Weekly Progress Report: 2013-05-01
Challenge #6: Straddle Press to Handstand
Hollow Body Hold: 62 seconds!
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As I’m slowly wrapping up my first parallettes training phase (my flow is getting better; I will get a video up in a week or two when I feel it significant to show), I’ll be switching to another skills-based program, this time with the gymnastics rings. This will help me, amongst other things, to work on Challenge #8: The Iron Cross.
As for this challenge, I’m still going to work on it, but I’ll be focusing on another component. As wee bit less strength-based, but nonetheless essential one: the Handstand on the ground.
Over the last month, I’ve had the opportunity to build a habit of practicing simple movements in a daily-dose fashion. It has helped tremendously in Read more
Weekly Progress Report: 2013-04-21
Challenge #6: Straddle Press to Handstand
Shoulder Stand / Straddle Sit Practice
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Keeping up the work.
Full Flow practice
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Full flow! Very fun to practice. The most, I would say, unsettling part of starting this has been to realize how fast you can fatigue from combining all of these movements one after another. Which tells more of the story about how friggin’ fit gymnists have to be, what with the amazing flows these guys come up with.
Challenge #11: Origami
179 + 13 = 192!
Weekly Progress Report: 2013-04-08
Challenge #6: Straddle Press to Handstand
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Refining is coming along. I will start practicing the full Flow by the end of this week. As you’ll notice, my main challenge right now is being able to come down from the full Shoulder Stand in control and directly into the Straddle Sit. Also, I’m working on finding my way to making my arms more parallel to the floor during that Stand.
Challenge #11: Origami
166 + 13 = 179.
200 is coming…
Weekly Progress Report: 2013-03-19
Challenge #6: Straddle Press to Handstand
Check it out. It’s the first time I can actually, really play around with this series of movements.
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I’m so excited! I used my gymnastics gym’s p-bars for the first time to get my scheduled practice in. The width is fixed, and much narrower than how I usually place them.
This kind of offset me at first, but then I realized it’s pretty much where they’re meant to be, and I managed to get my body through even though I thought I could not! Anyway, so after my scheduled practice I went and decided to practice my L-sit to bent shoulder stands to try to get it in.
Ryan doing a Shoulder Stand
And get it in I did.
Another element I think helped, is I got across one of Ryan from GMB‘s shoulder stand poses, and it made me realize that, as with the elbow planches, I wasn’t getting my weight nearly forward enough! And sure enough, paying attention to that gave me way better stability and balance.
Challenge #11: Origami
153 + 6 = 159! Not missin’ a day!
Weekly Progress Report: 2013-03-13
Challenge #6: Straddle Press to Handstand
Started Phase #3, on my new set of parallettes! On this phase, it’s time to practice components of the flow.
Here’s a small video I put up with some of the challenging motions to learn:
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It feels challenging yet easy; I do feel that the work done in the previous phases led me to being able to learn what I’m currently learning.
Gonna get there!
Challenge #11: Origami
144 + 9 = 153. Past half of the second hundred already!
Weekly Progress Report: 2013-02-24
Challenge #6: Straddle Press to Handstand
I finally shot my last session of Phase 2, Day 2 last week!
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Note on the last movement: My line is kind of hampered by the top-end of the dumbbells’ knob; it seems even more apparent on film than I thought it would be. No matter; I’m getting my realz p-barz. SOON…
A note on that; while I’m waiting to receive them I’ll be taking a week-long break in regards to parallettes training. I’ve been training them for several months now, so before I jump to the last phase I feel it will be beneficial to do unrelated work for a while.
You know, like pulling 400lbs off the floor.
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Challenge #8: Iron Cross
Lately I’ve received awesome technical and progression cues for the Rings Muscle-Up. Very high chances of moving back on that goal soon, for a while.
Challenge #11: Origami
And again, 7 more! 136!
Weekly Progress Report: 2013-02-17
Challenge #6: Straddle Press to Handstand
So I filmed what is pretty much my rounding up of Phase 2, Day 1 of my P-bars training.
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Presses and the plank-positioned holds are now in the category of being quite easy and comfortable to perform. L-sit and its brothers are an entirely different matter, but improvement is undeniable.
Plus, as I practiced my Tucked Shoulder Stands (see video from last week) this weekend, I made definite progress. Didn’t get around filming myself, but I could tell I’m correcting my elbows being too far in flexion, and I got into an actually balanced position more frequently.
Getting there!
Dusty’s P-Barz
What’s more, I ordered my own set of actual P-bars! Following GMB’s recommendation, I bough them from this guy.
Finally, I reviewed the program’s videos for the upcoming 2 phases. My take on them coming soon!
Challenge #11: Origami
The count, with +7, is now at 129.
Weekly Progress Report: 2013-02-10
Challenge #6: Straddle Press to Handstand
Parallettes training is still following its due course, and amongst other things I’ve made good and steady improvements on the current Shoulder Stand progression.
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I think the main point I need to focus on at this stage is to be able to get a balance without having my elbows sinking in.
It’s over a month now I’ve been working on this phase of the program, so once I get that down, there’s a good chance it’ll be time to move on. So, more videos to come of course.
Challenge #11: Origami!
122 cranes and counting… starting to get a nice gradient-colored variety here.
Weekly Progress Report: 2013-01-20
Challenge #11: Origami
Curious to see how a 100 cranes look like? Look no further. Read more
Weekly Progress Report : 2013-01-06
Challenge #6: Straddle Press to Handstand
As promised last week, here’s a glance at the second set of movements in this new phase of parallettes training.
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While the first set of movements felt relatively comfortable, this one proves much more challenging to obtain repetitions and keeping it pretty. Especially the Tuck Jump to Bent Arm Bent Leg Shoulder Stand (1st movement) and the L-sit drives (3rd movement) are the ones most challenging to me. But particularly for the 1st one, it feels really nice to be able to be even just that close to doing it prettily.
Now about balancing practice. As you probably know I’ve felt a bit stuck in a rut on this part lately. Well I recently went back to GMB’s Handstand Tutorial and reviewed it. First time I read it, I had kinda dismissed the Hollow Body practice as I was pretty sure I could do it (being pretty strong in my core area already), and figured I’d just work on straightening my center when practicing the balance.
Full Hollow Body
Turns out maybe I was wrong. Well, sure, I’m already quite far down the road. I was able to hold the Extended Straight Legs Hollow Body hold for the full recommended minute, on the first try.
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… although I was much more shaky than expected. Not used to the practice. Which makes me think… Read more
