Swiss Danny Workout Log

[SwissDanny]

Sun - Open Gym

- BS 10,8,6,4,3,2,1. 60..120kg alt wall facing HSPU progressions

- 5x Pistol progressions 6RL alt 3x 3 ring beat swing and 1 kipping pull up

- 5000m row 19:50 steady

- 3 min per side advanced piriformis

- 3x 6 GH raise alt 6 GH situp

 

Video'd 3RM HSPU progression. Apologies for flesh on show, but wanted to see what was working. https://www.instagram.com/p/BApMmsWrnJn/

 

Progressively removing 5kg plates (each about 3cm I would guess), this is the lowest I can still press from (for now). Like the exercise though vs away from wall.

[MattPark]

Those look really difficult to say the least!! I reckon you had way more than 3 reps you were pushing up pretty fast, will be good to see how you progress with these.

 

I wonder if you can strict overhead press your body weight if that would translate to a full rom handstand push up. Both of those are a respectable feat.

[SwissDanny]

Those look really difficult to say the least!! I reckon you had way more than 3 reps you were pushing up pretty fast, will be good to see how you progress with these.

 

I wonder if you can strict overhead press your body weight if that would translate to a full rom handstand push up. Both of those are a respectable feat.

 

I'm way off BW press, as I can strict press 55kg, push press 80kg, maybe jerk 90kg almost BW.  But dont forget even the full rom HSPU starts at the top of your head, not shoulders, and you can place your hands further out too.  So a BW press is not needed, but would help for sure. 

[Nathan]

Hey Danny, if doing these away from the wall is something you're looking at doing anywhere down the line, you probably want to make some changes here. For one, I'd try to keep the body a lot tighter - think PPT, ribs in, squeeze the glutes, squeeze the legs together, point the toes. But right now it looks like your elbows are pointing almost straight out to the sides. You want to bring them in and keep them closer to your sides, which will have them pointing more back toward the wall. I'd probably try to use a narrower width between the hands, too. I'm sure Emmet or Phi could give you some better pointers.

 

Here is a pretty good example by Carl Paoli.

 

@Matt: OHP and HSPU seem similar, but as far as I know the mechanics are actually fairly different and there's not a whole lot of carryover.

[jon.valentine]

A full ROM Handstand press would carryover better to the OHP but it wouldn't quite go the other way I think, especially if you're talking about a freestanding handstand.

[SwissDanny]

Hey Danny, if doing these away from the wall is something you're looking at doing anywhere down the line, you probably want to make some changes here. For one, I'd try to keep the body a lot tighter - think PPT, ribs in, squeeze the glutes, squeeze the legs together, point the toes. But right now it looks like your elbows are pointing almost straight out to the sides. You want to bring them in and keep them closer to your sides, which will have them pointing more back toward the wall. I'd probably try to use a narrower width between the hands, too. I'm sure Emmet or Phi could give you some better pointers.

 

Thanks. Guilty as charged, especially on the third rep re core.  As for hands and elbows, it's that leverage thing, in the recommended triangle configuration with elbows in nada, although I have solid push ups with that form.  But I will play again.

[Nathan]

I'd either put your feet on a box and do pike HSPU or negatives against the wall if you can maintain form with enough reps for a fair amount of volume. Personally, I found that I had to push the number of sets up a fair bit to see much progress with negatives since quality reps will be on the low side.

[SwissDanny]

I'd either put your feet on a box and do pike HSPU or negatives against the wall if you can maintain form with enough reps for a fair amount of volume. Personally, I found that I had to push the number of sets up a fair bit to see much progress with negatives since quality reps will be on the low side.

 

Im not a big fan of those progressions, but will give them a spin again, now my hamstrings/Lsit are a lot better able to cope with the position.

[Emmet Louis]

What Nathan said. The arms are going to the side too long. Now there is a wide grip variant, think snatch press, equivalent of this but for the more coventional one you need to flair the arms to the side for the initial start then they circle back towards the wall. You're hands need to be a bit further from the wall and you need to think, break with the arms then send the head forward not straight down.

 

[Rik]

Here's what they look like from the side:

 

Note that the torso is inclined a little as it comes forward because this is what happens on real HSPU as well.

