Another plateauing solution

Hi,

I have been making very slow progress on ABR, and I just might have realized something about that.

Last week I did 4x36r and I made it, but it was really hard in the end and just barely made. I have been stuck in the 40s range for many months, dropped a bit due to recent time of because of back pain.

This morning I just did 5x36r, almost effortlessly.

I realize that I have been tensing myself and holding maximal tension every time I have been doing this, from the very first rep. Today, for some reason I decided to try to just hold enough force to keep the form good, and that made a huge difference. It was so much easier and I did not fatigue through the sets and I never even reached the burning feeling, although I had just increased to five sets.

Thinking about it, it makes sense. By exerting maximal force from the very first repetition, the muscles are going to wear out soon enough, regardless of how strong I get. Hence the plateauing, and never getting past a certain repetition range, in this case.

Well I haven't mastered ABH so you obviously know more about this then I do , but I think the big secret with the holds is that the point is not mainly to develop endurance but rather to cultivate the habit of holding those full body tension positions with least effort, so you go through applying maximum tension / maximum effort to just the correct tension for the position in an effortless manner. 

And dont forget to breath! This is what helped me the most. I always try to focus on my breathing when doing long static holds.

Very well said, Zach.  

Zach Armijo said:

I will always continue to say it: talk out loud in your statics. Count, sing something stupid, whatever it takes. I love seeing people turn Cherry Red from holding statics too long, but man, I hate seeing them miss their mark even more because they couldn't hold their breath anymore or start seeing stars.

 

Also teaching people to be tight but loose at the same time is hard do until they feel it for themselves. When something is still new to us, we have a tendency to make it much harder on ourselves by over activating and over tightening. You see this in HS, hollows and arches in beginning students. Give it time and these master shapes will be under your control and you won't even have to think about going into hollow or going into an arch, you will just be there.

Nicely explained, Zach.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Zach Armijo said:

I will always continue to say it: talk out loud in your statics. Count, sing something stupid, whatever it takes.

Is cursing allowed?

Erik Rissanen said:

Is cursing allowed?

I assumed that's what he meant when referring to counting and singing.