El Titano

DAY FIVE Mobility... And the day I did my first ring muscle-up Today was an interesting one - I was planning on taking a rest day to fully recover from the pounding of Deadlifts and Dips (Trademark) day. Pushed through it and decided on going for some active recovery, ended up being a very good decision. WORKOUT: Standard warmup. 1. HOLLOW BODY HOLD (Going from a dead hang to a tight hollow body x 6 reps ) x 12 Sets Inbetween doing squat and hip flexibility drills. 2. PRIMAL MOVEMENTS Bear and Monkey movements, working specifically on the transition from one movement to the other. (For those of you interested, I'm following GMB fitness for primal movement work) . Move for 20 minutes. 3. CORE Hollow body hold (max time) Hollow body hold + 10 kg (max time) - [ Holding a 10kg barbell over my centre of mass whilst in the hollow body hold ] < I then begun timing my hollow body holds, so I can more accurately track progress > Hollow body hold + 10kg - 1 Minute total (Broken up with v. short breaks) x 2 Banana hollow body hold - Placing emphasis on raising the shoulders up the floor as high as possible x 1 Minute Straddle banana hollow body hold x 1 Minute THIS IS WHERE IT GETS INTERESTING... I was planning on cooling down, stretching and calling it for a good recovery day. Then this gent walks into the gym, I had seen him doing some pretty advanced gymnastics movements before, Handstands, planches, front lever - He's an older guy, which only makes it more impressive. He walks in and we get talking, he invited me to train with him and show me the technique and some unique progressions that I'd not seen before. This truly was an offer I couldn't refuse. So we go through the whole loop - Handstand work (which I'd never done before), Planche work, Floor work etc. It was a great learning experience, but far from a rest day. He also propped me on my strength, ego boost ftw - This took about an hour all in all. Then we get to muscle up work, now I've always really struggled with bar muscle ups - I find the timing on the kip/swing quite difficult. So we're working up the ladder of muscle up progressions on the rings - It concluded up with me getting my first few ring muscle ups. I found it to feel a lot more natural, there's no need to kip on the rings as they've got more degrees of freedom. I think I'll be working on ring muscle ups for the time being. Cooldown and stretch. I have a feeling tomorrow will be an active recovery day - This time minus the full workout at the end of it.

DAY FOUR Rest Yesterday left me a bit battered (in a good way), decided to take today off.

It is indeed. I love me some dips

Good to know that there are some of us here How long have you guys been training for?

DAY THREE: Deadlifts & Dips (DnD) This is the first time I've deadlifted in the past few months, I'm easing myself back into it. Also - I'm using an over/under grip, I'm using the deadlift primarily to develop my posterior chain - I'll happily forgo more specific grip training with the double overhand in favour of being able to increase the load. WORKOUT: Standard warmup. 1. DEADLIFTS Reverse pyramiding up to: (140kg x 5) 3 Stiff legged deadlifts (60kg x 15) 3 Notes: - Lock out quads to stabilise knees - 'Explode' through the hips and glutes 2. RING DIPS <SS> PLYOMETRIC PULLUPS (12 Ring rips) <SS> (3 Plyometric pullups) Rest for 2 minutes Note: Ring turnout at the top of each dip rep. Repeat 5 times. 3. WEIGHTED DIPS (+ 15kg) 60 Total reps Using as many set/breaks needed. - This took me around 8 Minutes 4. EVEN MORE DIPS & SOME L-SIT WORK Bodyweight dips 40 Total reps - Took about 5/6 minutes Hanging leg raises, using some momentum to bring my legs up - Keeping toes pointed and body tight. Controlling the eccentric. Aiming to work through reps like this and use less momentum as I go. Notes: Keep scapular retracted and lats engaged through fatigue, stay tight. Cooldown and stretch. Todays steps : 12,000 FUN FACT: Total dip reps: 160 Setting a total number of reps as a goal is a nice way to add more volume to workouts whilst keeping it fresh and exciting. It's also a different type of mental challenge.

Hello all, Wondering if there are any K1 / Muay Thai kickboxers lurking ? - ET

Welcome aboard

Thanks ! I wouldn't be too jealous I've been training on and off for the past few years. The muscle ups are on bars at the moment. That may have to change once I swap gym, doesn't look as if the ceiling will be high enough - so I may have to switch to ring MUps if I want to continue doing them.

I've been at it for about two months, very much still new to it all. I've been freeforming my routine and seeing how I feel, I've got a fairly good idea of how much volume my body can take and how it responds to certain types of training. I can definitely say calisthenics is much more forgiving than PLing in terms of recovery, hallelujah. As it stands I'm at about 13/14 clean pullups in a max set at 83kg bodyweight, one or two muscle ups and a few seconds of an L sit. How about yourself, how're you finding the transition?

