The Assassin's Path

[Mad Hatter]

Ooh shiny. I see your dilemma.

 

Yay for E not being an illegal.   What an ordeal.

[WhiteGhost]

10 hours ago, @mu said:

Kirsty will be releasing her HSPU programme next week

I am intrigued about this, but very unlikely I will actually get it.  I would be quite interested to hear about it if you get it  

[@mu]

8 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Ooh shiny. I see your dilemma.

 

 

6 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

I am intrigued about this, but very unlikely I will actually get it.  I would be quite interested to hear about it if you get it  

 

Sure, happy to trial the stuff It seems there is one component focused on HSPU at wall (chest to wall) and the other on free standing technique.

I'm not sure this programme has the 3 personal feedbacks on videos like press does.

 

I'm still waiting for my new pbarz, it looks like it will take a while (end of May / beginning of June).

[@mu]

Saturday => rest

 

Sunday

 

Press to HS

So the usual with some head-in work at first. It was rabbit day and a complete struggle bus. First in my bent arm series, I tried to a lever spin again and painfully failed. This started to annoy me quite a lot and then I got angry at all the exercises lol. Eg head in, I was annoyed by all those wall exercises because on sloppy days, the wall is way too lenient and just encouraging bad habits. In press, I kept trying floats and still not leaning enough, and wondering how the hell progress is supposed to happen in such a mess 🙀. I ended doing just presses and making the bottom lift as slow as I can. That was the only bright light in the session: 5 presses (bench), no puppy.

Then on blocks, rabbit took over: 4/10 and I tried to play on blocks but I was really not in the mood

 

I sense a bit of overall fatigue maybe?  Despite resting yesterday. I'll try to take it easy next week.

[Mad Hatter]

23 hours ago, @mu said:

This started to annoy me quite a lot and then I got angry at all the exercises lol.

Oh no! 😂

 

It seems to me like you've increased both intensity and volume quite significantly in the past weeks (months?). It wouldn't surprise me if it's accumulated fatigue as you say.

[@mu]

On 4/27/2020 at 9:58 AM, Mad Hatter said:

Oh no! 😂

 

It seems to me like you've increased both intensity and volume quite significantly in the past weeks (months?). It wouldn't surprise me if it's accumulated fatigue as you say.

 

Very possibly!

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I fully rested and this morning it was nice to rediscover that shoulders don't need to be that cranky...

On Wednesday,I did do Kirsty's HSPU assessment. But it was fast because I'm level 1 (out of 3)

 

And this morning, I did the test workout where you evaluate your pike press maxes to compute your load for the first phase of your level.

 

I like it so far. It's very very specific on form and pinpoint exactly all the problems I have had training pike presses (cheating my way out of it). Here it's very clear, in particular the leg distance to hips and all the different arms positions + height progressions. She is using a yoga block to get a clear partial measure, clever, I had not thought about it at all. There was a little circuit as well.

 

I did all that on the floor and not on parallettes, and I noticed my left arm was quite weaker. The first phases are likely to be mostly floor (I can't see the whole thing yet, some workouts are locked until you complete a phase / reach your next testing phase).

And it will probably do me some good because I highly suspect that my PVC parallettes are screwing my left/right balance. Really looking forward to the new ones. So that asymmetry thingy + the fact that the leverage is different with hands on parallettes and feet on the floor (easier) => no pbarz on those until I have to start actual HSPU balancing work.

 

So anyway I did that, and I was done very quickly, so I did some HS (tuck and straddle entries with leg movement). 1h all in all.

 

I will rest again tomorrow and see how the main workout feels like on Saturday. A good deload week that was quite needed I think. Then I will re-think a little my programming to include HSPU and remove some bits.

[Mad Hatter]

1 hour ago, @mu said:

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I fully rested and this morning it was nice to rediscover that shoulders don't need to be that cranky...

LOL. I feel like either my body is cranky because I'm not moving enough, or moving too much. Can't win.   

 

Glad the deload is helping!

[@mu]

On 4/30/2020 at 9:52 AM, Mad Hatter said:

LOL. I feel like either my body is cranky because I'm not moving enough, or moving too much. Can't win.   

 

Glad the deload is helping!

 

 

On Saturday I did another round of HSPU, the slow eccentrics are a killer... I foresee big grinding time... I might get into a challenge for that.

 

Otherwise, REST and some Persian on Sunday. I even made some effort to lookup words in a dictionary instead of just guessing. And I wrote down the vocabulary in a notebook, it was nice to write with a pen again. I mostly write Persian when messaging with friends/family (at least I'm making the effort to use the Persian keyboard instead of writing in fenglish) but handwritten Persian is also a skill on its own.. Let' see if I could do that every week-end?

