Johnny's Training Log

My last workout that i posted was admittedly too heavy and hard to keep up with.

This new one is better and I added in my counter weight pulley rings rig to it.

Constructive criticism is, as always, welcome.

Monday: A

Tuesday: weight room

Wednesday: rest / random goof off strength

Thursday: weight room

Friday: B

Saturday: C

Sunday: rest

A,B & C begin with warm up & stretch and end with stretch.

A:

2 Cirques:

8 second cycle, 4 second cycle

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 rings set:

first set is 5 reps each

second is 4 reps w/ 1 sec holds

third is 3 reps w/ 2 second holds

fourth is 2 reps w/ 3 second holds

fifth is 1 rep all out holds

These two are done in a row with toes on swiss ball:

[x] reps cross pulls

[x] reps maltese pushes

30 second rest

These are done in a row on high rings:

[x] reps pull front lever pull to inverted hang lower to back lever pull to inverted hang etc...

back roll up to support or kip to support then:

5 dips

10 second support

press handstand (vary level as needed)

10 second hold

1-3 minute rest then subtract a rep and add a second to hold and repeat.

2 Cirques:

8 second cycle, 4 second cycle

B:

2 Cirques:

8 second cycle, 4 second cycle

With counterweight rings rig:

3 x Azarian Cross pull to Maltese to Cross pull to Maltese

(add more counterweight)

3 x Maltese to planche to Invert to Maltese to planche to Invert

(add a ridiculous amount of counterweight or switch to true pulley rings)

3 x Front lever pull to Victorian to front lever pull to Victorian

2 Cirques:

8 second cycle, 4 second cycle

C:

2 Cirques:

8 second cycle, 4 second cycle

P-bars 20-15-10

In one set:

[x] Rows

[x] dip swing handstands

[x] behind the back dips

[5] press handstands (vary level as needed)

2 Cirques:

8 second cycle, 4 second cycle

Weight Room:

It's a class at school, pretty basic stuff, but that's where I do the majority of my leg and core work.

Rest:

no explanation needed.

Goals by summer:

Solid 10 second Cross pull out

Solid 6 second Maltese

Azarian, cross pull to Maltese

Kip Maltese roll out kip cross pull to maltese

1RM 350lbs bench press

Day 1: March 10 2008

4 seconds sketchy cross

1 second sketchy maltese

kippy azarian to sketchy cross, kicky cross pull to questionable "planchese"

kip to almost maltese fall to basket kip cross pull to questionable "planchese"

1RM 300lbs bench press

4/02/08 - Strength Update

I'm pretty sure it was the cirque lower downs that did this, I can do one arm pull ups now (there's a very slight kip in the beginning, i'm working toward true deadhang)

hardest sequence to date:

slight swing azarian cross pull roll back (slight swing) azarian cross pull, kip cross pull, kip cross pull

maltese progress:

the position is flatter and less archy but hold times are still inadequate.

And I'm changing my bench goal, because Im starting to think benching is useless, especially for gymnastics.

Changing it to a 350lbs (total) pull up

so far I've added 140 to my 160 @ 300lbs for 1rm.

Damn, man. Damn.

hehe wow i did not stay on top of these updates here's my strength training logs a year later. . .

10192009

warm up: (all done consecutively and quickly)

15 shoulder cuff rotations in 3 directions

10 pullups

10 dips

10 pushups on a swiss ball

the real workout:

first round:

5 BgD roll back, 15 second BL (used 10 lbs weights)

3 one arm lever pulls per arm(no assist)

5 PLPU roll back, 15 second FL (used 10 lbs weights)

3 one arm lever pulls per arm (6 lbs assist)

5 BgHSPU power down, 15 second PL (used 10 lbs weights)

3 one arm front lever pulls (6 lbs assist)

second round:

3 Cross pulls roll back 15 second BL (10 lbs weights)

2 back bends

5 PLPU roll back, 15 second FL (no weights, straddled on eccentric, tucked on concentric)

2 back bends

5 BgHSPU power down, 15 second PL (no weights, tucked)

2 back bends

third round:

3 Cross pulls roll back, 15 second BL (10 lbs weights)

3 around the world front lever pulls

5 PLPU roll back, 15 second FL (no weights, tucked PLPU)

2 back bends

5 BgHSPU power down, 15 second PL (no weights, tucked)

2 back bends

finished with:

