Alexus' Adventure in Wonderland

Training
501

Nicotine is great. It’s a relaxant and stimulant. I use the gum and I haven’t smoked in 15 years. Used sparingly it’s a nice drug - I find it’s more of a relaxant than a stimulant but it also aids concentration if I’m doing planning or reports for school.

Squat - you’ve made a lot of progress here. 50kg front squat is awesome. I can’t do that.

Headstand - not sure why you are kicking up. It’s more of a transference of weight and should happen slowly. Make sure your head and your hands make a triangle on the mat rather than a line, and keep elbows tucked. Most common mistake I see is kids putting their hands in line with their heads, trying to kick up and then falling flat on their faces.

Once you’ve made the triangle, walk your feet forward until your bottom is above, or almost above your head. At this point you should be able to lift your feet up in a tucked position. If that seems scary, try resting your knees on your arms first, then when you feel confident, bring them together. Once you’re happy there, allow your legs to go up vertically.

http://yoganonymous.org/omgal-how-to-do-tripod-headstand-video-inside/

This is an OK video. She puts her knees on her arms and then goes straight to vertical one leg at a time. That’s fine if you have great hip mobility but for most people. bringing the knees to the chest first and going up both legs together works better.

As for coming down, ignore the planky stuff she does. I just lower my knees to my chest then back to the floor. If you feel yourself toppling forwards, rather than bridge, tuck your chin in and roll. You won’t be falling far so if you do this correctly it won’t hurt at all.

Here’s a crappy video I made of my own headstand about a year ago. I don’t do the elbow on the knees thing first (you can dispense with that when you are confident enough) and my descent isn’t good but you can get a general idea. I can make a new one if you’d like a better vid, and could also demo a straddle variant. Let me know if you’d like that.

502

[quote]alexus wrote:
you tell me this is the last hill so go all out → i go all out.
you then tell me that this next hill is the last hill so go all out → i get gassed and have to stop.
you get disappointed that i quit. i’m disappointed in myself.

next time:

you tell me this is the last hill so go all out → i suspect you are lying. i pull faces so you think i’m going all out but make sure i leave something in the tank.
you then tell me that this next hill is the last hill so go all out → i’m able to continue working and pulling faces.
you are happy because you think i exceeded what i’m capable of.

but really you just taught me to be mistrustful and histrionic.

not to mention… more of an endurance than power athlete.

still… less likely to be injured?

perhaps.
[/quote]

hmm, I used to try to trick myself the almost the same way, but that was just to get me running further/longer. Sometimes I would say I would stop after this song, then after the song ended I’d say, well I can do another 2 minutes to make it an even 45 mins, etc. I could see if the instructor uses is sparringly once they actually had a feel for their client’s capacity, but certainly not all the time.

Sounds like you are having lots of fun over in this log with the gymnastuc stuff.

503

[quote]alexus wrote:

charlie - i think i was overly ambitious… can’t reach back far enough to see the floor yet lolz. think i need to take it a bit gentler / slower.

[/quote]

Also you can get a spotter for this too. You get someone to stand to the side and to use both arms to put them in the small of your back to help guide you down so you don’t hit your head.

I know you love analyzing and all that so try this little vid, this little girl can do it almost slow mo. You can really break down the movement. You can see how she almost moves her weight forward and lowers it, before bending all the way back at the last minute. Sort of forward and down, then over.

http://www.ehow.com/video_2356477_doing-bend-gymnastics-warm-ups.html

:slight_smile: Happy analyzing.

504

my faith in humanity is restored. trainer has got that chick doing 5/3/1. of course i’m betting he hasn’t told wendler about his ideas for supersetting a wide variety of assistance stuffs (including possibly bosu and smith machine squats and squat thrusters and stuffs) but anyhoo, could be far, far worse.

i’m really seriously thinking about taking a day to do 5/3/1/ for back squat. along with the BBB assistance. the high reps will kill me, i’m pretty sure. i think i should… because i’m mentally weak when it comes to more reps than 5…

sickness has started up. getting a lot of nosebleeds and feverish. i think it is the new cell regeneration in my airways. for a while they lose the fight against the toxic environment… eventually they will start winning… but it might take some time yet. surprised i’m only getting sick now 1 month in… actually, no, one month in is about right.

hurt my hip a bit today doing a handstand splat. handstands are coming along, though. best one tends to be the first when i’m fresh and not overthinking it. working on my headstands (thanks for the vid cal!!) and back bridge - thanks for the vid charlie - i’m a long way off!!!

fucking waitlisted for the course. didn’t realize it was first application gets first offer etc. 2nd on the list so apparenatly it is ‘almost certain’ that i’ll actually get to do it… have started getting my ass up to the library for a couple hours each day to get a bit started on reading. i love books. need to relearn how to focus without cigarettes. i’ve never read in the actual library before for that reason but i can’t take books out of the library now since i’m not a fucking student there yet. some pretty fucking decent textbooks on nutrition etc but i can’t access them until i get an actual offer… some other pretty decent books that i’m enjoying, though. need to get stuck into learning bones / muscles anatomy i’m sure. cardiovascular and digestive too, no doubt…

the worst thing i’ve learned since, like… possibly forever.

crunches. all that forward flexion stuff that i’ve been against since forever… turns out that those are the exercises i actually need to sort out my fucking back problems. suck. it. up. not quite sure why this pisses me off so much. there is part of the stupid pilates rolling like a ball (when i use my abs rather than momentum) that seems to give me a bit of a spinal adjustment fairly high up in the thoracic / shoulder region… that seems to help me actually be able to relax in flat back lying on a hard surface… no hope in hell of staying in flat back with legs on the ground, though. i had no idea one was supposed to be capable of doing that.

