Thanks for the warm welcomes Jonny, Mehrad and Ben. Feels good to be here.
It sure as hell seems that way Ben, but trust me, when you get to the level I was at: getting balls deep in all of those things just to get through the day, it feels terrible.
Forgot to mention handstand push ups in my first post. Against the wall at the moment but damn they feel good.
I've been doing those exercises for the best part of a week. Here's what I've noticed:
Hindu Squats: They're really helping to rehabilitate my knees and my ankles which have taken a pounding over the past few years and are in terrible condition. Knee strength is up already, and ankle mobility is much, much better.
Hindu pushups: Spine Flexibility is improving, and I'm noticing strength coming back to pretty much all of my upper body, as well as increased flexibility of the lower half of my body. Hamstrings are still in horrendous shape: strength and flexibility wise. Still have tightness between my shoulder blades and in my traps. Myofascial release of rhomboids and traps, as well as band pull aparts should help loosen, then strengthen my upper back.
Back Bridge aka wrestlers bridge: Trying to be careful with this one due to the pressure it CAN exert on the neck if done incorrectly. Tensing of the whole body during these is actually helping my posterior chain work as a unit, and have helped me identify parts like the connection between my hamstrings and glutes that need myofascial release, stretching, and strengthening to improve blood flow and nerve functioning.
Handstand pushups: These just work every god damn thing: core, and pretty much the whole upper body, with emphasis on the shoulders and arms. Still having trouble tightening glutes together with all abdominal muscle sand obliques, but I think that'll improve once I get my hamstrings and glutes firing correctly again. Cranking out a few of these feels a hell of a lot better than a cocaine rush.
Kettlebell swings: I prefer the one armed versions, but there's some kind of misalignment in my left side which prevents me from engaging all the muscles I need to, so I switch between the single and two armed versions. These feel like a bitch if you go for reps, and target pretty much everything in my posterior chain: calves, hams, glutes, lower back, mid and upper back. Still working on keeping scapula retracted, though with time and the other exercises that should strengthen my upper back, this should begin sorting itself out in two or three weeks at most. Need to keep everything tight when doing this, which I currently have a bit of a problem with. Again, it should start working itself out the more I do them. The one armed version works the core a hell of a lot better than the two handed
Kettlebell snatch: I can feel this in my core, though glutes aren't working anywhere near as efficiently or effectively as they should be. I'll give it a few weeks. Shoulders and upper back feel these when going for high reps, Form needs work, but should get there soon.
Kettlebell Clean and Press: I can feel these everywhere along my posterior chain and obviously, shoulders. Form needs work.
Renegade rows: I've only done these once so far without any weights (I only have a single kettlebell), but I can feel how effective they are in strengthening the obliques especially, though my guess is shoulders, upper back and pretty much everything else is worked to some degree. I'm starting to really love these, and look forward to getting raped by the weighted versions in the future.
Myofascial release: Was using a 2 litre coke bottle and a hard rubber bouncy ball, until I drank the contents when I got pissed off. Ended up going over my whole body with a tennis ball and the rubber ball. Helps a lot with my quads, sometimes with my glutes (medius and maximus), definitely with my calves, back, and pretty much everything else. Got a lot of trigger points around my groin area, and the inside of my thighs which I'm having trouble getting too with the tennis and rubber ball, so trying to work on them with actual hand massage...sometimes I'll watch porn and get distracted...sorting out that area should see me improve on everything else, because it really seems to be a limiting factor. Tight pecs and anterior deltoids, biceps keep pulling everything forward, but with more work and some upper back strengthening, they should start resembling a healthy set soon enough. Gotta get my foam roller back soon.
Cigarettes: These are great. work the lungs, the chest and improve shoulder stability due to the movements involved.
Sleep: getting a lot of that, but at really odd times. Need to sort out my sleeping pattern at somepoint.
Pull aparts: Haven't got a band yet, but I've been going through the movement, trying to activate the right muscles. Might try it with a towel or something until I get one. I can already feel something happening in my upper back, and it's realigning some of my lopsided vertebrae which is always good.
Diet: Shit. Living off protein shakes, coffee, and homemade pizza. Pretty much only one huge meal a day at night.
QHBF: Got something lined up just for you.
April 20, 2012 - 04:11 AM
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