[Yuen] XI

[Nymeria]

I'm not sure if it counts in the absolute strictest sense, but damn is it close!  After seeing this, I'm sure that you'll have a pretty, perfect form rep really soon.  Great work!

 

I think you should order the shirt now, since by the time it arrives, you'll totally have the OAC nailed.  

[Mr Blint]

I'm not sure if it counts in the absolute strictest sense, but damn is it close!  After seeing this, I'm sure that you'll have a pretty, perfect form rep really soon.  Great work!

 

I think you should order the shirt now, since by the time it arrives, you'll totally have the OAC nailed.  

 

Totally agree with this, you should take the video with the NF shirt

Congrats anyway !!

[hoxton]

 and about 3 bouts of medial epicondylitis) that I've only spent about 1 year able to actually train for OACs.

 

 

Brutal. I'm just getting over medial epicondylitis in both arms and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, it's been about 8 months so, that fact that yo managed to recover three times in the course of two years is pretty insane!

[BarefootDawsy]

HOLY COW!! That guy is INSANE! I can't blame you. I am pretty sure I have heard of him, but never knew his feats. The last time he did un-weighted chin-ups was when he was 17, he did 130 of them!! And that was one of his lesser feats!??! I gotta try the CTI (Close To Impossible) now. 

 

I got to meet Gordy Ainsleigh while doing a Rim to Rim to Rim at the Grand Canyon a couple years ago. Super inspirational! He is in his upper 60's and doing the same 50 mile hike in one day that I was doing. Got to talk with him at the top of the North Rim, telling me his story and how he started the sport of Ultra-marathoning after his horse died before a race. 

 

I'm with you, if I ever grow up, I definitely want to be like one of these guys!

 

Wow I'm so jealous! He seems like a really nice guy...I've known a few people who have met him and they all say he's really approachable. So is there a Western States in your future?

 

PS: Bwahahaha! Hijacking your thread with running talk Yuen

[Jake1989]

Dude... Yuen... these videos of yours are super inspiring! Keep up the amazing work!

[KB Girl]

Yuen, that is incredible! I'm definitely leaning towards counting it, but at our gym we always say that once doesn't count yet, so how about another and then go get your t-shirt?  

Woot! 

[SymphonicDan]

Really nice job with the chin-up! It's only the 5th day of the challenge and you've already demonstrated significant progression! I do have one worry about yours at the moment though - you seem to jump into it slightly, or at least you're already starting the pull-up before you leave the floor. Is this intentional (because of shoulder issues maybe, or just to make it easier)? Maybe try it with a half-second pause at the bottom of the hang, with your feet already off the floor?

 

Also I agree, you should work on reducing that kip, but whether you consider it a mission accomplished before or after you control it a bit more is up to you - it's your mission not ours!

 

And I'm stating the obvious, but a 1ACU is super impressive irrespective of what your core is doing in the meantime!

[Yuen]

Thanks for all your replies and opinions everyone!

 

I say count it! Might not be the prettiest yet, but you gotta start somewhere. And it does appear you got your chin above the bar just by the lack of hair on your chinny chin chin. Congrats man! That is awesome!

 

Yeah definitely not pretty. I thought I *just* got chin to bar as well.

 

How are your one arm chin progressions going btw? We seem very similar on weight and vertical pulling strength (judging by the pull up leaderboard).

 

I'm not sure if it counts in the absolute strictest sense, but damn is it close!  After seeing this, I'm sure that you'll have a pretty, perfect form rep really soon.  Great work!

 

I think you should order the shirt now, since by the time it arrives, you'll totally have the OAC nailed.  

 

Thanks Nymeria! Yeah I agree its definitely not strict. But hopefully soon(ish)

 

Totally agree with this, you should take the video with the NF shirt

Congrats anyway !!

 

Hehe, yeah I was planning on taking a video in an NF shirt doing a better form OAC, then posting it to the woot room forum for my maiden post there . Not sure how long it will take to improve my form though

 

Brutal. I'm just getting over medial epicondylitis in both arms and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, it's been about 8 months so, that fact that yo managed to recover three times in the course of two years is pretty insane!