3 x 15 circlular trap shrugs forward and back and 15 second hold (100, 60, 40 lbs)

15 min stretch

10 min steam bath

5 min cold shower

10 min steam bath

2 min cold shower

2 min hot shower

2 min cold shower

-10162009-

started around [1430]

Warm up:

15 rotator cuff extension flexsion and rotations 3 directions, both sides

10 fast pullups

10 hopping dips

10 pushups on exercise ball

The Real Deal:

[First Round:]

1) 5 weighted Bulgarian dips, roll back 15 second back lever

core set: 5 body levers from shoulders

2) 5 planche pushups, roll back to 15 second front lever

core set: 5 body levers from shoulders

3) 5 bulgarian handstand pushups, lower down to 15 second planche

core set: 5 body levers from shoulders

[second Round:]

1) 5 weighted Bulgarian dips, roll back 15 second back lever

core set: 3 around the world front levers circles to the right and left

2) 5 planche pushups, roll back to 15 second front lever

core set: 3 around the world front levers circles to the right and left

3) 5 bulgarian handstand pushups, lower down to 15 second planche

core set: 3 around the world front levers circles to the right and left

[Third Round:]

1) 5 weighted Bulgarian dips, roll back 15 second back lever

core set: 1 x 10 front hip extensions

2) 5 planche pushups, roll back to 15 second front lever

core set: 1 x 10 side hip extensions

3) 5 bulgarian handstand pushups, lower down to 15 second planche

core set: 1 x 10 hip circles

Finished with 5 back bends using the wall as an assist

15 min stretch

10 min steam bath

3 min cold shower

10 min steam bath

3 min cold shower

3 min hot shower

3 min cold shower

notes:

I spend more time in the shower / steam room than the gym haha

10 lbs on the dips/BL

positions on BL were straight

PLPU were tucked, FL was mostly straight then open tuck for last few seconds

BHSPU needs to be weighted, turn out at the top could use some improvement. PL is a tuck, but no room for a straddle

Back bends showing huge improvement!

Todays nutrition:

1) 2 microwaved scrambled egg with cheese and ketchup sandwich, 1 apple, 1 L water, 1 multi vitamin, 2 calcium, 1 fish oil [0800]

2) one can of tuna- tuna sandwich, 6 rambutan, 1 L water [1000]

3) few cups of rice, strawberry yogurt, some peanut butter 1 L water [1200] (weird combo huh?)

4) 6 quail eggs, velveta MAC&CHEEEESE an entire family sized box hahaha, 1 L water, 1 multi vitamin, 2 calcium, 1 fish oil [1600]

5) 3 scrambled eggs, 1 L water,1 multi vitamin, 2 calcium, 1 fish oil [2000]

-10152009-

Warm up:

15 rotator cuff extension flexsion and rotations 3 directions, both sides

10 fast pullups

10 hopping dips

10 pushups on exercise ball

The Real Deal:

complete 3 rounds:

1) 10 front lever rocks, 5 iron cross pull to planche

2) 5 maltese presses with feet on the floor, 3 back bends

3) 5 behind the back dip to back lever negatives, 15 second back lever

finished with

15 min stretch, same steam bath/ shower thing.

1 hour yogging, the j is silent/ monkey jump runnin arouund

helped move, lift, and pack over a metric ton of relief goods

-10132009-

Warm up:

15 rotator cuff extension flexsion and rotations 3 directions, both sides

10 fast pullups

10 hopping dips

10 pushups on exercise ball

The Real Deal:

12 rounds of

1) 30 second hand stand, 45 second rest

Finish with 3 x 15 wrist extension push ups

1 x 10 Front hip extensions

1 x 10 Side hip extensions

1 x 10 hip circles

3 x 3 one legged dead lifts, ouch.

same cool down regimen.

Got anymore vids since your last one like a year ago?

I'd love to see your progress!

Thanks, i'm not quite ready to be on camera just yet. It was actually happening upon those videos about 2 months ago and an international change of environment that had inspired me to take on regular training again.

In retrospect, the younger me used to equate a large repertoire of exercises in my workouts with efficacy of the program and wasn't as concerned with recovery, design, or diet amongst other things; the main progress you will see here is my increased knowledge of training, thanks mainly to this website and to increased experience in training others.

