Stephen's and son's workout logs

Yesterday there was no new WOD, so we did cardio cycles:

2 minutes of jump rope, 3 karate kata, 2minutes of jump rope, etc. for a total of 30 minutes. I'll most likely post our workouts the day after.

I'm looking forward to tonight's workout, as the first time I tried Senders in my living room I had a blast. I set up stacks of couch cushions and pillows and it became a challenge to see how high I could clear on the last jump(trying to be manly to impress my wife, which, as you married guys know, we will always try to do in some way, shape, or form).

My son should have a good time also, as his build is lighter than mine, he's a bit shorter (I'm 5'10'' and he's 5'2") but body-wise he's about 2/3 leg and a good jumper.

I'll try and post a video of our jumps in the next post.

We had a good workout tonight. The end of the jumping deck squats made my legs burn. My son and I encouraged each other to keep on going. We did shuttle runs in the school room of our house and made a 20' Senders route with pillows and stacked couch cushions in our living room which we did 4 times at the end of each set. My son actually passed me up in doing his sets--no altruism, but he knew he had to finish his workout in order to get back to playing a game on Lego.com. Great cardio workout, Coach. Thanks!

Also, I almost forgot 2 things. Today after I got back from work my son wanted me to put the rings up in the tree outside, about shoulder level. I complied and despite the greater mass of his body being in his legs, he held a tuck BL for a few seconds. I was able to high-five him and he was beaming.

Then I was holding the rings and thought that I might try a muscle-up. I've done them before (3 total, 1 and then 2 a week later back in the fall), but with a lot of stick in the transition. As I was outside I remembered a post that had mentioned keeping the rings close to the chest and then rolling up into the dip. I did it, and it was the most natural, smooth thing in the world. I was so excited I did it again just to be sure. I guess that the previous times I had tried to go through it so fast that my joints were not getting a chance to realign and I was robbing myself of the workout and the mechanical advantages my joints could give. I called my wife out (again, always want to impress her ) and I did it a third time with no real trouble. Coach, you're right again; form follows function.

Blessings,

Stephen

No workout for Friday (regular family night/movie and homemade pizza) or this weekend (me, my wife, and five kids passing around colds finally caught up to me and my son--we're wiped); however, on Friday afternoon in the yard I was able to do three consecutive muscle-ups. I've noticed that my left shoulder, the one injured in the military, is a bit sore afterwards, but I attribute this to not warming it up and just trying these on the fly--a bit of arrogance with a new skill, like a child with a new toy. One would think that at 35 I would know better.

It's why I prefer not to do some movements without a warmup. I perform MU a lot better after a WU and shoulder mobility than just hopping on. Same with back levers.

Did the full extent of the workout tonight, modified to my strength level (3 of my kids with the flu now, including the oldest). But for my younger kids, whom we homeschool, I'm excited about writing a daily exercise plan which my wife takes them through which consists of straddle and pike seated stretches, full body mobility stretches and warmups (circular movements with all joints), jumping deck squats (we call them leap frogs to make it fun), jumping jacks, forward somersaults, and headstand holds (they love these the most).

Tonight, I completed 3 giant sets of :

2 reps of BL (1 leg extended on first set, tuck on second) and 3 reps of assisted OAC (2 finger assist)

2 reps of PL tuck holds for 45 seconds and 3 reps of HSPU on rings

2 reps of FL (1 leg extended on first set, advanced tuck on second) and 3 slow Body levers (extended in hollow bottom position, pull into a tuck, rock up onto shoulders, extend back out, and reverse this going down).

Ended with 10 Bridge Wall Walks. Had a can of tuna mixed with some ranch dressing as a post-workout snack with lots of water.

I felt strong on the FL's, but I'm tired overall from taking care of a sick family.

I plan on posting some pics and vids soon after the fam is better.

Good workout tonight, but we got another sick child (2 sick out of 5) so I was pretty wiped (about 3 hrs of sleep).

I don't have a bucket, so I made something up; with attending to my kids and it raining outside, I couldn't rig something fast enough in the garage. I started out in a push-up position (I guess this is called a front support?) and then rotated to the left so I was in the beginning position for an AG walk, then back to the front, then rotated right to an AG walk position. I did this 20 times very rapidly, trying to make sure my hips turned over completely each direction.

