This past week I have had my right shoulder flare up pretty bad. I was wondering if all the volume was going to catch up with me.
The funny thing was it was not like it was coming on slowly and I was training through it, I just woke up one morning and it felt like someone had stabbed me in the shoulder . I am however training through it now like a knucklehead..... well more training around it.
I have limited range of motion over ahead (shoulder flexion) and a fair deal of trouble (& pain) going into elevated external rotation. I am assuming from where the pain is radiating from and towards (edge of should blade across the superior ridge and up under my arm) that it is the infraspinatus.
I can work around it ok but it is certainly limiting what I can and can not do. I am alternate icing the area with heat packing during the day and it seems to be doing the trick. Its been almost a week and its easing slightly now so hopefully its not too serious.
Training Friday the 25th of November.
Rode the bike to work.
Warmed up shoulder area thoroughly- Face pulls, band dislocates, cable external rotations (low)
Then alternated the follwing in a ladder format
A) Feet Up JGXT Rows- 3,6,9,12 reps B) Parallette Wall press- 2,3,4,5 reps
Alternated both ladders for 4 cycles or 32 sets.(i.e 3 rows, 2wp, 6 rows, 3 wp etc ) It sounds a lot however all the sets are sub max efforts so virtually no rest is required the whole process. I got it done in less than 20 minutes.
Pm workout (3pm)
Alternated the following movements for 8 sets a piece.
A) Assisted MUs (on cable machine) 5 reps (30kg of assistence) B) Bodyweight Push press (kicking HSPU ON 10" besser blocks) 5 reps Shoulder flared up a bit doing this one so did a lot of stretching in between which seemed to help.
Rode the bike home and decided to do a little circuit at the school playground on way home.
15 reps of the following for 6 rounds.
Divebomber Push ups
24' box jumps
PUR chin ups (2 green bands)
This was tough as I only rested enough to get to the next exercise. This finished off a decent day of training which I really did not think I would be able to get through with my shoulder. Tomorrow I will take the day off and do some mobility and prehab work on the shoulder. I am taking every second day off and just doing mobility work for the shoulders and hips and a fair bit of certain Yoga poses (up and down dog, back domes, supine bridge and front warrior)
I thought id throw in a clip of a work colleague (Aiden O' Shea) doing assisted Iron Crosses using the power jumper. He thought this up himself and does a great job of it. Nice effort mate.
Today I decided to add some external loading to my workouts after all the bodyweight work of late. I went through one of the MBG US 8 week cycle workouts and it was tough.
It was "on the 60 sec" drill. Start a new set on the minute every minute for 24 minutes rotating through 4 exercises. The slower you go the less rest you get the harder it becomes!
The exercises were
1) Bulgarian split squat 5 reps L & R with 2x 28kg KB
2) 100 skips with the heavy rope
3) 10 reps deadlift with 2 x 55kg farmers walk handles (did these on 6" blocks for extra range of movement)
4) 80m sprint with a weighted sled (50kg sled)
The first 4 rounds were ok but as I got fatigued and slowed down my rest went out the window which made for a tough final two rounds.
This workout finished me up for the morning.
In the afternoon I just worked on my muscle up technique concentrating on getting my knees toward my elbows with more speed. These were the first MUs I have done in weeks as I wanted to get my pull up volume up before I started MU again. These felt good with only 16kg of assistence each side so I am not displeased.
Sunday November 20
Today i just messed around for 1.5 hours on some gymnastic skills. This is always good fun as there is no rhyme or reason to the format I just jumped form one movement to another. The only guideline I did adhere too was alternating a push with a pulling movement.
I rotated through these movements-
Ring L-sit to staddle back lever back to front lever slow drop.
1 arm handstand progressions on the wall
Body lvers / dragon flags
Assisted full wheel rollouts (15kg assist)
Parallette L-sit to HS press hold
I did lots of stretching and holding of yoga poses in between sets.
Here is one of the L-sit to HS press holds.
Rode the bike home and messed aroundat the playground with some MU eccentrics (jumping up) and slowly resisting the movement back to the start.
Being home always messes my training schedule around. Too many interuptions.
