WhiteGhost Finds Balance

[WhiteGhost]

After 2 weeks of indecision, I have finally decided on a theme.

 

I need more balance in my life

 

Yes, hand balancing is part of that, but that's not the kind of balance I mean.

 

I have got a pretty good workout program that I am happy with.  It consists of 4 workouts focusing respectively on pulling skills, pushing skills, leg strength and gymnastics.  Abs work is going to be spread through those.  Details of those workouts are in the next post.

 

However, I recently downloaded the entire Wheel of Time series onto my kindle and I have been completely sucked into that.  Whenever I don't have anything pressing, I have my nose in my Kindle, and, unfortunately, often when I do have pressing things to be doing.  I have been letting a lot of things that need to be getting done slide by the wayside by getting sucked into my books, so I need to counter this and get things under control again.  

 

I am still going to keep reading and I am now about halfway through the series now (book 7 of 12) but I can't do that at the exclusion of everything else.  In order to bring a balance to my life, I am going to require myself to alternate doing something productive after each chapter.  That could be cooking, doing housework, working on work projects, or even playing with Ghostlet.  Essentially it is a quid pro quo system where each chapter is earned through productive activity.  If I don't have anything productive that needs doing right away, I need to find something less urgent.  No double chapters (double or triple productivity activities are of course acceptable).

 

In addition to the life balance, I need to get my food under control.  No more having a bowl of ice cream for dinner.  I need to have at least one home cooked meal each day (breakfast doesn't count), but it can be leftovers from something batch cooked.  It will be noce if I try out some new recipes, but that is not required.

 

Finally, I still need to keep up with my secondary fitness stuff, which right now consists of handstands, pullups and stretching.  I need to create a habit for these, so each night before bed I need to do at least one freestanding handstand and one wall handstand, 10 pullups and at least 10 minutes of stretching.

 

Time to go out and find some balance

[WhiteGhost]

Workout routines are as follows:

 

Pull Exercises

Pull workouts are divided into 6 categories, with each set containing one exercise from each category.  After each set, I will do some abs exercises while my arms rest.  The categories are

 

1. One Arm
2. Front Lever
3. Explosive
4. Back Lever
5. Pullups variation
6. Other pulling 

 

The specific exercises follow that order (for the most part) which are:

 

OA Deadhang
Tuck Front Lever Lifts
Jump Muscleup
Tuck Back Lever Lifts
Archer Pullups
Commando Pullups
OAPU Negatives
Tuck Front Lever Pullups
CTB Pullups
Tuck Back Lever Pullups
Behind the Head Pullups
Inverted Pushups
OA Scapular Retractions
Tuck Front Lever Rows
Clap Pullups
Back Lever Extensions
L-Sit Pullups
Inverted Dips
OA Rows
Front Lever Lifts
Pulluots (7s)
Headbangers

Dragon Lifts
Typewriters

 

 

Push Exercises

Push workouts will consist of 3 types of exercise:

 

1. Horizontal
2. Inverted (vertical with feet above head)
3. Vertical
    

These will also be grouped by category, with each set being interspersed with abs exercises.  The push exercises are:

 

Clap Pushups
Wall Assisted Handstand Pushups
Russian Dips
One Arm Pushups
Pike Pushups
Hindu Pushups
Cat Pushups
Handstand Kickups
Tuck Planche Dips
Archer Pushups
Shoulder Press
Single Bar Dips
Pseudo Planche Pushups
Back Bridge Pushups
Korean Dips
Plank Tricep Extensions
Handstand Shoulder Taps
Deep Dips
Regular Pushups
Planche Rotations
Twist Dips
 

Leg Exercises 

Leg work includes the entire posterior chain, including glutes and and lumbar area.  The 4 categories for these exercises are:

 

1. Single Leg
2. Double Leg
3. Explosive
4. Posterior Chain

 

Again, each set will include some ab work as well.  The specific exercises are:

 

SL unweighted Deadlifts
Close Leg Deep Squats
SL Box Jumps
GHRs
Bench Pistols
Bulgarian Split Squats
Squat Leaps
Glute Bridges
Shrimp Squats
Archer Squats
Jump Archer Squats
Hip Extensions
Deep Step-ups
Front Lunges
Jump Lunges
Lumbar Extensions
SL Hip Extensions
Back Lunges
Jump Squats
Cobras
SL Glute Bridges
Regular Squats
Precisions
Supermans
SL Calf Raises
Scorpion Drops
Stride Precisions
Tabletops
 

Gymnastics

In addition to the above workouts, I will also be working on gymnastics skills, specifically single bar skills.  The skills I am working on include:

 

Kips

Pullovers

Back Hip Circles

Front Hip Circles

Giants

Bar Press (shoulderstand to handstand - maybe not a gymnastics move?)

Cast to handstand

Whatever the backswing pull-on move is called (maybe not a gymnastics move?)

Maybe mill circles?

 

 

[Mad Hatter]

Here!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Following!

[deftona]

Checking in! 

[WhiteGhost]

1 hour ago, Mad Hatter said:

Here!

 

1 hour ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Following!

 

1 hour ago, deftona said:

Checking in! 