[SwissDanny]

Ha ha. I may have to do some isolation work on my triceps... movement a per you tube results in a graceless head plant.

Mon - CF in Open Gym

- Row, ski, specific warm up

- Build to heavy clean and jerk 180lbs (unwittingly a 4lbs PR marginally)

- Warm up snatch, DL and toes to bar.

- WoD 15.1 9' amrap 15 ttb, 10 DL, 5 power snatch 115lbs (3+25) immediately followed by

- WoD 6' to find max cnj 145, 165, 185x,176lbs.

[SwissDanny]

Tue - CF in Open Gym

- Row 1000m, specific warm up

- Tabata wall hs alt pullups then support hold

- 4x 6 C2B progression with 3s hold alt 5 Pistol progressions L then R

- 2x20s KBS 24kg, Wall Ball, Box Jump, Burpee, 60s between movements (12,10/11,10,8/9)

- 2x20s OHS 40kg, FS 50kg, Thruster 50kg, DL 80kg, 60s between movements (6/7, 8, 6/5, 10/12)

 

3:1 rest was too long for these "conditioning WoDs", I would have programmed 2:1.  No harm in a technique day though.

[SwissDanny]

Wed - CF in Open Gym

- Row, Ski, 5x10 BB GM 45, 95, 135lbs

- Burgener style BB warm up

- Technical 3RM with reset Power Clean. 170lbs.

- 12' EMOM 4 PC 70% = 120lbs. Focus wait for second pull, full hip opening.

- 8x 500m row 3' rest. Pace can hold across. 1:47.2 still 5s off PB...

A slightly more classic CF lifting and conditioning session, both of which I feel have missed for a while. Went well.

[SwissDanny]

Thu - Rest

 

Fri - Open Gym

- Specific warm up

- 4x4 OHS 40,45,47.5,50kg

- EMOM 10 4 OHS 40kg

 

Fri - CF

- Assorted bodyweight drills

- Weighted BB front rack 24" box step ups 2x 8RL 20, 30kg.  Surprisingly hard especially on left.

- 5RTF 10 DL 80kg, 10 Pull Ups, 10 Burpees 10:00 exactly (nothing like a time cap)

 

Decided to add back a cyle of lifts, I like the One (Wo)Man One Barbell format, four week cycle, with plenty of EMOMs at relatively low reps and weight, great for working technique.  Will do OHS, Front Squat, DL and Press I think.

[SwissDanny]

Sat - CF

- Bodyline tabata and other warm up drills

- 2 rounds 40s on 20s off.  Wall HS hold, Strict Pull Ups (10), DU (50), Ring Rows (15)

- Clean drills, then five minutes to reach heavy single full clean 80kg

- WoD 15.4 8' ladder of HSPU and cleans.  Scaled HSPU to partial RoM single negatives.  60kg cleans.

 

This is a 1RM for full clean with really good form, something finally clicked getting full extension the under.  Will finally overtake my power clean (85kg) soon hopefully.

[SwissDanny]

Sun - Open Gym
- row, ski, airbike
- strict press 4x4 35, 40, 42.5, 45kg
- strict press 10 x4 EMOM 35kg.
- 5x 5 bar dips alt single leg GM 60kg. Happy with both.
- 1000m sprint prep. Power 10s increasing pace
- rowing sprints 3x100m, 3x250m. Slow slow,
- 3x 6 GH raise alt 6 GH sit-up

Mon - Rest

Tue - CF
- 3000m easy row and lots of pre-workout mobilization as I had an hour to kill
- OHS 10s bottom holds c10s. 45lbs, 65, 85, 105, 125, 136x. Equalled PR for power snatch to get it up
- 10mins kipping toe to bar and chest to bar pull up technique
- Squat clean thruster. 6min to find 1RM. 95, 115, 145, 165lbs
- 3 rounds 20s on 40s off. OHS 95lbs, toes to bar, thruster 50kg, strict pull up. 5,7,5,7 each round

Something has definitely come together on full cleans this last week, getting down under bar, slower second pull, better extension, speed under.

