What has surprised you in H1?

? Nothing esoteric, 2 sets of 2-3 prior elements as warmup. Once I hit PE3, used 2x PE/IM1 and 2, one set at a weight I hit shoulderwidth or less with, and one a notch higher to work on increasing it. As I progressed, bumped them up one higher. This past Saturday it looked like this;

 

2x 30sec PE5, 5IM5 (4kg, 5kg)

2x 10r PE6, 5 IM6 (4kg, 5kg)

2x 30sec PE7, 5 IM7 (4kg)

--

5x 30r PE8, 5IM8 (4kg)

 

I do the 4kg sets first to establish the width, then 5kg to nudge up the strength a little based on that. No doubt you could use any numbers, 1x10 or whatever, but 5 seems to be the number for me to get very close to my comfortable limit for the day, so I've stuck with that and seen steady improvement.

 

IM 1 & 3 are flexion based, 2 & 4 are extension based, so I used the pair of 1&2 or 3&4 as warmups as I progressed, used 3 & 4 when my working sets was dislocates, 3 &4 & 5 once I was working 6, then dropped 3&4 in favour of warming up with dislocates after that. I still do the flexion/extension reps, but not always and haven't kept count.

 

 

Linking fingers for extension/flexion reps is exactly as it sounds; link fingers in front or behind and do the reps. I believe someone posted on the original stick dislocates blog that the Chinese standard is dislocates with index fingers linked, but these are obviously selected as children and takes advantage of that. I'm not likely to be doing dislocates at that width without hurting myself, but I can get the rom in PE3 & 4 without any strain so I'm focusing on the dislocate elements until my shoulders are up to snuff.

Thinking FKP/PE1 was easy until I heard hyper-extension needs to be 90deg.

Small tip;

 

I borrowed Kit Laughlin's book (Streching and Flexibility) the other day, and highly, highly recommend performing the first trap stretch (kneeling, with head on ground and  hands on/behind heels) before doing dislocate work. Performing the stretch (or pose, whatever) for maybe 20-30 seconds, I found it really woke my traps up and helped take my arms out of the movement on the prone dislocate elements; although I had it under control early last week, IM8 felt *ludicrously* easy at 10lb and shoulder width, much easier than I'd expected.

Charm said:

Small tip;

 

I borrowed Kit Laughlin's book (Streching and Flexibility) the other day, and highly, highly recommend performing the first trap stretch (kneeling, with head on ground and  hands on/behind heels) before doing dislocate work. Performing the stretch (or pose, whatever) for maybe 20-30 seconds, I found it really woke my traps up and helped take my arms out of the movement on the prone dislocate elements; although I had it under control early last week, IM8 felt *ludicrously* easy at 10lb and shoulder width, much easier than I'd expected.

Could you kindly elaborate on this a bit? I'm picturing a kneeling pose, where you put your head down and grab your feet to stretch the traps but want to make sure that's what you mean. Thanks.

Laughlin has some investment and possibly partnership with this community so I don't want to tread on his hard work...

Without going into too much detail, that's basically it. details include grabbing heels by reaching under and between legs(you'll need to use your forehead for support)

Play with the angle a bit and you'll find a lovely stretch for mid and lower traps that ties right into dislocates. I'll wait on official ok before posting more on it. Once i get home ill see if i can find it on another site to illustrate ...

Bam. There we go. Cory rocks.

holy smokes! bitchen

Hahaha, I got suckered into a false sense of security due to ease of 60s wall HS. Expected wrist wall HS to be a breeze as well; little did I realise this is the first time you actually apply all that trap flexibility/elevation and PPT in one package in this course. Getting so close to the wall is not as easy at it sounds!

 

Haha, that was really humbling. I'll be here for a month or two, but man the shoulders feel great for it!

So I'm dialling in on PE11; my tape measure says the heels of my hands are at 4inches from the wall x (5x60s). This does not feel how I formerly thought a handstand felt, but I like it

 

Does anyone have any cues for this one as I keep practising? Thus far all I've got is 'do everything you did so far in H1 and also reach higher.'

 

 

There is something fairly subtle going on with external rotation as I get closer, but I'm not game to go into detail until I identify it properly. Ideas on this?

I've sort of answered my own question here after a bit of a strech; although my traps and shoulders and whatnot feel stretched and good, the bits that were causing me slight cramps and form failure were my sides and hips, maintaining that tight PPT for extended (for me) periods.

So. Okay. Guess I'm on the right track, just got to get these side bits conditioned to these holds.

Okay, PE11. I've got it sussed today doing 12x 36sec holds to get it stuck in my head, ready to test for 5x60 next time.

 

The big cue for me is contacting with my chest, not my stomach onto the wall. I note that when it tilts down and my stomach touches, it means that I've kept my PPT but my shoulders are not as open, and I acquire a small arch as a result. As long as I concentrate on keeping the line at the bottom of my pectorals on the wall and maintain the PPT, my shoulders open and extend automatically, and the hold feels solid and comfortable.