Sadly, full length rings aren't as available here, but I feel like I've gotten most, if not slightly more of my strength back already and definitely much more active flexibility. I'll be sure to post some videos soon!

Cool log definately following here

10202009

today's workout was freely structured, played around with the following exercises for a bit

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working on locking the elbows but the poles get in the way =\

one arm levers with 6 lbs assist

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Which hand position would be the most beneficial me to practice? I'm assuming the first position has the slightly more carryover for the skills i'm working toward, but any advice will be considered and much appreciated. Looks like I need more focus on the first few degrees on the descent.

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Also played around with some 1rm weighted pull ups, no vids yet but I could easily do 100lbs, attempted 125 twice, the second try was better but i wouldn't quite call it legitimate. I have much less pulling power in the last few degrees before full ROM is achieved. How is it possible to perform a one arm pull, but not perform a +100% two arm pull up? Maybe some statics held at the top of the rep will help?

i mess around with these every so often. I descend a little lower than a pseudo planche pushup and I'm aiming for a back lever eventually. I didn't notice until now that my forearms flare out to the sides, I'm trying to keep them pointed back. I should probably drop the belt and use a bench till i correct that. Thoughts?

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Anyways goals by 2011 that i intend to STICK WITH this time haha:

5 second one arm FL, without assist

5 second one arm back lever, well see about this one

5 second straight planche on rings, as of now I can do a 5 second straddle with relative ease, but those darn bars usually get in the way)

5 second LOCKED arm cross and 5 LOCKED ARM cross pulls, want to get the locked arm part back

5 OAC

+ 110% weighted pull up

back walk over with relative ease and comfort [=

[degrees]135[/degrees] hip extensions would be amazing

and something vaguely resembling a maltese would be nice too

The reason OAC doesn't translate to +100% BW pullup is that each arm is lifting your body minus the weight of the arm. So, with each arm having that strength, it should work out somewhere near +100%BW minus weight of both arms. Average arm weighs 10-13 lbs.

edit: To get to your pullup goals you're going to want to A) work the various hand positions with weight. Regular, wide, close, reverse(chin-up), neutral. B) Heavy weighted negatives. C) Continue with your one arm work D) Work explosive BW or light weighted pullups.

10212009

technically an off day for me but i played around with this idea just now

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these were pretty challenging, even though my center of mass isn't aligned with my supporting arm the whole time. i think it might be better to press onto the elevated surface rather than using it as the assist.

nutrition log:

[0800]

2 scrambled eggs on 2 slices of bread with cheese and ketchup

1 apple

2 bananas

a bit of strawberry yogurt

1 glass OJ

1 L water

1 multi Vit 1 Calcium

[1000]

1 can of tuna spread on 3 slices of bread with lite mayo and relish

1 banana with peanut butter

1 glass OJ

1 L water

[1300]

5ish cups of rice

several servings of beanless chili beef

2 L water

1 banana

1 multi Vit 1 Calcium

[1600]

some corn tortilla chips with cheese dip

1 venti white chocolate mocha frappacino, 2 carmel waffle cookies mmmmmm

4 rambutan

[1900]

1 small plate corned beef hash and rice with tomatos

some strawberry yogurt

1 L water

1 multi Vit 1 Calcium

[2200]

2 large bowls of chicken potatoes and noodles

1 L water

At my highest power to weight ratio (im guestimating when the ratio was highest) I was around 180 Lbs (i stopped training for about a year)

Current weight is 177 and gaining.

I'm gaining around a pound a week of what i'm assuming is lean muscle mass (that sounds a bit fast, it might just be gylcogen stores and water weight, but I am much stronger and showing more definition) At 6'0ish, I don't believe that adding more (functional) mass would be detrimental to my power to weight ratio, thoughts?

No personal experience since i've always been rather light and lean but here is some food for thought

http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/rel ... hmyth.html

I am a big guy at 6'2, 225 and not more than 12% bodyfat. I have always been much faster and more powerful than people think I can be. It freaks my girlfriend out sometimes when we play-wrestle, how fast I can move side to side, shoot in, and leg sweep to a cartwheel away. She's a quick little thing and I can beat her to the punch more often than not. A lot of that came from training with very fast people when I was younger. My strength has always been high for my size. Not necessarily in the gym, since my shoulders have always given me problems due to a lack of proper prehab and old injuries, but when actually wrestling, people flip out. I routinely manhandle guys who are 270. Putting on a few pounds will greatly enhance your strength ratios if you put the weight on in the right muscles. Shoulders and hips are key, as are biceps and forearms. a total of 3 lbs of actual meat is not much weight, but if it is only in your shoulders, biceps, and forearms you will have an ungodly strength increase.