Been doing some extra scalene and neural bicep stretching in the evenings, plus jaw and neck as been feeling ulnar related hand numbness at night

[Nathan]

A bit off-topic, but I find that (strangely?) when I wake up with numbness in the hands/arms, it's almost always when I have repositioned myself onto my back during the night. I don't get this numbness when sleeping on my side or face down, which are much more comfortable for me but supposed to be "worse" sleeping positions. I suppose this points to overly tight pecs, since they will be lengthened and pushing on the thoracic outlet bundle when lying on my back for long periods. Have you found your positions affects the numbness?

[SwissDanny]

Have you found your positions affects the numbness?

 

The opposite, lying on my back resolves it rapidly. I get in the bottom arm when I am lying in my go-to foetal side position lying with my head on my lower hand.  As the arm is bent strongly at the elbow, I suspect the impingement may more be there.  But I try and work the whole line, with wrist limbers, upto the neck.  It is disrupting my sleep regularly so I need to "get on it":..

[SwissDanny]

Wed - Erg n Stretch

- 5k C2 rowing erg. Avg 1:56/500m, 21spm, 19:19.7.  Hard steady but not painful pace.

- Solid stretch session, focus shoulders, piriformis, hamstrings and hip flexors.

 

After all yesterdays pressing, pulling and squatting, conditioning day.

[SwissDanny]

Thu - CF

- Core tabata, beat swings

- Tabata circuit legless rope climb progression, air squats, support hold with Lsit leg raises, pistol progressions

- 10' 3-pull power clean progression

- 6' to build to heavy DL single.  165kg heaviest for ages 

- 12' partner amrap 6DL 100kg, 12 burpee over bar, 18 box jump. 7 rounds

 

Conditioning work plus January clean eating starting to pay off as burpees and box jumps felt less arduous than of late.

 

I have started filming some test-retest vs the screening I did with Emmet about seven months ago, will report back on whether the progress I feel is supported by video evidence!

[SwissDanny]

Fri - Gym Test Retest

 

Continued filming test-retests.  Technology has let me down a bit because the original Coach's Eye footage has vanished from my phone, but luckily I have a backup on the PC.

 

Sat - Open Gym

- 1000m row, assorted limbering and bodyline

- Strict Press.  Work up to 3x 85% 47.5kg then EMOM 12' 3x 70% 37.5kg.  Did clean progressions to warm up in balance of minute

- Power Clean.  Work up to 3x 85% 75kg then EMOM 12' 3x 60% 50kg. Backed off the EMOM for more technique focus

- 8x HSPU Push Up x5 alt Strict Pull Up x5 or Piked TTB x5

- 3x GH Raise x6, GH Situp x6, SL Back Extension x6LR

 

The HSPU Push Up are Carl Paoli progressions.  From top of a push up, move head to a mat placed forward so basically forearm stays vertical whole movement, hold hollow body.  I liked these, felt I was working a weak area. Progression is to gradually raise feet.

[SwissDanny]

OK, so here goes.  A first batch of May 2015 vs Jan 2016.

 

Back squat 100kg (c70%) and overhead squat 30kg (was 70% now 40%).  Focus of the work was not to increase maxes, but to improve the quality of the movement and posterior chain engagement, and in the case of the overhead squat bring more in line with other lifts, and in fact I hardly backsquatted at all.  The overhead squat is dramatically different, considering too that my feet are now a normal width apart with normal turnout, whereas in the May pictures these were both somewhat too much.

 

BS  https://www.coachseye.com/v/I4k5

 

OHS https://www.coachseye.com/v/7Brb  There is one squat then I measure the torso angle.

[Emmet Louis]

Very nice progress. Especially the oh Squat. Very athletic looking now

[Rik]

Looks like some good power increase on that back squat!

[SwissDanny]

Sun - Open Gym

- 1000m row, Yuri bands, five-way bodyline

- 5x OHS 40,45,50, EMOM 12' 3x 42.5kg. Focus keep pressing at bottom, full glute squeeze extension at top.

- 5x Slow ring press up 5x alt Muscle up transition progression 5x

- Annie 6:58.  Another solid jump, and equalled PR.  Conditioning continues to return.

 

@Phi  now I look at it again, yes there is better drive at the bottom, good spot.  I just havent spent much time under a heavy bar for ages, so it felt quite heavy.