My Video Workout Log

I've decided to try posting a video from each workout I do as a way of cataloging my progress over time. I'm hoping to post roughly one video a week, alongside a short written description of what I did that day. Each video will have me doing one set of strength work out of 3-5 total sets. 

Here's the first video. It's from yesterday. I'm currently using DUP for weekly scheduling; this was my high-intensity day. I did 4 sets of 3reps/6 second isometrics. My exercises were:

4x6 seconds Maltese, 25 lb counterweight

4x6 seconds Planche, 25 lb counterweight

4x6 seconds Cross, 30 lb counterweight

4x6 seconds Inverted Cross, 30 lb counterweight

4x3 advanced tuck FL pullups

4x6 seconds Victorian, 75 lb counterweight

I experimented with several exercises to try to find one of appropriate difficulty. The video contains my straddled FLPU attempts. I decided my form was too poor and switched to an advanced tuck later in the workout.

I try to keep an emphasis on form. This video shows my first set of the day. 

Nice! What percentage of your body weight do you use for the counterbalance?

I weigh ~170#. So that's 15% for the maltese/planche, 18% for the crosses, and 45% for the victorian (which I don't normally train, but I hyperextended my wrist so I had to find a substitute for manna training). 

This is from Wednesday the 12th. On that day I used a slightly lighter intensity but with more reps/longer holds.

http://youtu.be/9LjuWY9gpOQ

4x10 seconds Maltese, 35 lb counterweight

4x10 seconds Cross, 35 lb counterweight

4x10 seconds Straddle Planche

4x10 seconds Inverted Cross, 35 lb counterweight

4x5 straddled FL pullup attempts

4x10 seconds Victorian, 70 lb counterweight

Log from the 21st:

http://youtu.be/usD9JqzznPA

I increased the difficulty, using only a 30# counterweight on my medium intensity day (4 sets of ~10s holds)

4x10 seconds Maltese, 30 lb counterweight

4x10 seconds Cross, 30 lb counterweight

4x10 seconds Planche, 30 lb counterweight

4x10 seconds Inverted Cross, 30 lb counterweight

4x10 seconds straddled FL 

4x10 archer flys

12-29-12

http://youtu.be/27seGJKEFzo

4 sets of:

Maltese, Planche and Iron cross held for 6s @ 25# counterweight

Inverted cross held for 6s@35# counterweight

Front lever variations held for 6s at bodyweight

6s MSH hold with reverse planche leans and middle-split raises. 

4x6 seconds Maltese, 25 lb counterweight

4x6 seconds Cross, 25 lb counterweight

4x6 seconds Planche, 25 lb counterweight

4x6 seconds Inverted Cross, 35 lb counterweight

4x6 seconds FL 

4x3 MSH work (2-3 minutes time each)

Yesterday I went down to 20# at 4 sets of 6s hold for planche, maltese and cross, with 30# on the inverted cross. I should have a video later tonight. I think my form suffered a little bit (the maltese was a little high and the planche was a little piked), so I'll might bump back up five pounds and increase the hold length a bit instead. Later today I'm planning on doing 4 sets of 16s holds, with 10# more counterweight. I'll be focusing on reemphasizing form, trying to keep the quality very high.

4x6 seconds Maltese, 20 lb counterweight

4x6 seconds Cross, 20 lb counterweight

4x6 seconds Planche, 20 lb counterweight

4x6 seconds Inverted Cross, 30 lb counterweight

4x6 seconds FL stagged

4x3 MSH work (2-3 minutes time each)

Did a light workout today. This is the first time I've done strength training two days in a row (normally I take a rest day in between), and it definitely took its toll on my endurance. But I'm travelling all next week so I wanted to get in as much as I could before heading out. I did:

1x16s Maltese, 30lb counterweight

1x16 seconds Cross, 30 lb counterweight

1x16 seconds Planche, 30 lb counterweight

1x16 seconds Inverted Cross, 40 lb counterweight

2x16 seconds FL straddled

1x16s Maltese, 30lb counterweight

1x16 seconds Cross, 35 lb counterweight

1x16 seconds Planche, 35 lb counterweight

1x16 seconds Inverted Cross, 45 lb counterweight

~6 minutes Manna work - reverse planche leans and middle split holds

I'm going to be on vacation for the next week, so I probably won't have access to much equipment. Nevertheless, I'm planning on trying to perform a simple routine to stay in shape while I'm away. 

This is the routine I've outlined for myself:

5-10 minutes misc cardio to warm up

5-10 minutes dynamic stretching to loosen up

Handstand work:

10x pirouettes

10x handstand shrugs

60s handstand hold, chest against the wall

Handstand wall runs to failure

Strength work:

4x5 Japanese handstand press with hold

4x5 Straddle planche pushups

4x5 Maltese pushups, feet against the wall

4x5 Headstand pushups

10 minutes' manna work

This is a bit push-heavy, but I don't know that I'll have access to any fitness equipment. If there's a bar somewhere I'll add front-lever work. 

Flexibility work:

2 minute pike

2 minute pancake

1 minute/arm shoulder flexion stretch

2 minute german hang floor stretch

10 wall runs

1 minute each split

10 dislocates; 10 inlocates

I scaled things back a little bit yesterday, but it was mostly the same:

For handstand work, I did a bunch of straddle presses, trying to hit full extension. I also did some handstands against a tree, and 30 wall runs. I ended up doing a little bit of standing tumbling, too.