 

I also ate A LOT last week. And from the slight change in feeling around the waist line, I suspect it probably did not all go to muscle repair, ha ha. Well so be it. I don't mind puppy fat as long as the effin puppy goes AWAY from my press

 

This morning flexibility (hips, shoulders, back) + some silks + some pike head in + Mexican wall training.

And I'm happy to report a PR on pike!

 

On 4/19/2020 at 10:00 AM, @mu said:

 

straight head in entry from the wall 20s hold

tuck head in entry from the wall 10s hold => tuck head in entry from the wall 20s hold

pike head in entry from the wall 10s hold

 

 

straight head in entry from the wall 20s hold

tuck head in entry from the wall 10s hold => tuck head in entry from the wall 20s hold

pike head in entry from the wall 10s hold => pike head in entry from the wall 20s hold

 

Did 11-12s from wall entry (second clip) and actually also managed a transition without thinking about it: tuck wall entry -> head in transition -> pike head in  (first clip)

It's not quite fully closed yet, legs were a bit sloppy at first and I straightened them towards the end, but I suspect it will improve with longer holds. I need to be careful about my ribs as well. But hey work in progress.

 

 

 

[KB Girl]

While I find a press to handstand very shiny and desirable the hspu leaves me completely cold... It is an amazing feat of strength though!

[@mu]

11 hours ago, KB Girl said:

While I find a press to handstand very shiny and desirable the hspu leaves me completely cold... It is an amazing feat of strength though!

 

Pushups in general are not that attractive (at least to me). The fact those are inverted make them a bit more appealing. But then there is also a lot of hype around HSPUs that can be off-putting.  I'd like to complete that P2 final routine one day though (there is a a pretty bent arm press from straddle in it) ha ha.

 

Today was press to HS with some head-in work.

I did some bent arm work in warm-up but I reduced it a lot. Just PUs and elbow levers. Also still doing low frog, which is not bent arm but should help prepping for a lean.

+ some Cirque Physio, ball work and silks (alignment, shoulder twist to s-wrap)

 

I broke a PR on head-in straight from wall entry, I managed 20s on first attempt! I did not reproduce though, but at least I can now start playing with the free standing transition:

 

straight head in entry from the wall 20s hold => free standing head in transition 5s hold

tuck head in entry from the wall 10s hold => tuck head in entry from the wall 20s hold

pike head in entry from the wall 10s hold => pike head in entry from the wall 20s hold

 

Press negatives were funny (resisting bum landing).

On press itself I worked on accumulating floating time without my puppy bad habbit (showed up on first rep...). I went into a very slow press from bench. Accumulating about 5s of floating time at the bottom for each press. 30s in total today. I also pushed some at 8cm and on ground 0.

Block consistency: 5/10 (a bit meh, did not feel solid, press killed me a wee bit - I kept under kicking)

Flagging against the wall on blocks: 3 sets of 3 reps LR + 3s hold at the bottom. Bloody tiring.

 

[WhiteGhost]

2 hours ago, @mu said:

I broke a PR on head-in straight from wall entry, I managed 20s on first attempt! I did not reproduce though, but at least I can now start playing with the free standing transition:

 

WOOHOO!!!  Congratulations!

[Mad Hatter]

17 hours ago, KB Girl said:

While I find a press to handstand very shiny and desirable the hspu leaves me completely cold... It is an amazing feat of strength though!

Same. But I am excited about seeing this happen!

 

Yay for another PR, they're coming thick and thin now!

[@mu]

Seems deload was of some use!

 

Today was HSPU training, I will log that here:

After that, I did Emmet's split training:

horse stance 30s x 5

side split entry 5x4

My legs were so shaky after that. I still wanted to do some HS balancing, just 5-10mn. nothing hard, just to keep the groove. And the first set I was sooooo shaky (legs, shoulders, elbows). Then it calmed down a bit and I just did a few straddle and tucks entries followed by some leg movement.

 

Ha and I did some Persian reading yesterday. Not much but still something.

 

[Mad Hatter]

Ha I can imagine that the side split training would be intense.  How do the side split entries work, or they like tilts or like actual entries sliding down?

[@mu]

19 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Ha I can imagine that the side split training would be intense.  How do the side split entries work, or they like tilts or like actual entries sliding down?

 

They are entries from horse stance with hands on a support, sliding down and stretching the butt out into the slide. But no pushing at the bottom or staying there for ages, it's just entry practice.

[Renate]

Oh, intetesting! How do you "get better" and the horse stance, or do the entries and the stance sort of feed into each other?

 

 

[@mu]

1 hour ago, analoggirl said:

Oh, intetesting! How do you "get better" and the horse stance, or do the entries and the stance sort of feed into each other?

 

 

Hiya!

Horse stance and split entries are separate drills.

For horse stance, the goal is to hold as deep as possible (if possible below knee level with good form) for 30 to 90s and 3 to 5 reps (increasing hold and volume as you go). So for instance next time I might do longer holds and maybe just 3 reps. Then increase reps etc.

