Suzaqu tries to do more things

[Suzaqu]

Last challenge I started on S&S and I'm really enjoying it, so I want to keep that up, but make sure I stay true to my assassin roots . I'll run my challenge Monday-Sunday like I usually do. I'm excited to go beyond what I did last challenge.

 

Goal 1: Do S&S 5 days a week. I'm aiming for 6, but 5 is my goal. I want to start working up to the full 100 swings and doing more one-handed this challenge, so I'll work on ramping those up. I also want to work on perfecting my TGU form.

 

Goal 2: Spice it up 2 times a week - I want to add some other kettlebell exercises into my workouts at least two times a week. I'm still working on the details of the programming, but I'm excited to do some fun stuff

 

Goal 3: Get bendy - 4 times a week I will work on my splits. I'm so dang close and it should happen this round.

 

Goal 4: More bending! 2 times a week I want to do yoga (probably a video). I miss the meditative awareness of my motions, and the flexibility work, so I'm bringing it back!

 

I want to also pick out a new fancy yoga pose to work on. I've done crow and side crow, and I'm not sure where to go next. Any suggestions?

 

Unofficial goal: participate in the mini challenge! I didn't really do anything with it last round, and that made me sad. Not this time around!

 

I really wanted to do a GBBO themed challenge, but I can't find enough consistent gifs to use  So I'll sprinkle them in randomly!

 

[Elastigirl]

Didn't know what GBBO was, I had to google. More kettlebells, yay. @Nymeria always does the coolest yoga moves, I bet she has an idea for a pose to work on.

[arangast]

Following for S&S fun!

 

My wife is a GBBO super-fan, I can't watch it because I just want to eat everything they make

[Grayspeed]

Following to steal TGU tips!

Also, as a Brit I feel obliged to make some overly dramatic comment on GBBO moving to Channel 4 next year.

I won't*. 

 

 

*Although the show will be at least 50% less fun without Mel and Sue*

[Mad Hatter]

25 minutes ago, Grayspeed said:

Following to steal TGU tips!

Also, as a Brit I feel obliged to make some overly dramatic comment on GBBO moving to Channel 4 next year.

I won't*. 

 

 

*Although the show will be at least 50% less fun without Mel and Sue*

 

Mel and Sue AND Mary Berry.  Now I am going to be over dramatic but I think the show's doomed.

 

But yay for armbalancing! You could either progress with the side crow related poses like the koundinyasanas which are really fun and lead to more transition stuff, or you could tackle something like firefly which leads into 8 angle pose and such. Which is also a lot of fun.  But really once you nailed side crow you can at least try most poses, just pick one that you think looks cool. (If it's too crazy we'll let you know ) 

[Suzaqu]

10 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Didn't know what GBBO was, I had to google. More kettlebells, yay. @Nymeria always does the coolest yoga moves, I bet she has an idea for a pose to work on.

It's on netflix/PBS if you want to fall down a beautiful baking hole. Highly recommend  

 

Yay for the kettlebells! I've been thinking about my spices and I think I might do that arm bar exercise from that spice article you shared. Any experience with it? After my back issue last week, I think some back strengthening is exactly what I need.

[Suzaqu]

4 hours ago, arangast said:

Following for S&S fun!

 

My wife is a GBBO super-fan, I can't watch it because I just want to eat everything they make

S&S good times! 

 

I love that show so much! They put the recipes online, but they always look so intimidating that I never really want to try, but one day I will!

[Suzaqu]

1 hour ago, Grayspeed said:

Following to steal TGU tips!

Also, as a Brit I feel obliged to make some overly dramatic comment on GBBO moving to Channel 4 next year.

I won't*. 

 

 

*Although the show will be at least 50% less fun without Mel and Sue*

Steal away! I feel like they are the kind of thing that takes years to get perfect!

 

Go ahead, make all the comments you want  I think that Mel and Sue are at least 66% of the fun. I agree with @Mad Hatter, now that Mary is out too, it's dead. Paul just can't carry the show (note the failure of the American version). 

 

[Suzaqu]

48 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

 

Mel and Sue AND Mary Berry.  Now I am going to be over dramatic but I think the show's doomed.

 

But yay for armbalancing! You could either progress with the side crow related poses like the koundinyasanas which are really fun and lead to more transition stuff, or you could tackle something like firefly which leads into 8 angle pose and such. Which is also a lot of fun.  But really once you nailed side crow you can at least try most poses, just pick one that you think looks cool. (If it's too crazy we'll let you know ) 

OOOOO, 8 angle sounds perfect! I've tried 8 angle once before and thought it would be fun. It also gets into more moving, asymmetric hand balances, which also looks like fun. I think the koundinyasanas will come next after that, I think I want to get better at the one-arm balanced side crow first.

 

 In the past, I've found that my NF compatriots have encouraged me to be more crazy, not less  I'm excited to try all the things!

[ixaera]

here for this!!

[Mad Hatter]

Oh I'm all for crazy.  Even a little too crazy.  I was just thinking in case you found an arm balance in the nearly impossible (for now) category, wouldn't want you to get discouraged ya know.

[raptron]

I loveeeee GBBO~!

