Gemma v. Chaos

[Gemma]

30m version of GMB Mobility - Hips 🚀

Hips felt really good in all of this, even in the Sumo Frogger. This was the first time I'd encountered the Half Frog, I really felt like that was stretching and strengthening some things that really needed it. 

Prep
→ Supine Hip Circles
→ Single Leg Deadlift
→ Standing Knee to Chest

 

Practice
→ Monkey 180
→ Sumo Frogger
→ Floating Table Top
→ Wrists - Palms Down, Fingers Facing Knees
→ Frog
→ Butterfly
→ Half Frog
→ General Kneeling Lunge
→ Modified Pigeon Stretch
 

[Gemma]

15m version of Integral Strength - Assisted Full Shrimp and Full Chin-Up 🚀
 

I need to back off on Chin-Up work; my R elbow is not happy at all. I think my muscles are close to strong enough, or at least getting there, but the tendons/ligaments/whatever around the surgery site are taking their time about catching up. Will stick with Pulling Prep, slow negatives, and assisted Chin-Ups for a bit longer. 
 

Turning my R hand outward a little bit takes a lot of the pressure off of that wrist in Bear variations. 

Prep
→ General Kneeling Lunge
→ Quadruped Sidebend
→ Quadruped Spinal Circles
→ Kneeling Back Flexion to Prone Lying Back Extension
→ Wrists - Palms Down, Fingers Facing Knees
 

Practice
→ Bar Full Chin-Up
→ Wall Assisted Full Shrimp Holding Foot
 

Play
→ Front to Back Scale to Shrimp Squat
 

Push
→ Half Pancake
→ Modified Pigeon Stretch
→ Frog Stretch
→ Seated Clasped Hands Extension
→ Prone Bent Arm Chest Stretch
→ Standard Jump
→ Stall Step Back Lunge
→ Bent Arm Bear
→ Bar Half Jump to Negative Chin-Up
→ Plank Lower to Kneeling Push-Up

[Gemma]

15m version of GMB Mobility - Fundamentals 🚀

 

This all felt great

Prep
→ Supine Hip Circles
→ Quadruped Shoulder Circles
→ Quadruped Wag Tail
→ Quadruped Spinal Circles
→ Seated Twist
→ Tall Kneeling Arm Raises to Side
→ Tall Kneeling Arm Raises
→ Single Leg Deadlift
→ Standing Knee to Chest

 

Practice
→ Basic Frogger
→ Bear
→ Basic Monkey
→ Wrists - Palms Down, Fingers Facing Knees
→ Modified Pigeon Stretch
→ General Kneeling Lunge

[Gemma]

30m version of Integral Strength - Assisted Full Shrimp and Full Chin-Up 🚀

 

After the last few Mobility sessions, especially the Live yesterday, I can hold my foot in the Shrimp Squat position without my hamstrings cramping. Still have limited depth, so after a few reps reverted back to Split Squats. 

 

Prep
→ General Kneeling Lunge
→ Quadruped Sidebend
→ Quadruped Spinal Circles
→ Kneeling Back Flexion to Prone Lying Back Extension
→ Wrists - Palms Down, Fingers Facing Knees

 

Practice
→ Bar Full Chin-Up
→ Bar Pulling Prep
→ Wall Assisted Full Shrimp Holding Foot

 

Play
→ Front to Back Scale to Shrimp Squat

 

Push
→ Half Pancake
→ Modified Pigeon Stretch
→ Frog Stretch
→ Seated Clasped Hands Extension
→ Prone Bent Arm Chest Stretch
→ Hollow Body Hold On Floor
→ Standard Jump
→ Stall Step Back Lunge
→ Bent Arm Bear
→ Bar Half Jump to Negative Chin-Up
→ Plank Lower to Kneeling Push-Up
 

[ParylPanda]

Wow, some of those exercises have quite interesting names!

[Gemma]

On 7/13/2022 at 3:21 AM, ParylPanda said:

Wow, some of those exercises have quite interesting names!

 

They really do - I think sometimes it takes as long to say the name as to perform the movement  😅

 

 

15m version of GMB Mobility - Spine 🚀

 

I really needed this today - too much time on the couch while teleworking! Quadruped Wag Tail and Extended Side Angle Pose felt particularly good today. SI joint is behaving badly again. 

 

Prep
→ Tall Kneeling Arm Raises to Side
→ Quadruped Spinal Circles
→ Quadruped Wag Tail
→ Standing Knee to Chest

 

Practice
→ Wrists - Palms Down, Fingers Facing Knees
→ Extended Side Angle Pose
→ Cobra
→ Quadruped Twist
→ Half Pancake

 

Play
→ Sumo Frogger
→ Basic Monkey
→ Bear
 

[Alanna]

I'm glad integral strength is still going well! I saw that GMB is updating IS, too - are you looking forward to the ring and parallette options?