Full pushup position wheels are too hard, but I did them on my knees. Perhaps my technique is poor, but I can't seem to get around; this was my first time to try them, but I know I'll get better with time. I did these for 30 seconds.

Next were AG Walks on a frisbee.

I managed 4 sets of this, but was pretty tired afterward. I finished up with 2x10 Wrist Pushups alternating my hands and on my knees.

I really appreciate this forum, as my question on wheels was answered pretty quickly. Good night.

Hooray, the kids are all well! So, last night my son and I did Thursday's workout: weighted deck squats, GHR negatives, and hip circles.

Weighted deck squats (5x5)--We don't have weighted vests, but I have some barbell plates outside so we held those while we did the deck squats. I held two (2) twenty-five pound plates (which I had tied together with a length of rope). It wasn't as heavy as I could've gone, but I had no practical way to hold anything else (maybe have my kids hold onto my neck next time? Anyone have any ideas?). My son used one (1) twenty-five pound plate, and that was enough to tire him out completely. He pushed hard the whole time and for that I'm very proud of him.

Next, GHR negatives (5x5)--tucking our feet under the edge of the couch (which was a sleeper sofa, so it didn't budge), my son was able to put out a lot of effort. He needed a spot sooner than he could reach to self-spot (about 1/3 of the range of motion from the top) so I obliged. I found it important to remind him about keeping his body straight to get the maximum leverage against the muscles, which he was able to achieve when he focused on it.

I was able to resist a spot until about 1/2 way on the first 2 sets, but on the last 3 sets somehow I made it 3/4 the way down before I needed a spot. I grabbed onto the seam of my shorts to keep my hands from wanting to reach down, but then touched the ground right below my mid-thigh area. I was surprised that I felt stronger than expected doing this exercise for the first time.

We finished with 2x10 Hip Extensions as it was getting late.

As for my little kids (middle 3 of the 5), they are starting to enjoy the daily mini-workouts I designed them from these exercises and which my wife leads them through as part of their homeschooling physical education (full body mobility stretches, jumping deck squats--which we have them call "leap frogs", forward rolls, straddle and pike seated stretches, V-ups, and headstands against the wall). Two of our younger boys have even on their own experimented and achieved free-standing headstands in the middle of the living room floor, showing them off to me as a surprise. I wonder if it's time to have them do something new?

Great WOD, Coach.

To all, any suggestions on how to better weight myself for the deck squats is appreciated. Have fun training!

~Stephen and son (and family)

Had a good workout today; faced some of my handstand anxiety.

My son and I did the Friday workout.

12 cycles of Wrist Handstands

2x10 Wrist Pushups.

We wall-walked up into handstands and spotted each other at the ankles. I pressed slightly into my son's back to help him get flush with the wall. He did really well.

On my turn I wanted to progress, so in the later rounds I had him remove the spot so that I had to hold confidently and not depend on him. I have the ability to roll out, and I've done it many times before, but I prefer A WHOLE LOT MORE to pivot out of a falling handstand to the side. Well, being that close to the wall doesn't allow me that preference. As I still struggle with holding free handstands for an extended amount of time, going back-to-wall helps deal with the "falling backwards" anxiety. Today it was a challenge, but I was able to hold myself with no spot on the last 3 cycles.

When I do roll out of a falling handstand, no matter how hard I try to roll my chin into my chest it seems that my shoulders hit pretty hard. Is that normal?

I set up a Youtube account today, so I expect to add some videos soon.

Fun rapid workout. Thanks, Coach.

Stephen and son.

Just because you tuck your chin...well that it isn't just it. Practice rounding your shoulders while standing to get this feel.

You can't just tuck your chin and roll. Well you can, actually. Ideally you want to still be active in pressing against the ground though your arms are bending. Going down to the headstand is an exaggeration of this but I can use my skull as a guide for where the ground is.

Blairbob,

Thanks a lot. I'll try these tomorrow. My shoulders are still pretty wipe from yesterday morning. I appreciate your help.

Stephen

We had a good workout tonight,and did Monday's workout because it was raining last night and I had a dinner appointment; I really felt the lack of sleep this last week. I've read that ectomorph body types need extra sleep, and I'm beginning to believe it. We did 3 sets overall tonight.

