Mu develops her inner HS puppy

[@mu]

The focus of this challenge (and most of the following ones) will be of course press to handstand!

At least, how I get started with Kirsty's programme. I wish I could click & load “press to HS” but it does not happen that way

 

I have several HS spirit animals accompanying me on this journey.

 

The rabbit

 

The furious spastic rabbit.... it's a dangerous spirit, with a very unique attack (slow death by failed handstand kick-up).

 

 

But HS training does require some obsessive-compulsive features. You can't just throw your rabbit away. I have started taming it a little bit with a lot of kick-up consistency work. But its rawness still comes up every so often in moments of existential HS despair:

 

 

The donkey

 

The donkey is strong, kicks hard and loves planching it, because, you know, mobility and flexibility are not his strongest features.

 

 

He is however very persistent, some might say obtuse. Blunt strength is definitely a plus but it can get in the way sometimes.

 

 

The banana fish

 

It's legit:

 

Flopping about, very slippery and feeling somewhat boneless (until landing). Its main issues are a very inconsistent relationship with the body parts known as shoulders and a fuzzy sense of alignment. Sometimes it also doesn't know how to breath. It's otherwise a very creative spirit and it enjoys impromptu performances.

 

And NOW, in this challenge I will try to summon the handstand PUPPY!

 

 

Light, gentle and cute, what's not to like?

 

 

Brief schedule outline:

 

Week 0

=> complete my last cycle of P2 phase 3

=> do pressToHS assessments which also include little workouts (x3)

Week 1

=> P2 deload: evaluate drills I will keep working on without overwhelming myself (bent arm work)

=> Press to HS starts, first week is focused on HS line (2 workouts)

Weeks 2-3-4

=> Settle into my new combo of P2+pressToHS

 

 

Now for the goals:

 

~ Practice ~

Core work:
PressToHS - 2x/week (except assessment week)
P2 - 1x/week
HS - 3x/week (consistency x2, endurance x1)
Stretching (hips, back bends, some of PressToHS flexibility drills will go here as well as needed) – 2x/week

PressToHS doesn't seem to have a deload programmed in, I will tweak HS/P2 workouts to make them a bit lighter every 3 weeks.

Complementary work (usually spread out before/after core sessions):
Cirque Physio – 18 drills /week (deload: 12 drills /week)
Legs – 2 drills /week (I bike as well )
Flexed feet work – 4 drills /week
Pull – my rig is up and functional again after the move break. I won't evaluate this section but start pulling more regularly focusing on alignment and conditioning work at first. I will just track the number of sessions where I do some pull. It will likely remain complementary work while I get on with PressToHS.

 

~ Light study ~

 

Interview prep 10x/week (reading / coding / Java quizzes / industry research)

I'm job hunting, that will apply until I find something.

 

~ Bonus creative goal ~

 

I'd like to keep some drawing/painting practice and I also have an on-going cardboard project that needs finishing because it's currently standing in the middle of the living room I will just track this to encourage it but not evaluate.

 

[Elastigirl]

I'm such a fan of Gargegymgirl! That looks like a fun program. My sad tale of woe is that I was attacked enough by the spastic rabbit while trying to learn kicking into handstands that it made me put aside that dream (for a while anyway)

[@mu]

1 hour ago, Elastigirl said:

I'm such a fan of Gargegymgirl! That looks like a fun program. My sad tale of woe is that I was attacked enough by the spastic rabbit while trying to learn kicking into handstands that it made me put aside that dream (for a while anyway)

 

Oh I know that rabbit can be such a pain in the butt!!

 

~ Practice ~

 

Legs: x2 (pistols progression + ham curls)

Flexed feet: x1

Pull: +1 (hanging raises + straddle-ups)

Press to HS: hips assessment followed by workout

Cirque Physio: x3

Stretching: hips

 

Pancake assessment: I look exactly like the 7-8/10 assessment pic. I put myself at 7 (I might get a bit of extra hip training, it won't hurt).

[Mad Hatter]

4 hours ago, @mu said:

But its rawness still comes up every so often in moments of existential HS despair:



 

This cracked me up  Though the banana fish and puppy are pretty fantastic too.

 

I’m so excited about your program, you’re going to smash it.

[Norgaard]

that banana fish scares me!

 

go get that press! im following

[KB Girl]

Here! 

The banana fish is going to put me off bananas for a little while... 

[Mad Hatter]

What, the banana fish is really cute!  

[KB Girl]

*shudder* 

[WhiteGhost]

Love the spirit animals #relatable

[Norgaard]

17 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

What, the banana fish is really cute!  

 

dont trust it!

