Drop the ashes

[Francesco]

Saturday, in the afternoon: 2x6 ice cream makers, 2x3 ring support to tuck shoulder stand. I've never tried ice cream makers because I always thought it's too easy to cheat yourself and hold with bent arms something you can't hold with straight arms..it's actually a great exercise (IF you do it right, pausing with straight arms and with a progression you can hold) and I'll do more of it in the next months, so that I can hit the FL pattern with more frequency. The idea behind the support to SS was to do another multiplane movement; it is nice as well, so I may stick with it.

On sunday - dance. I'll elaborate on this in the next days.

Today - bent arm strength session.

A1: 5x5 weighted ring chin ups (1x10kg, 4x11kg; 22X3)

A2: 5x3 ~45° RTO dips (on the eccentric and at the bottom; mostly parallel in the concentrics)

B1: 2x8 one-arm DB rows (26kg; 21X3)

B2: 2x6 one-arm DB press (14kg)

C1: 45rep curl complex I (15 reverse curls with 20.5kg EZ bar; 15 hammer curls with 10kg DBs; 15 supinated curls with 20.5kg EZ bar. 51X1 tempo on everything)

C2: 45rep band pushdown

D1: 3x4 DB lying external rotations  (7kg, 40X0)

D2: lats & subscapularis stretching 

Very nice session; some comments:

- reached the first "threshold" in the weighted chins (10kg); I'll do the next sets with increasing weights until I reach 20kg, and from then progress on doing 3x5 with the new weights.

- I decided to do less volume and more quality on the dips, so less reps but focusing on keeping the RTO throughout the eccentric and at the bottom; I'll probably focus first on increasing quality (holding the RTO for the whole motion, and leaning less against the rings) and then I'll add volume.

- I also decided to switch to DB rows (rather than one arm hangs), as I feel in the last sessions I wasn't doing the hangs properly due to fatigue.

- increased weight in the curls; it's quite hard now, so I'll likely keep this weight for some time. 

[Francesco]

Due to a number of reasons, in the last 2-3 weeks I haven’t been consistent with stretching (apart from the weekly “long class”) and meditation practice.  

As a result: I basically haven’t lost ROM, but I can distinctly feel the increased “tension”, and I have lived a lot on autopilot. I have just (yesterday) started back; daily limbering consists of lunge HF bounces and couch stretch, isometric holds at the bottom of SLGM with foot dorsiflexed (since my calves are the muscles that have tightened the most from the lack of stretching), pu bu transitions (also playing with the pelvic direction based on a thing Craig mentioned at the Berlin workshop) and floor piriformis/advanced piriformis; meditation practice is mainly about short but frequent sessions of sitting practice, because doing it for a longer period of time once a day doesn’t work as well for me.

I have been consistent with BAS training and climbing, but not too much with SAS training. 

 

Anyway, last week: climbing on Thursday and Saturday, with some prehab later in the day. I’m super happy about how climbing is going for many of reasons: I’ve noticed a significant decrease in my fear of heights, especially compared to when I climbed at Bertha Block (many routes there reached much higher heights than what I was used to), which may also be due to the fact that I now feel much more confident about my pulling strength (until not too long ago I was scared of pushing too hard as I was afraid of getting elbow problems again); my technique has improved significantly, meaning I move much more efficiently, and I’m starting to develop that “physical intuition” I see in the skilled people at my gym; now that I’m climbing slightly more difficult routes I am noticing more and more that my mobility gives me much more freedom compared to my training partners.

 

On Friday evening – “long class”. 3min horse stance, long-held advanced piriformis (around 5-6min per leg) lunge HF, couch stretch with partner, wall quad-HF stretch with partner, 2 very short SS isos, 2 passive SS attempts with feet pointing up, passive backbend over couch edge with partner traction and DR.

 

Some comments:

• we experimented with partner traction from either above or by the contralateral side in the couch stretch; this 2^nd version created a very nice effect.

• it has become obvious that even though I have a good range in the active side split (calves on floor) I lack a lot of strength in the lower positions (not a surprise, as I got the range mostly through the horse stance, and never did any isometrics), so this is something I will work on in the next months.