 

Hope that helps y'all who are working on this one too

a little tidbit for my homies with lack of recruitment skills(basically, when we try to do a movement where the primary muscle group used in the movement are too weak to handle the load, so other muscles are used to do the job of the weaker muscle, thus making the muscles basically inactive or "on the bench" when they should be used.)

 

okay, on HS/PE1>iM, I noticed that I would feel a slight discomfort in my delts that caused a rather annoying hault to the already marvelous progress in this iM. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoEtHCVbxto

 sans the fake boobs, this movement pattern helped me "feel" what it was like to feel my trapz, so that when I tried this exact recruitment pattern while doing the iM dramatically reduced my mobility but totally helped me fire off my Trapz in the way they are supposed to be used here. 

 

I applied a similar concept to HS/PE2>iM, because I was doing it as a warm up movement after a few HS/PE1>iM holds before my H1 WOD. 

 

in HS/PE2>iM, begin the movement while pinching the shoulder blades while depressing them and remember to hold that hollow! 

 

Keilani, out. 

KeilaniG said:

a little tidbit for my homies with lack of recruitment skills(basically, when we try to do a movement where the primary muscle group used in the movement are too weak to handle the load, so other muscles are used to do the job of the weaker muscle, thus making the muscles basically inactive or "on the bench" when they should be used.)

 

okay, on HS/PE1>iM, I noticed that I would feel a slight discomfort in my delts that caused a rather annoying hault to the already marvelous progress in this iM. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoEtHCVbxto

 sans the fake boobs, this movement pattern helped me "feel" what it was like to feel my trapz, so that when I tried this exact recruitment pattern while doing the iM dramatically reduced my mobility but totally helped me fire off my Trapz in the way they are supposed to be used here. 

 

I applied a similar concept to HS/PE2>iM, because I was doing it as a warm up movement after a few HS/PE1>iM holds before my H1 WOD. 

 

in HS/PE2>iM, begin the movement while pinching the shoulder blades while depressing them and remember to hold that hollow! 

 

Keilani, out. 

I've noticed this lately to work particularly well on the under-grip standing dislocates, so beginning with shoulder extension. I find that position easiest to begin a strict pull from; if I begin from in front of me, I'm a bit more inclined to use my arms to get over. Easier to take the arms out of it in the undergrip (and obviously the prone ones too).

 

On my side, small but necessary breakthrough today! Between Foundation sPL work and H1 trap /shoulder/ straight body work, I have developed a 10s+ full lay bent arm planche hold, bottom of a planche pushup. I decided to try it as I was having a little difficulty getting the feel for a somewhat related exercise in F2, and wanted to overprepare. Never tried it before, but got it-- video to come later. *Tried to straddle hollowback press, unable to get past halfway up Long way to go yet but still pleased at the small milestone; planche has always lagged long behind my other static work.

 

Have gone up to 6kg on the bar for dislocates. Within 3 inches of the wall for wrist wall HS now, but unable to keep full elevation for more than about 20-25 seconds yet; will simply take the time to get it right.

 

PS;

That video is just so hilariously inappropriate I honestly LOL's. In the middle of a serious discussion, this woman's breasts enter the room. Some 30 seconds later, she comes into shot.

as a note of Progress, while i've been dialing in my nutrition( my mind feels so much sharper right now, low carb blows sack real hard.)

I've continued working on my Hs/pe1>iM and I got all the way back to my original handwidth on my bamboo stick. so i think a microcycle starting from week 9, i'll be able to prove mastery on this one and start working HS/Pe2 wooooo hooooo

Here's a big surprise I've had in the past week and a half!

 

When the higher level people say 'Cover your ears with your shoulders,' it's *not* just an expression. They actually do get that high! 

 

Will take a picture a little later, but I guess this is how it feels to have fully open shoulders. Naturally I don't have enough endurance in that elevated position to master the 5x60s yet >.< but I appear to have reached a whole new level (for me) of shoulder mobility in all my exercises.

I have the same feeling myself now. I don't work on wall handstands much (only on Pe 5) but I feel my shoulders touching my ears. I feel I have to pull my ribs down far more because of the way my shoulders elevate. Do you have this sensation?

 

I don't have enough strength to hold that position for very long - only about 10 seconds. I also don't feel it in my wrists - I haven't filmed myself on wall HS but between the shoulder mobility, I don't lean forward through my wrists due to closed shoulders, and the wrist work has naturally made being on my hands more comfortable (middle split hold is way easier).

 

Also found that after PE/iM 1 (I spent 1 week on it - now I'm just slowly adding weight) shrugging would feel very different. My shoulders feel really different from F1 and H1.

 

Also, between SL Pe1 and Pe 1 - 4 im in H1 I now have a bridge down.

Hercules said:

I have the same feeling myself now. I don't work on wall handstands much (only on Pe 5) but I feel my shoulders touching my ears. I feel I have to pull my ribs down far more because of the way my shoulders elevate. Do you have this sensation?

I don't have enough strength to hold that position for very long - only about 10 seconds. I also don't feel it in my wrists - I haven't filmed myself on wall HS but between the shoulder mobility, I don't lean forward through my wrists due to closed shoulders, and the wrist work has naturally made being on my hands more comfortable (middle split hold is way easier).