I am also trying to gain some weight and the hardest part for me is eating so much. To me 1 pound a week sounds perfect if you are keeping your body fat percentage constant (which is difficult to do). I am personally trying to gain 2-3 pounds a week. I mean Im 6 feet tall 155 pounds so I could really use the mass 8) Everything I have read says that you can gain some strength without mass gain but ultimately you need to put on muscle to get stronger. Personally (for the past 6 months I guess) I have been going through a phase of gaining strength, but loosing fat at the same time so I am loosing bad weight but gaining good weight at the same time so my overall weight has stayed about the same, and I think I am getting close to the lower healthy body fat limit. But for the past month or so I have stagnated badly in my strength gains and I believe I have hit a physical limit with my current size. Basically gaining some weight is a good thing if you find your strength gains are stagnating.

You can't gain 2-3 pounds of muscle a week unless you are on some serious juice, dude.

One pound a week would be good gains. Most natural bodybuilders struggle to add more than 10-12 lbs a year, but that's partially due to faulty training. Still, 20 lbs a year is pretty amazing. I'd say that because your body isn't familiar with the training and nutrition necessary to gain mass, you'd be able to do 15-20 lbs in 6 months. That's actual muscle. Given that goal, one pound a week is more than sufficient. If you over-eat you'll just put on fat that you need to lose later Not worth it.

Thanks for all the feedback guys, a lot to consider. . .

To improve my ratio, I should be getting stronger faster than I'm gaining weight and that seems like a reasonable assumption.

I'd say 90% of the weight i'm gaining IS upper body, I have the classic built like a "yield sign with loaded spring chicken legs" gymnastics body.

10222009

four rounds of:

6 one arm handstand 1' box push ups L/R (unto elevated surface, opposite my recent vid, i'll film this next time)

10 rings turned out dips arriving as close as possible to a back lever and back up

5 one arm leg lifts L/R (first round I attempted 1 arm cranks but after that truly humbling and borderline embarrassing experience decided for something more manageable) :oops:

finished with

2 x 15 wrist push ups (ido's variation where the wrists extension happens on the way down)

my poor triceps are going to hate me tomorrow

post workout nutrition:

[1100]

6 egg omelette's (take that Michael Phelps!)

3 ish cups of rice

1 banana

1 multi vit

1 fish oil

1 L water

i've been doing the one arm handstand pushups like you are saying... by pressing up onto a higher box... they are very tough... even if you use the wall... i started out on a box about 1-2 inches high... my best is box about 4-6 inches high... i never measured it... i use a similar principle to oac and place a heavy focus on the negative.. good luck

Tsunami, I believe you are aproaching the OAHSPU all wrong.

The move shouldnt be done going sideways on a strict line (the shoulder line in the handstand), but instead you should lower down the head towards its place in the triangle of a headstand. Try to do a one arm headstand and you will get the correct alignment.

One should lower down from a normal one arm handstand, in a diagonal vector - forward and sideways towards this point, and maybe a small torque of the body. This will later on will allow you to maintain balance and perform it freestanding.

BTW, I do not think it is such a difficult move, it can be done, it is just not as astheticly apealing as other feats done by acrobats, and though, no one has dedicated enough training time to achieve it. Also, most bent arm strength is considered 'ugly' in gymnastics, acrobatics, and this prevents a lot of impressive feats to get developed.

Ido.

Interesting Ido,

Thanks for the input, I'll try resting my head on the box and press it up from there, lowering it's height as I progress. As for doing it freestanding, I haven't perfected a one arm handstand just yet and was doing these as a complimentary exercise and for its strength applications.

As for aesthetics, I'm not concerned with how gymnastically pretty it will be. I'm doing this solely to please myself and train my body with new forms of movement.