• hit the floor on the 2^nd SS attempt with feet pointing up through CR, deep breathing and placing a cushion under my butt; I then spent about 10minutes in the position, with my girlfriend’s feet against my ankles so that I could hold the same width while playing with anteriorly/posteriorly tilting the pelvis, pulling on her neck via neck clinch so as to get wider, folding at the hips (as a pancake; this hit a particularly nasty line) and contracting the pelvic floor (something I read on Dave’s blog). It was super strange because I sometime got a kind of urge to get out of the stretch, but I was actually quite comfortable and if I kept breathing and tried to stay relaxed it went away. I didn’t get the full 180°, but still reached a nice width – see pic below.

• the passive backbend with partner traction was awesome on my training partners; we experimented with directed breathing through partner tactile feedback (ie. placing hands on chest, as they have poor awareness of the breath) and especially with moving the back upwards and downwards so as to get the bend spread over a wide part of the thoracic spine.

[[DW]]

16 hours ago, Francesco said:

It was super strange because I sometime got a kind of urge to get out of the stretch, but I was actually quite comfortable and if I kept breathing and tried to stay relaxed it went away.

Working with this 'urge to escape' via the focusing on the breathing is something I do a lot of in class. As the sensation lexicon grows one realizes that very little that one feels in stretching (if one is doing it auspiciously, that it) is actually pain.  What with the culture creating in many a mild to severe allergy to the feeling of intensity in the body this aspect of repatterning work is very important IMHO - but must be worked up to via increasing the body awareness and done in the correct environment (i.e not outside or with insensitive robots).  Interestingly (for me at least) the students who eagerly show there ability to hold physical intensity in stretches (the ones who thrash themselves and get injured in stretching usually) appear to have bypassed this allergy though in reality I have found these poor souls mostly far below average at being able to handle emotional intensity and also that 'kind of urge' you are talking about - they usually rush into the deepest of stretches (boiling) and hold themselves there clenching their teeth and maintaining their masks.. these people do not at all like the dialing back to simmering level, relaxing and focusing that brings about this urge to escape.  What interesting things we can do with this "stretching".. [DW]

[Francesco]

Today - bent arm strength session:

A1: 5x5 weighted ring chin ups  (1x10kg, 4x13kg; 22X3)

A2: 5x5 weighted dips (1kg; 31X1)

B1: 2x8 OA DB rows (27kg, 21X3)

B2: 2x8 OA DB press (15kg)

C1: 45rep band pushdown 

C2: 45rep curl complex (20.5kg EZ bar, 10kg dumbbells)

D: 2x6 DB lying external rotations  (7kg, 40X0)

I decided to switch to weighted dips because last week it was a bit of a struggle to do the chin ups paired with RTO dips; I'll increase very slowly here as well because my main goal is conditioning the sternum back to normal. From a strength POV it'll probably be even easier than the chin ups as I used to dips 40kg for 4x4 as assitance before getting golfer's elbow, so I'll play with the tempo to make it a bit more difficult.

 

Attended @Emmet Louis's workshop this past weekend, which was great; got a clearer understanding of loaded stretching, found out some new exercises, (I think I) got a brief glimpse of the simmering Dave talks about thanks to Craig's assistance, met some nice people and worked a bit on fear busting; plus the end-range closing is magic - so simple yet it brings amazing results, and the joint gapping stuff is very interesting. Also it was nice to see that a different style of teaching (compared to Kit's) works just as well. 

Also of note: on Sunday I had some hamstring soreness that I thought would prevent me from doing any front split/head to toe work; tried the h2t anyway, but without any bouncing, and I found out that by breathing deeply and relaxing I was able to go deeper and deeper with every breath, until I made contact;  I was then able to hold it very comfortably for some seconds. Today I had even worse DOMS (but of a very different kind, as well), but by then breathing and relaxing again I was able to reach again h2t, first on floor, then with the leg at hip height, then while sitting (which I've never been able to do) and finally standing (which I've never been able to do), all without any bouncing. This is super interesting to me and something I'll experiment more with, now that I have a good body awareness and that I'm developing the capacity to relax individual muscles (the bodywork course is helping a lot with this).

