J Lin's workout log

I've decided to post a workout log to motivate myself to work out consistently

I'm a 20 year old college student, more or less 148 lbs at about 5'9''. I got interested in strength training about a year ago, when I took a capoeira class. I started searching online for related topics and eventually wandered onto this website. The closest background I have to strength training would be...2 years in my school's contemporary wushu club - we did some bodyweight exercises as conditioning, such as horse stance, leg throws, frog jumps, etc.

I also joined/started a dragon boating club with friends recently, and we're in the middle of winter training. Unfortunately I'm the one with the most exposure to any kind of strength training at all, so I'm in charge of that. And seeing as I am also a beginner, any tips and advice from you guys would be very much appreciated.

So my plan is follow the WODs here, as well as keep up with wushu and dragon boat training. And possibly check out the school Brazilian jujitsu club on Fridays

So here goes!

090126

GB WOD: 4 rounds of 5 cast wall walks, 10 wheels (on knees), 20 wallabys; finish 2x10 wrist pushups; it took about 30 min

- The first round cast wall walks felt pretty good, though my feet kept slipping on my closet door and I didn't realize I wasn't going down all the way to the floor for the first 2 or 3 reps. For the second, third, and fourth round, though, I had to stop and take a break after about 2 and a half reps. For the last round I started counting the rep from the floor instead of from the wall handstand position.

-I tried one wheel on my toes and fell on my face so I decided to do kneeling wheels instead...and even then by the third round I had to stop and take a break after the fifth rep :?

-I was working out in my room so I kinda cheated and just did 20 wallabys instead of going 40'. During the wallabys, i found myself landing mostly on the heels of my hands, is this normal?

- my wrist pushups always feel very jerky. I do them on my knees, btw.

090127

GB WOD: 3 rounds ring strength series 1, 3x5 tuck 360s, finish 10 wall extensions, total time ~30min

-I got my first ever muscle up today!!! In the second round of the ring series, too, which is funny. But I couldn't replicate for the third round :oops:

-During the inverted hang, I find myself looking up at my feet and I think I am curving my upper back. I'm guessing this is no good?

-in the last set of 360s I had to extend my legs out and behind me to help rotate my body all the way around from tuck front lever to german hang

Jlin said:

I got my first ever muscle up today!!!

Congratulations. Good work!!

090129

Didn't have time to do the Thursday GB WOD; instead did 2 rounds of a 3-ladder single-leg deck squats and 5 reps of natural leg curls.

09130

Went to the Brazilian jujitsu club and rolled around. Then climbed rope, but didn't get very high because I was scared I wouldn't have the strength to come back down :oops:

090202

For dragon boat conditioning we did:

1 minute each of: deck squats, archups on the ground, leg throws, running up and down stairs, and jump rope.

3x3 pull-up (negatives for those who couldn't do one)

3x5 pushups.

-We did this in pairs as rotating stations, which probably wasn't the best idea because not everybody was that motivated... :roll:

Other than that, in wushu we did:

3x5 deck variation SLS jumps, but not onto an object; 3x5 single leg archups

At home I did 6x10second low p-bar variation straddle-L holds

090103 & 090104

I missed out on Tuesday's WOD, but I had my first 'intro to gymnastics' PE class

Otherwise, in wushu we did basic kicks and attempted inside and outside jump kicks so now my back is mega sore...but I'll probably be doing the same thing today (wednesday)

090205

I didn't do the GB WOD today because wushu club has a performance on Friday and I am afraid of tiring out our bodies. I want to do this WOD for wushu conditioning next monday, though.

Otherwise I had dragon boat club do: 2 sets of 10 alligator pushups and ~15' modified Ag walks (we didn't have frisbees so our feet couldn't slide on the floor), 3x3 archups + archup twists, 3x10 jump squats, 3x3 pull-ups/pull-up negatives

In gymnastics class today we did front handsprings! It was a little intimidating at first because my shoulder flexibility isn't so great, and I couldn't pull off a handstand bridge, but then I tried one and apparently it wasn't bad at all Only thing is, when the coach told me I was doing well, I started messing it up :oops: But it was a lot of fun

I also forgot to mention that I started a steady state training cycle for straddle Ls this Monday. I am doing low, straight legs on parallettes. After those I did 3x10 wrist pushups, first set fast, second set going up to the first knuckle, and last set on my knees going slow.

