[SymphonicDan] and the Checklist [level 9]

[raptron]

gymnastics is complicated

 

PREACH.

 

Also, even when you know what to do, getting your body to do it is such a huge chore. I'm sure you are making strides in improvement though.

[SymphonicDan]

Today I had high hopes for gymnastics and weightlifting, but I was in a totally crap headspace for most things tonight, mainly for no reason. So my gymnastics and weightlifting this evening devolved into a spiral of demotivation and negativity, even though in retrospect I was performing quite well.

 

Anyway, since I don't feel like describing things with the positive glow they deserve, I'm going to give them a melodramatic angry tone to make me feel silly about the negativity.

 

Challenge #1: the checklist:

• upstart / glide kip: so just when I'm on the cusp of achieving this, and my first half-hearted attempt almost gets me into position (my best yet!), I get distracted for the rest of the gymnastics session and end up not trying/practising this more.
• frontflip: I thought I'd finally figured out how to get myself to tuck for longer during the flip, and asked one of the instructors how it looked. She said "yeah the jump is better, but the tuck is the same". Whaat? Maybe the example I showed her was just not as good.
• backflip: my brain is so lame sometimes - I tried everything today to get myself to throw these unspotted on the tumble track, and nothing would work. I tried remembering the ease with which I was flipping on Monday in the foam pit, I tried visualising it. I tried aggressive skin the cats on the high bar but letting go so I landed on my front (to get comfortable with the idea of throwing myself backwards onto my face), I tried arranging a horde of adoring fans to cheer me on and convince me that I'd have no difficulty... but all I ended up with was failing and doing a couple of rubbish spotted ones. Meh.
• squat: 95kg (not even 100kg this week) and didnt have the motivation for a work set - probably because I was fed up of them after picking up all the weights after failing 100kg for the second time...
• overhead press: 40kg x only 6 this week - and the last rep had so much back support that I wasn't happy even with that. 45kg x 2 again, so still 1 rep away from the checklist item. And there was me thinking that my work sets last week would push me considerably higher.
• deadlift: any good intentions I might have had here were sabotaged by my left shoulder, which decided to feign a mysterious tendon injury mid-workout. No idea what caused it and it's not serious, but not worth doing deadlifts on.
• pull-ups: in a shocking twist of events, I actually got a mild PR of 7 reps with 10kg added weight Otherwise, it was a rather predictable of matching each of my PRs at different weights but being unable to get any more reps (bodyweight x 13; +15kg x 4; +20kg x 3).

Okay that's enough cathartic negativity. In all seriousness, I'm pleased that I'm now performing much better at everything than a month ago, and shouldn't expect every day to be full of awesome things. Another time when I'm less tired and low on sugar I'll perform better at weightlifting and see the gains from the work I've been doing. Another time when I'm more confident with backflips I'll be able to slowly beat the fear. I'm so close to the upstart now (I think!) and my frontflips were better today than ever before.

 

Here's a happy face to show that everything's okay

 

Challenge #2: core exercises: Did a few advanced tuck holds today on the parallel bars, and they're so much higher now than before! A month ago I could barely get my feet above hip-height. Now I can keep them much higher, for several seconds. Furthermore I'm feeling them working more in some of the gymnastics moves.

 

Challenge #3: understanding Spanish: spoke with Talvi in Spanish last night, and was pleased by my fluency. I do need to pay more attention to the difference between "ratón" and "gato" though, lest I book myself into the hotel with mice rather than the hotel with cats I also listened to some Spanish radio tonight, and understood more than usual.

 

Challenge #4: no lame days: today was lame haha, but not by my original definition, so I'm still on full marks here

 

Previous challenge: mental calculation training: lol, apparently one thing I can do in my current brain state is practise mental arithmetic. Tonight I hit 30 dates/minute again (my fastest since pausing training for a couple weeks)

 

Sorry for the negativity, hopefully I'll be back to my radiant and optimistic self soon

[raptron]

Gymnastics + weightlifting on the same day? You are crazy. No wonder you were tired!

 

No need to apologize for being upset when a day doesn't meet the standards you're looking for. Hope it felt good to get the negativity out there in the open!

[Lara]

Everyone deserves to rant now and then   And everybody has bad days, EVEN YOU!!

Kidding, sorry your training didn't go as you wished, but sometimes after those sessions comes progress. Anyway you did a good work this week, and we're already halfway!

[Mad Hatter]

Oh dear your post sounds like me lately. But sorry you had a crap session. Tired and low sugar is a bad combo. Fingers crossed next session will be awesome!