Also found that after PE/iM 1 (I spent 1 week on it - now I'm just slowly adding weight) shrugging would feel very different. My shoulders feel really different from F1 and H1.

Also, between SL Pe1 and Pe 1 - 4 im in H1 I now have a bridge down.

I can't say I really notice the feeling of pulling down so much; the feeling is closely tied into the feeling of PPT so its hard to separate, if you see what I mean. All these supine Ppt's are getting right into my head.

My wrist wall HS is at about 45ish seconds before I lose a bit of elevation; at 3 inches from the wall. I plan to run the wk 9 program to get this distance sorted, then get a touch closer and work back up to 5*60 before moving on.

Its as if Im starting to feel the correct components, but as they're new to me I don't have em coordinated yet, so doing everything at once saps my endurance fast. Definitely feels like practise, not strength training per se

I've also bumped up the dislocate weight to 6kg and am running those 4 over again-- feel Ill benefit more from focusing on one at a time rather than a little of each. Really want to work those up to using a proper bar- bet that feels amazing

not only has actively isolating my trapz to engage them properly helped loads in getting the most out of the beginning iM's. 

I've also noticed that doing PPT on a wall handstand does not cause any wobble in my balance due to uncooperative muscles wanting to snap back into place due to several thorough foam rolling sessions. #success

What has surprised me most is that a handstand program is helping my feisty shoulder feel better.

 

I bought F1 without H, thinking that my right shoulder is already so banged up that I don't need something else putting load on it.  But then I kept hearing great things about the H program on the F1 program, and I decided to jump in.  As background, I have an extremely loose shoulder capsule (in high school I could do shoulder dislocates with my fists not losing contact with each other) and a serious 2013 fubar-ness of my right biceps tendon thanks to too much overhead pressing with poor mechanics. 

 

I expected the handstand program to be slightly provocative to my bitey shoulder.  Instead, I leave every session with my shoulder singing arias.  Seriously, it feels like I've had a massage.  I think the key has been doing mobility with load, which has been forcing muscles to do the work that I've (for decades) have otherwise have been relying on connective tissue to handle instead.  Who would've guessed.

Coach Sommer said:

- 18 months for those of you who are so tight you auditioned for a zombie role in "I am Legend" and every single element has to start at week 1.

- The rest of you will probably find that there are multiple elements that you will be able to start at week 5 or even week 9.

- Regardless, what does it matter? As long as it gets done, who cares how long it takes? Enjoy the journey.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

How is it possible to achieve it in 18 months if you start every single element at week 1? Wouldn't you have to stay 3 months with each element? There are 9 PE elements and 14 SE elements. That makes 23 elements. 23 elements times 3 months each = 69 months. Which is around 6 years indeed.

Am I missing something?

Alex Solis said:

How is it possible to achieve it in 18 months if you start every single element at week 1? Wouldn't you have to stay 3 months with each element? There are 9 PE elements and 14 SE elements. That makes 23 elements. 23 elements times 3 months each = 69 months. Which is around 6 years indeed.

Am I missing something?

 

 it's not like the programming is what you have to follow, to the tee, even if you can demonstrate mastery. thats why the course starts with picking how many days you're going to do H1 and testing before you hit what will be your work load. test, re-test. warm up with it, move onto the next one.

 

thats why I do the PPT drills right alongside my workout. PE/shoulder iM/ PPT drill. currently it's Prone Flexion holds(4x12)/ Overgrip Dislocate(5 reps-5lbs)/ Prone PPT(5reps) 

 

that is the type of things you can do with the material. what Coach means by following the programming is first things first and not jumping ahead, working the hardest stuff and end up getting hurt. (i speak in no official capacity for GB, its only an opinion.)

Alex Solis said:

How is it possible to achieve it in 18 months if you start every single element at week 1? Wouldn't you have to stay 3 months with each element? There are 9 PE elements and 14 SE elements. That makes 23 elements. 23 elements times 3 months each = 69 months. Which is around 6 years indeed.

Am I missing something?

18 months to actually getting on your hands doing a handstand, IIRC.

Alex Solis said:

How is it possible to achieve it in 18 months if you start every single element at week 1? Wouldn't you have to stay 3 months with each element? There are 9 PE elements and 14 SE elements. That makes 23 elements. 23 elements times 3 months each = 69 months. Which is around 6 years indeed.

Am I missing something?

There's quite a few that are repetitive.  For example, if you mastered 5x90 second handstand, you don't need to go back all the way to week 1 of 5x120s handstand

The first on-hands element is PE7 (30-second wall handstand), so 3 months * the 6 PEs before that = 18 months.

adara9 said:

... so 3 months * the 6 PEs before that = 18 months...

Perhaps. Perhaps not.

It all depends on whether you master a new PE immediately or whether you need to start at the week 1, week 5 or week 9 mark.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

p.s. My personal opinion is if it takes someone 18 months to reach HS/PE7, they might want to consider scheduling an appointment with their doctor - just to make sure they still have a pulse!