090206

We had a wushu performance. You can see it here:

We have a lot we can improve on but I'm still very proud of my club

090209

Today wushu did the WOD for last thursday: 4 rounds of 20 deck squat jumps, 30s shuttle run, and 40' senders

Our senders were more like 20 feet, though. And it was still brutal :shock:

For dragon boat conditioning, I ran into a problem when I tried to incorporate hollow body holds: a lot of the members couldn't figure out how exactly to press their lower backs into the ground. Any suggestions?

090210

I missed out on the WOD yet again :oops:

Otherwise, I went to wushu club. Just to elucidate a little more on what we do, here is a sample video: GU8oj5CK9oQ . We do the ones at 0:35, 0:50, and 2:55 at every session...except we're not quite that flexible yet :shock:

090211

Went to wushu, practiced a form, and did the exercise at 0:20: w6ltQCyf0NQ

090212

3 x 10 hip extensions, first set extending forward, second set extending to the side and the last set circling front to side and back to front.

-I was going to implement the WOD for wushu conditioning but couldn't figure out a way to do weighted squats without any weights :roll: I did try piggy backing another club member and doing a squat, but that was mostly just for fun. In the end we just did the hip extensions and they KILLED.

090213

GB WOD: ~12 cycles wrist handstand, 15-30 second holds and ~45 seconds rest for a total of 15 minutes; finish with 2x10 wrist pushups

-i had a hard time with the handstand holds. I could hold for approximately 30 seconds for the first 2 cycles, but then I began to feel shoulders burning out faster than I thought so I halved it and tried to hold for 15 seconds every cycle instead. However, sometimes I just had a problem actually getting up into a wrist handstand and balancing there. I could roll out okay, but I am definitely a lot more comfortable with keeping my wrists a good 3, 4'' away from the wall.

090214

Had basic rock climbing class, and wushu club practice. Got my forearms really pumped after trying to get up the rock wall, but otherwise today was really light exercise.

090216

Wushu club. Kinda skimped on the WOD because I have a test tomorrow to study for, but I did play around with flat (as far as I could tell) tucked TOPs pulls on a bar. But I have no idea how to do a clapping pullup...ok, more like I am scared of falling down and mashing my face after missing the bar. By the way, clapping pullups are probably a bad idea on the rings, right?

My quads are also really sore. I haven't stretched them in a while...Oh yeah, I continued with my steady state straddle-L low on parallettes with straight legs.

090217

GB WOD: 3 sets ring strength series 1, 3x5 L-sit lifts on parallettes, 2x10 Wall Extensions

-I can do a muscle up on the first set of the ring strength series, but after that my wrists keep slipping off of the rings...I run out of the strength to hold the false grip position. I also realized today that I'm holding the back and front (adv. tuck) levers for barely 2 seconds; I'll try to hold for at least five from now on.

-I can't do an XR L-sit, so I did the lifts on the parallettes...I can get a good 2-3 inches on the first rep, but it's a fast decline from there. By the fifth one I'm struggling to even keep my legs parallel

-Wall Extensions hurt now...not painful, but I can definitely feel the streeetch

090219

GB WOD:

3 XR pushups to warm up

3 giant sets each of: inverted hang to adv. tuck back lever 5 seconds + 3 tuck front lever rows, 5 seconds jump to tuck planche + 3 bulgarian XR pushups, 5 seconds of pull to adv tuck front lever from dead hang to inverted hang + 3 HLL V to L sit

Finish with 10 Bridge Wall Walks

-I had a really hard time sticking a good tuck planche - I can just barely make 5 seconds, but my hips are not shoulder height

-Bridge wall walks decimate me!! ...It's probably because I forget to breathe :oops: I took about 7 minutes to finish all ten reps

Today I tried "foam rolling"...with a PVC pipe :roll: Hurts like a @#$%

090226

It's not been a good week for WODs..my excuse is an exam which seemed to foretell impending doom, but it turned out to not be as bad as I thought. In terms of training, I just went to wushu practice and dragon boat practice. Today for dragon boat we tried some nifty partner-resistance exercises with towels.