[SymphonicDan]

Ahh, my demotivational slump has passed now - although I haven't made much progress towards my goals since Wednesday. I might go climbing later today, and it should be back to a usual routine next week, hopefully with some real progress, or at least actual enjoyment

 

Challenge #1: the checklist: did a set of 10 pull-ups after football just for grease the groove training

 

Challenge #4: no lame days: had a fun day yesterday, meeting a friend in London, going to see the metal band Kamelot (youtube) and then dashing back to the station to catch an earlier train back to Cambridge in time for a friend's house party that was still going on for a few hours Often on days like this I get super tired - mostly from not eating enough good-quality food, and partly from the stress of running behind schedule, so yesterday I ate a proper big healthy several-course brunch before leaving the house, and let plenty of time so that I wasn't rushing at any point, and felt pretty good the whole day. Even when I was running through London for my train I had over 5 minutes to spare at the station which was nice.

 

I've been out for a cycle and shopping trip already today, so now that I've moved around a bit, as long as I do useful things with the rest of my day I'll consider this also as a non-lame day

 

 

It's now halfway through the challenge, so probably a good time to see how progress is going:

 

Challenge #1: the checklist:

• pull-ups: increased from 11 to 14, and going strong! Will continue practising and hope to get 18 or so
• ring push-ups: no progress - need to do more practice, including auxiliary exercises like bed push-ups when my rings aren't out
• ring dips: increased from 8 to 10, and should get at least to 12, hopefully more
• overhead press: great progress - I'm one rep away for each checklist item!
• weighted pull-ups: made progress, but still a way to go before I conquer any checklist items
• squat: the 90-100kg range now seems much more comfortable, but 1RM PRs are getting thin on the ground
• deadlift: not going so well, and I've been neglecting this... I need to spend some good time one session working on getting more comfortable with heavy deadlifts
• frontflips: improved my blocking and tucking, but haven't recently practised on the ground... I should do this next gymnastics session
• upstart: done some practice to help with this, and I think I'm much closer!
• archer ring rows: neglected - should practise next time my rings are out
• bar false-grip muscle-ups: can do 1-2 reps but my wrist doesn't like it at the end... probably I need more aggressive false grip for the first part of the motion so nothing slips
• ring muscle-ups: had great progress, managing 3 in a set, but then my strength seemed to evaporate... I'll get back to training this, possibly including more false grip work
• cartwheels: had some advice but not really any practice
• backflips: don't get me started haha... at least I have a great place to practise without spotters (the foam pit) and it's just a case of building up my confidence

Challenge #2: core exercises:

• week 1: lazy.... grade D+
• week 2: great and couldn't do much more because DOMS.... grade A
• week 3: well-trained at gymnastics, but that was all... grade C-

The good thing about week 2 was the skin the cats and the upstart practice... I should do more of those for the next 3-4 weeks

 

Challenge #3: Spanish:

• work: so far I've just about matched my expectations for the amount of Spanish work I've been doing
• study: I've only made a small number of notes in my notebook, so that needs fixing... at the moment I'd give myself grade C- for this
• train: I've done some practice listening to the radio, and while I understand a decent amount, there's a lot of progress to be made. Need to do this more regularly.

Challenge #4: no lame days: so far, I've been satisfied with all of my weekend days. I've set quite a low threshold for this, but it's done a good job of stopping me from wasting my weekends, which was the whole point

[Lara]

I saw this today and thought it might interest you, if you'd want to learn some spanish slang:

http://matadornetwork.com/life/24-funniest-expressions-spain-use/

[SymphonicDan]

I saw this today and thought it might interest you, if you'd want to learn some spanish slang:

http://matadornetwork.com/life/24-funniest-expressions-spain-use/

 

Haha, how many of these would you actually use? I'd be worried that I'd go to Spain and say "I've just fallen off the donkey - my housemate is rubbing upstairs so we shouldn't make a Christ" and be met with blank stares... I was going to slip some of these in when speaking with Talvi, but forgot

 

Tonight was gymnastics night! I was in a bad form with all of the flips today... I don't know what was going wrong with them, but maybe having coffee before gymnastics can make me overthink and talk myself out of doing scary stuff more easily...