 

On 7/7/2022 at 12:23 PM, Gemma said:

I need to back off on Chin-Up work; my R elbow is not happy at all. I think my muscles are close to strong enough, or at least getting there, but the tendons/ligaments/whatever around the surgery site are taking their time about catching up. Will stick with Pulling Prep, slow negatives, and assisted Chin-Ups for a bit longer. 

 

Inside or outside of the elbow? If it's the former, it could be bicep tendonitis, which might be exacerbated by chin-ups since they involve the biceps a lot. Pull-ups could be more comfortable while you heal since they don't focus on biceps as much. But ignore me if I'm way off the mark! Previous surgery alone could definitely explain the elbow issues. 

[Gemma]

On 7/16/2022 at 6:40 AM, Alanna said:

I'm glad integral strength is still going well! I saw that GMB is updating IS, too - are you looking forward to the ring and parallette options?

 

 

Inside or outside of the elbow? If it's the former, it could be bicep tendonitis, which might be exacerbated by chin-ups since they involve the biceps a lot. Pull-ups could be more comfortable while you heal since they don't focus on biceps as much. But ignore me if I'm way off the mark! Previous surgery alone could definitely explain the elbow issues. 

 

When I start IS over I think I will probably start with the bodyweight only option, even though I have both rings and parallettes - the first time going through it mostly served to wake me up to just how much strength deficit I am dealing with. I'm not exactly as weak as a kitten, but I am nowhere near as strong as I thought I was, and strength gains seem to come more slowly at age 55 than they did even at 48. So gradual, slow, and steady are apparently the watchwords. Which sucks, since I am notoriously impatient. 

Plan is to survive the current chaos (major inspection cycle at work combined with massive curriculum review combined with roofers on my house every day for weeks which leads to a lot of extra work to manage the dogs' anxiety ...) while continuing with Mobility when I can, and trying to squeeze in KB swings, push ups, and PU bar shrugs whenever I have a half minute.  Once I have a little bandwidth I will either try the bodyweight IS or go do Elements again, and add in some inverted rows to keep progressing towards chin-ups or pull-ups but slowwwly. 

It's the outside of the elbow, sharp pain right on the bony protrusion bit. I had an ulnar nerve transposition five years ago - literally had my funny bone removed . It has not bothered me at all since I finished the post surgery PT, but when I started to get  kind of aggressive with the chin-up negatives I triggered or inflamed something that I now need to be kind to for a while. 


 

15m version of GMB Mobility - Shoulders 🚀

This felt really good. My shoulders are generally pretty hypermobile and injury prone, so I'm usually more concerned about not pushing too far and hurting myself in most shoulder stretch positions than in trying to really get a good stretch. I was surprised to find that the posterior shoulder opener did feel like a really good stretch; apparently I have not worked with that particular ROM before, or at least not in several years. 

Prep
→ Quadruped Shoulder Circles
→ Tall Kneeling Arm Raises to Side
→ Tall Kneeling Arm Raises
 

Practice
→ Twisting Bear
→ Wrists - Palms Down, Fingers Facing Knees
→ A-Frame
→ Seated Clasped Hands Extension
→ Posterior Shoulder Opener
→ Prone Bent Arm Chest Stretch
 

Play
→ Bear
→ Floating Table Top

[Gemma]

15m version of Elements - Spiderman Leg Extension and Monkey 360 🚀
 

This was a bit of a 'back in the saddle' session, last month or so has been a lot of movement but not much that was intentional or targetted to a health goal, mostly construction work. Took it pretty easy, felt good. 

Prep
→ Frog Stretch
→ Quadruped Spinal Circles
→ Quadruped Wag Tail
→ Wrists - Palms Down, Fingers Facing Knees
→ Standing Straight Leg Hip Circles
 

Practice
→ Monkey 360
→ Spiderman Single Leg Extension
 

Play
→ Crab Free Flow
→ Monkey 360 to Around the World Combination
 

Push
→ 3-Point Bridge
→ General Kneeling Lunge
→ Seated Clasped Hands Extension
→ Kneeling Back Flexion to Prone Lying Back Extension
 

[Gemma]

15m version of GMB Mobility - Hips 🚀

This wasn't too bad. My wrist was a no-go for the Monkey 180 so I just did regular Monkey and focused on pushing *hard* into the ground. Frog stretch is getting ... not easier, exactly, but at least doable without pain. Weird how hypermobile my hamstrings are compared to iron tight adductors. 

Had the Heart song "Dog and Butterfly" earworming through my brain for most of the workout, can't figure out why 😜
 

Prep
→ Supine Hip Circles
→ Single Leg Deadlift
→ Standing Knee to Chest
 

Practice
→ Monkey 180
→ Wrists - Palms Down, Fingers Facing Knees
→ Frog
→ Butterfly
→ Half Frog
→ General Kneeling Lunge
→ Modified Pigeon Stretch
 

Play
→ Sumo Frogger
→ Floating Table Top
 

[auntdinosaur]

Oh! I just got back into GMB (Elements) today. Glad to see someone else doing it here. 