On another note, I mildly sprained my left ankle. No sharp pain, just feels "twangy". and the teeniest bit swollen. I hate it :x I also attempted the Thursday WOD using the XR, and got a lot of chafing when trying swinging dips. I also can't manage 20 of them :shock: More like, 10 mediocre, and then ::dead:: Also, I found out today that my XR support hold time is approximately 28 seconds - I'm solid until the last ten seconds, when my arms start to wobble uncontrollably.

And I still can't really figure out how to do L-sit walks..I have a parallel L-sit, but my hands feel like they're super-glued to the floor! The best I can get is...6 inches :oops: I try to lean to one side and then lift my hands but it doesn't really work :?

090227

tonite I skipped the WOD. wasn't in the mood; I couldn't get my muscle up on the XR - my wrists kept slipping off. But later, I was playing on a bar and thought I would just try to pull up as high as I could go...and discovered that I could do a strict muscle up on single bar :shock: Only 1 rep though. I think I must not be setting my false grip on the rings properly. On the single bar, my false grip is super exaggerated - my fingers aren't even holding on to the bar, and I am able to exert a lot of downward pressure for the pull-up and transition. I get nowhere near the same kind of grip stability on the rings.

Jlin said:

090214

Had basic rock climbing class, and wushu club practice. Got my forearms really pumped after trying to get up the rock wall, but otherwise today was really light exercise.

090216

Wushu club. Kinda skimped on the WOD because I have a test tomorrow to study for, but I did play around with flat (as far as I could tell) tucked TOPs pulls on a bar. But I have no idea how to do a clapping pullup...ok, more like I am scared of falling down and mashing my face after missing the bar. By the way, clapping pullups are probably a bad idea on the rings, right?

My quads are also really sore. I haven't stretched them in a while...Oh yeah, I continued with my steady state straddle-L low on parallettes with straight legs.

Clap pull-ups would probably be a bad idea on rings... I've thought about it before too though. lol

I had a problem with the false grip/muscle-up on rings also, do you try it after your hands are already sweaty?

I don't have chalk so my hands get pretty slippery when I get farther into my workout. Try doing the muscle-up when your hands are dry. What also helped me a lot with the false-grip was trying to grip higher-up on the curved part of the ring with a really tight grip and flexed forearm.

Here's a vid

See how my grips on the curved part? It helps a lot!

Good job on the muscle-up on bar, I don't know how people do those. :shock:

090302

GB WOD

-jump to tuck planche 7 second hold, 1 MU + multiple MU attempts :oops:

-pull from inverted pike to adv tuck BL 5 second hold pull out to inverted hang, Hes RLL with an approximately 2-3lb backpack looped between my heels

-pull from tuck dead hang to adv tuck FL ~7 second hold pull to inverted hang, 5 L-sit leg lifts

Instead of finishing with 10 bridge wall walks, I got into a bridge with my feet up on my chair and extended my legs as much as I could to get a stretch in my shoulders. I did 5x10 of these 'extensions'. Then I did 10 wrist pushups on my knees to alleviate my poor wrists -.-''

sasquatch, i tried gripping higher on the rings for the MU, and it feels like I'm slipping less, but it also hurts a lot more.. :roll: should've expected that, i guess The pressure is more on my wristbone, i think. When i do MU on the bar, the bar fits right along the crease of my wrist and I'm pushing with the flesh at the heels of my palms so it doesn't hurt all that much.

That's how I grip a mucle-up on a bar also. I still can't do it at all though, I always push away from the bar.

Keep up the good work.

090303

GB WOD: 4 rounds of 3 windshield wipers with chin-up grip, 10-ish tuck front lever pulls, 5 adv tuck back pulls

-I had no place to do negative side pulls, so i substituted with 3 windshield wipers. I don't think I could have done a neg side pull anyway...