Here is how it panned out from Last Saturday.
Saturday Nov 12th
Today I was time limited so I did a workout that I have been doing a bit of lately as it hits everything.
A)Valslide floor walking (same as PW except on slides- makes for an easier transition to toher exercises) B) Heavy rope- doubles
I alternated the two 60 /50/40/30/20/10 go this done in around 13 mins. The valslides were in metres 60 doubles then 60m >>50 /50m etc
I was still feeling ok after this so I decided to do the "24 rep" lower body drill with the 10kg vest on. I got this done in 2mins 56 secs which I was happy with.
24 squats (to 12" box)>> 24 reverse lunges (12 L & R) back knee touches floor each rep>>24 reps lunge jumps (12 L & R- back knee touches)>>24 squat jumps (to depth) >>24 squats (to depth).
Man! talk about a blow torch to the thighs....nasty!!
I also got half hour free in the afternoon to get some handstand technique drills in with the boys- Paulie and Rick!! This was casual but good fun.
Sunday 13th of November- Rest day. Training our new instructors up all afternoon which was a good learning curve for us all.
Monday 14 th of November
Am workout Pullup ladders 1>>5 x 3 (45 pullups)
Dip ladders 3>>15 x 3 (135 dips)
PM workout 10 down to 1 rep -Barbarain style push up (incline plane hold in beween whilst partner does their set)
8-1 JGXT rows. same format as above.
I Did this twice through however we started our second round from 8 reps for pushups and 6 for the rows as this is a killer especially when you are trying to make your partner drop. The last reps were taking 10-15 seconds each....Thanks Rick !!
finished with some Bulgarian split squat (both legs raised) with the PJ on. 4 x 8 reps.
TUESDAY 15TH November- Rest day
WEDNESDAY 16 th of November
Two little workouts again today.
AM- 15/15 drill for 5 mins (10 sets of each before moving onto next exercise)
Push ups- 140 reps total
Pullups- 39 reps total
Dips- 82 reps total.
Buy out 50 Close grip push ups on a med ball- 24,14,12. 50 Assisted Pullups (2 x green PUR)- 21,15,8,7
PM- Jump Training
100m (5 sets of 20m) 2 broad jumps followed immediatley by 2 vertical.
I did this workout with PJ and its awesome. I would normally have used a Power jumper however we went with just bodyweight and this was even better as you could focus more on form...especially the landings. We were almost getting 20m in 7 jumps (over 8ft per jump) which was cool.
We then did the same 24 rep lower body drill as I did Saturday this time without the vest on. I got it done in 2mins 17secs, PJ 2 mins 25. Both respectable times.
Thursday 17th of November- Rest day (Flew back to work and found a cracking headache on the way, worst I have had in a while and couldnt get rid of it)
Friday 19th of November-
am- 15/15- 5mins at each exercise(10 sets) feet up JGXT rows- 89 reps total (first time with rows. Had feet on a 6" besser block) Push ups- 136 reps total (down 4) Pullups (did these assisted slightly due to rotator soreness) 45 reps Dips (on forklift forks)- 96 reps (up 14 which was pleasing)
PM - 105m Handstand walking 7 sets of 15m. The last set I filmed below.
Core circuit 3 x through (7 reps of all)- dip L-sit to tuck planch hold>>> L-sit to V-sit>>body levers >>assisted rollouts>> valslide walks (as far as possible until dropped which was not far). No rest bewteen any of the movements.
Riding home and and will stop at the playground if the headwind does not kill me.
The past 10 days I have been attempting to get my pull ups numbers up via
1) Intermittent Fasting to get my weight down to increase my relative strength 2) Mini Strength Ladder workouts throughout the day OR grease the groove- performing one set of a push (dips or push ups) and a pull (pull up or rows) on the hour for 8-10 hours. (great way to increase strength if you have the opportunity)
My basic template so far has been something like this
Day 1- Pullup & dip strength ladder workouts - 4 x 20-30 min workouts throughout the day
Day 2- JGXT feet up rows /Feet up Push ups- grease the groove throughout the day (1 set of each 10x throughout the day). I also do some jumping drills on this day.
