefesto) – so if I start them light and increase the weight gradually it can be a good prep, I think. I won’t probably keep them as the last exercise of the complex, though, since they stretch the long head quite a bit, and if you suddenly get fatigued it’s no good.

 

Then, in the late afternoon – quick stretching session with my girlfriend.

Wall quadriceps-hip flexor partner stretch, human crossbow with directed breathing, fascial lat stretching, supinated passive hang, one-arm feet supported “armpit stretch”, 30/30-20/20-10/10sec one-arm passive hang.

The one-arm passive hang series was quite nice; I think that the “cumulated effect” of doing them with a short rest allowed me to get into some areas of the lats that I normally don’t get into.

 

In a short while - gua sha on forearms. Before going to bed - tailor’s pose, advanced piriformis, neck stretching

[Francesco]

On Monday – took advantage of the increased awareness (aka DOMS) of lats and pecs to stretch them thoroughly.

 

I also stopped doing the daily horse stance, so that the DOMS clear out and the supercompensation hopefully happens.

Yesterday – not having much time I just practiced a bit of muscle up transitions (since I struggle most with the negative part, when I have to slide into the false grip again), tailor’s pose and ballistic advanced piriformis.

Today – very low volume legs session, so as to avoid having DOMS on Saturday. I did:

Warm up: ankle and knee prep, 1x5 shrimp squat, 1x5 harop curls

A1: 2x5 harop curls

A2: calf work (“flamin’ 8”, single leg calf raises, “high-heel walk”)

A3: 1x5, 1x8 split squat (16kg)

B1: ballistic hip flexors, wall quadriceps-hip flexors partner stretch

B2: 1x8 single leg RDLs (16kg) followed by 10 single leg hip thrusts

C1: calf stretching

C2: 1x35 KB swings (16kg)

I also did some one- and two-arms passive hanging and some lats stretching.

 

 

In the afternoon – partner hip flexor, ballistic advanced piriformis, single leg good mornings and 2x5 hanging leg raises, wall subscapularis stretch and 2x5 lying external rotations (6kg), human crossbow, lats and neck stretching.

Off to Berlin tomorrow; I’ll probably walk a lot and do some stretching in Tiergarten.

[Francesco]

Some reflections on the workshop: 

-      I came in with a good level of flexibility in the front split and bridge, and an OK level on the side split (calves to floor, unsupported) and advanced piriformis (and a bad one on the pancake).

I think this made my experience even better, since I could actually relax in the poses, let the tension go away and be in that flow-like state of mind in which you don’t have thoughts and are completely focused on what you are doing (like when you are playing music, or dancing).

This is something that I cannot achieve when I do isometric/dynamic/ballistic stretching  or strength training – I am still focused, of course, but it feels like it’s a very different type of awareness (to me, at least).

So I’ll experiment with the passive, long-held relaxed stretching to see if this different type of awareness can be replicated in the other practices I do (even in climbing, for example, in which I paradoxically often struggle to be in the moment and not go on autopilot mode).

But I’ll still use the isometric/dynamic/ballistic stretching, since I’ve found them to be extremely effective. I’ve seen Craig divide flexibility into yin and yang aspects in the “Muscle tension and flexibility” thread; this is the perfect metaphor, because I think they are not one better than the other – they are just different and with a different purpose.

It’s nothing revolutionary, I know; the relaxation and awareness aspect is the core premise of Stretch Therapy and I’ve seen Kit, Dave and others talk about this countless times, but experiencing this by myself was very, very different.

 

- I’ve improvised an external hip rotators sequence on Sunday morning, as a warm up, which I think is very good as a once-a-week-strong-stretch. I’ll probably film it in the near future, after experimenting with it a bit more, but I’ll give a brief description here if anyone wants to try it.

Position yourself in the advanced piriformis stretch position, but with the lower leg/knee elevated and the upper leg/glute hanging freely; use your arms to support some of the weight and do some gentle up-and-down bouncing, experimenting with the degree of torso inclination and with the rotation of the torso (towards the knee or the foot).

I didn’t count the bounces because (at least in my body) this position responds differently to, say, the head to toe or the pu bu; it is a very different stretching sensation, much less intense than in those two, so I just go on until I feel I’ve done enough. 

The second part is an isometric hold with the torso vertical, whose focus is the hip-squaring action (basically what Olivia demonstrates in the “Front split four pulse prep”, but as a static hold rather than a dynamic in-and-out); I did it no handed, holding the arms to the sides to help me with the squaring action. Always maintain a degree of contraction in the stretched muscles so that they support you and you are not hanging off the knee.

Again, I didn’t count the time I was in the position, and I don’t think I will – I just stayed there until I felt I had done enough.

The third part is a normal passive advanced piriformis stretch; to heighten the sensation and hit a particular spot that I feel is very tight in my body I leaned towards the foot and used a partner assistance (thanks Lo and Craig) to rotate the ipsilateral shoulder as much as I could towards the foot (so the partner is pulling from the side).

It’s similar to what Dave shows here  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmIoP_1JsVY), but the partner was sitting on the ground rather than standing, and Craig had the brilliant idea of pushing my contralateral shoulder with his foot while pulling my forearm (trapeze grip), thus hitting the troubling spot perfectly.