[@mu]

Banana fish is just … strange, which is beyond pretty or ugly. But then I do also tend to value strangeness

 

~ Creative ~

 

Sanded and partly crafted a cardboard drawer. Counting it as half a point.

 

~ Job prep ~

 

2 Java quizzes

 

~ Practice ~

 

Cirque Physio x3 + flexed feet drill x1 + hanging raises & straddle-ups + P2 + HS consistency + silks alignment

 

My shoulders were feeling more tired than usual and I reduce the volume a little bit.

A lot of donkey today (as usual when I'm tired), a little bit of banana fish and some rabbit on my last HS consistency set, because on that set I could maybe have reached a new PR. I got a bit too febrile... Of course, with the rabbit on, it did not happen (4/5 + 5/5 + 5/5 + 4/5 + 2/5 => 20/25)

P2 was okayish, the worse being possibly HS lowers, because I didn't go over my elbows but quite behind instead, and the donkey dude was also super annoying on kick-ups today.

 

I was due a ref video for that workout so here it is:

 

 

Not sure why but these days I get a lot of stomach/abs cramps after this workout. A bit like hunger pangs or when you ate too quickly and your guts feel all twisted. I eat but it still takes a while to go away (if anything eating might make it worse). The only thing that helped so far is stretching or even just laying down on my back.

 

Tomorrow is REST.

 

Ha I went to the vet with the cat. He couldn't detect anything on her front legs either, and she was not obviously lame in front of him.  He gave her anti-inflammatory medication for now. But he said that her muscle mass is very low, similar to an old cat I was very surprised obviously because she's active, runs about, still climbs rope and stuff (perhaps a bit less now that her front leg is bothering her). Our vet in Tehran never said anything about that either. Could she lose that much mass because of the move? He said it's likely to be a "feature" of Iranian street cats and putting her on a bodybuilding programme (sic) wouldn't change that (and vice versa it's very unlikely the move could have caused that). I previously had 2 other cats (adopted in Europe) and it's true there were a bit fuller but it hadn't ringed an alarm bell. She has always been that way. I'm a bit worried for her now She might develop old cat's problems early on.

 

[Norgaard]

great video! and nice consistency! 

 

 

I wish your cat the best, <3

[KB Girl]

Definitely getting straighter / less piked moments in your handstand! 

 

How old is your cat?

[Mad Hatter]

Your one legged crow looks so nice now!

The elbow lever to straddle hold looks seriously tough.

[Mike Wazowski]

Dang, that paralettes work is looking strong and controlled! Hard work has clearly paid off.  Super excited to hear about your press to handstand work, it's on my someday list of things to work on for sure.

[@mu]

On 4/16/2019 at 12:46 PM, KB Girl said:

Definitely getting straighter / less piked moments in your handstand! 

 

How old is your cat?

Thanks!

My cat is not even 2yo yet 

 

Re-not-piking, yes it' coming little by little! There are defo 2 helping factors: (1) relaxing a bit the abs, and (2) feeling strong enough in my shoulders / upper back to not fall backward, sometimes it almost feels like there is a little wall there, meaning less fear. I still do fall backward... but not as often as before. 

 

On 4/16/2019 at 1:59 PM, Mad Hatter said:

Your one legged crow looks so nice now!

The elbow lever to straddle hold looks seriously tough.

 

<3 Thanks!

Yes it's a big cramp generator (like straddle holds on the floor)

 

On 4/16/2019 at 5:42 PM, Mike Wazowski said:

Dang, that paralettes work is looking strong and controlled! Hard work has clearly paid off.  Super excited to hear about your press to handstand work, it's on my someday list of things to work on for sure.

 

Thanks! Yes it's much more fun too. I remember P1 being quite fun but it was still a lot of push-ups! And now with HS shaping up, workouts are getting really interesting and fun (more skill work).

 

~ Job prep ~

 

Quite a few hours of coding yesterday, in chunks, interspersed with some errands, including 2 bike rides. My legs are managing with the bike but my bum is only mildly entertained I have to say.

I will give myself 3 points on the job prep although it took more time than say 3 Java quizzes. It will be easy to get 10 points this week because I'll focus a bit more on coding.

 

I'm so used to having my rest day on Monday that I'm very confused right now. Today feels like Tuesday?

 

~ Practice ~

 

Cirque Physio x1 + Hanging raises & straddle-ups (back is starting to activate again!) + PressToHS assessment & mini workout + P2 elbows + silks alignment

 

PressTOHS Assessments: overhead positions

Those were a bit difficult to assess I hope I'm not putting my foot in my mouth:

Range of motion => 9/10

(NB: my arms are not bent, it's cubitus valgus in action)

 

Loaded positions => 7-8/10?, I submitted 7 just in case

 

With some extra buffer from cubitus valgus, reaching the wall with my hands is not hard... If anything the wall prevents me from going into a full extension. But my mobility (angle torso / shoulder) is the same as the 9-10 reference pic, with the beginning of some rib flare. The main difference when loaded is that I will tend to sink quite a bit.