Hey hey, First of all, make sure that you're eating and sleeping enough - If you don't fuel your body properly you have nothing to run off. If / Once that's in check just keep hammering the workouts - How're you training at the moment, any specific programme / routine you're following? Providing you're eating, sleeping and training right - You'll be building muscle size and endurance. Feel free to shoot me a message if you think I could be of help. - ET

Thanks bud, it's still early days! Hope your training is going well

DAY THREE Rest Taking today off in preparation for my return to deadlifts tomorrow. Im looking to build that RAW strength that only heavy primal movements like the DL & Squat bring to the table (Props to the standing overhead press as well, I've not forgotten about you) Note to self / Reflection: It's important to allow yourself very deliberate time to recouperate. Even when you want to go full throttle. Use the time off the gym to pursue another constructive endeavour, you've got the extra free time - Actually use it.

DAY TWO: Circuits & Plyometric work Standard warmup 1. PLYOMETRIC WORK 5 x Plyometric pullups - Trying to pull the bar as low as I can, currently managing at the top of the ribcage < Superset with > 5 x Plyometric pressups 3 Minutes rest Repeat 3 times [ Repeat all of the above, except decreasing reps from 5 to 3 ] : Repeat 3 more times 2. FRONT LEVER Tuck front lever hold for maximum duration then controlling the eccentric. (3) (3) (3) (3) = Total (15) : Sets of 3 Notes to self: Really tuck the knees high to make the hold easier until I'm strong enough to progress to straight legs. Keep arms straight and in line with hips (Centre of mass) 3. CIRCUIT A 2 Minutes skipping 20 Strict pressups : {Tight core - no slacking, turning elbows in, pressing through palms, full extension, drop to touch nose on floor, control eccentric} 20 Mountain climbers, bring knees to the outside of the elbows 10 Hip flexor leg lift 2/3 Minutes rest Repeat 4 times 4. CIRCUIT B 15 Strict pressups Pullup with knees tucked, and hold the top position for max time - Keeping back flat (Perpendicular to the floor, and knees perpendicular to knees) 20 Crunches Notes to self: Don't jut neck forward when crunching "Bring torso up" to engage core more Exhale at top position and hold contraction for 1s 1/2 Minutes rest Repeat 3 times Stretch EXTRAS: Total steps : 14,000 My supp' order arrived , First time I'll be using a good amount of BCAAs, will be sure to note on how it's working (Taking 10g pre and post workout), stacking it with a Joint supplement and multivitamin.

DAY ONE : Cardio / Abs Standard warmup : 5 Min Jog (9.5 km/h) Shoulder resistance band circuit Wrist and shoulder mobility circuit First I did a... Circuit: 2 Minutes freeform skipping Max length hollow body hold, drop setting down to easier varients at the end of each set <SS> 10 Hollow body hold crunches Repeat 5 times with 30s rest per loop Then I did some... Hanging (from a pullup bar, pronated grip) - Max length hang with a pronated (palms facing away) grip: (50s) (50s) (50s) (50s) (50s) (50s) Notes (to self): Bring feet forward and hold a hollow body position whilst hanging to engage core Protract scapula to work it and kill two birds with one stone Hands weren't chalked up It's a niche exercise / movement to incorperate into your training, but I've found since I've begun my shoulder stability has improved substantially, as has my grip - Which is currently the limiting factor in me getting my pull-up numbers higher. Then I wandered over to the other corner of the gym and... Did some mountain climbers ( 4 x 1 minute ) with a 30s rest inbetween sets. Et then... I played around with some primal movement patterns in the empty studio room, mainly just bear crawling and leapfrogging around the place like a maniac.. All good fun. Standard cooldown: 5 Min Jog (9.5 km/h) Full body static stretching ( Hips, Glutes, Compression, Lats, Neck, Shoulders, Chest, Forearms, Calves, Core ) I was considering taking today off, and I'm glad that I didnt - I need to target my forearms and core, they're limiting my progression in most movements (namely pullups and the L sit). Extras done out of the gym: Walked about 8km throughout the day for what it's worth.

Welome one and all.. .. To my humble Battle Log. It's here that I'll be posting my daily workouts and routines (if I'm following one) here to keep myself accountable - I'll endeavour to keep it entertaining and informative as well as holding me accountable. I'll be posting any tips and tricks I stumble across on here, even if they're nonsensical ramblings. STATS: Height: 6ft Age: 23 Weight 183lbs/83kg (Starting weight 83kg) CURRENT GOALS & PROGRESSIONS: Max pullups in a single set ( 11 / 20 ) Max muscle-ups in a single set ( 1 / 5 ) 10% BF (Currently sitting at ~16%) Max L Sit ( 0 / 10s ) ACCOLADES / PERSONAL HALL OF FAME: +45kg Dips x 6 +15kg Pullups x 6 My current focus is calisthenics, I'm currently setting my foundation and working towards some more complex/exciting movements. I'm slowly cutting weight with the hope it'll make the progressions easier, even if it doesn't - I'll look better whilst doing them . Feel free to question, follow my grind and comment as I go .. Or just pop in and say hi ! Leggo'

A short introduction, I'm a University student who's recently taken up calisthenics and Taekwando, I come from a powerlifting background so it's a sharp turn for me - Thoroughly enjoying it so far. I'm looking to get leaner, more mobile and stronger, my current goals are: 20 Pullups 5 Muscle ups 10s L sit Looking for a healthy fitness community so I thought I'd give NF a try. Also posting my workouts gives me some accountability.