Holiday progress

Unfortunately the healing process isn't going quite as well as I'd hoped... but this may have something to do with the small but relatively steady stream of alcohol that I have been consuming, thus slowing down the healing process.

I've been at the beach for 4 nights, relaxing and swimming mostly. Got a couple of beach runs in, but they didn't go as well as I would have liked. My shins are still giving me grief, and I'm not sure if the sand helped or hindered.

I met up with Eliot and one of his mates at the coast for a bit of rock training. We started with a run up and down the beach for a warmup, which I sucked at. Sore legs and a lack of cardiovascular fitness were the culprits... unfortunately it's hard to get better at running, when running hurts. (That's the end of my whinge).

We did a bit of rock jumping and climbing, including one climbing section that I wasn't at all comfortable with due to the rather large fall underneath - but I did it and felt better for it.

Did some vaults and a bit of rail balancing up at the lookout.

All in all a fairly relaxed jam, but it brought up some weaknesses that I need to work on.

Back at home now, gonna try keep the drink to a minimum (NYE oh noes!) and keep up with the foam rollering and stretching.

Old Woden town

Trained in Woden today with Eliot and Conan.

Mostly at the Library, did some rail work, a cat pass with a drop and roll, and worked up to a nice cat-pass to precision. I didn't think I was gonna get it as I kept on mini-bailing and couldn't commit to the landing, but in the end I landed it alright - but only once (is never)... so I'm gonna have to go back and get it down solid.

Going away to the Coast between Xmas and Newyears, and apparently so is Eliot! He's staying at a house at Merry Beach, so we're gonna hook up for some awesome beach/rock trainings.

XMAS slowdown

I've decided so slow down my training over the Xmas period, to let a few things heal, and basically get rested.

I'm going to give up the weights cold turkey for 2 weeks (am I addicted?), and do a lot of stretching and foam rollering on anything that's stiff or sore.
I may still do some planche training... but I'll see how I feel.

I had a good foam roller sesh last night, and did my arms for the first time ever. They were unexpectedly full of pain, and they feel pretty good today.

So good in fact, that I went around the back of my shed, and busted out the first bar muscleups I've ever done on my bar at home! It's a bit harder than anywhere else as the bar is quite fat, and it's hard to get good grip.

As you can see, I need to work on getting both elbows over at the same time... but not bad apart from that!

Workout 17-12-08

Bodyweight workout today.

Pistols - with 10kg, 2 sets of 10 each leg.

Handstands - no real breakthroughs today.

Planche - Did my 60 seconds in 7 reps!!! My wrists seemed a little my flexible today which enabled me to lean over a bit more, which seems to help.

Lever - Getting better at the advanced tuck lever. I'm keeping my back straight, but I'm not parallel to the ground. Gotta work on it.

I filmed pretty much my whole workout today, but the tape I used is fucked, and I only caught some of it.

Here's a short one of some of my planche and lever progressions.

Sensory deprivation and other stuff

I did some solo outdoor training at home on the weekend, but decided to add a twist and trained the whole time with earplugs in. This was to see what happened by reducing sensory input.

I did some tree work (found a new route), and vault work, and a few muscleups. I was sore from a previous workout, which I didn't heal from properly due to alcohol on the weekend. I still seem to be teetering on the edge of overuse injuries (shinsplints and arm soreness), and anything out of the ordinary pushes me over. I'm gonna have to take a couple of weeks off at some stage soon.

I only trained for an hour (I'd like to do it for longer at some stage), but nothing seemed too much different in that time. It was a bit distracting being able to hear not much other than my own breathing and heartbeat, which gave me a little more awareness of my own physical state, but not much help with anything else.

I can imagine it may be useful if you wanted to learn about and to control your breathing patterns while training particular techniques... but for me right now it's not that important.

I'm also learning to balance on one foot with my eyes closed, which increases the difficulty of balancing enormously. I'm doing it on hard ground right now, but I'd like to move up to doing it on a wobble board in the future.

Did a bodyweight workout last night.

Pistols - 3 x 5 each leg, holding 15kg. This is too much to hold out in front of me, so I'll go back to 10kg and if I add any more weight it'll be in a backpack.

Handstands - still using the wall, but getting more control all the time. Learning new technique of extending my shoulders to control balance in conjunction with finger adjustments.

Planche progression - Got to 60 seconds tuck planche in 8 reps W00T! This is the first time I've held any reps for 10 seconds. Awesome. I realised that I wasn't tucking enough, so I really curled my back, and it was just easier.

All for now.

Castle and other places

Went training today.

Started off at EPIC rails with Guy and Pat. Played around a bit, drilled a few vaults, but it was just too hot with no shade, so we headed into town to meet up with some other dudes.

Trained at the Castle in Commonwealth Park with a bunch of guys. It was the first time I'd trained there in a long time, and was good fun. Got a nice cat to precision, but psyched myself out on another similar one. Lately I have a mental block on anything "big", even if I know it's within my limits like this vault. More speed?

Headed to the Family Courts next with Pat, Cimp, Rouf and Shane. Pulled a few muscleups, vaults and an arm jump, but was parched as, and drained from the heat.

Talked some shit with Rouf while we stretched... didn't bust out any mad philosophy though.

Floated the idea of having a carload of dudes out to our place for a day of bush training. Peeps seem keen.

p.s. Apparently I have 1 regular reader: Rouf. I might have to start writing something interesting now.... Is he worth it??? ;)

1/12/8

Shed training.

Pistols. 5 + 10 reps each leg, holding 11kg.
15 minute handstands with wall. Got a couple of good ones > 5 seconds.
Tuck planche, 1 minute total. 9 reps needed.
Front lever progression. 1 minute total. 5? reps needed.

I've added pistols to my bodyweight days, as I felt my legs were getting off without a proper workout. I need to find a way to load these as they are still too easy. Right now I am holding 11kgs out in front of me (handy as a counter balance), but I can't hold much more in that way. Maybe a backpack with weights in?

My front lever is somewhere between tuck and advanced tuck... I can't really tell while I'm doing it, so I need to take some footage.

I'm also feeling some progress in the tuck planche which is great.

I'm trying to do shin-ups and shin stretches every day, for my shin-spints. Massaging trigger points too.