13, hanging around

Jul18
by Duf on July 18, 2012 at 8:45 am
Posted In: Fitness Equipment, Muscle Ups, Physical challenges

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrwN-iXFksc

Last night when I got home I decided to give the Bar-baric mode of this month’s BB challenge a shot which is maximum muscle ups in a 5 minute time period.

I used a pretty unconventional strategy in the challenge, relying primarily on single reps started off the ground.  My thought was I typically am able to do better reps starting low than high which goes against normal MU practice. Well my strategy didn’t seem to work out all that well.  I scratched out 13 reps were I wound up on top of the bar.  There were probably 5 or 6 failed reps in there as well.

I wasn’t very pleased with the end result but it is what it is.  I’d like to try it again before the end of the month to see if I can do better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDgnupG3QPY

After I was done with the challenge I screwed around some more on my high bar working on various holds like a clutch flag and shoulder flag.  I also climbed the pole using arms only and finished with a static one handed chin grip hold 11 feet up in the air.

If you watch the video there are some funny moments, the funniest of all is how I always forget exactly how to place my arms to do the clutch flag.  I tried about a dozen combinations until I finally figured it out.  My trying to do a shoulder flag is kind of funny too.  I have a hell of a time trying to hold that one.

Later in the evening I wanted to make my Tivo viewing time more productive so I dropped Lou’s parallelettes in front of the TV.  I tried to work handstands (didn’t go well) and L sit to planche transitions.  My session ended when I was trying to go from a frog stand into a hand stand.  As my weight shifted forward I got a sharp burn in my left abs which made me collapse towards the floor.  That ended my body weight work for the day.

I don’t feel any pain in that area today but I am worried the next time I do ab/core work I could feel it.

I think I am going to try to make Lou’s parallelettes even more awesome.  I am going to take one of them apart and bring it along to Lowe’s.  I am looking for some mounting hardware that will make them even more solid.  If I do find what I am looking for I will fully document the upgrade process.

 

 

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Chopped down to size

Jul13
by Duf on July 13, 2012 at 1:03 pm
Posted In: BBR's, Exercises, Physical challenges

So today at the gym I targeted as the day I was going to try the routine suggested to me by Ray.  In a nutshell it went like this.

Five 3 minute rounds, during each round you must complete 20 dips, 10 pull ups and 25 push ups.  The sets must be unbroken, meaning you can’t get off the dip or pull up bars or break plank in your push ups.  If you finish before the 3 minutes is up that gets added on to your two minute rest period between sets.

The 20,10 and 25 rep counts was where Ray started at.  I figured our endurance level was somewhere in the same ballpark so I decided to start there as well.  For the workout I utilized  “Round Timer”, (thanks Fi!) a great free app for the Iphone that lets you easily create your own flexible timing system.

I was kind of excited to see how I would do.

So round 1 begins and I waste no time bouncing between the three exercises with negligible rest in between.  I look at the app and I still have 90 seconds to go in the first round.  Hmmm I am feeling a bit winded already, I guess it is good I have extra rest time.  Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to blow through the first set like that…

After a lengthy 3:30 rest I began round two.  Well I certainly didn’t blow through those reps and I tried to give myself a little time in between the sets.  I completed all reps, this time with only 30 seconds left in the round.

“Damn it”, I thought to myself, “why am I so tired already, this is where Ray started!”

So the two minute rest period expires and I am on to round 3.  I get to rep 17 in the dips and my tri’s lock up. Mother f!  I was pissed as I stepped off the bars, pretty disgusted with myself.  I quickly determined I had two options, quit right there since it was an official fail or complete all 5 rounds with whatever reps I can manage. I chose the latter.

So I was able to squeeze out the 10 pull ups and 25 push ups in round 3.  On to round 4. The 2 minute break which seemed overly generous at first was now feeling brutally short.

As expected my tri’s stopped working even sooner in set four, locking me up on the 12th rep.  I only managed 8 pull ups and 15 push ups in that round, pretty sorrowful.

