Making the Impossible Possible

[Scott Caron]

So...I have tried to contact Coach both through email and PM. I know at least that he revieved the PM...but I have not heard from him. It has been many weeks. Is there a reason he might ignore me?

[Gregor]

So...I have tried to contact Coah both through email and PM. I know at least that he revieved the PM...but I have not heard from him. It has been many weeks. Is there a reason he might ignore me?

To many PMs, no time and then forgot to answer? That is just one of the possible reasons....I'm shure it was unintentional :wink:

[Scott Caron]

Well hey look who is back.

After a few years of stress and financial struggle I've not made it very far. Currently at the heaviest I've ever been, at 308.2 lbs., mostly due to eating crap food for a few months and not training though at least some of that is new muscle. My core is stronger than ever but I still struggle with even basic strength because my Strength to Weight ratio is so freaking low...even doing pushups on my knees feels like it tweaks my shoulders deep in the rotator cuff.

I'm 32 now, and if I'm honest with myself feeling pretty discouraged.

I don't want to just give up though...seeing my weight on the scale really jarred me back into action. Heading out to the grocery store here shortly to stock up on good food, and have to get back into a practice of physical strength training, which I am not looking forward to, since on top of the usual pain and suffering of starting exercise from being out of shape, I have to face relearning strength and skill I had before but now have lost.

For those who don't want to read the whole thread, I am 6'7" current weight above (about 240-245 of it is lean body mass), aspiring to be a handbalancer.

My coaches and fellow circus folk tell me that my lines are amazing in hand standing (though I currently lack the basic strength to do them without hurting myself) and especially knees...the contortionists at my school drool over my natural ability to perfectly straighten my knees and point my toes. However this lead to a knee dislocation four years ago from which I have not fully recovered...the knee is better but the muscles on that side of my body are still weak in comparison to the other side, leaving me imbalanced and it feels devilishly hard to fix it lacking the strength to do bodyweight exercises at my current weight.

I figured reaching out and being more active in the community here could help with my motivation and progress...when I get a new phone I can even start posting up video logs of where I'm at.

In the meantime...any advice for someone in my position? I have shied away from weight training because all the acrobats I know say it gets in the way...yet when even basic pushups on knees are hard to do without tweaking my shoulders, I'm a bit at a loss.

Due to the imbalances between my left and right sides (one side is significantly smaller/weaker than the other), all the training is painful and basically feels like I keep reinforcing the bad structure, instead of what I think it should be like...having good structure that can just be built upon.

I don't want to give up, but I wonder if my dreams of acrobatic ability are the pipe dreams people have always told me they are for a man of my stature.

Anyone have any advice or encouragement? Particularly for people who have been able to overcome obesity/lack of athletic/basic strength foundation, or who have come back from muscle atrophying injuries?

[Cole Dano]

Sorry, I was a bit brief in the description.

About the pull up bar I meant this style - http://www.amazon.com/GoFit-GF-CUB-Chin ... 218&sr=1-8

Of course there is an issue that you may have to mount and re mount the hardware, and you might not want to do that to your poor door.

By shoulder elevated, I mean you'd start from a near standing position. Leaning forward.

You can also use rings/trx for this if that's an option. If you are having shoulder problems, sometimes the rings are actually better because there is more freedom of movement which can help you find your groove.

For the legs, you can use your bands to do extensions a curls as well. You don't want to go to high loads with the therapeutic stuff. Slow reps, 10+ reps works well. It's not meant to be a bulking program, but for rehab. Hindu squats are not a bad option either if they aren't too much for your knees. Think of the BW squats as a part of the progression to pistols. Rome wasn't built in a day.

[Cole Dano]

Welcome back!

I'm no expert on weight loss, but Joshua Naterman (aka Slizardman) has written many posts on the subject, it all comes down to nutrition.

With the bodyweight work, I had elbow surgery a few months ago and had to start over with many progressions. I found that doing knee push ups felt 'wrong' the geometry just isn't right, so it was harder on the shoulder. I also work with a lot of people who are on the weaker end of the spectrum, so have to come up with ways to scale things down all the time.

For your push ups what I've found to be a good pre-step are shoulder elevated push ups with a bar. You'll need a doorway style bar that you can trust. The kind that tightens between the jambs. Just set the bar to a height you can do a push up from. I guess starting at about the level of your solar plexus.

The pulls are going to be rows, and agin you can begin from a shoulder elevated angle if needed. I think any variation that's going to allow you to have a straight body will benefit your end goal.