  • need my harder (ball) soft tissue work for hips (though go gentle on hip flexors - they need time to recover!), butt, calves, hammies, thoracic spine. need to not use it on my feet, though. it was too much for them. got a few weeks worth of rolling to catch up on…

  • the yoga type classes are going awesome. i need to work on side-bends, too, since i’ve also avoided them. not quite sure how i got to be so extremist in my thinking about avoiding certain movements…

i know why i had such a hard time working with that last trainer dude. i was having a bit of a conversation with him and this older guy who he was training said to me ‘don’t listen to him - he’s a know all’. and he is right. he fucking is a know all. and two know-alls who have different ideas together… well… lolz.

damn. i wonder if i’ll ever stop being such a bitch to get along with in person or whether it is more about my coming to peace with the fact that i’m grumpy and willful and almost always right (though i’m pretty sure that last thing isn’t a more regular thing with me… i don’t know).

anyway…

fingers crossed my hip is better tomorrow…
and i’m not too feverish… want to try chin-ups again…

and oly lifting. i’ve been doing it. got some tape and made marks on the floor and at the appropriate place on one of the bars. i’ve missed it so much. one lift that felt perfect. of course i’m sure it wasn’t. but it felt perfect. and that is all that matters to me, really.

505

Yikes wonky hip/sickness/and no cigs…

I can tell you the notnsmoking DOES get better. For me well once I got cracked onto cafdio ( was in major weightloss mode) some days that was all that kept me from starting again.

Have you reached the point of noticing physical improvements yet? Or maybe that should say ‘physiological improvements’? Dunno! LOL

506

I always liked the BBB template with 5/3/1 it satisifed both of my goals in lifting, strength on the main lifts and hypertrophy on the BBB, but Wendler also advocates super setting chins in between every pressing movement so that can get you some extra chin work in…

fever and nosebleeds? that sounds awesome! sarcasm

507

I quit smoking cold turkey almost a year ago and haven’t looked back.

I used patches while I was in the hospital with my daughter but I could quickly tell they would become yet another addiction for me.

Are you using the step down variety??

508

hips are tricky good luck there

yoga is really good double good
I like it allot.

I think I smoked for like a week in college
went to run felt worse than any hangover-
and somehow lighting a fire 2 inches from my face
is a little strange

509

Hi there. I finally wandered into your log and was thoroughly entertained with the ‘whiny bitch within’ stories.

Congratulations on quitting smoking. It’s not easy. I quit over 5 years ago and keep logging on to the "Real Age’ website to see if quitting has had an impact on my ‘alleged’ age yet. It hasn’t. Maybe at 10 years. What I remember most about quitting is feeling like I was coughing up tar babies after I quit for a while even though I never did when I smoked. Weird. Sometimes I contemplate getting nicotine gum just so I can have some nicotine.

510

[quote]alexus wrote:
you tell me this is the last hill so go all out → i go all out.
you then tell me that this next hill is the last hill so go all out → i get gassed and have to stop.
you get disappointed that i quit. i’m disappointed in myself.

next time:

you tell me this is the last hill so go all out → i suspect you are lying. i pull faces so you think i’m going all out but make sure i leave something in the tank.
you then tell me that this next hill is the last hill so go all out → i’m able to continue working and pulling faces.
you are happy because you think i exceeded what i’m capable of.

but really you just taught me to be mistrustful and histrionic.

not to mention… more of an endurance than power athlete.

still… less likely to be injured?

perhaps.
[/quote]

Interesting ideas here. I have felt like coaches have tried to “break” me before. I always resented that and purposefully held back in those situations. I mean i think they meant well–the idea is to bring out something in another person that they can’t see or don’t believe that they are capable. But, still that requires a relationship. Trust. I don’t know.

511

keep hurting myself doing gymnastics stuff. did a really nice (i thought) back roll into plank but came down hard on my toes (since they don’t bend back and are rigid now). have learned to do gymnastics stuff in shoes with a rigid / protective toe pocket, now… thought i broke it but i think it is coming right…

today i snatched a powerbag while standing on a bosu ball. today was the first time i tried doing anything other than simply stand on a bosu ball. squat - no problems at all. the curvy surface makes it easier than it is to keep your weight on the heels on the ground. snatched the powerbag just because i could.

guess it is true what they say about how it is easy to get someone with a decent (not that i’ve quite got that) squat etc and get them doing the funky little shit… but much much much much harder to get someone with decent little shit and get them squatting etc…

did my weighted planks (which i’ve never seen anybody there do and i’m not convinced they can) as well as the rolling like a ball stupid little shit…

i see now that trainers get people squatting on bosu balls not because it is meant to be harder than squatting on the ground… but because it is easier.

