Taking stock of last year's progress at 69-th b-day

For my 69-th birthday last week I took stock of where I got with last year’s playing around with simple gymnastic strength exercises, so I can set some goals for next year. I did get coach Sommer’s book and plan to follow his recommended cycles and progressions. I plan to post some video clips to show progress and to get some advice. Of course, I am counting on some curiosity from your side about what gains are possible at my age with a not-so-responsive neuromuscular system and a fading hormonal plant. In fact, I more than share that curiosity. Posting here will help motivate me and keep me focused. Here is a video of my current level. I have tried to keep it as short as possible by not showing complete cycles, but it is still about 4 minutes. So, please try to ignore my washer and drier; the nice piece of abstract art behind me on the PPP clips at the end is a papua war shield from New Guinea.

Obviously, my skills are all pretty rough around the edges, but there is a lot of good intent. And most importantly, it brings me good health, joy and happiness. You will notice that my pulling strength is way ahead of my overhead pushing strength (rock climbing is to blame). On a good day I can do a towel pull-up with 40 kg extra but I can not do even a single HeSPU. Also, lack of flexibility is a severely limiting factor. Coordinating my upper and lower body (as needed for a press to HS) is also quite a challenge.

My overall goal is gains in flexibility, OH pushing strength, overall shoulder girdle strength, balance, coordination and control. Goals for this coming year are:

Much improved passive and active flexibility.

30 second L-sit with feet hip high.

Straddle L-sit hold.

3 free HS push ups.

L-sit to HS on PB.

FL straddle pull-ups set of 5.

BL 10 second hold.

Wall assisted pseudo planche pushups.

Tucked planche hold 15 seconds.

IC with straight arms at 140 degrees.

I found a recommendation on this board for doing cuban presses to strengthen the rotator cuff and have started to incorporate those. They seem to help, even if it is a little early to really tell.

Generally, I start and finish with stretching, and do one set of a pulling exercise and then one set of a pushing exercise; never to exhaustion (except when doing negatives). I pick the skill level so I can just do 3-7 repetitions. I try to do at least 5 sets. I alternate 2 hard and 1 easy day; 1 or 2 rest days a week. A session will typically last 2 hours or more, including enough rest (1-2 min.s) between sets.

Any suggestions are appreciated. My main question (and focus) right now is how to further strengthen that part of my shoulder girdle that I need to do HSPU’s and a tucked planche hold. My stats are 6’1â€, 76-77 kg.

Amazing and impressive that's all I can say 8)

69?! I can not believe, you seem to have less!

Thanks for the update, you've really kept yourself in good shape FritaMB! I'm just getting started with this at 47 and would be really happy to be doing what you are.

Yes the prehab rehab work is really important too. The Cuban's, Ido's band sequence, Coach's Wall Extensions and Shoulder Dislocates are all things to take a look at so you can stay well and keep us stoked at 79!

HOLY COW!

You look like you're in your early 40's, that's just amazing. I noticed you did rock climbing, but what else did you do to get to your current skill level? You're the healthiest 69 year old I've ever seen; the strongest too! Happy birthday, by the way.

Mr Brady, yes I do include wall extensions and dislocates. Ido’s band sequences I did not know about but I will look at his webside for some clues.

Seiji. I think I am mostly blessed with some good genes. But also managed to at least maintain a reasonable level of fitness throughout my life. I got in very good shape in my twenties by race rowing and alpine climbing at a high level. Did mostly running in my thirties with some pullups and pushups. Got into a 1-2 hour a day training again while working for myself in my forties (rowing and circuit training with weights). I think, that that was the key to my current level of fitness even if, during my fifties, I was mostly a weekend warrior. I got back into it with a vengeance in my early sixties after a debilitating illness. Started climbing in the gym twice a week and in the Alps in the summer, took up rowing and long distance xcntry skiing in the winter. I bought my oly lifting set two years ago and had a go at that, did pretty well but did not enjoy it as much as the body weight type of exercises that I had also started to do (I still do squats, though). So, a year ago I discovered this website and decided to bring some structure in my program and it seems to work well for me. I think the key is not giving in to stereo typing and trying out what works best and then sticking with it.

Awesome video. Can't wait to see the L-sit to handstand. I don't really have any advice but I wish you the best with your training.

Mr Brady. I found ido portal’s vid’s + instructions for wrist, shoulder and hip prehab/rehab and have started to incorporate those in my warm up routine. Thank you ido for putting so much time into these instructional videos. They are going to make a big difference.

Very impressive, and happy birthday!

If you don't really enjoy weights and you prefer bodyweight you could substitute weighted squats for pistols. Much more fun in my opinion, although I can only do negatives ATM.

Longshanks. I do pistols, but on a box because I am not flexible enough. I also do air squats on a soccer ball or on a basketball. More for balance and to get ready for the slack line that I got for my birthday.

We're definitely going to need lots of videos from you

Well, yes, I do have videos, but they do not show much visible progress. Even if my shoulder girdle is getting stronger and my flexibility is improving (did my first back bridge since 35 (?) years last week). However, I do have some questions about what the relative contribution of your lats and chest are while holding a FL. Also questions about how to progress with tucked planche and pseudo planche pups. So, I will put a video together to illustrate what I mean and post it tonight (Greenwich time).

