Challenge 5 - Tobbe fights the dinosaur

[Harriet]

12 minutes ago, Tobbe said:

If you try to do a full pull-up, where in the motion do you struggle most?

Oh. Um, I've never actually tried it because I need such major assistance on the assisted pull-up - at least 50lb or something. I'm slightly worried about embarrassing myself. Also, the pull-up handles are so high, I have to jump to reach them at all, so I can't figure out how I would jump above them to lower myself down. 

[Tobbe]

20 minutes ago, Harriet said:

I have to jump to reach them at all, so I can't figure out how I would jump above them to lower myself down.

 

I hate jumping up to the bar. Feels like it puts too much strain on my joints. So I get something to climb up on, like a chair or something, and then I lower myself down.

[Grumble]

20 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Oh. Um, I've never actually tried it because I need such major assistance on the assisted pull-up - at least 50lb or something. I'm slightly worried about embarrassing myself. Also, the pull-up handles are so high, I have to jump to reach them at all, so I can't figure out how I would jump above them to lower myself down. 

Get a box or bench or something you can stand on then you can grab the bars and do a little hop Then you're at the top of the bar and can work on your negative. Also, one of the biggest things you can do is work on active hangs (Have we talked about this before? I feel like we have.) Grab the bar in a dead hang, then pull your shoulder blades down and back. It should look like this.

 

I think @CourtnieMarie can attest to the value of active hangs.

[Tobbe]

Did my first workout for the week today. Didn't feel like doing it at all. And I put it off until much later than I usually do. But I did get it done. And I did get more reps in on some of the exercises than I did last week. So it was good. Normally doing my warm-up and drinking some energy drink will get me in to the mood. But since I'm not drinking any energy drinks at the moment plain water would have to do. Warm-up plus water didn't really get me in the mood though   But sometimes you just have to push through! And it did feel great afterwards. And the hot bowl of Kitchari was awesome after the workout  

 

One more workout to go this week before attempting the boss battle!

[Tobbe]

5 minutes ago, Grumble said:

one of the biggest things you can do is work on active hangs

 

That's the same as what Steve calls "Hanging Scapular Retractions", right? Did two sets of 24 reps of those as part of today's workout.

[Grumble]

2 minutes ago, Tobbe said:

 

That's the same as what Steve calls "Hanging Scapular Retractions", right? Did two sets of 24 reps of those as part of today's workout.

 Same thing. If you're not seeing progress just doing those, you can incorporate a hold too, I don't know if the bodyweight program has that or if it just has them for reps. But isometric holds and TUT (time under tension) are good ways to make improvements on exercises you may be stalling in.

[Tobbe]

1 minute ago, Grumble said:

 Same thing. If you're not seeing progress just doing those, you can incorporate a hold too, I don't know if the bodyweight program has that or if it just has them for reps. But isometric holds and TUT (time under tension) are good ways to make improvements on exercises you may be stalling in.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. First thing I'm going to do though is try to film myself from the back to see if I'm actually doing the movement correctly (or get someone else to film me for me).

[Grumble]

1 minute ago, Tobbe said:

 

Thanks for the suggestions. First thing I'm going to do though is try to film myself from the back to see if I'm actually doing the movement correctly (or get someone else to film me for me).

 

Form checks are super important. Do you have a coach or fitfriend to review? The forums also have a form check thread if you wan to share your perfect form on the internet with a bunch of weird nerds.

[Harriet]

34 minutes ago, Grumble said:

Get a box or bench or something you can stand on then you can grab the bars and do a little hop Then you're at the top of the bar and can work on your negative. Also, one of the biggest things you can do is work on active hangs (Have we talked about this before? I feel like we have.) Grab the bar in a dead hang, then pull your shoulder blades down and back. It should look like this.

