Quick goal update.

Over in the left panel of this blog, it states my current goals. These goals have been in place for quite a while, and may not represent quite what I'm aiming for at the moment, but I'll see how I'm going with them anyway.

15 pullups - Last workout I did 3 sets of pullups with 3 kg's of weight, 8, 8, and 6 reps. I'll work it up to 3x8, then increase the weight. I don't know my max reps with bodyweight only, but I reckon I could do 15.

Handstand 10 secs - I'm still working on handstands, although I've been negelecting balance work for press work, so my times haven't really improved.

10 handstand pushups - I might be able to do these against a wall... not sure how many reps.

Flag - I still suck at these!


AbWheel rolls from feet - I don't own an abwheel at the moment, but they're fairly cheap, so I might invest soon.

Handstand press - Working on these from a frog stand position. I'm building the strength to get vertical, but my balance is still dodgy. I may be overtraining a little, as I'm getting some pain down the edge of my triceps and lats when I do these.

Strict form muscleups - My MU's are coming along nicely due to the weighted PU's and Dips progression I'm doing. I can kip MU fairly well now, working on getting both elbows over simultaneously. Strict form is still a prime goal, and will only come with proper progression. I see too many people getting complacent with only doing kipping MU's, and never trying to go any further. I am not these people.

2 x bodyweight deadlift - My DL is at 115kg right now, after not having trained it for a while... Irregular gym sessions mean that it will take a while to get back to where I want to be. My bodyweight is around 72kgs right now, so I need to pull 144 for my goal. I've done 140 before, for 5 reps, so this is a very realistic goal.

1.5 x bodyweight squat - My squat has suffered a blow very recently as I received some form critique from a huge guy (strength coach apparently) at the gym who incidentally was front squatting 140. Basically my thoracic extension has gone to shit, and I'm losing all rigidity in my spine as I come out of the hole, and it's generally not pretty. This is due to gradual form creep, and needs to be fixed. I think that one of my problems is that I'm pushing my ass too far backwards, which means I have to counterbalance by leaning too far forwards. This leads to a position at the bottom of the squat where I don't have the flexibility or strength to lock my spine, and it just bends.
I'm dealing with this problem in the following ways:

1. Thoracic flexibility exercises. Some of these involve tennis balls and pain.
2. Dropping 20 or 30 kgs off my squat until I can do it right.
3. Beaking down my form, and concentrating on cues to make sure I break at the knee and hip at the same time, and not "good morning" out of the hole.
4. Maybe doing some front squats, as without proper extension, you drop the bar.

As for getting it up to 1.5 x my bodyweight (108kg), It is within my grasp, but not at the cost of proper form.

I'll report back with my progress.