Dr. G's Training Journal

[Gittit Shwartz]

"High intensity training (regardless of how intensity is defined) is used for a short term for peaking. Used over a long haul it leads to injuries, overtraining, and plateaus."--Pavel Tsatsouline

Dr. G, I love the new addition to your signature! In fact I find myself repeating it to myself like a mantra every time I start fretting that I'm not doing enough.

[Garrett Smith]

Glad you like it, Gittit.

It's not a new idea, it's just been forgotten & outright discarded by some these days.

[Derek Simonds]

Nice week. I was doing gymnastics at the beach with the kids all weekend. I hit a 5 second free handstand and was overjoyed with it. Of course Jr had to go and do one for 10 seconds just to show me up. He also just got his round off back handspring but isn't confident doing it anywhere but the gym floor. I am ok with that completely. He does however has his front hand spring and I don't know where that came from but he was throwing it all over the beach.

Looks like you got everything kind of nailed down. Glad you are enjoying the preggo classes.

[Garrett Smith]

Thanks Derek. The new program is working pretty well so far. I'm hoping I can get this hill climb done before the baby arrives! Speaking of the little girl, I got to spend some early dad time putting together kid stuff (stroller, bouncy chair, and an Amby Swing). We're at 35 weeks and counting down... !!! Cori is pretty darn uncomfortable, but she'll make it.

Monday 7/28/08: In-office gymnastics workout in Chandler.

Joint mobility (foot/ankle, pelvis, lumbar, thoracic, cervical, 3 reps each)
Dynamic stretching (bootstrappers, halfway death stretch, 15 reps each)

3 rotated sets of:

1. Back to wall handstands--1 rep, a rep was only counted after 5 good seconds away from the wall were obtained
2. Pistols--5 reps x 3 sets, alternated left and right legs (like riding a bike!)
3. Hanging "almost L" sits (against the door)--10 seconds
4. One of the following sets of hamstring stretches in each rotation:
   • Standing, 20 sec. back & legs locked, 20 sec. back locked & knees bent
   • Straddle pike, inverted 20 sec. + 5 compressions, seated 20 sec. + 5 compressions
   • Pike, inverted 20 sec. + 5 compressions, seated 20 sec. + 5 compressions

In the third handstand set, I hit a PR. I kicked up, one soft heel touch on the wall, then held a free handstand for 16 seconds. I was actually able to come to some point of "relaxation", as much as that can happen in a handstand, about halfway through it. Happy day. This goal will be happening within two months.

It's hard to believe that in the Tactical Strength Challenge I entered back in 2005 that I did 11 straight pistols on each leg holding a 53# KB. While 5 alternating pistols isn't hard right now, that old mark seems so far away. I'm using that thought to remind me of how much progress can be made when the goals are focused and so is the training (ie. hill biking and handstands).

[Garrett Smith]

Tuesday 7/29/08: In-office gymnastics workout in Chandler.

Joint mobility (foot/ankle, pelvis, lumbar, thoracic, cervical, 3 reps each)
1 "Pump", aka up/down dog plus rotation

4 rotated sets of:

1. Back to wall handstands--1 rep, a rep was only counted after 5 good seconds away from the wall were obtained
2. Hanging abs, against the door
   • First two sets--hanging knee raises 3 reps, 3 sec. up, 1 sec. pause, 3 sec. down
   • Second two sets--"almost L" sits, 10 sec. each
3. Bottom-to-bottom Tabata air squats buildup: 10 sec. at bottom hold, air squats for 20 sec. (21 reps done each of the four separate sets), then 10 sec. more at bottom hold
4. One of the following sets of hamstring & hip flexor stretches in each rotation:
   • 20 bootstrappers & 15/side of midway "death stretch" reps
   • Standing, 20 sec. back & legs locked, 20 sec. back locked & knees bent & camel pose
   • Straddle pike, standing 20 sec. & inverted 20 sec. + 5 compressions & seated 20 sec. + 5 compressions
   • Pike, standing 20 sec. & inverted 20 sec. + 5 compressions & seated 20 sec. + 5 compressions

Was able to get started on my lunch workout earlier than usual today and fit in some extra work. Best handstand hold was about 10sec. today. I'm going to do some handstand work at adult gymnastics tomorrow, plus some p-bar work and pommel horse stuff. Rope climbs too.

[Camille Lore]

Awesome work with the handstands! I've gotten mine up to about 5 secs... any tips?

[Garrett Smith]

Do more handstands. Handstands are a skill, so they simply require more time devoted to them (without excessive fatigue inhibiting proper form, of course!).

Back-to-wall handstands to build basic strength and the hollow position.

Face-to-wall handstands (as soon as you are able to do a minute of back-to-wall) to get the positioning right, open shoulders and hollow body. Use a spotter or have a safe place to tuck and roll forward, then try to get your hands as close to the wall as possible.