 

P2 elbows

The big news today is that I managed SEVERAL FULL LEVER SPINS!!! 

Not pretty yet but I managed a few without any foot help at all. I was due a ref video and here it is below. Put my best spins but also included the flops and a lazy last rep for a realistic view. You can see on the lever switches that the single bar ones are still a struggle.

 

 

 

[raptron]

Ahhhh, nice!

[Mike Wazowski]

DANG, looking good! Lol at the cat deciding your passing foot was a toy to swat at.

[WhiteGhost]

Wow, very good job on those lever spins, especially with the cat hanging off your foot!

[@mu]

Thanks! Ha ha the cat yes, she's not as evil as she used to be though.

 

~ Job prep ~

 

Friday: 3 more points for coding.

Saturday: 2 points

 

 

~ Practice ~

 

Friday: Cirque Physio x7 + Hanging raises & straddle-ups + PressToHS assessment & mini workout + back-bends

 

Assessments: spine

I managed with my heels at about 4cm away from the wall, that's 1.5 something inches which puts me in the 7-8/10 category and again I submitted the lower bound, so 7.

I tried closer to the wall but my bum would just bounce off it and I'd face plant (fail at the end of the vid). NB: the goal was to come down to your feet while staying against the wall during the roll down, not to compress at the bottom.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPKSOfbErBM

 

So I got bonus exercises for spine and overhead mobility, but nothing for hips (pancake), which surprises me a little.

I'm done with assessments and next week I will have 2 PressToHS workouts on the HS line.

 

Back-bends were otherwise ok. Scorpions were feeling good on hips extension for once, but not so great on back bending. And I did back drops down to elbow bridge and back up.

 

 

Saturday:

I got myself a new ball so I can practice my flexed feet properly again.

Ball flex drill x1 + Hanging raises & straddle-ups + P2 + HS consistency + silks alignment

 

P2 was quite poor. End of cycle + training in the evening + eating halva no long before = pooh. (E. made halva, we had neighbours over). And my bum hurt (back-bends) and my quads were sore too (bike?).

And it was a confusing session because in HS to crow and HS to V-sit I started thinking of tucking my butt (needed for PressToHS, apparently it's possible to do it with an anterior pelvic tilt but it's not what we will study).

Everybody was confused (rabbit, donkey, and banana fish, the puppy is simply waiting for further instructions). I tried really hard to keep my butt tucked but I still had quite a back arch. Then I looked at Kirsty's P2 video and in HS to L-sit, she tucks and still also has some arch in the lower back (she doesn't at all in straddle HS press neg). Maybe the pike version works differently - or maybe it was just that one odd video of Kirsty where she arches a bit. I will just leave it at that for now and see what happens on the actual drills...

 

HS consistency 2/5 5/5 4/5 4/5 4/5 => 19/25

A lot of donkey at first until I managed to relax a wee bit and jump higher (puppy summoning?).

I got a good donkey vid though:

 

 

Consistency score for this cycle: 81% (+12% woot what a big jump!).

 

 

 

[@mu]

~ Practice ~

 

Cirque Physio x4 + ball flex x1 + HS endurance

 

HS endurance: best at 44s, not very good looking (sinking + piking), I was/am still very very tired

Best endurance range for this cycle: 40-70s

 

And that's it for this cycle of P2. Next week is deload and my upper body really needs it. Today my traps and shoulders are pretty dead, my hips and glutes are also very sore. I will take it easy including on PressToHS workouts. It's a starter workout so a priori not a killer just yet, except for the push & lean (HS press drill for the bottom part) but volume is low. I can also adjust the number of circuit runs if needed.

 

~ Week 0 review ~

 

/* Challenge Log */
     last P2 cycle | 
P2:            3/3 |
Press2HS       3/3 |
HS:            3/3 |
[deload]        _  |
 
Stretching:    2/2 |
Cirque-Physio:18/18|
Legs:          2/2 |
Ball-flex:     4/4 |
Pull:          5   |
 
Job-prep:     10/10|
Drawing:       1   |

 

 

Practice: Well back to checking all boxes and I'm feeling it!  Pull activity is currently regular but very limited and it will stay that way for a while, mostly for balance and keeping the basics in.

 

I'm super happy about my last 2 shinies in this cycle: 1mn+ HS hold and managing a full lever spin on both sides even if it's not pretty. That's a nice P2 anniversary present.