With weights, that's a whole other can of worms, but they aren't always a bad choice. Particularly for assistance work and leg work. With your history of injury it sounds like you may benefit from some specific rehab. E.g. Leg Curls and Extensions Peterson Step Ups. In addition to some sort of squats.

Finally, there is one tool you might look into, Chest Expanders, I rarely will name a brand here, but The Hook. I don't want to get to into that here, but if it appeals to you, we can carry on the discussion.

I know this is just scratching the surface but maybe it helps a bit.

[Scott Caron]

Thanks!

After seeing the scale today, it really shocked me into enough is enough. I'm gearing up for training nutrition again, which means I'm going to spend 6 out of 7 days for the next however long it takes...I'm guessing 6 months) eating healthy nutritious but somewhat monotonous meals.

2x day: spinach salad with baked chicken breast, green peas, and avocado will be my main meal, 2 snacks in between of 4 hardboiled eggs, 2 tablespoons almond butter, an oz of carrots and a cup of lowfat cottage cheese.

Breakfast will either be eggs with black beans and salsa, maybe shitaki mushrooms and saute' onions if I'm feeling fancy, OR for those get up and go mornings, a shake made with a whole box of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 4 tablespoons of hemp protein powder, a carton of egg whites, and 2 tablespoons of macadamia nut oil.

For my lean body mass, and predicted level of training I need around 4500 calories a day broken into 5 meals.

For knee pushups, I like to do them with my knees on an elevated gymnastics block, about 1-1.5 feet off the floor.

ICan you explain a bit more about shoulder elevation? I'm not clear on the doorjamb device you speak of, but I know with my weight and mass I tend to rip things from their moorings. Do you mean to do pushups standing up/leaning?

Currently I have a pair of home made PVC pushup handles I use.

Is there a way to do rows without weights/machines? I have a pullup bar with woodie bands, but even with 2 medium bands it is hard...I may need another light band to really start rocking on them. The hardest with pullups is that my grip goes out immediately, so I am looking into a wrist roller and grippers to help along with just doing more hanging. The pressure callouses can be brutal though, although gloves do help.

I've heard leg extensions machines are bad news. Also, my legs are so bulky I'm afraid to make them bigger...definitely don;t have the strength and flexibility to do deck squats, but I can work up to hindu squats. Would love to be able to do pistols, but as bulky as they are, my legs have a hard time with my own bodyweight.

I do have a chest expander actually. For the standard chest height straight armed opening pull, I'm currently using the 50 lb band.

[Scott Caron]

Sorry, I was a bit brief in the description.

About the pull up bar I meant this style - http://www.amazon.com/GoFit-GF-CUB-Chin ... 218&sr=1-8

Of course there is an issue that you may have to mount and re mount the hardware, and you might not want to do that to your poor door.

By shoulder elevated, I mean you'd start from a near standing position. Leaning forward.

You can also use rings/trx for this if that's an option. If you are having shoulder problems, sometimes the rings are actually better because there is more freedom of movement which can help you find your groove.

For the legs, you can use your bands to do extensions a curls as well. You don't want to go to high loads with the therapeutic stuff. Slow reps, 10+ reps works well. It's not meant to be a bulking program, but for rehab. Hindu squats are not a bad option either if they aren't too much for your knees. Think of the BW squats as a part of the progression to pistols. Rome wasn't built in a day.

For some reason it seems your posts got posted out of order so I am just now seeing this.

I have rings already which seems a better way to do the standing pushups...and easier to adjust height for more or less incline.

How can I use my chest expander bands for leg curls and extensions? Seems like I would need to attach one end to something...I think there might be a door frame hook or similar I can get.

It's strange because my legs are already zoo bulky, but not strong...will building more strength help me to unbulk them, or is that unavoidable at my height? Long heavy legs seems to be the biggest obstacle for me, and it means that my core has to be SUPER strong. I have been working on hollow body and tight arch for awhile and it is slow going but I have the groove to work in down so it's a matter of keeping it up every day.

What are BW squats? I'm not familiar with those initials. I may wait until I can cut my weight down through nutrition by 10 or 20 pounds before I start doing a lot of HIndus, but back before I stopped training I was decent at them.

Anyways, thanks for the encouragement...I think being part of the community here will help me. When I get a new phone I'll be able to start posting up videos and you guys will be able to give me even more precise feedback, and the act of doing so I hope will encourage me to really stick with it and see some results. If I can progress in these strength skills, front and back levers, etc. it really will be world record breaking. In my circus school a guy came through who was my height and could tumble and do straddle planches, but he was super thin light body type whereas my bone-build is definitely more linebacker type.

Thanks all for being here on my journey. Perhaps one day I will also be an inspiration to others.

