I’m adding these in as a modification to my normal push-ups because I’m dealing with some scapular winging on one side — it’s getting bad enough that my pulling movements aren’t tracking properly and I’m struggling to fire my rear delt. Doing a push-up with full protraction at the top followed by pushing into a downward dog position really gets things firing properly.
Band Overhead Triceps Extension
50 reps
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@j4gga2, aside from doing the normal stuff like wall slides, are there any other exercises you’d recommend or modifications to help with scapular winging? I remember you mentioning something ages ago about landmine presses being a good exercise due to their “reaching” nature. What about things like pullovers?
Im not sure pullovers will help because gravity is going to “pull” your scaps into whatever position it wants to, making it really challenging for your scapular muscles to control the shoulder blade’s movement
You are, however, absolutely bang on the money with push-up to downward dogs. Once necessary, I would progress those as follows:
Downward dog plus shoulder tap
Inchworm
Wall crawl (start in push-up position facing away from a wall, and “walk” backwards into a handstand)
Wall handstand shoulder tap
Wall single arm handstand
It might not be necessary to progress all the way through, but if you’re one arm handstanding for 30+ seconds your shoulders will be pretty strong and functional. Knowing your training history, you’re also probably able to skip ahead to the inchworm or wall crawl
The other banger movement is deep nasal breathing in a single-arm hang. This will stretch everything in your shoulder girdle, and get your cuff strong as hell. The deep breathing will also help you open up your ribcage, which will create a smoother surface for your shoulder blades to glide over
Figuring out a lot of little bits and pieces lately for technique that’s making these long sets way smoother.
Kneeling Ab Wheel
1x25, 15, 10
Did these nice and slow, with a focus on really reaching my arms out. Holy hell, made it way harder and absolutely lit up my shoulder girdle. My serratus are on fire all the way up into my back. Abs are fried too.
I love being a cheeky bastard and pulling wrist locks on people from every position. So few BJJ players — and even fewer wrestlers — have ever seen them before, and people leave their hands open EVERYWHERE. It’s a hapkido practitioner’s dream.
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Went and checked out a kendo school after I finished training tonight. Just observed the first half of the class. I have a big chunk of time after these grappling rounds, so I’m thinking I’ll add kendo into the mix too. Just to learn something new.
Basically the ABC but with jerk dips instead of front squats. Wanted to keep it in the ballpark of my regular training.
Sledgehammer 360’s
5min/direction @ 8lbs
Exact same thing as a steel mace 360, but with a sledgehammer. Because it was a more accessible purchase. I quite like this exercise; I could see myself keeping it as a mainstay assistance movement. Really opens up the whole upper body, while still being challenging as a longer set.
Need to remember to slow down between each rep and not rush them. Precision is the game here.
F. Squat
170x5
190x5
5x5 @ 215
First couple sets my body was like, “What the hell, man?”; I haven’t done front squats in way too long, and it showed. I NEED to do them though because I cannot cheat them like I can back squats. Front squats are one of those movements that just get you strong all over.
G. Morning
125x5
145x5
160x12
Bent Row
3x5 @ 220
Lil’ body english to get them going.
Lu Raises
1x25, 15, 10 @ 10
Happy shoulders.
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Going to mosey along with 5x5/3/1 for the snatch, c&j and front squat for now. Figure I only have one day a week to utilize my garage gym, so I might as well go hard; if I can’t recover from one hard training day per week, then there’s something wrong with me.
And while I’m still doing three days of kettlebell sport, and those long sets can get mildly gruelling sometimes, they also offer a “tonic” in that they get a LOT of blood flowing.
No joke. I noticed back in 2017 that, whenever I included front squats into my programming, I’d add more muscle all over my body. EVERYTHING needs to be strong for it to work. Looks like a solid workout.
At some point in my life, I know I’ll be switching to 1-2 days of lifting, 1-2 days of bodyweight work, and 1-2 days of DB/KB/random implement work for my programming.
It just makes so much sense to me, and I don’t know what I’m trying to prove to myself by delaying the inevitable.
Dude, go for it. Honestly, I love my current workout schedule. I really don’t need more than one or two days a week for barbells, and my kettlebell sport workouts are short enough that I can find time for them anywhere in the week. I was initially nervous about having to compress training sessions, but I’ve seen progress, I feel amazing, and, most importantly, I’ve got flexibility in life; I no longer lament not being able to workout on X-day, because I know I’ll find time somewhere else in the week.
I have no doubt that I’ll need to go that route, either because life dictates it, or because I get so sick of 4x/week lifting schedules I need to give the alternative an earnest try.
I find myself trying to make sure I hit certain things each week, for routine, or progress, or discipline, or whatever inane lifting reason I can come up with that I have to get that movement in.
For now I’ll keep trying to shoehorn conjugate in, because I’ve never given it an earnest try and it at least allows for a ton of flexibility.
Realized at around set 5 that I was cutting my 2nd pull short. Slowed it down and made sure I was initiating the 3rd pull as late as possible, and it made a world of difference.
P. C&J
115x5
135x5
155x5x5
No issues here.
F. Squat
145x5
170x5
190x3x8
Dialled back my TM here, because I wasn’t happy with my bar speed last week. I want to make sure I’m really owning the weight.
G. Morning
160x3x5
Bent Row
155x5
180x5
200x15
Same here: dropped the TM to match my front squat.
Dips
3x AMRAP
Wasn’t counting, just focused on locking out the elbows and pushing all the way through at the top. Getting my winged should back to proper health is still a priority.
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Great session. Happy with everything. One of those workouts that’s so full body you feel a deep — but rewarding — fatigue everywhere.
Made some adjustments to the 5x5/3/1 protocol to suite me better; snatches are going to be 8x3 versus 5x5, because more sets of less reps is a wiser idea with a technical lift. Squats will be 3x8, however, because I’ve always done better doing less sets of more reps on any type of squat. Don’t need to change the c&j in any way, because honestly, as long as I consistently train it, I see progress.
Good for training the lungs and locking in technique; when you pushing the reps hard, and your technique starts falling apart, you quickly lose the set.
Hand swap halfway through. Absolutely breezed through this, which is a good sign.
Jerk
2x16kg x8min @ 12rpm
Aaaaand then got crushed by this. Had to stop and shake my arms out a couple times, which is a big no-no in Kettlebell Sport (technically my set would’ve ended at that point).
Kneeling Ab Wheel
25, 15, 10; 1min rest
Focus on protraction and reaching with the arms.
Steel Mace 360
8# x50/side
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Goals for the next 2 years:
2/3/4-plate snatch/c&j/front squat
2x32kg x10min long cycle @ 10rpm
The above numbers would very much put me in the “advanced” category for those lifts. I’m at a stage where I’m totally content to just buckle down and focus on a handful of lifts and pursue excellence in them.
Counters off slashes and stabs, inserting “scissor” cuts, “unpatterning” some basic patterns and inserting counters; 2.5hrs
NCGF
Polishing the basics (“big” punch, drop step punching, continuous punching); 30min
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Holding a lot of tension in my body. I could feel that everything felt tight and choppy, and my coach noticed it too. Need to prioritize restoration work a bit more.