Tuesday, November 20, 2012

2 Days Post-Meet - Variety: Pistols, Pullups, Pushups, Windmills

I was all kinds of weird sore yesterday, Monday, the day after the meet.  Things ached in places they never have before, one knee hurt for a while and then it switched to the other knee, and so it went.

Today is Tuesday and I need to do something to get my body feeling good again.  Did a little stretching and then decided to try overhead pressing:

Double 24's, 2 reps.  That's enough, form felt good, just looking to get the juices flowing.

I haven't done bodyweight-only pullups in years - decided to see what a dozen of those felt like and they felt fine.  Tight, locked out and paused on both ends, throat to bar, no hurry.  12th rep was just starting to get tiring - if I'd gone faster and/or been a little less careful or both, certainly could have done 15 or more reps.

Assorted experiments with 1-arm pushups variations, some 1-leg, some 2-leg, various heights, some partials, etc.  Need to get better at these, maybe a variety-day kind of activity.

Crane Pistol - on the front porch, 1 each way, left first - a bit rusty but not awful.

16 kg windmill, 3 each side.

Onward and Upward.


6 comments:

  1. I wonder whats your opinion on the bar-barians?
    its mostly muscle endurance but I find it very inspiring, those routines they do.

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    1. There are a lot of great bodyweight people out there. I prefer a pure strength approach - I like Pavel's "Naked Warrior" where the focus is on being able to do a single one-arm, one-leg pushup.

      The other side of it is that, for me, a bodyweight pistol really isn't a strength move, it's more a gut-check as to my ankle and back mobility. I keep my reps low on pistols, typically singles when I've maxed out at closer to 10 per side.

      The one-arm, one-leg pushup isn't something I've achieved although I got pretty close at the training weekend I attended a month or so ago - that's something I want to attain.

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  2. I ve yet not read "naked warrior" but its on my list.
    I like the strength approach, too. But low reps with high volume was the thing for me the last months. I tought it would bring my numbers up (i mean strength converted in satrength-endurance) but that never happenend. At 210 lbs i am only able to rep out 10 pull-ups for example.
    So, I have no clue what to do; I am able to do 5 reps per arm in the one arm push-ups but, and pistols bother my cycling and running too much.
    what would you advice?
    i dont want to loose strength but want to get endurance up... a bad journey. :-)
    but watch that italian in the video, his channel is simple but yet inspiring:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GcCBlNZ01w

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    Replies
    1. I'm an instructor in the StrongFirst program. Give the web site a visit and post whatever questions you have on the forum there. It's new but it's a great resource.

      Low reps/set and high volume will make you bigger and stronger - it's a solid program but not for strength-endurance, more for strength and size.

      You can't have everything be at the top of your priorities list - if strength-endurance is a priority, you could work on that while still maintaining most, but not every last bit, of your strength. You could later return to pure strength training. It's possible to cycle these programs - as little as two weeks of each to as long as 3 months of each - with good results.

      Pistols shouldn't bother your cycling and running but tough to believe you enjoy either at 210 lbs.

      Many bigger guys have a tough time with pullups - that's not unusual. I weigh 60 lbs. less than you do - if I add 60 lbs. of additional weight, I can only do 2 or 3 pullups.

      Nice video - strong fellow there!

      You really cannot have it, at least not at the same time.

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  3. so you mean 10 pull-ups are good for my size?
    Yeah, i am 6 feet tall, so i am a long fellow.
    I have a 10k time in the low 40s and i enjoy cycling to work every day 20miles one way.
    its all mental: if one thinks the body is not suited for this or that then it will never happen.

    yeah, i will loose some mass (i am at 10% bf) so that seems imposible while still training. thats my MAIN problem: loose unecessary mass but still maintain strength.

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  4. 10 pullups at _any_size puts you into the elite of the general population. That fact that you have a decent 10k time and you can do 10 pullups makes you all the more unusual.

    If you weigh 210, even at 6 ft. tall, and you cycle 40 miles a day, you're a biological miracle already.

    Do not overthink, just do. You sound like you're in great shape already - enjoy.

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