[Cole Dano]

I have rings already which seems a better way to do the standing pushups...and easier to adjust height for more or less incline.

Good the rings are much easier to scale the incline with, and if you are having shoulder issues, I find the freedom of movement makes is easier to find a good groove. You just have to make sure to make the 'easy' enough with the elevation, and then make them harder by getting to a nice slow tempo. 3 second down, 2 second pause, 3 second up being a reasonable slowness.

How can I use my chest expander bands for leg curls and extensions? Seems like I would need to attach one end to something...I think there might be a door frame hook or similar I can get.

Lot's of ways if you are creative. Seeing as you had a hyper-extension. If you put the handles on the other side of a door, on the floor. You can easily do standing extensions and curls. The Range of Motion will be small for these.

For a larger ROM, do them laying on the floor. On your back for extensions, stomach of curls. Just hook one handle on your foot, and hold the cable in your hand to adjust tension.

It's strange because my legs are already zoo bulky, but not strong...will building more strength help me to unbulk them, or is that unavoidable at my height? Long heavy legs seems to be the biggest obstacle for me, and it means that my core has to be SUPER strong. I have been working on hollow body and tight arch for awhile and it is slow going but I have the groove to work in down so it's a matter of keeping it up every day.

Great you are working the core hard, it's essential!

What are BW squats? I'm not familiar with those initials. I may wait until I can cut my weight down through nutrition by 10 or 20 pounds before I start doing a lot of HIndus, but back before I stopped training I was decent at them.

BW = Body Weight. You can also use your rings to assist with the squats, so you don't have to wait.

[Scott Caron]

Good stuff. My door has a 2-3 inch gap at the base between the bottom of the door and the floor (victorian era construction), so it looks like I'll have to get a door hint hook for my bands (cheap and easy).

The trick seems to be finding the right level of challenge.

Any advice on volume? Number of reps and sets I should be shooting for, and how hard it should be to complete said reps/sets? I'm never quite sure if I've done enough, and one of the ways I've sabotaged myself in the past has been to get all hung-ho, train for 3 hours and then be so messed up it takes me a week to recover. Finding the groove in volume seems to be as important as the actual groove of motion.

Also, I work on static holds...i.e. plank/pushup position holding for 1 minute at a time, with elbows totally straight and pressing in to each other to build the straight arm strength. I used to have a decent support hold, but now I can't keep my shoulders from hiking up, meaning I need stronger lats (I think).

[Cole Dano]

Think of it as pre-hab, and do 15 reps at a moderate tempo. It's not meant to kill you just get the blood flowing, strengthen the end ROM, and help educate your nervous system on where a straight leg ends and hyper-extension begins.

Then do 3 very slow reps with a pause in the straight leg position of about 5 seconds.

You'll have to feel to go by feel on the tension, but we are talking below 50% your max strength one rep strength here to start.

[Scott Caron]

Just a clarification, it wasn't a hyperextension. The mcl tore causing the patella to slip sideways, hitting the lateral condyle before immediately popping back into place. Partial tear MCL, some crepitation behind patella, but meniscus otherwise undamaged. I really lucked out.

[Cole Dano]

Thats's a bummer!

Did you have a Physio? Did you get some rehab exercises to do?

Do a Google on Peterson Step Up.

With the bands also do easy lateral movements, adducting and abducting a neutral straight leg. You could do it as part of the standing extension and curl set. Be extra careful with the lateral work, light loads only. Also for abducting, it may be best to start with slow negatives only. In other words, use the other leg to bring the band to tension, step the injured leg in and slowly release tension.

For tendons this is a proven method, in all honesty I'm not sure the negatives are better with ligaments , but it makes sense. It can take a year for healing to be complete on this type of injury, so go easy!

Here's a little YouTube clip that covers most of the same stuff we've been taling about.

M3jS0VEDqOw

I would do some of the exercise there with a slower tempo.

[Scott Caron]

Well the injury was four years ago, so the knee is fine. It's all the little niggling imbalances that riplled through that side from the 6 months I was dow.

Also...my arches are a bit flat, and I notice gymnasts and acrobats all have perfect strong feet with well developed arches and ankle strength. Is there a way to build up foot strength as well and develop my arch back from flatness? The last thing I want is plantar fasciatus.

[Cole Dano]

I misread, I thought it was 4 months ago!

Other than not needing to be as careful the above still applies. You want to be quite mindful doing the rehab work, think you are ironing out the ripples. As you do it you may find that some exercises have more impact than others, and you mat even find your own angles on the whole process, that's the way it should be.

Kit Laughlin put up some info on flat feet -

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