 

Welcome all, I'm so glad to see you here  

 

Today started out well, I did my push workout at the park but I didn't make time for stretching because I had to make sure I got the dentist on time to get my temporary crown.  The permanent one should come in a week or so.  

 

I cooked some breaded fried shrimp today, which was a new variation for me.  They turned out quite tasty, but not as good as the coconut ones I did a while back.  I really need to get some more shredded coconut.  Cooking isn't an explicit goal this challenge, but I will still be making an effort.

 

I think I will go do some pullups and handstands and then maybe read a bit before bed.

[@mu]

Yihaaa jumpin' in!

[Terah]

Hello

[annyshay]

Shiny.

[WhiteGhost]

19 hours ago, @mu said:

Yihaaa jumpin' in!

Jump right in!

 

2 hours ago, Terah said:

Hello

Howdy Ma'am

 

51 minutes ago, annyshay said:

Shiny.

Well, new at least.  I may shine it up at some point, but who knows

 

I did just as I said I would last night, with 10 pullups and then a couple of wall supported handstands

 

This morning I was at the park again for pull day, but I was there later than usual so most of the regular crowd was already gone.  I added a new item to list of exercises but I'm not sure what it is called.  I call it inverted dips, but I suspect it probably has a proper name.  Basically it is hanging upside down from the parallel bars, as if I am in the middle of a skin the cat but with my body straight and feet pointing to the sky.  Then I pull myself upwards as if I were doing dips but completely inverted.  Anyone know what those are called?

 

I made some minor progress in my Giants (360 bar swings) and was completely vertical a couple of times.  I still stopped myself from going fully around for some reason (the reason being I am a scaredy cat)

 

Speaking of exercises I made up, I have another one that I do on leg days (which is when I also do abs and posterior chain).  I call them Flying Supermans, and they are essentially plyometric supermans.  I lift my legs and arms explosively enough that I come completely off the ground each rep.  Apparently the muggles think they look pretty impressive  

 

I need to go through my exercises and re-order them and then update post #2 

 

After my workout I cam back and did some stretching.  I should probably take my measurements so that I can measure progress, but have a feeling it will be millimeters at best.  I am pretty sure that I am doing better than I was when I fist started doing semi-regular stretches, though.

 

Some more pullups and a few handstands are on the docket for tonight.

[Arkania]

[Mad Hatter]

13 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

I lift my legs and arms explosively enough that I come completely off the ground each rep.  Apparently the muggles think they look pretty impressive  

Or painful? 

[WhiteGhost]

1 hour ago, Arkania said:

Hi

 

54 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

Or painful? 

Not in the least.  In fact, I didn't even consider that it probably sounds like it would hurt until your comment...  It isn't like I am getting more than an inch (if that) off the ground.

[WhiteGhost]

Is it just me or did Challenge #71 (two challenges ago) get disintegrated? 

It appears to have been completely obliterated

 

[Mad Hatter]

It got obliterated, @ZenLara asked about resurrection but alas.

[raptron]

You have to give us a video when you start making your giants.

[Elennare]

On 10/15/2018 at 6:12 AM, WhiteGhost said:

Well, it is time for a new challenge but as I was writing this up I decided I didn't want to do the theme I was originally planning so I guess I will need to come up with something.

 

Or not.

 

You don't need one unless you want to.  I've kind of given up on them the last several challenges.  I always want to do something cool with them, but then it never happens, so I've stopped doing them (for now).  Nice challenge, either way!

[Bearlee]

On 10/16/2018 at 4:42 AM, annyshay said:

Shiny.

 

Is this a Firefly reference? If so love it.

 

Following. I’ll try to be more interactive this time around.

[annyshay]

10 minutes ago, Bearlee said:

 

Is this a Firefly reference? If so love it.

 

Following. I’ll try to be more interactive this time around.

Yes sir.

[Teancum]

Looking good! Here again! 

[WhiteGhost]

On 10/16/2018 at 8:32 PM, Mad Hatter said:

It got obliterated, @ZenLara asked about resurrection but alas.

That's too bad   I was considering to do the final level of my Arruvia Conspiracy and get that out of the way (I am getting bored with it so it would have been nice to have it wrapped up) but the last installment is now gone.  I have the story saved in a separate file, but it still makes me sad to be missing part of it.  I was not really excited about it anyway so when I saw the last one was gone I just skipped it.  I may do a theme for this one, but probably not.  Once we get past the first page the theme usually gets forgotten anyway...

 

On 10/16/2018 at 10:23 PM, raptron said:

You have to give us a video when you start making your giants.

I was planning on it.  I will be working on them again tomorrow, so if I can past my fear I will hopefully have something to show everyone  

 

On 10/16/2018 at 11:44 PM, Elennare said:

 

You don't need one unless you want to.  I've kind of given up on them the last several challenges.  I always want to do something cool with them, but then it never happens, so I've stopped doing them (for now).  Nice challenge, either way!

Yeah, I will probably skip it this time.  I have a bunch of ideas planned for future challenges, but I just wasn't feeling any of them this time around

 

19 hours ago, Bearlee said:

 

Is this a Firefly reference? If so love it.