Well, here is s video of my training to further improve my front lever. I am doing ido portal’s rubber band exrcises and the Cuban press (3 to 5 reps with 35 to 45 lbs) to further strengthen my shoulders. I am trying to figure whether aggressively sticking my chest out (or rather, contracting my scapulae) makes it easier to hold my body in a lever. I think it does, but would like to hear some expert comment on that. Otherwise, I am pretty happy with the drill and plan to keep doing it 4 to 5 times a week alternating each set with a push exercise (5 to 7 sets), for at least another 2 months.

One of the “pushing†exercises is my alternating-one-leg-supported tucked planche. I like the straight back and position of the shoulders versus the hips (like “in the bookâ€). My sagging 5 seconds tucked planche is too depressing for me to watch. And, I figure that I may end up being able to just balance myself with the hand that supports a leg. Here it is:

Comments and tips are more than welcome. The advice about ido portal’s rubber band shoulder routine and about the cuban press already make all the difference.

Well, your "tuck planche" is actually the advanced tuck planche, which would explain why you're having such a hard time with taking your knees off of your arms.

Curl yourself into a ball and push off the ground straight up. There's usually almost no shoulder lean in a normal tuck planche.

You are right. But, I found that I work my shoulders and wrists more doing it the way shown. I do measure progress now and then by testing the tucked planche. So I will continue this approach, combining it with pseudo planche holds and pp pushups. Given my build (6’ 1â€) I have no illusions about even a straddle planche, but do like the way my shoulders have responded to this type of training. Thans for the comment.

Ah, don't limit yourself!

I have very small arms and large legs. Although I'm only 5'9 or 5'10, My body structure is terrible for this work. Straddle planche is my next progression for the planche, so we'll see how that goes. You're an ex rock climber- Although you always wear pants so I can't tell, I'm going to assume your legs aren't too much larger than your arms. I think you would be able to do it.

I had something else to say but I forgot :/

You have a point there. My wife sometimes calls me “chicken legsâ€, but I always take that as a compliment. I will continue to wear pants though when I post a video.

did you see that there is a blog post and forum topic on you over at Rosstraining.

http://www.rosstraining.com/blog/

No I didn't. Thanks for pointing me to it. "This man" is pretty pleased with himself, now.

Very cool, FritsMB you're going viral!

BTW we appreciate your continuing to wear pants!

Meanwhile, I am still looking for the secret passage to my holy grail: the perfect front lever. I consulted my original youtube sources again (the FL masters John Gill, rogeair, cisco) and noticed that they had all had one thing in common; they could easily do a one arm chin. Now, for a FL you do need to tension your biceps some, but I do not think (or hope) that you need all of the OAC bicep strength to do a FL. However, I noticed that a OAC always starts with a full contraction of the shoulder that lifts the body about 4 to 6 inches to also give the impetus for that hard initial bicep contraction. Aha, now I understand. Rock climbing in fact is done more with the shoulders than with biceps. So, no wonder that a lot of the rock jocks are good at FL’s (yeah, I know Seiji, having chicken legs helps too, but even so). So, guess what, I am going to experiment some with hanging one arm shoulder contractions. Not OAC-ing practice, but hang by one arm and then lift the body 4-6 inches by shoulder contraction. Golden tip. I knew I would find the answer by posting that question here.

I played around to see what I could do to further strengthen my shoulders (to improve my FL) by doing something like a one arm shoulder shrug. This is what I found (i.e. a severely compromised OAC):

So, I have added that to my workout routine. I am curious to see how far I can move my supporting grip on the upper arm up towards the shoulder. The goal should be hand on shoulder, but we will see. I think it will do the trick in helping me to strengthen my shoulder girdle further (plus of course my grip and bicep strength).

Dayyyymn! Wowzer..! What do you eat?

I eat a lot of raw fish (herring). If you look closely at my videos, you will notice the likeness with Gollum (Lord of the Rings). Only, I am more handsome.

Besides working patiently to improve my front lever and tucked planche, I keep playing around (at the end of training sessions) with the many ideas that this fabulous website offers to an eager innocent like me. This time it was Yuri’s fabulous display of hand balancing skills that hooked me. Seeing his one arm lever, I thought: “That can’t be so hardâ€. So, I tried it. Well, here is what I got.

Now the scheming can start. If, each coming week, I just use half a finger of my left hand less to maintain my balance, then in two months time I will have my one arm lever. Meanwhile, if you have any suggestions for how to strengthen my nose ......

haha I'm glad I could inspire you. I appreciate you calling me an accomplished hand balancer. I only consider myself an amateur at best and have a long way to go.

You're off to a good start, one thing you are missing for the one arm lever is the body lean. To balance on your right arm, you are going to have to lift your left shoulder slightly. Your hips will also follow in this direction. Also try to actively lift your chest to keep your body more horizontal.

In addition to practicing with finger support on your free hand, also practice with your toes brushing the ground and your free hand in the air, so you can feel what your upper body is supposed to do.

It might also help you to learn it to try it tucked, mess around and see what works.

Otherwise, keep practicing . The balance takes a bit of time to get used to but compared to other skills like the one arm handstand this one is more easily obtainable.