 

Challenge #1: the checklist:

• ring muscle-ups: I've had difficulty with these since I hit my set of 3 a few weeks ago, but today I got the fancy wooden rings at a high height, and just about eked out a set of 5 muscle-ups with fairly decent form, so I'm pleased with that, and that's a PR and two items off the checklist (4 muscle-ups and 5 muscle-ups)
• upstarts: according to various onlookers, I'm "so close" and I "just need to move my wrists around at the end" - so hopefully this move will be mine soon!
• backflips: did some okay ones into the foam pit, but didn't trick myself into trying them onto the crashmat while my brain was looking the other way
• frontflips: had massive issues doing these the way I usually do, so that was disappointing
• cartwheels: did a couple of experimental ones while waiting for the foam pit to become free

Challenge #2: core exercises: I almost forgot about this, since it was under duress rather than my own volition, but the instructor-led class started with a pretty heavy core workout, which has to count for something

 

Challenge #3: understanding Spanish: listened to the Spanish radio this evening and understood quite a lot about the upcoming Israeli election but not much about Zlatan Abrahimović. Taught myself the simple future tense, and I'll write up some notes in a moment, which will be 90 minutes of Spanish total since Thursday (when my week 4 started for this goal).

[Lara]

Those ones are really common expressions, that's why I thought they could be interesting for you. I know they sound odd, but they are in everyday life. I can remember using these last days numbers 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13, 14 and 16. Remember when I said I was embarrassed to dance alone in front of so many people? I used number 4 when explaining it to my friends: "Había tanta gente que me daba palo bailar". So you see how common they are. But I guess someone could be astonished to see a foreigner using them, specially in other countries, because slang is very different is Spain and America. Your combination was not exactly understandable, though.Try better: I contradicted my girlfriend and she "me montó un cristo" (was really angry and made a scene)// My girlfriend has been cheating on me for years and whilst you kept on telling me the truth about her, only now "me he caído del burro" (I didn't want to accept the truth but now I can't deny it anymore)// Where is your girlfriend? "Sobando" (sleeping), she went to a big party last night and she came home totally "pedo" (really drunk). As soon as she touched the bed "se quedó frita" (got into a deep sleep).

[StoneMonkey]

Congrats on the ring muscle-up PR! Damn, five ring muscle ups? Just one is considered pretty impressive! 

Seriously, the only thing you can do with floor techniques is keep at em. However, if you're getting frustrated with a move it's best to just leave it and do something else for a while. There's no use training something that you're frustrated with, it does more harm than good.

[Mad Hatter]

Nice PRs as usual!  

 

Fun fact - Zlatan went to my high school. He's a few years older and dropped out so we didn't quite overlap though.

[SymphonicDan]

@ZenLara: ah cool, I'll believe them a lot more now haha Come to think of it, in English there are so many idioms like those that don't make any sense, and probably also in all other natural languages (and Perl) Although apparently they're harder to use in the correct context

 

Had a frustrating day today at work, and had an overly-sugary dessert for lunch, and it made me feel on edge all afternoon... It reminded me that I'm being less and less responsible with food (in comparison with my saintlike 2013) and need to pay attention to that. Anyway, to burn off my excess energy I cycled home extra fast and stopped off at the playground:

 

Challenge #1: the checklist: casual set of 10 pull-ups for grease-the-groove training (I want my arms to be fresh for weightlifting tomorrow, so I didn't do more)

 

Challenge #2: core exercises: did some hanging L-sits and was susprised I could hold them (about 15-20 degrees below horizontal) for 5-10 seconds, so clearly something is getting stronger!

[SymphonicDan]

It's taken me a long time to get around to this! But...

 

Other things: I've had a secret project going on for the last 12 months - so secret that I didn't even let myself know about it - I should be sharing some of the results soon

 

It's not super exciting, but on 1st March 2014 I started an experiment where I made a load of predictions and then forgot about them for a year to see how my predictions compared with reality. I've now written up a post with some of the things I've learnt from the experiment, and made a long-ish post on the forums here:

 

Prediction analysis 2015

 

Tomorrow: gymnastics and probably weightlifting. Hoping for some newstrength PRs, to get my flips back to the level they were at 2 weeks ago, and maybe even conquer that elusive upstart

[erosan]

I saw this today and thought it might interest you, if you'd want to learn some spanish slang:

http://matadornetwork.com/life/24-funniest-expressions-spain-use/

 

Haha, how many of these would you actually use? I'd be worried that I'd go to Spain and say "I've just fallen off the donkey - my housemate is rubbing upstairs so we shouldn't make a Christ" and be met with blank stares... I was going to slip some of these in when speaking with Talvi, but forgot

 

These are funny, but you have to be aware that although they might be very common in Spain, most of those do not make sense at all (because they are not used) in other spanish speaking places, like Mexico, for example (of course, we have our own set of weird idiomatic expressions).

[raptron]

Woot for easier L-sit hangs!

[SymphonicDan]

Double gym today! No PRs, but importantly I was back in a good headspace and enjoyed the workout I didn't do as much work as I intended though, only getting around to the work sets about 20 minutes before the gym was going to leave. I think sometimes my PR-centric workouts can result in everything being a bit inefficient as I avoid tiring myself out early on.