 

Following. I’ll try to be more interactive this time around.

19 hours ago, annyshay said:

Yes sir.

 

At least someone got the reference.  I have heard a lot good things about Firefly, I should probably track it down sometime.  No worries if you aren't active, I have a feeling I may not be as active around as usual (I am halfway through book 4 of the Wheel of Time and it is a major time sink...).

 

11 hours ago, Teancum said:

Looking good! Here again! 

Yoho! Nice to see you here  

 

 

Yesterday was a big heaping bag o' nothin', at least challenge-wise.  I didn't workout, do pullups, stretch or get upside down.  I did drop my in-laws off airport (they fly south for the winters), changed out a broken lock, and visited with a friend who is sick so at least I did some productive things.

 

This morning more than made up for yesterday's lack.  I went to the park early, right after dropping Ghostlet off for school.  I did my full leg/core workout, including the twisty side knee raise things I saw @@mu doing in her progress videos.  They are a great exercise, both for working the obliques as well as showing off.  I got a lot of comments on those today  .  After my leg workout, I somehow got it into my head that a run sounded nice, so I headed out to do a lap around the park (1 lap =2.35km).  A few steps into the run my legs started complain furiously, but I stuck it out and finished the lap.  Since I still had some time, and the regular crew was starting to show up, I decided to just play around and have some fun.  I did a bunch of handstand walks (for some reason I can stay up way longer if I am walking that trying to stay still), some laches, played on the monkey bars and even some back bridges.  There is a lady there who is quite good at back bridges, and she gave me a few pointers on some shoulder flexibility drills I can do.   After I got home I did a bit of hip stretching.

 

And now, if you will excuse me, I have a book that is calling to me...  

 

[Mad Hatter]

25 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

I did my full leg/core workout, including the twisty side knee raise things I saw @@mu doing in her progress videos.  They are a great exercise, both for working the obliques as well as showing off.  I got a lot of comments on those today

Not sure if you're aware but if you want even more cred these are the poses that the progressions lead up to :

 

 

[@mu]

3 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

I did my full leg/core workout, including the twisty side knee raise things I saw @@mu doing in her progress videos.  They are a great exercise, both for working the obliques as well as showing off.  I got a lot of comments on those today 

 

you're welcome

 

That was a busy morning!

[raptron]

8 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

I did a bunch of handstand walks (for some reason I can stay up way longer if I am walking that trying to stay still), some laches, played on the monkey bars and even some back bridges.  There is a lady there who is quite good at back bridges, and she gave me a few pointers on some shoulder flexibility drills I can do.   After I got home I did a bit of hip stretching.

Handstand walking means you can make really big corrections with your whole body endlessly... (until your endurance gives out basically!) so it can be much easier to stay up than dealing with the minute changes you should be trying to make to stay up without walking, haha. 

 

I love that there is a whole community of folks that like give each other tips and tricks at the park!

[WhiteGhost]

21 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Not sure if you're aware but if you want even more cred these are the poses that the progressions lead up to :

I recognize the meathook but not the other.  Not sure how I would go about doing those on a bar, though...

 

18 hours ago, @mu said:

 

you're welcome

 

That was a busy morning!

Yes, very busy  

 

14 hours ago, raptron said:

Handstand walking means you can make really big corrections with your whole body endlessly... (until your endurance gives out basically!) so it can be much easier to stay up than dealing with the minute changes you should be trying to make to stay up without walking, haha. 

 

I love that there is a whole community of folks that like give each other tips and tricks at the park!

Ah, that makes a lot of sense.  When I was doing handstands this morning I did a bit of compromise.  I would hold still as long as I could and then when I felt myself losing it I would take a few steps to get my balance again.  

 

The community at the park is really neat.  Today while I was there, a coupe of people were doing bar kip-ups.  They gave me some pointers to try but I couldn't quite get it.  Now I have a new thing to work on, and some progressions they showed me to be working on.

 

I tried doing Giants this morning but I still couldn't gett myself to go over the bar.  I got a video of it anyway.  After this, I tried something new that I think is helping my mental block.  I do a pullover to get myself on top of the bar, and then get up into a shoulder press, and then from there push up into a handstand.  I don't have the strength yet to get into a full handstand but it does mean that I am starting from an almost vertical position and because I don't know which direction I will fall it helps my mind get used to coming down.  Hopefully soon I will have some successful ones to show.  

 

 

This morning's workout was completely unscripted.  I showed up at the park and just decided to do whatever looked fun.  I ended up doing a lot of bar swinging (laches, 7s, giants, kip-ups), but also some work on front & back levers.  I did some inverted dips and shoulder presses on the parallel bars and also a fair bit of handstanding.  I brought some resistance bands with me and tried using them for assisted muscle ups, but even with the thickest one I was still only getting up to my sternum and couldn't quite get over the bar.  I also tried doing a few kipping muscle ups and was only doing a little better than with the resistance bands.  I have no idea how I should count this towards the mini, though.  I'm sure I did a whole bunch of reps and my upper body was toast by the time I left, but I sure didn't do any counting while I was there.  

 

After I got back I did a bit of stretching and now I I need to think about what I am going to do for lunch.