NaterMania

Can you provide a link to the freemotion machine you are using?

Thank you! Do you own one yourself or do you use it at a Fitness Center?

Fitness center, but I am building a suitable facsimile in my basement lol! For my purposes I only need two positions. Well, at least for ring strength.

slizzardman said:

Fitness center, but I am building a suitable facsimile in my basement lol! For my purposes I only need two positions. Well, at least for ring strength.

Slizz, are you going to take some vids of you using these machines? The one arm/leg pushup? Any vids of the iso holds? For a beginner doing the statics and wod, how much rest should one take after each set? (warmup fsp before wod) Apologies for thread clutter. Have you used the tone-o-matic yet? would u (could u) use that to build tendon strength? Say knee, ankle?

You can't build tendon strength electrically. You can speed up healing, but that's not really a practical long-term thing to do. Your tendons respond to ballistic forces, so you need to slowly and progressively expose them to such things.

There will be videos at some point, but they will mostly be on my free site. I am not quite sure how to balance all of that yet, and I am in no hurry to get all of that together. Too much other stuff going on.

Been a while since I posted here... OAC strength is better than ever, even though I am now back up to 215-ish. I'm pretty lean, but I am probably around 210 if I drop back to 8-9%. I'm probably around 11% right now but I don't know for sure.

Been steady stating most everything for a while at a lower volume while my body recovered from the intense cycle I went through, and I'm going to be working pretty hard for the next 3-4 weeks again.

Straight arm strength is excellent, freemotion work is exceptionally good for ring strength. I am successfully using it for practically everything that we do on rings. Very interesting experience, to say the least.

Handstands continue to improve, partially due to foam rolling and some flexibility work and partly from semi-regular practice.

I think the most massive difference is that I have been even cleaner than normal with my diet, aside from a 1 kilo candy binge last saturday! I have been plowing down frozen veggies like they are candy, using frozen because it's cheaper. Well, I'm also getting large quantities of chinese broccoli semi-regularly as well, which is also awesome!!! Eating a few lbs of that a day, I mean seriously I'm going through 3-4 lbs of veggies most days and I have replaced my rice completely with sweet potatoes (all colors) and sprouted buckwheat. I'm staying strong, feeling better, and getting lean as I continue to get stronger.

An important note is that I have a very high vitamin D intake now, pretty close to what Poliquin recommends (100k I.U. of D3 taken twice a week), I am doing 30k one day and 40k the next. I occasionally miss a day, but between this and being completely gluten free I am feeling fantastic! Stress just doesn't seem to be able to successfully build up anymore. I'm even having an easier time focusing on school work.

slizz, what's the free motion work you mentioned?

Totally adjustable cable machines. You can adjust the height and the width, and the weight changes in 2.5 lb increments which is pretty good. Very easy to simulate ring strength and do shoulder mobility work.

I'm currently doing ring strength with 30 lbs per arm, will probably keep that until December. I might go up to 32.5 for inlocates and exlocates at the beginning of November, it's just getting so easy with 30! This work is what brought on the hanging exlocate from GH back to regular hang in September, I had no idea I could do that. Props to Dillon for that!

Biceps are getting monumental slowly but surely. I'm about 100% positive that all this straight arm work has a lot to do with the growth because I haven't been pushing OAC work at all and there has been nothing else biceps related. All I've done is the occasional set of a few pinkie assisted OAC per arm just to maintain strength.

Are you planing on eventually making a commercial model of your free cable machine or are you thinking about just releasing a few design papers for free?

slizzardman said:

An important note is that I have a very high vitamin D intake now, pretty close to what Poliquin recommends (100k I.U. of D3 taken twice a week), I am doing 30k one day and 40k the next. I occasionally miss a day, but between this and being completely gluten free I am feeling fantastic! Stress just doesn't seem to be able to successfully build up anymore. I'm even having an easier time focusing on school work.

Did all of those Vitamin D Poliquin articles convince you too?

Philip: Lol, yes!The difference is pretty awesome. It took about two weeks to really notice major differences, but right from the start when I was taking ~5000 IU per day to ease into it I noticed some improvements. I didn't notice anything super awesome until I started using much larger doses like described.

For me at any rate, lots of D3 + no gluten at all = much better quality of life.

I have come to believe that gluten is a lot like wearing a hat: After a little while you don't notice it's there anymore, but it IS still there and still affecting your body. Sometimes you don't understand why you have a slight headache until you take your hat off and suddenly start to feel better.

Oh man that is exciting news! I am getting mine today! (Ironically, this is the longest I have had to wait for a Poliquin shipment) Are you feeling overall better or is there any specific thing that stands out more than others?

