Repair and prepare - my journal on the road back to 5x5

[anotherbutters]

I do the core work in the order listed. For each, I hold for 12 secs, relax for 6-8 secs, hold for another 12 secs, etc. Then I move on to the next exercise.

I was holding the cobras for 12 secs too. I didn't let my back sag when I started doing them, but I remember you suggesting it, so I started trying it. Either way, I think they aggravate the problem when I do them for holds. I'll try simple reps (hold for 2 secs, relax for 2 secs, etc) and let you know how that feels.

For the bird dogs, I have my arm and opposite leg parallel with the ground and level with my back, like this chick: http://msn.prevention.com/article/0,,s2-2-87-23-4368-1,00.html, but I'm not on a medicine ball and my other arm and thigh are vertical, to support me. I also do as island son recommended and don't alter my balance - the supporting arm and leg don't move. I dunno, they just seem easy to me. Am I supposed to feel it in my lower back? I'll have to get some ankle weights (pink ones to match my masculinity ). I do them before the cobras, by the way.

Those were my thoughts on the gripper work - to get the number of reps up before moving on. I've been increasing the resistance slowly because I hurt my hand when I first got the thing, but I'm at the point where it's getting hard now. It's just a fun thing to play around with.

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

Hmm, that's the biggest medicine ball I've ever seen.

Throw on an ankle and wrist weight, then. Your form is perfect if you're doing them as you say. Yes, the lower back should be where you feel the tension. It should feel nice and tight, as with hypers or reverse hypers. The birddog has just been shown to put the least amount of shearing force on the spine while providing the same benefit as other exercises.

I will point out that McGill advised against reverse hypers due to the amount of force the back was exposed to, when the birddog did nominally the same thing. I know Louie Simmons et al have used them (r. hypers) with great success, but that's not to say that they couldn't have done it better, quicker, or more safely.

Plus L.S. never mentioned his AAS usage which likely helped recovery.

Though Louie isn't Canadian, so he's got one up on McGill there.

Then again, neither of them are from England, so I have to give them both points there.

I train my grip between 5 and 10 reps. Usually I'll do 2x5-10 three times a week. At the start, I progressed whenever I did 2x10. As I advanced, I started pushing my jumps back to weeks at a time (i.e., hit all 2x10 thrice before upping the weight). I basically do the same I plan to do with lifting once I can do it all again (i.e., treat myself as a beginner, start light, up the weight every workout, drop incretment frequency to weekly [ala Starr's SF 5x5], then drop it further to monthly [ala Starr's DF 5x5]).


http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/knives/ivanko_gripper.html

This link is helpful. Checkout the second table, which lists the Ivanko weights from minimum to maximum, and tells you the setting to use. Handy little thing. Also, after a year or two, you might wanna replace the springs. They tend to wear and you might be fooling yourself into how much you're crushing.

Oh, and to add on to the grip training info, if you want a better grip for anything MMA related, I'd hold each rep at the end and crush it a bit harder. No proof of validity other than anecdotal, in that when I've grappled with people and had to get any sort've hold (or just went toe-to-toe, err, hand-to-hand in a little hand-shake crushing competition, for anyone who's ever done that), the ability to grip like a vice and then crush even harder against that has certainly helped. 'sides, KTA also pushes that technique, calling them "overcrushes", in order to increase grip strength.

Mouthful. Bleh.

 

[anotherbutters]

Cheers for the gripper link. That's the table that I've been getting the weights for each setting from.

I came to the same conclusion about progression, but I was going to go about it slightly differently. I was going to ramp up the workouts so they're harder each time (whether that's reps/sets/intensity), then when I get to my limit, reset by a few workouts, ramp up again and hit a few more PRs. Over time, I'd reset by more and more, so the overlap of repeated workouts would get bigger and the frequency of PRs would get smaller.

I also prefer crushing further once closed. It just feels like I'm doing more.

Tootle pip

 

[anotherbutters]

Week 4, Sunday

Bodyweight: 83kg (183lb)


1. Hypers
BW x 3 x 15

2. Reverse hypers
BW x 3 x 15

3. Core work
Curlups, planks, side-bridges, bird-dogs, cobras: 6 x 8 secs each


Comments

This was supposed to be yesterday, but it doesn't really matter. I stretched my right hamstring before working out, and that helped alleviate virtually all of the pain in it during the hypers and reverse hypers. I just need to stretch the hell out of it day and night to make it feel ok.

I did 2 second holds on the cobras and my back felt better than last time, but I still think they aggravate rather than help. My back seems to be ok during the core work until I do them. I'll skip them tomorrow and see if it makes a difference.

 

[blut wump]

How long do you stretch for? I've always heard it recommended to hold the stretch for around 30 seconds. Often when I'm stretching I'll take the stretch and hold for around 15s and then ease off and press again, usually going further, and then hold for 30s.

 

[anotherbutters]

For most stretches, I probably only go for 10-15 seconds because there isn't really a range of motion that can be improved upon, e.g. stretching the upper back by holding your arms out in front of you, or stretching your lats by reaching for the sky.

But for hamstrings, I have to relax and pull harder a few times to get the full range of motion and finally spend at least 30 seconds in the max position (shoelaces above my eyes when on my back). I have to reset a few times because I end up bending my knee, but I probably spend at least a couple of minutes in total on my right one. I don't spend as long on my left hamstring, but I do stretch it.

I should stretch my hips more too. Proper, 30 second minimum stretches, since that's a ROM that can be improved upon.

I like the new avi. It took a while to realise what all the bits were.

 

[anotherbutters]

I should add that from just one week of doing these exercises and not squatting, my back's feeling a hell of a lot better. I feel like I can squat again, but I know it's only been a week and I'm not going to.

 

[Cynical Simian]

I've heard the same thing about 30 seconds being the maximum useful duration for one hold of a static stretch, although going a bit longer seems to help sometimes. What you're describing with backing off is similar to PNF stretching, which inserts periods of contraction between static stretches, increasing the ROM each time. Supposedly the contraction helps offset some of the (IMO somewhat exaggerated unless referring to extremely long stretching sessions pre-WO) temporary weakening effects of static stretching.

 

[blut wump]

I should add that from just one week of doing these exercises and not squatting, my back's feeling a hell of a lot better. I feel like I can squat again, but I know it's only been a week and I'm not going to.

That reminds me of the Spirit of Dark and Lonely Waters: "Sensible children, I have no power over them".

 

[anotherbutters]

I'm not sure I ever saw that one. I was 2 when it came out. I'm more from the "Charlie says" generation.