In round 5, I rebounded a bit netting 14 dips, 8 pull ups and 20 push ups although the round actually ran long since some guy started talking to me in the middle of it.  I was pretty damn beat by the end of it, despite only netting 239 of the 275 required reps.

So all in all that was a pretty big fail.  I don’t know if I expected that I would be able to complete all 5 rounds the first attempt but I know I didn’t expect to have my first fail in round 3.

So what Ray has been doing is once he is able to successfully complete all 5 rounds at certain rep numbers two times in a row, he bumps the rep counts up a couple for each exercise until he can complete it again at the higher level.  In my case I will be doing the same thing, in reverse.

So the next time I try this I will do something like 18 dips, 8 pull ups and 23 push ups in each round and see how that goes.  Eventually I will find my own starting point and will build back up from there.

Despite failing today I do think this is a really good way to make some significant progress towards BBR level endurance and strength.  Thanks Ray, I think.. 🙂

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Break down the walls

Jul11
by Duf on July 11, 2012 at 10:08 am
Posted In: BBR's, GUTS

Ray, whom I know through the Bar-barian forums and who also has the good fortune to train directly with Zef in NYC, messaged me last night.

He saw my State of the Bar address video and specifically the part where I talk about the frustrating plateau I hit when I was trying grind out GUTS routines several times a week in my ultimate pursuit of the BBR’s.

Ray shared with me what he has been doing to build up his endurance.  It uses some of the GUTS concept where you are just concentrating on the dips, pull ups and push ups.  The difference is you are doing 5 sets and you are introducing a time element as well.

Here is what Ray sent, many thanks to him!  I will be trying this later this week.

The routine that I’ve been doing has become a staple workout that I like to do at least once a week to help increase my strength & endurance – the two key things in trying to finish the BBRs. The routine was ACTUALLY inspired by your GUTS routine — slashing the muscle ups and just trying to finish the bulk[45, 25, 55]. The setup is pretty much breaking up the reqs and doing them for sets within an allotted time. Here’s how I started:
 
[20 Dips, 10 Pull Ups, 25 Push Ups]x5 Rounds. 3 minutes per round and 2 minutes rest in between each round.
 
The first couple rounds feel pretty easy but by round 4 and 5, it’s a fight. If you finish the round early, you have more rest time. & you can’t break up the set, just like the requirements. I always try not to even pause during the sets and try to finish each exercise as fast as possible to train that explosiveness. I realized the moment you slow down in a rep, everything becomes helluvalot harder. So I always attack this routine like how I would attack the reqs – speed and form.
 
Once I can complete the entire 5 rounds at least twice (two different times) I up my numbers slightly. Any small increase will make it feel exponentially harder. This is how I’ve been climbing over the past 2 months since I started this:
[20 Dips, 10 Pull Ups, 25 Push Ups]
[22 Dips, 12 Pull Ups, 25 Push Ups]
[23 Dips, 13 Pull Ups, 28 Push ups]
[25 Dips, 14 Pull Ups, 30 Push Ups] – current. Attempted first time today – Failed at 4th round 14th dip. Once I break up the exercise, that’s where I stop. So far, I’ve yet to increase the allotted time to complete it so every time I up it, I’m pretty much taking away some rest time as well.

 

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On the indoor bars

Jul10
by Duf on July 10, 2012 at 8:49 am
Posted In: Fitness Equipment, General Fitness Talk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQY5lqlSug8

Last night I did some work on Lou’s parallelettes, practicing the L-sit to planche transition.    I captured a couple reps on tape.

Because of my stretched out dimensions, this is a very tough move for me and looks awkward.  I am hoping with some regular time on the bars I can slowly clean it up.  I love the size, feel and weight of Lou’s parallelettes.

I feel like I have drifted into another small valley in my motivation roller coaster.  I had 5 days off in a row and didn’t really do anything on the bars.  I did some running and biking and that was about it.  I did get my bathroom painted at least.

 

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State of the bar address…

Jul05
by Duf on July 5, 2012 at 8:15 pm
Posted In: General Fitness Talk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u93gX3w2wQ

 

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