Agreed on the gluten! Taking that stuff out makes you feel superhuman the first time you do it. At least for me. But my family also has a history of celiacs so I may be a bit more sensitive.

Are you turning super saiyan yet? Thanks for exciting me more about my shipment!

Seems like you're getting strong fast slizz!

About the D3, should I be worried about overdosing myself? Right now I was taking 200% of daily dose, that being 10ug for like 4 days. That stuff is pretty cheap, so taking more wouldn't be a problem. I'm just woried about overdosing myself.

Oh, I just read this: Wikipedia: "sustained intake of more than 1250 micrograms/day (50,000 IU) can produce overt toxicity after several months"

"the tolerable upper limit (maximum amount that can be tolerated without harm) is set at 25 micrograms/day (1000 IU)."

Taking 100k twice a week seems like an overkill to me. And if 25ug is 1000 IU then I'm taking less than 500 IU daily :?

If only wikipedia had any proof for that statement.

Falcon said:

Seems like you're getting strong fast slizz!

About the D3, should I be worried about overdosing myself? Right now I was taking 200% of daily dose, that being 10ug for like 4 days. That stuff is pretty cheap, so taking more wouldn't be a problem. I'm just woried about overdosing myself.

Oh, I just read this: Wikipedia: "sustained intake of more than 1250 micrograms/day (50,000 IU) can produce overt toxicity after several months"

"the tolerable upper limit (maximum amount that can be tolerated without harm) is set at 25 micrograms/day (1000 IU)."

Taking 100k twice a week seems like an overkill to me. And if 25ug is 1000 IU then I'm taking less than 500 IU daily :?

Poliquin wrote about one guy who made the mistake of reading the prescription wrong and taking 100,000 everyday for a while. I forgot how long but even then he still didn't reach toxic levels. Also the daily value is way lower than it should be. To be completely safe, you can get a test done. Its like 10 to 40 bucks. Not expensive at all. For me, I have dark skin and it is turning winter. I'm pretty sure I am deficient if people in Miami, FL are deficient.

PHILIP said:

Falcon said:

Seems like you're getting strong fast slizz!

About the D3, should I be worried about overdosing myself? Right now I was taking 200% of daily dose, that being 10ug for like 4 days. That stuff is pretty cheap, so taking more wouldn't be a problem. I'm just woried about overdosing myself.

Oh, I just read this: Wikipedia: "sustained intake of more than 1250 micrograms/day (50,000 IU) can produce overt toxicity after several months"

"the tolerable upper limit (maximum amount that can be tolerated without harm) is set at 25 micrograms/day (1000 IU)."

Taking 100k twice a week seems like an overkill to me. And if 25ug is 1000 IU then I'm taking less than 500 IU daily :?

Poliquin wrote about one guy who made the mistake of reading the prescription wrong and taking 100,000 everyday for a while. I forgot how long but even then he still didn't reach toxic levels. Also the daily value is way lower than it should be. To be completely safe, you can get a test done. Its like 10 to 40 bucks. Not expensive at all. For me, I have dark skin and it is turning winter. I'm pretty sure I am deficient if people in Miami, FL are deficient.

Here's a reference for that from the FDA.

"Laboratory analysis of the product by the FDA, obtained from one of two lots reportedly overfortified with vitamin D3, revealed 186,906 IU of vitamin D3 in each serving size of six capsules, indicating that the patient had consumed roughly 90 times the recommended safe upper limit of 2000 IU per day. Long-term daily vitamin D consumption of more than 40,000 IU (1000 μg) is needed to cause hypercalcemia in healthy persons."

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc063341

High blood calcium levels can cause complications. Most of the time people recover without apparent after effects, although not always. Also I read here of a disturbing connection to heart damage in an animal study. Again, really high levels: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15712140

And don't forget, you can get around 10,000 IU from sunlight in less than an hour of exposure.

Mark's apple does suggest getting that test if you are planning high level of supplementation.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/vitamin- ... and-doses/

PHILIP said:

Falcon said:

Poliquin wrote about one guy who made the mistake of reading the prescription wrong and taking 100,000 everyday for a while. I forgot how long but even then he still didn't reach toxic levels. Also the daily value is way lower than it should be. To be completely safe, you can get a test done. Its like 10 to 40 bucks. Not expensive at all. For me, I have dark skin and it is turning winter. I'm pretty sure I am deficient if people in Miami, FL are deficient.

Wait... tone of skin is indicative of vitamin D levels?

No, it's just takes more sun to get the same natural vitamin D. So indirectly, maybe.

Slizz, can you make a video of the difference between "extreme" iso's and regular isometric's? I read your post but didn't understand what you meant about moving down for the extreme iso's vs regular iso. Also to hit all the fibers, would you do the holds for 1 minute at a time or 30 sec? Or is it 3minutes or 5 all in one hold? To hit the type 1 and 2 fibers.