Work on free handstands whenever you are able. Learn the "cartwheel" exit so that you can practice them anywhere.

Do them every day. They require practice.

My local yoga studio is having a 2-day handstand workshop (about 6 hours total over the two days, 2 hours each for beginner/intermediate/advanced levels) mid-September...I'm pretty excited about that one!

[Garrett Smith]

Wednesday 7/30/08: Adult gymnastics class.

Hit my 20-second free handstand PR here. L-sit rope climb, got halfway down before I cashed out. Hit the back lever position again, couldn't hold it long enough. Some pommel horse swings and p-bar swings. Going to switch the gymnastics day so that I can go to dodgeball on Wednesday nights and do gymnastics on Thursday...

Thursday 7/31/08: Planned rest day.

Did one handstand at the office--I remember it was a pretty good one.

Friday 8/1/08: Density squats/deads, handstands, and yoga.

6:30am
Handstand, joint mobility, handstand

20 alternating rounds (40 reps total), done on a 1 minute interval of:

• Bodyweight back squats, 2 reps
• Bodyweight deadlifts, 2 reps, done with hook grip and "jump" stance

Handstand

6pm
Power Hour yoga.

Man were my hips tired after this day!

Saturday 8/2/08: Walk, yardwork, handstands and chin-up holds.

7am
~2.5mile hilly walk.

8am
Yardwork.

5:30pm
Several rounds of alternating handstands and top-of-pull-up isometric holds (20, 15, 10sec.).

To kill some more time, I did some balancing on my knees/shins on my Swiss ball. Once you learn that skill, it never goes away.

Sunday 8/3/08: Walk, density deads/squats, yoga, handstands.

7:30am
~2.5 mile hilly walk with my parents

1pm
(after too much coffee and an apple crumb muffin with lots of butter...)

Handstand

Joint mobility

Handstand

13 alternating rounds (4 reps done in last set to total 40 reps), done on a 1:05 interval of:

• 3 reps, bodyweight back squats, low bar A2G
• 3 reps, Bodyweight deadlifts, done with hook grip and "jump" stance

Holy cow, that got the breathing going. 97 degrees in the shade wearing sweatpants (for the deadlifts) and a t-shirt (for the squats) was HOT! Will be moving up to 4x10 next time (Friday).

Handstand

Then swimming at a friends' house.

[Garrett Smith]

Monday 8/4/08: In-office gymnastics workout in Chandler.

Handstand
Sun salutation with rotations
Straddle/lunge/twist drills

3 rotated sets of:

1. Back to wall handstands--1 rep, a rep was only counted after 5 good seconds away from the wall were obtained
2. Pistols--5 reps x 3 sets, alternated left and right legs (like riding a bike!), immediately followed by 30sec. wall sit
3. 2 reps of hanging knee raises followed be 10sec. of hanging "almost L" sits (against the door)
4. One of the following sets of hamstring stretches in each rotation:
   • Standing, 20 sec. back & legs locked, 20 sec. back locked & knees bent
   • Straddle pike, standing 20sec., inverted 20 sec. + 5 compressions, seated 20 sec. + 5 compressions
   • Pike, standing 20sec., inverted 20 sec. + 5 compressions, seated 20 sec. + 5 compressions

Handstand

Now that I'm up in the free handstand position longer, it's interesting learning how to catch over-/underbalances. When you save yourself from going down, it's quite an accomplishment (at least for me at this point).

[Garrett Smith]

Yoga notes for those interested:

I absolutely am going to try to make Bikram a 1x/week part of my routine. For those who are interested in trying it, I'd suggest visiting a studio for a class a couple of times, then you'll have all the experience you need to do it on your own in a hot summer garage.
One-page cheat sheet of Bikram poses
In-depth description of Bikram poses (about halfway down the main page on the left side)

I recently realized that the Power Hour class I've been attending is actually similar in many ways to Bikram, yet is so very different. I believe they compliment each other well. Neither of them get into very many of the joint-compromising postures too much, which I like (or I simply modify).

Yoga 2x/week sounds perfect to me at this point in my development. It will likely move up 1-2x/week as the years progress and the natural aging "contraction" of the body needs more and more undoing.

Darren Rhodes, the man who owns Yoga Oasis (where I go for my Power Hour and occasional Yoga Hour classes) is putting out a DVD on the Power Hour class soon. I talked with him about joint mobility and Z-Health, he seemed very interested! We'll be chatting more.

I think I've mentioned it before, but I'm looking forward to the Anusara yoga oriented handstand clinics in September...

PS--My knees (particularly my left one) have been letting me know about the sudden increase in squatting movements. Did a laser treatment of both knees on Sunday, only the left really needed it. Will stay on top of this developing story...