 

I had some serious forced resting periods for my medial epicondylitis sometimes (dislocated shoulders do that ). Also I think I got slightly less stupid over time. So I backed off sooner and sooner each time.

 

I think OAC training for me, was all about finding that fine equilibrium between stimulating hypertrophy, and avoiding tendonitis. I stuffed it up many times. But I think I eventually found a routine that worked for me

 

Dude... Yuen... these videos of yours are super inspiring! Keep up the amazing work!

 

Thanks Jake1989!

 

Yuen, that is incredible! I'm definitely leaning towards counting it, but at our gym we always say that once doesn't count yet, so how about another and then go get your t-shirt?

Woot! 

 

I've done it a couple of times to a similar level now, so I've ordered my shirt! Yay!

 

Really nice job with the chin-up! It's only the 5th day of the challenge and you've already demonstrated significant progression! I do have one worry about yours at the moment though - you seem to jump into it slightly, or at least you're already starting the pull-up before you leave the floor. Is this intentional (because of shoulder issues maybe, or just to make it easier)? Maybe try it with a half-second pause at the bottom of the hang, with your feet already off the floor?

 

Also I agree, you should work on reducing that kip, but whether you consider it a mission accomplished before or after you control it a bit more is up to you - it's your mission not ours!

 

And I'm stating the obvious, but a 1ACU is super impressive irrespective of what your core is doing in the meantime!

 

Thanks SymphonicDan. Your posts are very detailed and well thought out and I really enjoy reading them.

 

The bottom ROM is intentional because of my shoulder instability. I was trying at the bottom to pull my shoulder tight (and stable) until my toes just left the floor. When I felt the slight swinging sensation that came from my feet no longer touching the floor, then I initiated the pull. I also waited for my body to 'swing' into the angle/position that is most biomechanically advantageous for my peak vertical pulling force.

 

What I do on the bottom ROM definitely makes the movement easier. But I'm happy never having a 'true' OAC in that sense. My sucky sucky experiences post shoulder-dislocations have changed my long term 'epic goals'.

[SymphonicDan]

Thanks SymphonicDan. Your posts are very detailed and well thought out and I really enjoy reading them.

 

The bottom ROM is intentional because of my shoulder instability. I was trying at the bottom to pull my shoulder tight (and stable) until my toes just left the floor. When I felt the slight swinging sensation that came from my feet no longer touching the floor, then I initiated the pull. I also waited for my body to 'swing' into the angle/position that is most biomechanically advantageous for my peak vertical pulling force.

 

What I do on the bottom ROM definitely makes the movement easier. But I'm happy never having a 'true' OAC in that sense. My sucky sucky experiences post shoulder-dislocations have changed my long term 'epic goals'.

 

Ah okay - so you're not jumping at all but just stronger at the bottom of the RoM! I take back my worry about that You should get a video of your best ones for the Assassin video thread btw - I see you already have some there for slow muscle-ups and other skills.

[Yuen]

 

Ah okay - so you're not jumping at all but just stronger at the bottom of the RoM! I take back my worry about that You should get a video of your best ones for the Assassin video thread btw - I see you already have some there for slow muscle-ups and other skills.

 

Yeah I was going to try a video by the end of the 6WC, hopefully with slightly better form.

 

---

 

Regular training (for 2 days):

Overhead press

50x7, 50x8, 50x8, 40x10

(Last set = drop set with no/minimal break prior)

 

Handstand Push Ups (foot against wall, hands on parallettes, 3" deficit until head touches a box)

13 (wide grip)

10 (narrower grip)

6 (narrower grip, pause at bottom, perfect form)

 

Headstand Push Ups (foot against wall)

20

 

Back/oblique rehab:

YES x2

 

Stretching:

oops x2

 

Notes:

I tried greasing the groove with partial range OACs. I don't think I'm strong enough to be doing that yet (I got some moderate lat dorsi insertion tendonitis)

[hoxton]

 

 

 

Handstand Push Ups (foot against wall, hands on parallettes, 3" deficit until head touches a box)

13 (wide grip)

10 (narrower grip)

6 (narrower grip, pause at bottom, perfect form)

 

 

Fair Play! I will get there one day

[KB Girl]

Yuen! Go stretch!