dammit.

i have realized i don’t actually want to be a personal trainer particularly… strength and conditioning coach. the latter. oh wells… will see how life goes for me.

can powersnatch the 20kg strength bag… just because. can flip the 40kg tire so i’ve got it balanced on my thigh, too, but it is too wide for me to grip properly to throw it or press it or anything… just messing around… not allowed to yell… need to keep down the banging of weights, too. athletic training facility - not.

they care more about getting nice mirrors on the wall…
(so guys can stand themselves in porn poses around you - yes i see you boys and i know full well what you are doing)
than they care about decent bars.

ffs.

:frowning:

512

there aren’t any fractional plates either which makes it hard to do a percentage based program… that might be what the little chains are for that i’ve been seeing around… guess i need to get to weighing the collars etc… dammit. why is this shit so hard - i mean really???

513

I’ve had to be careful of toe flexion after getting sesamoiditis (if that’s what it was - I have to wait until April to see an expert, sigh) so I’d avoid doing stuff that bends your toes back in a rather abrupt fashion. I guess I don’t need to tell you that.

And yeah, I did my own massive handstand splat today. It sucked. Gymnastics is something where you have to be brave, and sometimes it doesn’t always go so well. Keep at it, it’s rewarding when you finally nail a movement.

514

i had to learn the hard way, cal. fortunately i’ve got some other weightlifting shoes (regular heel raise) that are stiff round the toes so i’ll train gymnastics stuff in them now.

it is freaky… i keep forgetting that olympic lifting is one of the safest sports (only safer one is swimming apparently) but there is notoriously not much more dangerous than gymnastics… hard to know when to trust ones fear response and when not to. not sure how i feel about that…

hallowed - my cardio has definately gotten better since i can do spin now. not hacking up a lung every morning, too, which is good. i smell better too, i’m sure.

matty - yeah, gotta figure my squats. there is a rack with a fixed safety that is a smidgen too high… a flimsy rack that is chlaustrophobia inducing… or one of the PT guys fairly surprisingly randomly spotted me without asking and that went okay (though i might possibly have cut things slightly higher because of it)… i want to test my max properly then do 5/3/1 yeah. have figured little random things round the gym weigh amounts that i can use to do the work of fractional plates.

mom - yes, i remember your quitting. you have done so fabulously well with that! i don’t use anything most days but use gum occasionally. i suspect i should use it a little more (think nicotine is useful for mood regulation for me).

kmc - really massively getting into the yoga…

ouro - apparently it takes about a month for the cilia (tiny hairs) that should be on the cells lining the airways to grow back. their job is to catch dust and gunk on its way down and also to help move crap up out of the airways. smoking coats them with more crap than they can deal with and the cells struggle to stay alive / not be cancerous and the hair on them goes away. after about a month of quit the cells start to regenerate though. then the gunk starts moving around. the new cells are overwhelmed with toxic crap basically. because they are new they are susceptible for infection etc too. so apparently it isn’t at all uncommon for people to get pretty sick around one month into a quit. they don’t publicize that more because they don’t want to put people off quitting. it will come right eventually.

sorry about my rantings. my mood isn’t quite right yet. some combination of my just needing to get over myself (stop with the paranoia ‘am i okay, really am i really okay?’) and needing to chill and stuff… needing the course to start, too, going a little crazy…

i’m starting to have more empathy for the trainers now, i think. i can’t imagine how working 12 hour days with people full of excuses for why they can’t possibly do this or that would grind you down. how many times do you need to hear ‘i don’t wanna get bulky’ or whatever (when it is used as an excuse) before you just go ‘yeah, of course you know best hey lets do some curls on the bosu ball yay you’ and take their money. i don’t know. meh.

515

Don’t worry about the rants or the mood. Totally normal. Also I suspect your bad moods are not that bad anyways. :slight_smile:

You’re doing great with the quitting!

516

Yo sexy lexy! Miss me?

So what style of yoga are you doing?
Ive been doing some yoga myself, and am wondering if all of those foward, back and side bends are ok for my lower back?

What cues do you use when you doing your planks? Apparentley there is technique involved.

tweet

517

^^ Yep, I agree with charlie. Your bad mood does not sound too bad at all. I would quite enjoy it if my bad moods were as laid back sounding as yours are, Lol.

Yeah, there is this one trainer who is at my gym all day long. He always seems to train really out of shape older women who complain the whOLE SESSION about EVERYTHING.

I always think, how can that not have completely drained his soul by now? I could NEVER do that.

518

alexus, I’m so glad to hear about the not smoking. Currently my lungs are crap despite that I’ve never smoked (damn bronchitis). So I’m empathetic.

519

alexus: sorry to hear the back roll to plank hurt your feet. uggh. Hope you’re doing ok now.

520

Hey Lexie, just wanted you to know I’ve been reading along. I just don’t have anything new to add to the advices and adulations. I am really glad you’ve stopped smoking. We need you to stay around as long as possible.