 

You could also try transitioning from crow -> side crow -> back to crow in addition to your new 8-angle pursuits! They're tricky but very rewarding, I think! 

[Mad Hatter]

2 hours ago, raptron said:

I loveeeee GBBO~!

 

You could also try transitioning from crow -> side crow -> back to crow in addition to your new 8-angle pursuits! They're tricky but very rewarding, I think! 

 

I should learn that one too... I find it super hard!

[Suzaqu]

On 9/25/2016 at 2:03 PM, Mad Hatter said:

Oh I'm all for crazy.  Even a little too crazy.  I was just thinking in case you found an arm balance in the nearly impossible (for now) category, wouldn't want you to get discouraged ya know.

Thanks, crazy is fun, but I appreciate the impossibility check  Heck, a few months ago crow and side crow seemed crazy to me. I remember the first time a yoga teacher pulled them out I was dumfounded that people could do that. 

[Suzaqu]

7 hours ago, raptron said:

I loveeeee GBBO~!

 

You could also try transitioning from crow -> side crow -> back to crow in addition to your new 8-angle pursuits! They're tricky but very rewarding, I think! 

GBBO is so good!

 

 

That does sound crazy! I can't even imagine what the transitions would look like, off to google! Something else I want to try is the crow to chaturanga hop, but I think I need to be more solid in my chaturanga first, I have trouble finding it solidly. I usually end up just falling into it.

[Suzaqu]

On 9/25/2016 at 1:09 PM, ixaera said:

here for this!!

HIIIIIIIIIII! 

[Elastigirl]

7 hours ago, raptron said:

I loveeeee GBBO~!

 

You could also try transitioning from crow -> side crow -> back to crow in addition to your new 8-angle pursuits! They're tricky but very rewarding, I think! 

Or crow to headstand to crow

[ixaera]

8 minutes ago, Suzaqu said:

HIIIIIIIIIII! 

 

 

[Suzaqu]

15 minutes ago, ixaera said:

 

 

[Suzaqu]

 

25 minutes ago, Elastigirl said:

Or crow to headstand to crow

Hahahahha, nope  Headstand is still a while off for me, maybe in a year.

[Suzaqu]

Week 1 Day 1

 

I did my S&S successfully! I stuck to my standard, nothing fancy yet because I had a week off with my back twinge and then some weird nerve pain in my toes, but it felt good!

 

I chose to spice it up today to get things off on a good foot. My goals are to work on grip/bell handling and back strength/bell stability. Hopefully these two things will improve my one-handed swings and TGUs respectively.

 

I liked my plan and I think I'll keep it up with only minor changes, maybe upping reps or weight as I go.

• Snatches (15lbs) 10 each side
• Windmills (15lbs) 5 each side
• Bottoms-up press (15lbs) 5 each side
• Arm bar (15lbs) 3 each side
• Snatches (15lbs) 10 each side. 

I didn't feel like I had enough snatches and wanted to keep working on technique, so I threw more on the end once I knew I wasn't too worn out. So I think i'll do 2x10 on each side to start off next time. I should also clarify that my bottoms-up is the cheater version where you kinda grab the corner of the handle instead of the middle. I'll work up to the full version as I progress.

 

The arm bar was the only thing I hadn't done before and I really enjoyed it. It reminded me of side leg work in pilates where the whole struggle is just keeping yourself upright. So I think it will be really good for my back stability goals.

 

I was so excited about how good my workout felt that I totally forgot to stretch after and headed off to work, oops!

 

Tomorrow will hopefully be another S&S with yoga, but my schedule is iffy, so we'll see. Fingers crossed!

 

 

Tracking

S&S: 1/5, 0/5, 0/5, 0/5

Spice: 1/2, 0/2, 0/2, 0/2

Splits: 0/4, 0/4, 0/4, 0/4

Yoga: 0/2, 0/2, 0/2, 0/2

[Elastigirl]

4 minutes ago, Suzaqu said:

 

Hahahahha, nope  Headstand is still a while off for me, maybe in a year.

Oh no, I don't believe that. You can do a crow and side crow, your wrists and core are strong enough. You could do a tripod pose to start . Then do a headstand. You can do it against the wall to start with. You can do it!!

[Suzaqu]

21 minutes ago, Elastigirl said:

Oh no, I don't believe that. You can do a crow and side crow, your wrists and core are strong enough. You could do a tripod pose to start . Then do a headstand. You can do it against the wall to start with. You can do it!!

If you put it that way it sounds fun  That might indeed need to be a future goal, now I want to learn headstands!

[Elastigirl]

Just now, Suzaqu said:

If you put it that way it sounds fun  That might indeed need to be a future goal, now I want to learn headstands!

Yes!  I think crows are actually scarier than headstands. I bet you could do the tripod right now.

[Suzaqu]

4 minutes ago, Elastigirl said:

Yes!  I think crows are actually scarier than headstands. I bet you could do the tripod right now.

 Honestly, I am currently at this moment trying out all the stuff we've been discussing. I still don't' understand how crow to side crow should work, but I did manage to crack all my back in the process, so that felt good. I'm reasearching the tripod right now to figure out how to get into it