My conditioning I scaled back a bit because my shoulders were a bit sore and I didn't want to overwork them:

3x5 Maltese push-ups, feet against a tree

3x5 Japanese press

3x5s straddle planche hold

3x5 SLS on each leg

~10 minutes manna work (inverted planche leans, middle split holds).

Stretching was about as planned.

I'm hoping I can find a pull-up bar somewhere so I can add FL-pull-ups, but that may not happen. I should be doing this workout two or three more times this week.

I took things very light today. I didn't have much time to work with, so I basically just warmed up and did a micro-workout. I spent 3 hours learning to kitesurf in the morning though, so I wasn't a vegetable.

1x5 slow straddle press handstand

3 minutes manna work

I just love these videos, so motivating. For how long have you trained body-weights exercises?

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying them. My camera broke and I'm going to have to send it back to be replaced, but I'll be sure to keep posting them!

I started training gymnastics about 6 years ago. I only started seriously strength training about 2-3 years ago, but I started with quite a bit of strength to begin with; I was able to do back levers, press handstands and some other skills at about that difficulty.

Got back from vacation today. Did some maximal strength testing. Results below:

Maltese: 4s hold with 10lb counterweight

Planche: 4s hold with 10lb counterweight

Cross: 4s hold with 10lb counterweight

Inverted cross: 6s hold with 25lb counterweight

My inverted cross is lagging really far behind the other three static holds. I'm having a lot of trouble with finding form that works well for me. I think I'm going to spend some time at low intensity playing around with different hold positions until I find one that feels stable. If anyone who has experience holding the IC would like to chime in and offer advice I'd be very grateful.

I've also noticed that, while overall I feel fine, I've accumulated some residual soreness in my elbows. So I don't think I could maintain this training schedule in the steady state without suffering from an overuse injury. What I'm thinking is I might do static strength only twice a week instead of four times. I've been wanting to check out Coach's WOD's, too, so I might doan alternating schedule of WOD's + light static work one week, and heavier static work the other week. We'll see how my elbows feel. Make haste, slowly. 

Today I'm going to do a light intensity workout (4x8) with a 30lb counterweight. Friday I will be working out more intensely (4x3). I will be experimenting with performing more difficult movements with a greater counterweight. E.g. a cross-pull with a 30lb weight, or a press from maltese to handstand with a 35lb weight. 

Starting next week I'm going thinking of adopting a new schedule:

Monday: 2x8 static strength holds + WOD

Tuesday: WOD

Thursday: WOD

Friday: 2x3 dynamic strength movements (presses, holding poses in series, etc) + WOD

The idea is to ease off the volume of straight-arm strength to allow my joints some more recovery time. The WOD's I'm hoping will act as a good supplementary exercise and help round out my strength in the fundamentals. If I feel like I can handle it after the first week, I may add in some moderate intensity straight-arm-strength during the middle of the week, but still at reduced volume compared to before. If I'm feeling fresh after this training cycle, I'll do another cycle of higher volume straight-arm strength. 

Looking forward to see how the new routine works out for you I find being adaptive when it comes to training schedules is the most valuable key in terms of progression vs injuries

I spent today at work using a hot pad on my elbows, and they actually feel better now (after my workout) than this did this morning. So with the addition of heating my elbows during the day, it might be possible for me to continue at the same volumel. However, I think I'm still going to spend a few weeks working at low straight-arm volume with WOD supplements, because there are a few holes in my foundation that would be good to shore up. 

Workout log for 1-16-13:

Quite a few things went wrong today. I got to the gym 45 minutes late, which cut short my strength training, and I was also significantly more tired/sore than usual. I'm guessing this has to do with the fact that I just got back from vacation. While I don't like to make excuses, it should be noted that this contributed to a workout of lower quality than I would like. I performed:

3x14s maltese holds with 30lb counterweight

2x14s planche holds with 30lb counterweight

1x12s straddle planche hold on pbars

3x14s iron cross holds with 30lb counterweight

1 set of 6s inverted cross hold plus two inverted cross pulls

2x12s inverted cross hold

2x8 tuck front-lever pullups

1x14s straddle front lever

As you can see, I wasn't quite hitting the 8 reps/16s mark on most exercises. If this happens in the future I think I should let myself add another 5lb onto the counterweight (or choose an easier exercise) for the next rep instead of continuing at the same level of difficulty and not hitting the target reps/hold time. 

Video from today:

Well, I admirer your form. It isn't much counterweight added after all.. Seems pretty hard ever thought of training with elbow compressions?

I'm not sure what an elbow compression is. Do you mean something like this? http://www.tommiecopper.com/product/elbow-compression-sleeve

jfslocum said:

I'm not sure what an elbow compression is. Do you mean something like this? http://www.tommiecopper.com/product/elbow-compression-sleeve

Yes! During training the more advanced techniques now in the beginning, it doesn't feel sore anymore. However experience tell me that it will quickly come back If I don't take the necessary precautions

No strength training, but did some double front drills today:

Needs to be another 2-3' higher before I try the actual double. But this was from just three steps, so I'm pretty sure I have the power to do it if I run faster: the trick will be punching effectively. 

Today:

1x3 Maltese press planche, 40lb counterweight

3x3 Maltese push-ups, feet against the wall

4x3 straddle planche push-ups on pbars

4x3 stagged cranks

4x3 cross pulls, arms through the straps

3x3 inverted cross pulls, 50lb counterweight+spot

1x3 Bulgarian hspu

4x3 minutes manna work.

Tried the WOD today alongside some static work. I did:

1x16s Maltese, 30lb counterweight

1x16s Cross 30lb counterweight

1x16s Planche 30lb counterweight