[Endor]

So this is where you're hiding

 

You're a total monster, get the shirt

[Delete]

Wow I'm so jealous! He seems like a really nice guy...I've known a few people who have met him and they all say he's really approachable. So is there a Western States in your future?

 

PS: Bwahahaha! Hijacking your thread with running talk Yuen

 

Lol, I actually don't even like running (tho I am good at it). Running 100 miles is not likely in my future. I do like to push my body to the limits though. I will be competing in a full Triathlon in December, but my goal now is just to complete it, as my swim times are miserable. And really the only reason I am doing it is to knock out a marathon in the same race, so I can say I did them both and never have to do either one of them ever again. How about yourself?

 

Thanks for all your replies and opinions everyone!

 

 

Yeah definitely not pretty. I thought I *just* got chin to bar as well.

 

How are your one arm chin progressions going btw? We seem very similar on weight and vertical pulling strength (judging by the pull up leaderboard).

 

I actually couldn't even remember the last time I tried. I went for it real quick and am no where near getting it. I have been doing archer pull-ups once a week, but have been having a hard time with them. I am going to have to decide on only a couple of skills I want to conquer first and increase my effort toward those before trying any others. I am going for too much at once and am finding it is counter productive.

 

How have things been going? You get your perfect OAC since last time?

[Yuen]

Lol, I actually don't even like running (tho I am good at it). Running 100 miles is not likely in my future. I do like to push my body to the limits though. I will be competing in a full Triathlon in December, but my goal now is just to complete it, as my swim times are miserable. And really the only reason I am doing it is to knock out a marathon in the same race, so I can say I did them both and never have to do either one of them ever again. How about yourself?

 

BarefootDawsy has actually started back at weightlifting rather than running for the moment! We are going to have a Sydney lifting meet up at my gym (follow by steak at the pub ) in about 4 weeks time.

 

 

How have things been going? You get your perfect OAC since last time?

 

Things got a bit busy at home and work so I stopped updating my thread, however I've still been regularly doing my exercise.

 

I still haven't got a perfect OAC. I think it will take me another 3 months of solid work. The only reason I made such a fast progression at the start of my 6WC was the first video was done after I was already worn out from weighted chin ups. But because I got further than I was expecting I tried again a couple of days later except at the start of my workout - but I wore myself out trying out partial reps from an elevated start. Then my final video was taken with me attempting fresh, and immediately from the floor.

 

So I'm out of 'quick-fix' 'fake' improvements Any further improvements will have to be unfortunately gained the hard way - gaining strength, dropping weight, or a combination

 

----

 

Short and dirty copy paste of regular workouts:

 

20 Apr (Mon)

Dips (P-Bar): 35,25

21 Apr (Tue)

Chins: Pyramid (had to stop short after 3 due to squashing finger)

95 push ups (14,13,12,11,10,9,8,5,3s)

22 Apr (Wed)

23 Apr (Thur)

Chins: Pyramid 1->8->1 (+35kg to 6(4,2) 7(3))

24 Apr (Fri)

25 Apr (Sat)

Mucking around with rings at beach with nephew and niece

26 Apr (Sun)

HSPU(3"): 14,10,6 HeSPU: 20

 

Back/oblique rehab:

5 out of the past 7 days

 

Stretching:

3 out of the past 7 days

 

Yuen! Go stretch!

 

It would have been even less than 3 out of 7 if it weren't for you keeping me accountable for the less fun part of my challenge KB! Thank you

 

Notes:

I'm having a hard time telling myself stretching is fun....

I'm not sure what I can do to make this a long term thing

[BarefootDawsy]

Notes:

I'm having a hard time telling myself stretching is fun....