 

It's funny because I don't even find the lever spin super exciting as a skill to be honest. HS to L-sit is much more attractive for instance. But there is really a lot in it (bent arms strength, balance, super tough coordination and freaking glutes!!). I definitely want to keep working on that smurf
 

Job-prep: I'm currently upgrading myself on the tools that are more prevalent here. I'm working on a little demo project including back-end / front-end / testing / deployment. Progressing well on that side.

 

Drawing: did not happen. Cardboard was limited. I need to find guesso and paint for that one.

 

 

[WhiteGhost]

19 hours ago, @mu said:

new ball

NEW BALL!!  Does it work as well as the old one did?

 

19 hours ago, @mu said:

Consistency score for this cycle: 81% (+12% woot what a big jump!).

Dang that's impressive

 

6 hours ago, @mu said:

Next week is deload and my upper body really needs it.

Enjoy the deload.  I feel like *I* need to deload after seeing everything you are doing  

[raptron]

Sounds like the deload is very needed!

 

[Mike Wazowski]

Enjoy the deload, and congrats on not one, but TWO shiny new achievements this past cycle!! And talk about a KILLER zero week!

 

Idk if it applies in all areas of physical training, but my coach drew an interesting chart on the board during a recent lesson - basically, the idea was that as we progress as dancers (and maybe all athletes), the plateaus become longer but the jumps in skill between plateaus also become substantially bigger. Wonder if you've seen that at work in your P2 training at all?

[@mu]

On 4/21/2019 at 6:07 PM, WhiteGhost said:

NEW BALL!!  Does it work as well as the old one did?

   
It's the same colour and same brand, so nothing that exciting but still you can tell the difference

 

On 4/21/2019 at 6:07 PM, WhiteGhost said:

Enjoy the deload.  I feel like *I* need to deload after seeing everything you are doing  

 

Oh that's funny because the view from here is that you do much higher volume workouts

 

15 hours ago, Mike Wazowski said:

Idk if it applies in all areas of physical training, but my coach drew an interesting chart on the board during a recent lesson - basically, the idea was that as we progress as dancers (and maybe all athletes), the plateaus become longer but the jumps in skill between plateaus also become substantially bigger. Wonder if you've seen that at work in your P2 training at all?

 

Mhm, interesting. On parallettes, I regularly feel a plateau on strength gains and then a sudden burgeoning of new skills when past a threshold. I guess, as you progress, the rate of raw strength gains slows down and you start developing specific strengths that are probably a bit harder to dig (specialisation). I suppose skills would also take longer to get because complexity and endurance requirements increase as you go.

 

At the moment I do feel different areas of progress, in strength (bent arms vs straight arms vs abs vs glutes & legs) and skill (awareness vs balance vs coordination vs technique) and they don't all go at the same rate of progress at all. Once in a while, there will be one bit of progress that will have some form of carry-over pretty much everywhere and there will be an overall qualitative jump.

But I haven't had huge plateaus where nothing is happening, but that's an other thing: I currently get easily excited by little improvements or some milestone. When you reach an advanced level, expectations might be a bit higher

 

18 hours ago, raptron said:

Sounds like the deload is very needed!

 

Yep, lighter week is definitely on!

 

~ Practice ~

 

Yesterday: Legs x2 + Cirque Physio x3 + ball drill x1 + hips stretching including PressToHS little drills. But took it easy on everything.

 

Today: Cirque Physio x3 + hanging raises & straddle-ups + ball drill x1 + press to HS + silks alignment.

 

Shoulders were a bit more clunky than usual at first but it went away after warm-up.

 

In press to HS, I did 2 runs of conditioning circuits (we can do 1 to 3). And the whole thing including my own little bits took ~1h10. It was less intense than P2. Still there were a few hard things. An odd one was that I cannot do seated straddle leg lifts without rounding my lower back. We have to stick the butt out and I find it very hard to keep it that way. Good one to work on. And it will make me have a look at the pike exercises I do with Cirque Physio because I'm pretty sure I'm rounding my back too.

The main skill work was to pull your best handstand line in a hold for 10mn (in total not on one hold ). I will see after next workout what video I send for my first submission.

 

~ Job prep

 

Yesterday: big coding sessions again +3 points

Today: off to a similar schedule I think

 

/* Challenge Log */
     last P2 cycle |Deload 
P2:            3/3 | 0/1
Press2HS       3/3 | 1/2
HS:            3/3 | 0/1
 
Stretching:    2/2 | 1/2
Cirque-Physio:18/18| 6/12
Legs:          2/2 | 2/2
Ball-flex:     4/4 | 2/4
Pull:          5   | 1
 
Job-prep:     10/10| 3/10
Drawing:       1   | 0