I am nowhere near strong enough to work one arm handstand pushups but I know if I see someone on the street do a headstand and then push up into a handstand using one arm I would be REALLY impressed no matter what it looked like even they just pressed up and fell out of balance immediately! I think its more along the lines of a party trick (or a “just because you can movementâ€), not an aesthetically pleasing floor routine element.

Keep working it, I would love to see it free standing one day! 8)

One arm kegstands are the farthest I've got. And it's still using a balance spot at one of my knees

I suppose I should say that it's not a regular practice, but hey... my buddy had two kegs at his wedding. Yep, at the wedding. Of course they made their way to the reception as well, but I was tickled silly when I saw two full kegs by the food line!!!

lol at the wedding one arm kegstands

did about a 5k night run last night, legs are sore and triceps really sore from previous workout.

the rest of my upper body felt like it had a lot of dead weight to pick up the slack for, might even be a good thing?

10232009

warm up:

15 rotator cuff prehab x 3

10 swiss ball push ups

10 pull ups

10 dips

3 bridge walks

3 rounds of:

15s BL, 3 L/R OAC negatives (10 lbs weighted OAC and BL)

15s PL, 5 BgHSPU (straddle on PL on dumbells 10 lbs weighted HSPU)

15s FL, 3 front lever around the worlds (last set done straight arms)

finished with:

3 back bends, bridge walks (these are coming along quite nicely)

same shower dealio

I tend to eat more and be hungrier on my off days for some reason. I've only had one breakfast today haha.

10252009

ran a 5k race and confirmed that I have great sprinting ability and power, but average at best leg endurance.

my weekend nutrition is terrible especially after seeing it written out

nutrition:

pre race: 1 scrambled egg, 1 L water

post race: bananas, gatorade

chicken and shrimp pasta, .25 L water

2 servings of mango torte!

about a kilo of seafood including: prawns, calamare, crab

several servings of rice and noodles

1 coconut, 1 pale pilsen

Today I was inspired to begin work on reclaiming the lock arm iron cross.

I made a subtle discovery in the gym on how to hang my rings in a way that i have room to straighten my arms, but realized just how weak my elbows had become as i was unable to fully descend into a lock arm cross without pain.

step 1: analyse current cross

step 2: take a step back and work easier progressions with correct form

10262009

3x15 rotator cuff prehab

1x5 muscle ups

6 rounds of:

elbow loading: 10 second iron cross (used ab straps on forearms instead of gripping rings)

elbow recovery: 5 front lever rocks (focusing on slow movement and bicep contraction)

2 rounds of:

3 handstand to straddle planche negatives, 5 front lever rocks (focusing on slow movement and bicep contraction)

3 tuck planche to handstand positives, 5 front lever rocks (focusing on slow movement and bicep contraction)

planned on doing more rounds of planches but i feel i had done too many crosses for my elbows to continue with straight arm work.

Biceps feel it, elbows are just fine; that's a good sign.

Felt very slight elbow discomfort in my left arm, but far from painful, nonetheless stayed away from heavy straight arm work today as a precautionary measure.

10272009

3x15 RCPH

1x5 MU

10 OAHSboxPU

10 RTO dips

4 OAHSboxPU 10 lbs

5 RTO dips 10 lbs

3 OAHSboxPU 10 lbs

3 RTO dips 90 lbs

3 OAHSboxPU 10 lbs

2 RTO dips 90 lbs

20 total reps for each

5 L press handstands on 4 inch bars

after i finished, I attempted to do the oahsboxpu as we had conjectured before from an elevated oahes pressing at an angle, and will try it again when i am fresh.

has some extra energy today so i added in an extra workout. I'm driven to reclaim the locked arm position on my rings skills.

10282009

3x15RCPH

1x5MU

5 rounds of

15 second maltese (forearms in ab strab feet supported by a bench)

5 front lever pull ups

finished with

5 bowers (straddled)

5 back bend bridge walk ups

I tried 3rd round of maltese with feet unsupported and in a half lay, slightly out of reach today. Some elbow discomfort on the last set in my left elbow again so i stopped. Is it better to stop at the first sign of discomfort attempting to increase my joint strength or should i attempt to estimate that point at cease prior to it? I feel i should decrease either weekly volume or daily intensity.

i surprised myself with how easy i did the bowers having ceased training them for about a year, though straight body was slightly out of reach.

Felt a slight twinge in my left posterior deltoid on the back bends, despite the little twinge these are improving immensely.