[Rik]

I still can't over how zen you are when you stretch. On the right were Helgi and Einar going all "Raaaaawr" and making these faces, and then on the left is Francesco with this completely neutral look on his face, making no sound at all, and hitting these super deep positions. Very impressive.

[Emmet Louis]

Great to have you there this weekend.

I find a similiar effect happens too when I have doms that I can use it to help me guide the intention of relaxing and breathing more clearly then on other days.

[Francesco]

Yesterday - couch stretch, ballistic shi da pan 1 with feet dorsiflexed (100 to the front, 50 to each side), ballistic HF (100), ballistic front split (2x60), floor piriformis; also 5x5 standing arch to hip height (dropback progression) and some lats stretching. 

Today - in the morning, quick session while waiting for a student: 1x5 arching hang & 1x30sec RTO support; 2x5 straddle ice cream makers & 1x3 RTO dips; couch stretch, calf stretch, shi da pan 1 with feet dorsiflexed (bouncing head off 4 fingers today), ballistic HF, ballistic front split, floor piriformis. 

In the early afternoon - 1 hour bouldering; before dinner - 1x5 arching hang & 1x30sec RTO support, 2x3 straddle ice cream makers & 2x3 RTO dips. 

 

It has become clear that from now on I have to do my SAS session before climbing if I want it to keep progressing, for obvious reasons.

I started back with front split training, this time with ballistics. Shortly after I got it (around April) I stopped working on it for a number of reasons, and never did it again as I didn't have any reason to; now since I have started training people I want to be able to demonstrate it cold and I want to see by myself if ballistics are a better option compared to isometrics (which is how I got it); also, I never really felt I "owned" the position (as in being able to enter it cold AND without feeling tension), and I think it will be an interesting thing to work with partner stretching.

Already nice results from it, and without excessive DOMS (the shi da pan helps a lot with eliminating the soreness from the previous day). I noticed that my front leg tends to rotate outwards, to get into a more flexible line (medial hamstrings), and that the weight tends to stay on the medial side of the back foot (thus keeping the hips less square), so I'll work on doing the opposite as the position becomes a bit more comfortbale. Also, I am now working with the front foot pointed, since I never did it and since my body shifts back to neutral/slightly dorsiflexed as soon as I focus on something else; I am curious to see if this will give me some more hamstring flexibility for the h2t (as I feel I bend more at the lower back).

[Francesco]

Day 5: 

Some notes: 

• another important reason that made me decide to do this is that I think it will heal my ischial tuberosity problem, which I feel is not completely solved; it worked when I did isometric FS (I had the some problem on the other side), and so far it seems to be working as well. 
• I have had basically no DOMS until now, which is probably due to the fact that I am using ballistics to stabilize a ROM I already had, not to gain a new one. 
• I decided to experiment and take the shoes off; this works much better, as it allows me to first push out a couple of times with my front foot pointed, thus getting into a better position by gaining some more height (and therefore more hip extension), and then to keep the hips more squared. The only downside is that it requires a big amount of extension in the toes.

I also started doing a ballistic side bend and ballistic pu bu with foot of the straight leg elevated - both are giving nice results; Shi Da Pan 1 with feet dorsiflexed still improving - I was bouncing head off 2 fingers today. 

[Francesco]

Day 7; things are going very well. In today's 2nd set I hit the floor with both hamstrings and upper thigh with both legs, from about bounce number 20 on my L leg (which has the tighest HFs) and from the start on my R leg. I haven't taken a day of rest yet because I don't feel like I need it and because I am adjusting the volume based on how I feel each day, both from a general fatigue perspective and from a HFs/hamstrings DOMS perspective; in general, I do 2 sets of 30-72 reps (which is quite a low volume, both because I don't want to be super sore and because I don't feel I need more than this at the moment, as I respond very well to stretching and also since I already had the position; so ymmv).

 

Today - bent arm strength session. 

A1: 5x5 weighted ring chin ups (1x10kg, 4x14kg; 22X3)

A2: 5x5 weighted dips (2kg; 31X1)

B1: 1x10, 1x8 one-arm DB rows (28kg; 21X3)

B2: 2x6 one-arm DB press (15kg)

C1: 45rep curl complex (22.5kg EZ bar, 11kg dumbbells) 

C2: 45rep band pushdown

D1: 2x6 lying external rotations (7kg, 40X0)

D2: wall subscapularis stretch

Nice session; increased weight in the chin ups, dips, rows and curls with no problems - linear progression still working well.