Splits entries are set to 10-20 reps.

Each week, I alternate 2 workouts with 2 drills each (horse stance + split entries, tailor pose with yoga block + split entries). I will do that for about 4-6 weeks (I have done almost 3),  and then move on to new drills. The next ones are pissing dog variations, an iso drill where your resist the slide down and active side splits (lying on your back). It's part of the handstand factory programme I'm running for HS

 

I haven't taken a "before" pic of my side splits. Maybe I should next time! Just in case it actually works Last time I had a full side split I was 4 year old maybe, and I haven't managed again despite more intensive training attempts.  So I'm not really expecting much on the full split bit, maybe some improvement and perhaps a better looking straddle. 

[Renate]

Hi! Sometimes I get excited and forget to greet

 

Thank you for the explenation. 

[@mu]

20 hours ago, analoggirl said:

Hi! Sometimes I get excited and forget to greet

 

ha ha no problem at all, I do the same  

[@mu]

Thu -> rest

Fri -> rest

I pondered about doing Thu -> rest, Fri-> press to HS, Sat -> rest, Sun -> HSPUs. Maybe I'll test that next week-end. Or maybe not, or not exactly that way, because on Wed next week I have to go on a tech site in Marseilles with a couple of colleagues (and a special > 100km travel derogation [1]) and I don't think I will have time to train early morning.

So I'll have to do

Mon -> flex +  HS

Tue -> press to HS

Wed -> rest

Thur -> HSPUs

Fri-> rest

Sat -> press to HS

Sun -> HSPUs

 

[1] technically from Monday on, the state is partially ending the lock down. It depends on regions (ours is green, less impacted by covid). Some activities will still be off limits (shows, sport events, large gathering, travel > 100km) but individuals can go out of their home without paperwork. I will still be working remotely though. Except for that one travel bit.

 

Anyway, today was press to HS, and after 2 days rest, I was quite fresh

 

Warm-up + ball rolls + mini bent arm series + Cirque physio + ball flex work + silks alignment and shoulder twist into s-wrap
HS straddle/tuck entries + leg movement
Tuck head in wall entry 4 sets => max 16s, so no PR
Negatives: HS L-sit / stalder OK
Slow press iso (40s accumulated float time) with good anti-puppy focus (just did it once and it was a very tiny puppy)
Leg raise straddle to toes 9 (bending on the second half)
HS block consistency: 6/10
HS flagging: a set on blocks and  a set on pbars, chest wall. And I tried free standing. I have a bit less rotation but it still needs a lot of work.

 

[KB Girl]

Are your classes opening back up? 

[@mu]

14 hours ago, KB Girl said:

Are your classes opening back up? 

 

No but that was to be expected considering it's a partial "unlocking-down". They have been cancelled and they MAY start again in September. The school festival has been cancelled too. It's pretty bad for the region as well because it runs a lot of art fests (circus, theatre, music...) during summer and they are all getting cancelled.

Has your government given you any kind of assessment as to when you can open the gym again?

 

Today was HSPU, logged in my challenge. Followed by split training:

tailor pose with yoga block to train in deficit: 40s x5, I'm close to the max on this one.

split entries 5x4 reps

 

Again after that, I attempted some balancing but just a couple of reps with mostly kick-up failures, shoulders were gone.

[Mad Hatter]

 

On 5/7/2020 at 9:01 AM, @mu said:

They are entries from horse stance with hands on a support, sliding down and stretching the butt out into the slide. But no pushing at the bottom or staying there for ages, it's just entry practice.

That's a pretty interesting approach. Totally get the legs shakes.  

  

On 5/7/2020 at 1:16 PM, analoggirl said:

Oh, intetesting! How do you "get better" and the horse stance, or do the entries and the stance sort of feed into each other?

If you search for Emmet Louis on YT you'll find lots on the topic.  

 

[WhiteGhost]

On 5/9/2020 at 3:59 PM, @mu said:

from Monday on, the state is partially ending the lock down

Yay for a partial recovery towards normalcy.  We have been opening up very gradually and thankfully it seems to be working.  We aren't seeing any of the major spikes people were worried about when they first started opening up.

[@mu]

12 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

That's a pretty interesting approach. Totally get the legs shakes.  

 

The horse stance really gets to me 😓

 

2 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Yay for a partial recovery towards normalcy.  We have been opening up very gradually and thankfully it seems to be working.  We aren't seeing any of the major spikes people were worried about when they first started opening up.

 

I hope let's see. I'm not too sure about the idea of opening small schools first and assume that very young kids will follow the whole procedure, ie not touching each other, not touching their face and washing their hands and so on. Classes are supposed to get smaller but the amount of teachers has not increased.

 

Monday

Today was flexibility (hips, shoulders and back) and a bit of HS (head in pike, still 12s at best). More of a groove session than a max effort one.