[Emissary2Ornj]

Frog stretch is always an interesting stretch. I don't think my brain is convinced yet it's a perfectly safe position and stretch to be in. 

[Gemma]

Finally finished IS!  I was planning to start on another round of Elements, but then the GMBunch released this add-on and it sounded like exactly what I need. So, new plan is alternating days of  LI  and Resiliance, w/ Fridays set aside for Recovery. 

 

Literal Immortality - Strength and Balance 🚀
 

Wow, I need to work on my balance. I was getting better at it in the context of the Daily Battery, but the Crab Toe Taps and Seiza to Stand were humbling. Shoulder mobility is not a problem in the Release Push-Ups, but I still have a way to go in building pushing strength. I really, really like this program. 

Prep
→ Frog
→ Quadruped Twist
→ General Kneeling Lunge
→ Egg Roll
→ Prone Bent Arm Chest Stretch
 

Push
→ Crab Toe Taps
→ Speed Skaters
→ Seiza to Stand Up Literal Immortality
→ Release Push-Ups

[Elastigirl]

Congrats on finishing IS! I was tempted to buy LI, but I'm still working on finishing IS.Maybe I'll get it as a prize for finishing IS. Glad to hear you really like it.

[Gemma]

Literal Immortality - Mobility and Spatial Awareness 🚀
 

Notable arm strength limitations - both versions of the Prone Crawls were more difficult that it seems they should have been. Used a half-gallon of vinegar for weight in the grip pendulums, need to find a 5# dumbbell for next time this comes around. Had the wobblies pretty bad in the Single Leg Deadlift, may still be fatigued from the flu shot and the long tedious work this week. 

Prep
→ Modified Pigeon Stretch
→ A-Frame
→ Kneeling Back Flexion to Prone Lying Back Extension
→ Single Leg Deadlift
→ Hand Clench
 

Push
→ Low Backward Break Fall
→ Inch Worm Toe Touches
→ Rear Loaded A-Frame / Bear
→ Prone Crawls
→ Grip Pendulums

 

I do like LI a great deal, but I probably should not be using it as my primary workout. It's meant to be just an just an add-on. I'm using it as my primary workout because I'm back in "that's just all I've got right now" land,  and doing something is better than doing nothing. Should be able to ramp up to longer walks soon, that will also help. 

[Gemma]

Literal Immortality - Control and Balance 🚀
 

That went better than I thought it would. The Twisting Get-Up was easier than I expected, it's going to be a while before I can do it with no hands, though. R wrist is still just not doing well at all. 

Prep
→ Supine Knee Circles
→ Supine Ankle Circles
→ Extended Side Angle Pose
→ Standing Straight Leg Hip Circles
→ Full Body Vibrations

 

Push
→ Hop Stop Drop
→ Pronated Drop And Grab
→ Twisting Get-Up
→ Pick It Up Put It Down
→ Walking Planks Side to Side

[Emissary2Ornj]

How cool that "full body vibrations" is included in prep!

[Gemma]

I completed the 15m version of Elements - Assessment and Introduction to the Moves 🚀

 

It has been a while since I did any of this but that felt great! I'm glad I took the time to go through all of the tutorials, there were some fine points of Floating Tabletop and Crab Set-Up that I had forgotten or not been paying attention to. Particularly the rounding of the back/ tucking of the pelvis in FT - interested to see if that will help strengthen my Froggers. 
 

Also forgot how much I love Quadruped Spinal and Shoulder Circles - wow those feel good, even better after I haven't done them for a month 😐
 
Prep
→ Supine Hip Circles
→ General Kneeling Lunge
→ Quadruped Spinal Circles
→ Quadruped Shoulder Circles
→ Wrists - Palms Down, Fingers Facing Knees
 

Practice
→ Crab Set-Up
→ Floating Table Top
→ Squat Assessment
→ A-Frame Elements
 

Push
→ 3-Point Bridge
→ Seated Clasped Hands Extension
→ Modified Pigeon Stretch
→ Kneeling Back Flexion to Prone Lying Back Extension

[Gemma]

20m version of Literal Immortality - Strength and Spatial Awareness 🚀
 

That was kinda great. Egg Rolls were exactly what my low back needed, who knew? I wish I'd been practicing those Low Forward Break Falls *before* I had that fall in 2018 that split my lip open - well, at least now I have a chance at being better prepared next time. The Bouncing Split Squats are going to take a lot of work, my R ankle very clearly needs that strengthening and the L knee was not doing a whole lot better. I didn't hurt myself, but I had to modify a LOT to make that be true. 