From this position you can use as C-R cues: press the knee as if trying to lift the foot, press the foot as if trying to lift the knee (thanks Craig), press both knee and foot down.

 

For the first 2 parts the support leg has the foot dorsiflexed and the toes extended; on the last one you want maximal relaxation so the foot is plantarflexed.

I like this sequence very much because it is not time-consuming – you use the ballistic part to warm up, the isometric one to build some strength in the end-ROM and the passive one to focus on relaxation and sensory awareness; plus you are using your hip extension ROM indirectly.

All together it took me about 5-6 minutes total (I think) per leg, so it’s great to use it if you want to do a side split/external hip rotators session but have little time – you do a long horse stance, a quick hip flexors limbering and this sequence.

Obviously this is an advanced variation that requires a good level of both flexibility and strength to start with, both in the support leg (you need a good amount of hip and toes extension) and in the stretching leg. It’s very easy to fuck your knee up if you are not focused and if you don’t have the strength to support yourself in the position, so take full responsibility if you try it.

 

-     New discoveries for me were the partner version of the tailor’s pose (brilliant!), the supine splayed frog with feet on the wall (rather than on the ground), the side split with feet up (which I had never tried, and which feels totally different from the flat feet version), the piriformis stretch with back to the wall and the single leg dog pose (which I had always ignored, but I found out that with the proper cues it hits perfectly a tight line I have in the lateral aspect of the calves and in the outer hamstrings).

I also found out that holding the human crossbow for much longer (past the tingling starts to be felt) than I was used to do had an incredible effect on the feeling of my biceps and arms in general (as if they were much lighter); the neural dimension of the bridge was also unknown to me (since I very rarely do it, having always been naturally good at it) and definitely an interesting thing to explore (since it contributed to the feeling on lightness).

 

-     I also feel I have made some steps forward in my growing process as a person. This was my first workshop ever, and the first, real step toward the future I want to create for myself and my girlfriend; I confronted my fear of talking with people a bit (though not enough); I got a clearer idea of what I want to teach, and how to teach things; I saw many examples of what I want to become in life – people with a deep passion for what they do, relatively famous but also very down to earth.

A big thank you to everyone who was there.

 

 

[Craig]

That piriformis set you did was epic! You should definitely film it at some stage, it would be a great asset.

It would be worth having a look at Dave's videos explaining the his approach to stretching (again if you've already seen them), as now you have experience on the early stages of this approach, you will be able to digest what he says in a more interesting way - 

 

 

great meeting you! keep going with this log, its got some really nice stuff in it that will help lots of people.

[[DW]]

A write-up was done, also: http://physicalalchemy.com.au/alchemical-stretching/ 

[DW]

[Francesco]

How amusing is life - I watched these two videos this morning while doing Gua Sha on my forearms. They are definitely worth a re-watch to get the subtleties, but I already have some ideas on how to approach the next stretching session. 

Thanks for the kind words, Craig. 

 

On another note, riding the fear-busting wave of the workshop I decided to contact the teacher to go trying martial arts (Sanda) this evening; wish me luck. 

I'll focus on maintaining awareness as much as possible to avoid going on autopilot mode. 

[Francesco]

It's just incredible to notice how many times you lose awareness once you start paying attention to it; I constantly kept going on autopilot mode.  

 

On tuesday, bent arm strength deload session:

A1: 3x5 ring weighted chin ups (+6kg; 22X3)

A2: 3x5 ring dips

B1: 1x5 one-arm active hang (4sec pause at top)

B2: 1x5 lizard crawl lv3

C1: 45rep curl complex (reverse curls and supinated curls with 16.5kg EZ bar; hammer curls with 8kg DBs)

C2: 45rep band pushdown

Later in the day - 2x5 lying external rotations (6kg, 40X0); supinated passive hanging with directed breathing, 30/30-20/20-10/10 one arm passive hanging. 

 

Later today - straigth arm strength deload session, and some stretching. 

[Francesco]

Yesterday - straigth arm strength oriented deload session:

Warm up: joint rotations, 1x5 arching hang, 1x30sec ring support

A1: 2x10sec one leg front lever

A2: 1x50sec, 1x40sec sligthly RTO support

B1: 1x8 DB rows (23kg, 31x3), 1x5 arching hang

B2: 2x60sec supinated german hang (with C+R to stretch pecs)

Some ballistic stretching throughout - cossacks (after the gracilis release I can now sit in the bottom position with the whole lower leg of straight leg on the ground and straight back), hip flexors and elevated advanced piriformis; also some active flexibility for the glutes (ie. lifting the leg sideways) since I realized I suck at this (and I'll need it for kicks if I continue with Sanda).

 

Moments ago - fascial lat stretching, supinated passive hanging, cossack bounces. 

This evening - Tai Chi class (there are a couple of reason that made me decide to try this, which I'll elaborate on if I'll do it) followed by Sanda class.

[Craig]

Let us know how the Tai Chi class goes! unfortunately the range of Tai Chi is extreme, from the worst garbage you'll ever do, right up to some of the best material on the planet, it really depends on the teacher!