My son:

-His adolescent proportions don't make pullups yet accessible, so he did pullup negatives x10, x5, x5

-I spotted him until he was in an inverted tuck and he pulled his feet vertical and let himself down x10, x5, x5

-He pulled into a tuck for the 360 Pulls and I help him gently to inverted, let him go down into a German as far as he felt comfortable (while remaining in a tuck) and then had him pull back to inverted with a small spot and back around himself x5, x3, x3

While he felt grip-strength limited, I can see his confidence improving as well as his body awareness, a very rewarding experience for a father.

My workout:

-I never could get the clap, so I did hopping pullups with about a 2-3" hop 3x10. My forearms were cramping after the first set, so I took about a 30 sec. break each time in between these two.

-TOPs Pulls 3x10

-360 Pulls x5 in an advanced tuck position. Near the end of these I was dizzy, which I attribute to a general tiredness from 4-6 hours of sleep a night last week and bad diet today (2 birthday parties at work in which I ate 2 slice of cake and a bunch of fritos). I generally maintain a good diet, a necessity with a large family, but didn't have much self-control today.

Blessings,

Stephen

We did the ring sequence workout from the 17th. Actually, it was just me, Stephen. My son was a bit tired today and retired early.

3 sets of Front Lever Pull-Yewki-MU (assisted because I couldn't get into a high enough pullup to transition to the dip--explained below)-shoulder press handstand (modified)-Bulgarian Dip-Regular Dip-FL (advanced tuck)-Back Lever (Advanced Tuck on the first one; felt stronger on the next two so I extended one leg and kept the other tucked)

3x5 Ring L-sit lifts. I felt still good on my chest so I put in 3-5 Bulgarian Dips before each set.

2x10 Wall Extensions

-The good soreness in my back from the hopping pullups I did on my last workout are still with me, so it tired me out on the MU's but did really seem to affect my chest as much.

-I was able to get in a nearly inverted tuck on the shoulder press handstand but couldn't get my feet up. It felt pretty cool anyway.

I wonder if anyone with a runner's build has tried only 2 strength workouts per week? It sometimes feels like I need more recovery time. It could be a general lack of sleep, but maybe not.

Blessings,

Stephen and son

I wonder if anyone with a runner's build has tried only 2 strength workouts per week? It sometimes feels like I need more recovery time. It could be a general lack of sleep, but maybe not.

I naturally tend to be of small build and I have found that when I don't have a lot of time because of work, when I 'm realy tired or need extra recovery, I have been able to make gains on just two strength (and 2 cardio) workouts a week. Also, if you are experiencing a great deal of stress from other aspects of your life, that can place as taxing a load on the body as intense physical activity and you need to adjust your workout volume accordingly. Interestingly, several sources report that it is possible to increase strength by following a regimine doing nothing but mental rehearsals of real workouts. When I'm too tired or need extra recovery, I will visualize an entire workout (the next one I intend to perform) in my mind right before I go to sleep. I make everything as real as possible from the sights, sounds and colors of the gym, right on down to the texture of the rings in my hands and what the muscle contractions feel like. When the time comes to train it for real, I notice a big difference in performance.

Hope that helps

akrajen said:

I make everything as real as possible from the sights, sounds and colors of the gym, right on down to the texture of the rings in my hands and what the muscle contractions feel like.l

hahaha, I do the same

We got through this one. We had a busy weekend, so last night's was a good chance to get back into things.

My son I had to 3x5 SLSs sitting down onto a low couch, which helped him not fall down too fast. It was the first time he did SLSs as opposed to regular unweighted squats, and he felt it.

The first set of arch-ups I had him go with both legs, but he did those fine so he went to single leg on the second two sets. On the first two sets he had his hands on his chest, but did the last set with his hands behind his head. I'm proud he pushed through.

I held 2 five-pound dumbells on my 3x5 SLSs which, while making it a bit more difficult actually helped me balance.

The first two sets of single leg arch ups I held my hands behind my head and then held a five-pound dumbell on the last set.

Then we did 2 sets of Hip Extensions.

I'm looking forward to tonight's workout.

Update on the rest of our little guys doing the calisthenics: My kids are finding the jumping deck squats to be a bunch of fun, and my 3rd son told me triumphantly last night, "Dad, guess what?!" I obliged and said "What?" He replied "I touched my toes during the straddle stretch!" Cool milestone. 8)

Blessings,

Stephen and son.

akrajen,

Thanks for the suggestion about visualization and more sleep. I'll do those.

Haven't been able to post the last 2 workouts, so here goes.