Prep
→ Frog Stretch
→ Quadruped Twist
→ General Kneeling Lunge
→ Egg Roll
→ Prone Bent Arm Chest Stretch
 

Push
→ Low Forward Break Fall
→ Supine Crawls
→ Bouncing Split Squats
→ Plyometric Push-Ups

[Elastigirl]

I slipped on ice slush last winter, and came away with zero injuries. I think it was because I had practiced some of the fall training that GMB offers. It happened too fast to plan how to fall, but I think I did automatically follow some of their suggestions. 

[Gemma]

20m version of Literal Immortality - Mobility and Balance 🚀
 

Felt good to be back in the game, but I do fatigue really fast. Tried to go too far on the first set of Hanging Swaying, need to just keep my feet down for a little while to give the R shoulder a chance to deal with what I'm asking of it. Need to do the Crab Toe Taps reeeaalllly slowly if I am to maintain control. 
 

Speed Skaters are weirdly fun. Seems like I should hate them, but I don't. Cool. 

Prep
→ Modified Pigeon Stretch
→ A-Frame
→ Kneeling Back Flexion to Prone Lying Back Extension
→ Single Leg Deadlift
→ Hand Clench
 

Push (Superset x3) 
→ Crab Toe Taps
→ Knee Circles in Lunge
→ Speed Skaters
→ Hanging Swaying
 

[Emissary2Ornj]

21 hours ago, Gemma said:

Tried to go to far on the first set of Hanging Swaying, need to just keep my feet down for a little while to give the R shoulder a chance to deal with what I'm asking of it.

I tried Hanging & Hanging Prep a few weeks ago. Right now it seems exTREMEly easy to go too far. Meaning, an incremental increase/variation seems to be too much. Now I'm leery of this movement while simultaneously wanting to get after it. I don't quite trust my patience "muscle" to stay where it'll do me the most good without overreaching current strength/mobility limits.

[Gemma]

2 hours ago, Emissary2Ornj said:

I don't quite trust my patience "muscle" to stay where it'll do me the most good without overreaching current strength/mobility limits.

 
Haha, yep. That one is by far my weakest muscle! 

 

 

30m version of Elements - A-Frame and Bear 🚀
 

I really do like it when I can arrange my life to do the slightly longer sessions. This felt great! Still have to turn my R hand out so the thumb doesn't hurt, arthritis sucks, but with just that slight turnout it doesn't bother me at all

Prep
→ Supine Hip Circles
→ Walk Into Squat
→ Quadruped Spinal Circles
→ Quadruped Shoulder Circles
→ Wrists - Palms Down, Fingers Facing Knees
 

Practice
→ Bear
→ A-Frame Example for Beginners
 

Push
→ 3-Point Bridge
→ General Kneeling Lunge
→ Seated Clasped Hands Extension
→ Kneeling Back Flexion to Prone Lying Back Extension

[Gemma]

 20m version of Literal Immortality - Control and Spatial Awareness 🚀
 

That was tough. Balance is still unbalanced. My upper body strength is even less than I thought it was; those Plank Walk-Ups were *tough*! Clearly I need all of this, so I'm glad I have it. 
 

Prep
→ Supine Knee Circles
→ Supine Ankle Circles
→ Extended Side Angle Pose
→ Standing Straight Leg Hip Circles
→ Full Body Vibrations
 

Push
→ Inch Worm Toe Touches
→ Low Side Break Fall
→ Side Crawls
→ Front and Back Scales Leg Swing
→ Plank Walk-Up

[Gemma]

30m version of Elements - Squat and Monkey 🚀
 

I cannot believe how much my squat has improved since my first round of Elements. I can get to an ATG squat from standing, never thought that would be possible for me. Even crazier, I can stand UP from an ATG squat without a prop! Sometimes my R knee gets a little bit twingy when I stand up, but if I start off going just past parallel thighs and then work downward from there until the knee is warmer, it's just fine. Who even am I? 
 

Monkey Prep felt pretty good, wrists still get achy but nowhere near as bad as they used to so I must be building some measure of forearm strength. 
 

I didn't bother turning around when I got to the end of the space with Bear, just went forward then backward. Five minutes is a long time in Bear and there was some definite fatigue building up before I stopped to rest, but overall this felt really, really good. 

Prep
→ Supine Hip Circles
→ Walk Into Squat
→ Quadruped Spinal Circles
→ Quadruped Shoulder Circles
→ Wrists - Palms Down, Fingers Facing Knees
 

Practice
→ Monkey Prep
→ Basic Squat Plus Prop
 

Play
→ Bear
 

Push
→ 3-Point Bridge
→ General Kneeling Lunge
→ Seated Clasped Hands Extension
→ Kneeling Back Flexion to Prone Lying Back Extension