Tuesday, March 25, 2008

More Grinding Than Swinging

This morning's session consisted mostly of pre-hab shoulder work. And few Swings and Snatches at the end.

"Shoulder Flow"®: 12kg - 2x thru each side

Overhead Squat: Empty Barbell - 3 sets of 8

A1) Double Overhead Holds: 2x12kg - 30 sec x 3 cycles
A2) Russian Karate Twists: 2x12kg - 30 sec x 3 cycles
These two were supersetted for 3 minutes in total. Left shoulder Rice Crispies (snap, crackle and pop) didn't start until the third time through.

"Fighter" Pushups - 8, 8, 8

1-Hand Swings: 16kg - 2 sets of 20/20

Snatches: 16kg - 3 sets of 5/5

A little forearm pain during my second set of Snatches on the left side, but I was able to adjust my downswing and follow through so that it lasted only about a rep or two. I suppose this will be my learning process now, watch for what triggers the discomfort and then adjust my mechanics.

On another note... I finally picked up a video card for my computer, so I am now video-capable. But when one is a beginner like me, what does one upload for the world to see that they haven't already seen from others better qualified?

3 comments:

Franklin said...

I really like the approach you are taking here. This is probably just a typo, but the only part of your routine I'm unfamiliar with is Fighter push-ups, as opposed to Fighter pull-ups.

I know what you mean about not being able to get real psyched up about posting videos of ourselves doing swings or other KB work. Someday I will get the courage to do it .. the feedback from the greater KB community at large will be worth it. But right now I can still remember how uncomfortable I was about just starting a blog. Baby steps ..

Howie B said...

Hi Franklin,

No typo. Steve introduced me to a pushup variation that resembles the Fighter Pullup. Hands relatively close together, keep the elbows close to the sides and the shoulders rounded in throughout the movement. Also over extend yourself a bit forward so that your weight is almost off balance as if you were almost going to tip forward off your hands. At the top position, round your back around your shoulder blades. Almost same movement as the Fighter Pullup and more difficult than the standart Pushup. Give 'em a try!

Franklin said...

Thanks Howie for the explanation .. if I did them correctly they quite a bit tougher. From your description it sounds like the top of the position of the fighter push-up should be rounded (also called "hollow" by gymnasts I believe) just like the shoulders and back are at the top position of the fighter pull-up.

I did find what I incorrectly thought was same exercise called the "Knife-Fighter" push-up. For amusement, you can check out this and other completely demented variations as demonstrated by scaring strong, BW mutant Brad Johnson in the DD article:

http://www.dragondoor.com/
articler/mode3/274/