My son did 20 minutes in wall handstands during the day followed by 2x10 wrist pushups, on his knees, alternating wrists.

During the evening I did 7 minutes of ring handstands, after which I was too tired and uncoordinated to kick up (I was working out at about 11:30 pm) and 7 minutes of wall handstands. I wish I had filmed my fall from the rings. It had the makings of a blooper reel thread for the forum.

Today's workout my son and I had to modify; he did it at home using 2 chairs for the swinging dips; dips are a bit too hard with his long frame so he did support swings with his knees bent (x20). Then he did support holds on the same chairs for 30 seconds. Then He can't do L sit walks so I had him do a modified AG walk, holding an L-sit but with his feet on a frisbee for 20 feet. He did four sets of this and then 10 wrist pushups, on his knees, alternating wrists.

I was at work so I jogged to a city rec center, used the empty bike racks as parallel bars, and did 2 sets of: support swing dips (x20), support holds in an L-sit on a wall, sans rings, and then I moved myself along the wall in an L-sit sideways for 20 feet. By the time I found the park to workout my lunch break was almost over so I could only do 2 sets and I couldn't do the wrist pushups because I didn't have time; I had to jog back before my lunch break was over. I am really looking forward to saving enough so I can get the Xtreme Rings and put them on a tree outside my office. They are unobtrusive looking compared to my homemade ones and will be easier to take places.

The rec center had a weight room, and when I was scoping it out for some possible gymnatics apparatus I did a few reps of bench and was able to press 205 with no warmup. This shows me that I'm getting stronger, as I used to not be able to do it cold several years ago. Proof positive that this method is working for me.

Blessings,

Stephen and son

Haven't been able to workout or post for a while b/c of a family member's passing/funeral. Will get back up to speed soon. In the meantime, many blessings on your workouts.

Grace and peace,

Stephen and son

Good luck, Stephen and son.

Sorry to hear that. All the best to you.

We're back. Thank you for your kind concerns.

My son was extremely tired today b/c his grandparents were in town and we let the kids stay up late. He passed on the w/o tonight.

I finished 3x5 SLS's holding a 25 lb plate, going down to parallel

Next, 3x5 GHR's

Then, I spent 10 sec x6 reps in a straddle L-sit

Blessings,

Stephen and son

Update: my legs and glutes are really growth-sore for the second day afterwards; great workout!

I'll post this also on the WOD page because I have a question.

My son did Friday's workout; he did HS Wall Runs for a combined total time (working and resting) of 10 minutes, and then pure handstands for another 7 minutes total.

I had a lot of stuff to do, and didn't get it done; I'll do it today. But my question for my son is: how can he kick into a handstand easier? He is so tall and lower body mass-heavy (long heavy legs and short upper body) for his height that it is somewhat difficult. Feedback very appreciated.

Blessings,

Stephen and son

One of my gymnasts was all legs for a few years when he was around 12. It made it tough for some of the events like pommel horse and floor.

In anycase, there really isn't any other special trick than just kicking the same way everyone else's does. It's one of the challenges of growing up.

http://drillsandskills.com/article/19

Well, I finally got up and did the Friday workout late Sunday night. I spent a little over 1/2 of the total time (about 13 minutes or so) in a handstand doing HS Wall Runs. Then I finished with 2x10 Wrist Pushups, alternating wrists, for a total of 40 pushups.

Tonight's workout was pretty good. We did the following 4 times:

I did the hopping HeSPU's, 10 reps. It was tough, esp. after doing the Wall Runs last night. My son also did them, with a spot by me. He got in a headstand and tucked his legs back; I put his feet under my arms and lifted up under his knees; he was tired afterwards--We worked hard!

Next we did undergrip HLL's for 30 seconds (basically 10 3-second reps). My son did a tucked rep and I did 50/50 bent leg/full L reps.

Then we set up a Sender's route in our living room, about 20' long, and did it twice, seeing how high we could make the stacks of pillows and ottomans.

I just remembered that we forgot to do seated toe point stretches. I'll do them now.

Blessings,

Stephen and son.

Blairbob,

Thanks for the encouragement. I had my son read some of Harrell's website. It'll be just pushing through until his strength catches up to his limb length. :roll:

Nice, the hopping HSPU from HeS was not happening for me when I kicked into a free HS.

Well, my hopping was about an inch, but I tried to focus on explosive power. We'll see in a few months on how it's coming.