-I never understood why Coach Sommer said the front lever pulls were evil...until today. The first round I did them on the XR, and just barely made 10 reps, but I was swinging a lot so i switched to doing the on a bar. The second round I pulled off a good 7 or 8 before I had to stop because I was literally losing my grip!

This exercise really "pumped" my forearms - they are super tense and super sore because we're not allowed to let go.. for the third round I maybe only got 6 reps, because I was still sore from doing the front lever pulls in the second round! By this time I wasn't even gripping the bar hard, I was only hanging on with my fingers.

For the last round I stuck it out (sorta) and gripped hard for a good smooth 5 reps..after that no matter how hard I tried I couldn't pull my chin over the bar, much less my head My forearms are undeniably, most definitely, unequivocally fried

-I did the back pulls in an adv tuck, and so for a lot of the reps i forgot to go into a full inverted hang. They were more like an inverted tuck hang. They felt pretty good, and fun, and I really feel my back muscles being worked, which is great, except that my FOREARMS WERE SO FREAKIN FRIED FROM TEH (sic) FRONT LEVER PULLS that i barely pulled off 5 reps without faceplanting.

I finished the entire workout with 10 reps of shoulder dislocates, gripping at about 2 shoulder widths. Oh, FL pulls, you are the bane of my [forearms'] existence. I can see my fingers trembling with micro spasms already Just kidding. but not really. FL pulls are a killer exercise, in both the good sense and the bad sense

Oh yeah, and I attempted splits today.

Ah, now I can't wait until I progress to that exercise :wink: Sounds like it's going to be FUN! :!:

090305

GB WOD: 3x5 heavy weighted SLS, 3x5 GHR (half), finish with 60s aggregate work on low straddle-L on parallettes

-for the weighted SLS i just threw a bunch of my textbooks in my backpack and hugged it to my chest. I'm guessing it was around 10-15 pounds. On a couple of the reps I lost my balance as I was going down and bumped my butt on the ground, but I still got back up so it was all good As I got more tired the leg I wasn't standing on would bend more and more, too.

-I couldn't find a place to do a GHR so I did halfs on my bed and anchoring my feet on the crossbeam-ish thing between the bedposts. I was surprised to find that I could go down to a much more acute angle than when I last tried the half GHRs. It felt like I improved by half as much, but of course in reality it was probably only about 2 or 3 degrees difference. Still, it was a nice surprise. And my hams burn burn burned! I mostly felt it in my hams when I lowered to the starting position, and then in my lower back when I was trying to raise my torso after lowering my forehead to the ground.

-I did low straddle-Ls for the 60s aggregate work. I think I've been cheating though, because sometimes my legs are touching my arms. But my adductors are super sore today :roll:

Depending on how lazy I am, I might clean my room and do some 'foam rolling' with a tennis ball later.

Jlin said:

do some 'foam rolling' with a tennis ball later.

I've heard of people foam rolling, but have never tried it myself. How do you like it?

Brandon said:

Jlin said:

do some 'foam rolling' with a tennis ball later.

I've heard of people foam rolling, but have never tried it myself. How do you like it?

Just though I would chime in; I love my tennis ball, its great for working the kinks out of my back, shoulders, chest and even underarms! 8)

090309

modified GB WOD

Today I did two modified versions of the WOD. For dragon boat club, we did:

4 rounds:

45s HLL-half

run 45s

10 clapping pushups

Rest 30s between exercises and 2 minutes between rounds

We did the HLL on pull up bars instead of stall bars, so there was a good deal of swinging ..Also, had three people doing HLLs while 3 people ran a lap around the track. It was supposed to take about 30s, but it ended up being more like 40-50s. Also, none of us can do hopping HeSPUs so I substituted with clapping pushups.

For wushu club we did:

3 rounds:

30s V-ups

10 clapping pushups

10 squat jumps

finish with 5 bridge walkovers

Rest 30s between exercises and ~2 minutes between rounds

At home I did 2x20 seated toe point stretch.