Day 3 -Pullup & Dip ladders with a 10kg vest on 2-3 times
Day 4 - JGXT punch rows / HSPU grease the groove- also do some single leg work on this day- Russian lunge in JGXT,pistols, Leg JGXT hammy curls
I also do a 2 seperate core circuits on days 1 & 3 1) Pushing core- L-sit to planch tuch hold>> L-sit to v-sit>> L -sit flutters, kick outs, bicycles etc 2) Pulling core- Dragon flags(DF) >>DF leg raise>> DF hip ext>> Hanging leg raise/ front pulls >> Assisted standing rollouts.
I have also been adding a set of valside floor walks as far as possible after both the push and pull core circuits
I take a day off anywhere in the schedule when required. This has been great, I love the simplicity of it.
Due to the sheer volume of Pullups I have been doing I have instinctively modified my style to reduce stress on my shoulders and elbows. It also happens (by chance) to put me in a much better position to transition into the muscle up which I am very pleased about. This modification almost starts of as a front lever and ends up as a row. It feels much more natural than going straight up & down.
The past week has been a great training week, there have been lots of little gaps throughout the day here at work where I have been lucky enough to do "Mini Workouts. In an attempt to increase my pullup numbers on my journey to mastering the muscle ups these little workouts have been just what I need to increase my pull up volume without becoming too fatigued.
Monday
I did the following at 4 seperate times throughout the day. Ladder style- working up to the highest rung (rep), then start over at rep 1 and work up to a rung below. Keep working down the ladders until there no more rungs. My aim is to increase the first ladder rungs each week which will automatically drag up the other ladder rung numbers.
Pullups (with legs straight) 1,2,3,4,5>> 1,2,3,4>>1,2,3>>1,2>>1. Total of 35 pullups
Dips (legs straight) 3,6,9,12,15>>3,6,9,12>>3,6,9>>3,6>>3 Total of 105 dips
So all up during the day I did 140 pullups and 420 dips.
I did alternated the two exercises above on each rung 1 rep increase each set on the pulls and 3 rep intervals on the dips..i.e 1 pullup 3 dips, 2 pullups 6 dips, etc. up to 5 pullups and 15 dips on the first ladder I stopped my pullups on the first ladder when I knew my form was breaking down then started from rep one and worked back (I could have gone higher on each of the dip ladders however I am concentrating on my pullups so my dip ladders just followed the pullups).
I made up some new parallettes on the weekend (very pleased with myself too as I normally struggle to put a jig-saw puzzle together!!).
I have been toying with a combo for my core using my new toys which I have been adding to the end of each ladder.
Dip L-sit to pike (as high as I can and try and hold) 6 reps Dip L -sit to v-sit (try and get my legs up past my waist) 6 reps Dip L- sit flutters 6 L & R Dip L-sit tuck to kicks 6
Man talk about fire in the belly.
Tuesday
Today I did some power jumper jumping drills and messed around with bulgarian split squats on the JXGT suspension trainer with a 20kg vest on.
2,1,bw- 3 sets of 5 reps at each band (green PJ bands) jump at targets (I have some targets picked out just out of my jump reach....for now!)
Bulgarian split (back leg raised in JGXT) squat jumps 8 reps>> 8 reg squats. 3 sets L & R
200 Double unders (heavy rope) 10 sets of 20.
Wednesday
Today was a repeat of Mondays Dip and Pullup ladders however I added two ladders to the first two of my 4 twenty minute workouts.
So the workout looked the same however I just added a ladder -- 1>>6 on the pullups and 3>>18 on dips to the first two of my mini workouts for a total of 182 pullups and 546 dips.
I am excited about getting my numbers up without overloading my elbows and shoulders. So far all is fine. I am however adhereing to the following before or after each mini workout.
Sip a BCAA/ ECA drink before and after each workout Myofascial rolling around the area to be worked Ice any bits that even remotely feel sore after each workout.
Total workout time was no more than 90 minutes but I got so many good quality rep in that I want to try this with other movements I would like to better.
I have also been adding mobility work in throughout the day- Bands & JGXT.
