Planche technique

I've not been progressing as fast as I'd like in my planche work, mostly due to wrist discomfort.
Basically I can't lean forward enough to balance properly as my wrists start hurting under the pressure.
I did some reading on this problem, and tried out a couple of new things today.

1. I went back to the paralettes. I've been avoiding them for ages now due to forearm pain, but this seems to have subsided, and I got though 30 seconds in 3 reps without too much discomfort.

2. I then went back to my hands on the ground, fingers poiting forward like normal, but I scrunched up my fingers so the middle knuckles are off the ground. I'm not sure exactly why this works, but it seems to reduce to wrist strain.

I got through my 60 seconds in just 7 reps!

Also did some pistols, handstands and lever rows to round out the workout.

Sunday in Tuggers

Went for a jam in Tuggeranong on Sunday with Paddy, Hunts, Trav and Alex(?).

I am trying to train as many places as I can before we leave for the UK, and Tuggers is one of the places I haven't been to yet, but wanted to try out.

Started off at the "Ten Stair". This is a nice area next to the lake with multiple cat to precisions, standing precisions, arm jumps, and a Tic Tac that I only managed once. I hurt one of my knuckles on an arm jump, which meant I wasn't able to do any more of that movement on the day, which was unfortunate as there's quite a few good ones I would have liked to try.
There's a few things there which will require a lot of working up to... so I'll have to go back at some stage.

We then went to a place around the corner named SandStone, so called for the many walls made out of the grippy stone. Lots of precisions, vaults, and some good wall runs. There's a really good place to train arm-to-arms, with tanbark underneath, so no fear of dropping.

Had a good day of training, but it was nearly 30 degrees, so energy levels waned quickly.

Bodyweight workout 12/1/9

Bodyweight workout:

Pistols: 1 x 10 + 1 x 5 reps each leg.
I'm going back to doing these unweighted, as it requires a bit more flexibility and balance.

Wall handstands: 5 minutes worth... a bit dodgy.

Tuck planche: Got up to 1 minute in total over 8 reps.

Giralang and Belco training 10-01-09

Trained yesterday with Paddy, and a few others.

Started off at Giralang Primary School.
As you may know, I'm nursing some overuse injuries, and have been trying to heal them up. These include shinsplints, and a similar condition in my right forearm, which had become aggravated over the past week by returning to work, and doing lots of mouse based computer stuff.

My strategy was to spend twice as long on my warmup, and really get the blood flowing before I got into the training.
I did dynamic stretching on all of my joints, rotating both directions, a bunch of forward and backward quadrupedal work, divebomber pushups, rolls on both sides, and squats.

Then I started training. It worked. I had basically no pain, and was training for over 3 hours. My right arm still feels awesome today.

We met up with Juzza at Giralang, and trained some basic vaults first up. Juzza then showed us a huge arm jump that he's been eyeing off... out of my range though, and the wall is painted, so the landing will be slippery. Add it to the list...

We then walked around the school and I did a few precisions, before coming to a nearly level cat to precision I've been trying to get. After about 15 minutes, both Juzza and I surpassed the obstacle, which was a good start to the day.

Paddy and I left Giralang heading for Belco, and Juzza went home.

We met up with Max and Isaac at the Library. Trained the usual stuff, and I looked at doing the cat to arm off the overpass. I first tried dropping to the arm jump from the top of the railing that I'd be cat-passing, but I realised that I'd need more work on my level arm jumps before I could do it confidentally. Add it to the list.

We went down around the back of the Library, trained a few precisions on the way, then stayed at the ramp for a while. I worked out a nice underbar sequence, concentrating on speed and flow. I did it alright, but not totally happy. A few more precision, and the day was over.

I think I have progressed more in the past few jams than I did in the months before. I have consistently overcome mind-blocks on certain obstacles and movements, and have become better at finding things to push my limits. I seem to be becoming more confident in my own abilities, which is a good thing. I'll just have to watch out for overconfidence.

I did a bunch of filming at this jam... After reviewing the footage, there's a few things in my technique I want to clean up, like getting both elbows over at the same time in my climbup.

I'll put out a vid at some stage.

J

Weights 7-1-09

Weight tonight:

Squat: 92.5kg 3x5
Press: 42.5kg 3x5
Back Extension: 1x10 @ 5kg, 1x10 @ 10kg, 1x10@5kg

I think I have further refined a solution to my hip flexor pain issue when squatting.
I have widened my stance a little, and the pain is gone.

Might hit the town this weekend to get back into the Parkour training.

Back, from outer space.

Weights last night for the first time in nearly a month.

Squat: 90kg 5x3
Bench: 70kg 5x3
Powerclean: 50kg 5x3

I dropped 10kg off my lifts so I can ease back into it. Still sore today though.

I think I may have figured out the pain in my left hip flexor after squatting... apparently it can happen if you let the knee slide forward at the bottom of the squat, and with me it seems as hough my hips are sliding or twisting clockwise as I hit the hole, making only my left knee slide forward. To correct this I have to think about sliding my hips to the right as I go down to even it out.