I'm not sure what I can do to make this a long term thing

 

Wayyy back in the day when I used to do karate, my sensei at the time was going through the same thing. He ended up making it a daily routine and as far as I know never stopped. He said the trick was having a specific routine that you do every day, first thing as soon as you get up. It takes a couple of weeks to get into the swing of it, but before long, you'll start kicking off your routine as soon as your feet hit the floor in the morning...that's the theory anyways. I hate stretching too so never tried

[KB Girl]

Maybe you need a more specific goal? Why are you stretching exactly?

[Delete]

Notes:

I'm having a hard time telling myself stretching is fun....

I'm not sure what I can do to make this a long term thing

 

I have always had a hard time getting myself to stretch regularly too. I agree with the others in that making it a necessary part of the routine makes it much easier to keep at it. I have a specific set of stretches that I do after every workout now, no excuses. It has been working great so far (when I am regularly exercising) and it gives an awesome feeling of energy afterwards too. By doing the same thing over and over and in the same sequence, I hope to make it a habit and not even have to think about it anymore. Once that is done, I can start switching stretches up to keep my muscles thinking. And what motivates me to stretching regularly is that I am desperate to avoid injuries. Better flexibility seems like the logical solution.

 

Here is my list of stretches I do after every workout everyday:

wrist stretches

shoulder stretches

triceps stretch

chest stretch

side stretch

quadriceps stretch

forward bends (feet together, feet spread, one bent leg, feet spread w/ squat)

runners lunge

butterflies

seated back twist

reclining pigeon

reclining twist

knee hugs

upward dog

downward dog

cat movement

child’s pose

 

I just do each stretch until I feel good about it. Haven't timed it yet, but it really doesn't seem to take much time at all. Something is better than nothing.

 

If you are interested, I propose a Daily Stretch Challenge for the month of May!

We can just keep track from each others logs. Loser has to post a goofy picture and tell how much more a manly man the other is, or something to that nature.

How about it?

[Yuen]

Copy/paste from my workout log sitting on my desktop. Explanations for absence and challenge wrap up to follow...

 

27 Apr (Mon)

Upside down pull ups (bar): 23,15,10 (forced partial range)

28 Apr (Tue)

Chins: Pyramid 1->8->1 (+35kg to 7(4:3,1))

29 Apr (Wed)

30 Apr (Thur)

 

1 May (Fri)

2 May (Sat)

OHP: 50x10,8,7 40x7(drop set)

Squats (A2G): 40x10 (back feeling ok)

3 May (Sun)

95 push ups (14,13,12,11,10,9,8,6,3s)

4 May (Mon)

5 May (Tue)

Dips (P-Bar): 35,27

6 May (Wed)

7 May (Thur)

Chins: Pyramid 1->8->1 (+35kg to 7(5:3,1,1))

8 May (Fri) sick

HSPU(7"): 5,3,1 (too sick for HeSPU) 

9 May (Sat) sick

10 May (Sun) sick

11 May (Mon) sick

12 May (Tue)

Chins: Pyramid 1->7->1 (+40kg to 3) (too tired/sick for pyramid to 8)

OHP: 52.5x7,6

13 May (Wed)

100 push ups (14,13,12,11,10,9,8,7,6,3s) (form not great due to recovering from sickness)

14 May (Thur)

Chins: Pyramid 1->8->1 (+40kg to 4(1)) Had to stop at 5 on way down due to phlegm

OHP: 52.5x5,6,6

15 May (Fri)

Upside down pull ups (bar): 24,15,10 (forced partial range)

16 May (Sat)

HSPU(7"): 6,3,1 

17 May (Sun)

Dips (P-Bar): 40,5

18 May (Mon) (all nighter at work)

19 May (Tue)

20 May (Wed)

21 May (Thur)

Chins: Pyramid 1->8->1 (+40kg to 4(2))

HSPU(7"): 6,3,1,1 

22 May (Fri)

23 May (Sat)

HSPU(7"): 6,3,1,1

24 May (Sun)

Dips (P-Bar): 40,6

Upside down pull ups (bar): 25,15,10 (forced partial range)

[Yuen]

I obviously did a pretty bad job at updating my 6WC..

 

The main reason for this was that I got sick. Just a viral upper respiratory tract infection (aka man-flu), but enough to cough up lots of phlegm, continually blow my nose, sore throat, low energy. Despite this I still managed to do some basic maintenance form of exercise.