We have! I haven't done all the things we talked about yet, though. After our last conversation I decided to add barbell rows back in (after avoiding them for months) and to put them and my inverted rows/assisted pull-ups before my other lifts on OHP and Squat days. I haven't tried active hangs yet. They just seem, I don't know, too small to make much of a difference somehow? Also, I can't really add much to my existing workouts, but I could do them and negatives instead of assisted pull-ups, which seem to suck. 

[Tobbe]

9 hours ago, Grumble said:

 

Form checks are super important. Do you have a coach or fitfriend to review? The forums also have a form check thread if you wan to share your perfect form on the internet with a bunch of weird nerds.

 

No coach or fit-friend. Also don't feel comfortable showing that much detail on the Internet. So I'll have to be my own critic  

[Tobbe]

8 hours ago, Harriet said:

They just seem, I don't know, too small to make much of a difference somehow?

 

They do work your back, and increase your grip strength. Both good things! So definitely not worthless/useless  

[Mad Hatter]

15 hours ago, Harriet said:

How not-weak does one have to be to do a useful negative chin up?

I'd say you need to be strong enough to control the movement the entire way without yanking on your shoulders. After that it becomes a question of practice.

 

+1 for scap retractions! It might feel like a very small movement but that's how you learn how to initiate the full pull-up, which is usually the most challenging part of the movement. 

[Tobbe]

Challenge goals updates

 

Nutrition

 

For three to seven days:

• Eat only Kitchari all day (5.5/3)
  • Eat until you're full
    • I'm happy with how this turned out in the end. I had an extra bowl of kitchari when I felt I needed it, but also didn't eat more just because I felt I should. Only time I didn't eat as much as I might have wanted was when there was no more food available. But then I naturally was just a bit more hungry the next time I ate instead.
  • Eat whenever you feel hungry
    • I'll give myself a  on this one as well. I tried not to look at the time of day too much, but rather listen to my body when to eat. I ate late at night if I started feeling hungry, where otherwise I might have ignored my hunger and just gone to bed instead. When I didn't eat whenever I felt hungry, it was because I waited for someone else, or was away doing other things where my kitchari was not available. But then I ate as soon as I could.
• Drink only water, water+lime+salt, or water+kitchari spices (5.5/3)
  • Did run out of limejuice after a while, so I swapped it for lemon juice instead. But I feel that's okay

After the mono-diet

• Drink protein smoothie at least three times per week (week 1: 1/1)
  • Just had one today, which was also the first day I worked out after finishing the mono-diet. So, first week: 

 

Fitness

 

• Practice jump rope at least twice every week (week 1: 1/1)
  • Yesterday and today
    • Before this challenge my personal best was just below 30 in a row. Did 45 yesterday. Was really happy about the new personal best. And thought I was well above what was needed to beat T-Flex. Until I checked today and realized I needed 60 to beat him... 
• No workouts on consecutive days
  • Workouts: Monday 2019-01-07, Wednesday 2019-01-09, Friday 2019-01-11
• Try to beat Tyrannosaurus Flex 11th or 12th of January. Keep trying every Friday or Saturday until he is conquered
  • Went up against T-Flex today, the 11th
    • Started by doing 30 push-ups in a row, with decent form. Crushed the goal of 5.
    • Goal was to do 6 assisted one leg squats. Didn't specify if the elevated leg should be behind or in front of me. I did 10 unassisted single leg squats on each leg with the elevated leg behind me, and 10 pistol squats with a bench to sit down on
    • Next up: Negative chin-up! I did a negative pull-up instead, which by most is considered more difficult. 28 seconds of constant, slow, negative motion. Goal? 12. Boom! 
    • Jump rope single unders. Goal: 60. PB: 45. Went out, just to find my horrible jumprope frozen solid! Started off great, getting 53 in my first try. Bummed that I didn't hit the goal, but thrilled about the new PB! Tried again. 30  Tried once more: 17. Thought to myself: WTF? Felt really demotivated. But I decided to try again after resting for 2 - 3 minutes (it was below freezing outside, and dark. So I didn't want to rest for too long...). Final try. 95 single unders!  Crushing it!