 

Challenge #1: the checklist:

• frontflips: got these back in a good state today although I think I need to make a substantial change in the approach, because all I'm really doing is a run-up, taking off at an angle, and tucking just enough that I can land on my feet (so I don't over-rotate). What I should learn to do is take up more vertically, so I need to tuck harder. That way my frontflips will migrate better to the floor where taking off at an angle and letting the anglular momentum carry me around just isn't going to be enough.
• upstart: had high hopes for this! But it didn't happen. Maybe it wasn't helped by my abs DOMS. However, I got some really useful advice from the instructors about the correct body shapes (arch/dish) to generate the highest swing. Apparently the main technique thing I'm lacking is not swinging high enough, so I know what to fix! Also, more core strength will undoubtedly be useful
• squat: hit 100kg again (second time lucky) but nothing more. Did a load of 90kg x2 and 90kg x1 sets at the end
• overhead press: had some serious DOMS in my triceps (probably from the 1x, 4x and 5x muscle-ups on Monday) so maybe I shouldn't've tried this, but after a warm-up I couldn't lift higher than 42.5kg so I switched to isolating the shoulder muscles with lateral arm raises.(which always make me pull hilarious faces  )
• pull-ups: bodyweight x12, +15kg x4, +20kg x2, then a load of work sets on +10kg and +15kg
• deadlift: didn't work on this today, can't remember why... maybe I was just being lazy?

Challenge #2: core exercises: upstart work / frontflips / some advanced tuck sits on the parallel bars (like L-sit but easier)

[raptron]

Hehehe @ lateral raise faces. I know exactly what you are talking about.

 

Sounds like you might be having an upstart breakthrough soon.

[Mad Hatter]

lateral arm raises.(which always make me pull hilarious faces  )

 

Pics or it didn't happen.

[SymphonicDan]

Hehehe @ lateral raise faces. I know exactly what you are talking about.

 

Sounds like you might be having an upstart breakthrough soon.

I literally have more dexterity in my face when doing lateral arm raises than at any other time!

 

Pics or it didn't happen.

I'll see what I can do

 

Today and yesterday I had lots of DOMS in my legs and core and lats, so I've been resting and eating all the vitamins and protein and calories and drinking all the water to aid recovery. I have a good feeling about my next weights session, although not yet sure when that'll be.

 

Today I also had a football (soccer) match and it was the best game I've had in a while. I don't think I scored, but I had a super proactive defensive game and more running around than I've had in ages, so I feel well worked-out now Plus plenty of clambering over fences and onto roofs to retrieve the ball... Assassin skills being useful for the public good

 

In other news, I'm up to 73-75kg in weight (compared to 70-72kg at the start of this year) and I'm not sure how much is muscle vs. fat (usually I have very minimal body fat, so I really notice when that changes). I'm happy with this, but will look to reduce my calorie surplus slightly in a month's time when my weightlifting "season" is over and I switch to more skill-based work for the summer.

 

Challenge #3: understanding Spanish: I've actually failed during the last week (Thursday -> Wednesday) to get in my second hour of study (I did 1h40min) so bad Daniel there... To be fair, I did try some Spanish listening on Wednesday but my brain wasnt feeling very Spanish so I left it. I can still get a grade A if I don't fail again for the rest of the challenge, otherwise I'm demoted to a grade B...

[SymphonicDan]

Challenge #4: no lame days: today I got a load of cleaning and admin done and then took my gymnastics rings out for a hang in the park. It was colder than expected (6'C, 43'F, windy and damp) so it wasn't the most fun session I've had, but was good to do something anyway, especially as I could feel I was making progress in some areas:

 

Challenge #1: the checklist:

• ring push-ups: new PR of 19 (up from 18), and I realised afterwards that I'm making it harder for myself by bringing the rings towards each other too much when I push up... it's easier if I push down and slightly forwards (I did some more work sets afterwards where I experimented with my form) so I'll hopefully use that to get 20 or 25 in the next 2-3 weeks to collect more checklist points
• dips: I had barely warmed up when I did this, but managed a set of 9 so I think that 12 is in reach for more checklist points
• archer ring rows: I figured out a way to use more of my lats when doing these, and just about managed to eke out 5 reps on each arm for a new checklist item

This now brings my total to 8/32 items accomplished. I have high hopes for pull-ups, squat, 2x overhead press, ring dips and ring push-ups, amongst others, so we'll see what the next 2-3 weeks bring!

 

Challenge #2: core exercises: some skin the cats on the rings, but they're not fun in the cold. Forgot to do any L-sit exercises though...