 

However the worst was yet to come. I started to recover from the virus, but then my little 10 month old daughter got sick for the first time. It was worse than being sick myself. She was much more irritable than usual, cried easily, and needed a lot more hands-on attention. That meant every waking hour for her was very tiring for her parents. Much worse than that though was her sleeping routine got turned upside down. It was like we were back to the first week after she was born - waking up every 2 hours, needing to be comforted/rocked to go back to sleep. Suffice to say that both baby and parents were pretty sleep deprived. Ah well - at least I was recovering, and had energy to spend in caring for my little girl.

 

Then I presume the virus mutated and was passed back to myself and my wife. So, then we had a sick, irritable, crying baby who didn't sleep. And in addition to that both parents were tired, fatigued, and phlegm filled from sickness.

 

Argh.

 

Anyways, I should really stop complaining. In reality I have a very good life, and we finally survived and all of us are now (mostly) better.

[Yuen]

END OF CHALLENGE WRAP UP

 

Goal 1: Stretch my lower back and obliques daily.

Grade: A

Pretty happy with this. My back/obliques feel much better. Tasks which used to hurt, no longer do. I have returned to (light) squatting. It is not 100% better, but it is markedly better.

Goal 2: Develop a daily stretching habit of 5 mins per day. 

Grade: D

Failed at developing a habit of stretching 5 mins per day. I'm clearly not currently willing to devote that much time to stretching at this time.

I have however developed a habit of doing a quad stretch while brushing my teeth in the shower in the morning .... baby steps

Goal 3: Achieve goals 1 and 2 whilst maintaining my current strength routine.

Grade: A

I thought this one would be ridiculously easy to achieve. But in reality it was quite hard when I got sick/baby got sick/everyone got sick. I'm quite proud that I managed to not lose any strength while being sick.

 

I unfortunately didn't achieve any gains (no perfect form OACs lol) but I don't think that was really on the cards after getting sick for an extended period.

[Endor]

Wow everyone's been sick, I'm lucky to get away with it so far...glad you are on the mend.

[SymphonicDan]

Looks like you don't feel excited by the benefits of stretching daily (except for your lower back, where quite clearly you see the benefit of injury rehabilitation). I'm not surprised - I'd be exactly the same haha. Are you thinking of doing this kind of challenge again and find a reason to be motivated, or skip it in favour of something more exciting?

 

Shame that you were sick :( but you've done a very good job at keeping your base level of strength during this time (or even increasing it? I see your weighted pull-up pyramids jumped up to +40kg) Hope you're better now ready to rock the next challenge in 2 weeks!

[BarefootDawsy]

Yep, I know how you feel. Good to see you kept up with some exercising...it can be really challenging to push through, especially when the kids are down with it too. All in all good challenge...too bad the shirt hasn't arrived yet though See you tonight!

[Yuen]

Looks like you don't feel excited by the benefits of stretching daily (except for your lower back, where quite clearly you see the benefit of injury rehabilitation). I'm not surprised - I'd be exactly the same haha. Are you thinking of doing this kind of challenge again and find a reason to be motivated, or skip it in favour of something more exciting?

 

Shame that you were sick :( but you've done a very good job at keeping your base level of strength during this time (or even increasing it? I see your weighted pull-up pyramids jumped up to +40kg) Hope you're better now ready to rock the next challenge in 2 weeks!

 

I was not planning on trying to add stretching to my routine again next challenge. I think I need to find a suitable motivation first. The benefit to cost (time) ratio just doesn't seem worth it to me on a majority of days

 

I increased my weighted chin ups to +40kg, but also dropped the reps right back to compensate. Before I was doing 1+2+3+4+5+6+5=26 reps with +35kg with pretty short breaks. I started at 1+2+3=6 reps with +40kg (but I still completed the pyramid to 8 and then back down). I find that when I'm sick my peak strength only goes down by 10% or so, but any kind of muscular endurance drops by >50%. So that was the reason I was very happy to increase the weight (and drop reps) despite being sick.