 

Level Up Your Life

 

• Do one task from the TODO 2019 PvP every week
  • Completed the first weeks challenge already on Tuesday. The challenge was to post a vlog (with yourself in it, obv). Here's the proof: https://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/112431-todo-2019-pvp-jan-1-dec-29/&do=findComment&comment=2458244

 

Here's my jump rope, hanging from my hand. It's frozen, so it can't hang straight  

 

 

And here's my huge post-workout protein smoothie, all 4+ cups of it! And it's thick, just like I prefer my smoothies. Almost too thick to actually drink with a straw, even if I have the extra wide ones.

 

 

Over all I'm super happy with how this week went!  

[Scaly Freak]

How do you jump with a frozen jump rope? 

[Harriet]

Lots of wins, congrats! 

 

3 hours ago, scalyfreak said:

How do you jump with a frozen jump rope? 

 

Whip it until it cracks. Then jump upon the slippery ice for extra difficulty. 

[Scaly Freak]

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

Whip it until it cracks. Then jump upon the slippery ice for extra difficulty. 

 

Ah... God Mode.

[Tobbe]

12 hours ago, scalyfreak said:

How do you jump with a frozen jump rope? 

 

You bend the rope in shape, and then you have an almost solid U-shaped thing to jump   The tricky part was that the handles were frozen to the rope too, so the rope couldn't rotate inside the handles. Which meant that I had to let the handles rotate inside my hands instead. But since they were covered with ice, they were slippery. So it all worked out in the end   

 

I think I might have to invest in a proper jump rope to be able to do double-unders though, which is the next step...

[Tobbe]

Forgot to post the most important photo/picture from yesterday!

 

 

 

[Mad Hatter]

Nice dude!  

[Harriet]

3 hours ago, Tobbe said:

Forgot to post the most important photo/picture from yesterday!

 

 

 

I don't know what Tyrannosaurus Flex is, but it says VICTORY in large yellow letters so HURRAH! 

[Tobbe]

7 hours ago, Harriet said:

I don't know what Tyrannosaurus Flex is, but it says VICTORY in large yellow letters so HURRAH! 

 

Tyrannosaurus Flex is the boss you have to beat to advance from level 4 bodyweight workouts to level 5 in the Nerd Fitness Academy workout plans    As I wrote in my goals update post above, what that entails is to be able to do at least 5 regular push-ups, 6 assisted one leg squats, a negative chin-up that lasts at least 10 seconds and do 60 single unders with a jump rope 

[Tobbe]

8 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Nice dude!  

 

Thanks  

[Scaly Freak]

1 minute ago, Tobbe said:

 

Tyrannosaurus Flex is the boss you have to beat to advance from level 4 bodyweight workouts to level 5 in the Nerd Fitness Academy workout plans    As I wrote in my goals update post above, what that entails is to be able to do at least 5 regular push-ups, 6 assisted one leg squats, a negative chin-up that lasts at least 10 seconds and do 60 single unders with a jump rope 

 

Huh. That looks like a pretty major boss. That calls for one of these!

 

 

[Tobbe]

Went to the opening of a new gym in my home town today

 

 

I think by the time the clock hit 10 am, and the red ribbon was cut there were probably 200 people in line, waiting to get in!

 

 

Fancy treadmills with, among a lot of other things, the ability to show YouTube videos  

 

 

One floor of the gym was dedicated to cardio, and group classes (in other rooms)

 

 

And one floor was dedicated to strength training, and more group classes

 

I took the opportunity to try some inverted rows in a smith machine. I think that's the exercise I've been missing in order to progress to doing pull-ups! I could really feel it in my back muscles. Think I might have major DOMS in my upper back tomorrow   Going to have to find some way to do inverted rows at home!

[Tobbe]

 

10 minutes ago, scalyfreak said:

Huh. That looks like a pretty major boss. That calls for one of these!

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the tune  Love it