[Mad Hatter]

Very nice job on the check-list. I might steal the PR-centric goal at some point, it seems like a nice ego boost.

[Talvi]

Challenge #3: understanding Spanish:  I can still get a grade A if I don't fail again for the rest of the challenge, otherwise I'm demoted to a grade B...

 

Oh hell no!!!  I refuse to let you be demoted - Tuesday it is!

[SymphonicDan]

Very nice job on the check-list. I might steal the PR-centric goal at some point, it seems like a nice ego boost.

It is nice, as long as you set realistic challenges (like I don't, haha) and you remember to work towards each of the goals rather than just hoping one day it'll magically happen (like I sometimes do...). I find strength-based ones are easier than skill-based ones (for example last challenge I hoped to get to 100kg squat and 130kg deadlift, and was just 5kg short on the deadlift in the end, whereas every time I add something like "do a backflip!!1one1" it ends up not happening and being disappointing.

 

Oh hell no!!!  I refuse to let you be demoted - Tuesday it is!

The reason I failed last week was because I wasn't doing enough solo practice (listening and vocab). But sure I'll let you know about Tuesday and we can continue our good work

 

Today I felt pretty crap with headaches (maybe I'm allergic to Sundays or something) but after a nap and eating way more food than I believed necessary (my appetite has been pretty ridiculous these last few days) I joined a couple friends out on the climbing wall. After a much longer warm-up than usual, comprising mainly of talking to people, I actually had a pleasing session and completed a couple easyish routes at which I'd failed on previous visits. Also managed on the first attempt my favourite one on the steepest overhang (favourite because the handholds are deep and easy to grasp) and the ridiculous jumping 7a-rated climb, yay.

 

Challenge #1: the checklist:

• false-grip bar muscle-ups: the problem with these is that my grip slips on the negatives between reps, so by the 2nd/3rd rep I'm basically doing normal pull-ups. Today I paid extra attention to a strong grip on the downward part of the motion, and after a few attempts with too much slipping, managed 3 reps which is another item on my checklist so yay for that
• bar muscle-ups: I tried some of these as well, and they were higher than ever, but had no success. Really, I think if I can get another 3-4cm on the pull-up ascent, then I'll be high enough to complete the entire pull-up

Challenge #2: core exercises: did a brief set of hanging-by-knees sit-ups, mainly for fun rather than training. I have gymnastics tomorrow so it would be counterproductive to fry my core now

 

Challenge #3: understanding Spanish: Spoke today with Talvi, and despite my continuing tiredness/headache it was by far the best conversation I've had. Comparing it to the first few times we spoke where each sentence lasted half an hour and everything Talvi said was interrupted by me because I didn't understand... now I understand about 95+% of what Talvi says (even though she now knows more complicated Spanish) and most of what I say is fluent, accurate and without hesitation. Occasional things trip me up significantly, but that's becoming rarer We spoke in the future tense today and added some difficulty so those parts were less fluent.

 

It amused me today that after we'd finished speaking, when I got up to go make some food, my internal monologue was still in Spanish. One of the things that interests me about languages is finding out what it feels like to think in another language, so I guess this is a glimpse at that

 

Challenge #4: no pathetic days: today was all set up to be pathetic, but I cycled out to climbing and did some other useful things... so today's a pass

 

Next: sleep early and rest well so that I'm feeling better tomorrow

 

Tomorrow: gymnastics in the evening (for upstarts, flips, and maybe some other things)

[Nymeria]

It is nice, as long as you set realistic challenges (like I don't, haha) and you remember to work towards each of the goals rather than just hoping one day it'll magically happen (like I sometimes do...). I find strength-based ones are easier than skill-based ones (for example last challenge I hoped to get to 100kg squat and 130kg deadlift, and was just 5kg short on the deadlift in the end, whereas every time I add something like "do a backflip!!1one1" it ends up not happening and being disappointing.

 

I've had some similar experiences with skill based goals.  It's so difficult to determine the difficulty with gaining muscle memory, so the skills end up either being so easy that I nail them right away or so difficult that I've made virtually no progress by the end of the challenge.  Sometimes it's nice, though, to go ahead with the skill goals anyway, just to help remind yourself that you should be giving those skills some extra focus or attention when you exercise, even if you can't readily see the results of your effort.  

 

You're doing a great job with your checklist!  It must be gratifying to see so many PRs.

[raptron]

So much checklist progress. That form adjustment on your ring push-ups will definitely make a huge difference going forward. Sounds like you had a great climbing day! Also, I didn't realize you were practicing Spanish with a friend (Hiiii, Talvi!). That's the best kind of practice!