Did you ever go to the new seminar? Was looking forward to pics of your transformation.

Also, could you do the cable straigh arm iron cross prep with lifeline cables? i bought both the chest expander and tnt system after your video. I was just wondering if I could do the same thing your doing now with the freemotion cables. Do i just hold a cross? Thanks i know your a busy guy, I caint wait for you to post more pics/vids in here of your progress!

Chivas

FutureisNow said:

No, it's just takes more sun to get the same natural vitamin D. So indirectly it may.

So, is slizz taking 5,000 mg of vitamin d a day? or am i reading things wrong.

mikelmarion said:

FutureisNow said:

No, it's just takes more sun to get the same natural vitamin D. So indirectly it may.

So, is slizz taking 5,000 mg of vitamin d a day? or am i reading things wrong.

Yes, you are reading things wrong. I believe it says 100,000 IU 2x week. That's 5000 ug (micrograms) per week.

5000ug is the same as 5mg, which is about .75mg or about 28,500 IU per day.

mikelmarion said:

Slizz, can you make a video of the difference between "extreme" iso's and regular isometric's? I read your post but didn't understand what you meant about moving down for the extreme iso's vs regular iso. Also to hit all the fibers, would you do the holds for 1 minute at a time or 30 sec? Or is it 3minutes or 5 all in one hold? To hit the type 1 and 2 fibers.

Did you ever go to the new seminar? Was looking forward to pics of your transformation.

Also, could you do the cable straigh arm iron cross prep with lifeline cables? i bought both the chest expander and tnt system after your video. I was just wondering if I could do the same thing your doing now with the freemotion cables. Do i just hold a cross? Thanks i know your a busy guy, I caint wait for you to post more pics/vids in here of your progress!

Chivas

Seconded! 8)

I will see about doing this, yes.

In other news I got armbarred a few days ago at an odd angle and felt some popping in the right elbow. Very slight soreness, I think I may have strained the ulnar collateral ligament a bit, but it has not affected my straight arm work so far. I'll know for sure by December, but this is really annoying because everything has gotten so easy that it's going to be time to move forward by the middle of November and add more weight.

I can say with total confidence at this time that the straight arm work on the freemotion machines is the single best thing I have done for GB accessory work. Seriously. Way better than bands, can't really even be compared. And bands are good. I pressed out to a fairly solid straddle planche with no problems right before the injury, and all I've been doing is 30 lbs per arm BL -> maltese -> planche straight arm presses lying prone on a bench. Well, I've also been doing butterflies with the same weight, and inlocates, and BL->cross. Locked elbows and everything. My shoulder is moving better, I'm getting stronger all around, I mean this stuff WORKS. SSC is massively important, and so is consistency. This is the single best thing I have ever done for my shoulder rehab as well, quite honestly, in terms of teaching the shoulder to move properly.

I've been using 30 lbs since the beginning of September and it is really strange and awesome to literally feel the 3 stages of the SSC set in one by one. Impatience is the big enemy but I have defeated it soundly. At this point 30 lbs per arm doesn't feel much different from 0 lbs per arm until I'm like 30-45s into a set. I'm doing sets of at least 60s now, both with FL -> victorian pulls and with the afore-mentioned work. I probably spend 20-30 minutes 3-4 times a week on the freemotion currently. I will do a single set of a few reps every workout day, but that doesn't even warm me up.

I have also been using freemotion to develop no-lean MU. This is really, really hard and productive in my opinion. I've only been doing this one for about two weeks so it's way too early to tell, haven't even done any real strength sessions with it yet, using 45-50 lbs. You really feel teres major on this one, let me tell you! Lats too, somewhat surprisingly. This is teaching excellent muscle activation.

I am starting to do a bit more well-rounded workouts but still have not mapped things out properly due to excessive lack of motivation. OAC is improving slowly, since I am not doing much work on it.

I have started doing foot supported rows more often and will be keeping them in the routine, I really think they are highly under-valued when done correctly.

The last thing I've started doing is serratus push up circles. One arm does most of the work, and this is much more effective at training serratus anterior than both arms sharing the work.

Sorry to hear about that armbar Josh! I've been having lots of odd issues myself, getting old i guess, but still steady signs of improvement. I've been taking a trampoline course with pretty marginal instruction, and i think its beating me up.

Intuitively i can see how a free motion machine would be one of the best tools for the kind of supplemental work you /we do. not having access, bands are the next best thing. I imagine a 'total gym' type apparatus could also be very useful, and maybe a bit more accessible for home enthusiast.