Ballistic shi da pan 1 with toes elevated, ballistic lunge HF and ballistic front splits in between sets of the first pair; also 3x5 knee-height step ups with 16kg in front rack (unilateral; these get a bit into the problematic hamstrings area, not as effectively as romanian deadlifts and KB swings, but I don't want additional hamstrings soreness at the moment). 

[Francesco]

Yesterday AM - straight arm strength oriented session. 

A1: 3x3 straddle ice cream makers

A2: 3x3 RTO dips

A3: 4x5 harop curls

B: 2x3 skin the cats (with short supinated german hang hold)

C1: 3x5 trap-3 raises (5sec pause at top)

C2: 3x30sec one arm passive hang

I believe I have now found the right SAS session for the moment - low volume so as to avoid being tired while climbing, but still enough to get some strength work in; some assistance work and prehab as well. 

Then in the early PM - 1.5 hours bouldering. Worked a lot on technique and finished with some dynos on the 45° overhanging board. 

In the late afternoon - arching hangs, lats stretching (shot a quick video of the 2 main stretches I do, which you can see here), ballistic pike & HFs & front splits.

[Francesco]

Last saturday - bouldering in the morning, some prehab in the afternoon.

On Tuesday - bent arm strength deload session:

A1: 3x5 weighted ring chin ups (+15kg, 22X3)

A2: 3x5 weighted dips (+3kg)

B1: weighted ring chin up 1RM attempts: 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45kg; failed 50kg once I get to 90° of elbow flexion.

B2: 2x2-3-5 ladder of one-arm DB press (14kg)

C1: 45rep band pushdown 

C2: 45rep curl complex (22.5kg EZ bar, 11kg dumbbells)

D: 2x4 (8kg), 2x5 (7kg) lying external rotations (40X0)

Everything going well, got a 5kg improvement in my weighted chin up 1RM compared to 6 weeks ago which is great. I experimented with 2-3-5 ladders (alternating between hands, so no pause before completing the whole round) for the DB press and I liked them a lot, so I'll keep doing them for some time (for rows, too) in order to get some more volume in. 

 

Yesterday - straight arm strength oriented deload session:

A1: 2x3 straddle ice cream makers on rings

A2: 2x3 RTO dips (with a small elbow extension and pause at the bottom)

B1: 1x2 piked skin the cats (with short supinated german hang hold)

B2: 1x5 trap-3 raise (5kg, 5sec pause at top)

I believe ice cream makers are rapidly improving my FL - I'll test next week, but I think I am now able to hold a proper straddle FL for 1-2sec. RTO dips improving as well; I'll now work on slowly (eg. 5cm every 3-4 weeks) lowering the support I lean onto, and manipulating the tempo to get more control in the ROM I use during those 3-4 weeks.

Shortly after - 1hour bouldering.

[Francesco]

Many breakthroughs in yesterday's long class: did my best ever bridge (shoulders well past hands) and spent around 5 minutes sitting in front split (per side) doing some experiments - rotation of the front and back leg, dorsi/plantarflexion, backbending (backward head to toe), front folding (normal head to toe), various types of partner assistance; see here for an example

 

Some comments:

• in the last few days I stopped doing the ballistics and decided instead to slowly press in and out of the position, going from "all passive" to "all active"; this allowed me to get into the hip flexors much more, particularly on my tighter leg. As a result, I can now sit in front splits feeling very little tension. I'll probably keep doing FS presses everyday for the next week and then focus on something else.
• I've also been working on the outer hamstring pulses from the "front split 4 pulse prep" program; these allow me to get into a very nasty line of tension.
• Bridge keeps improving with no direct work as a result of the lats stretches I posted and of the front splits. 
• I've been working on @Craig's soft tissue release for the calves with good results; I feel this will need at least 2-3 weeks of daily practice to produce serious results, so I'll report back on this later on. I'll probably also work on rolling the outer part of the calves with a lacrosse ball as this is my tightest area.