Hey, thanks man! Posts like that are really a pleasant surprise.
And, today’s breakdancing workout.
Windmills
6x4
Seem to be at a dead end here. Experiment with rotating around more off the collapse.
Handstands
10x2
Got a bunch of OK ones instead of one good one like I normally do. Getting extremely tight in the belly and ass, I mean really tight, not even breathing, is helping a lot with getting at least 6-7 second ones. Yeah, I breathe eventually once I get situated.
Headswipes
5x2
Solid. Consistent. Now working on chaining them.
Airswipe/headswipe combo
5x2
Working on cutting down transition time, made a slight improvement today actually.
extra footwork/headswipe practice
Kept getting winded when I did too much stuff in one set. Might be due to all that work^^^^ but maybe it’s because I have poor conditioning. Doesn’t really matter to me either way; I can keep my sets short and sweet in the future and what’s really important to me now is learning windmills.
Right bicep: 12 3/4" (no change)
Left bicep: 13" (no change)
Right thigh: 23" (no change)
Left thigh: 22 1/4" (no change)
My theory on the weight is that last week was spring break so I wasn’t walking around school so I gained weight. This week I was at school though, lugging around my backpack and such so I lost those 2 pounds.
Chest loss is natural for a deload week. Don’t know why my hips went up suddenly. But I doubt I’ll continue to pack on 1/2" every week back there so I’m not worried.
Today I focused on windmills a little bit more. I am overcome with an intense desire to get this move down. I was told by one more experienced than me in the way of bboying that I should work on fixing my “collapse” part of the windmill, which is basically the first half of the motion where I go to my back and spin. Which is why I did backspins today.
Backspins
7x3
Left hand close to right hand on the collapse gives the best backspin.
Some windmill slow drills
Windmills
5x3
Worked on collapsing well and whipping arms around to stab hard. No visible progress.
180 kip-up
3x4
Waste of time
More backspins
3x3
More windmills
1x3
Handstands
10x2
Got a 15-second one. Stay TIGHT. Don’t even breathe while setting up. Point toes straight up on the handstand. If knees bend it’s all over.
Headswipes
5x3
Working on chaining them smoothly now.
Airswipe/headswipe combo
5x2
Transition between moves is improving. I even did a couple full sets with this, I personally thought I was great but I didn’t get it recorded.
More backspins
4x3
More windmills
2x3
DB hold - 85s*
1x30sec
1x25sec
1x20sec
*Each DB had a towel folded in half and wrapped around it, with the excess towel fabric hanging off to the outside. This had 3 benefits:
1.(main one) Felt like it hit my forearms more; the heavier DB holds without towels put more stress on my finger joints than my forearms muscles.
2. Callouses from holding onto 105s for 20 seconds at a time were a bitch. Towels protect my beautiful beautiful hands.
3. I don’t spend 30 minutes carrying the DBs back and forth from the DB rack.
Geez, this workout took me a little over 2 hours. x.x
R thigh: 23" (no change)
L thigh: 22 1/4" (no change)
*I think my hips were measured differently last week than this week. But I have a method to how I measure hips now so large random differences like this will not occur again.
**Looks like the half-assed curls on deadlift day might have done something, assuming I measured my biceps properly. I’ll keep at it and see where it takes me.
Deadlift
3x190
3x215
9x245 - Beat previous 9x235(9,2) and 7x240(8,3). Wow I am hauling ass with this exercise.
RDL
2x10 - 205
1x6:F - 205
2x10 - 195
1x7:F - 195
Clean
2x6 - 145
1x5:F - 145
2x6 - 140
R DB curl
1x10 - 10
Today and yesterday I learned how not to be nervous about lifting. By staying calm before sets, taking the time to set up properly, and exhaling on the way up with a rep instead of grunting, I actually improved my performance and dialed down on the obnoxiousness.
Windmills
11x3
Rolling high is helping consistently but I’m still not there yet.
Re-stabbing with hand pointing forward seemed to help. Look into that more.
Handstands
10x2
Didn’t time any. Do worse when I time them than when I don’t. But I know I got some really good ones.
Headswipes
6x3
Working on chaining. Need to get a video so I know how it looks currently. Experiment with exactly when is the best time to go onto back. Work on not stopping mid-swipe.
Airswipe/headswipe combo
5x2
Getting better. Working on variations which are not nearly as easy as I’m adding in different footwork moves and such.
Some more headswipe stuff
DB hold
2 towels - 95s
1x45sec
1x30sec
1x25sec
Massive increase in time possibly due in part to grip being more fresh after a breakdancing day and last Thursday I had someone else count out the seconds for me because the clock at the gym was broken. But still undeniable progress.
DB BP
2x6 - 60s
1x4:F - 60s
1x5:F - 55s
1x6 - 50s
1x6:F - 50s - What the hell compelled me to go for another one?
DB row
1x5:F - 110
DB hold
2 towels
100s
20sec, 25sec, 29sec
Gym clock broken, was lucky to find someone to count for me; I’d have probably ended up counting seconds as 1-2-5-10-20.
Today seemed to be “give marrot deadlift advice day”. Two people told me I was hyperextending my back on locking out each deadlift. I am grateful for their advice and focused on just standing up straight. I want to finish each rep properly, but I don’t want to hyperextend because that’s unsafe.
Front squat
4x6 - 165
1x3:F - 165
Once again, I think cutting down on the grunting helped improve my performance. Gonna get 6x170 next week. Watch out guys.
Windmills
11x3
Rolling off of re-stab onto back instead of crash-landing. Had one set where I got two re-stabs in a row - consecutive windmills! However, they looked bad and nobody recorded them. Solid progress nonetheless.
Rolling high onto upper back and keeping legs wide were the two main things that helped.
Handstands
11x2
Headswipes
5x3
Getting better at making the transition between headswipes smoother.
Airswipe/headswipe combo
5x2
Getting better at doing the whole set more quickly.
some front handspring practice
Lock shoulders throughout the entire movement, until the very end. This allows feet to hit the ground instead of knees.
some kip-up practice
Power with hips, then visualize feet hitting the ground to avoid landing on knees.
Right bicep: 13" (no change)
Left bicep 13" (-1/8)
Right thigh: 23" (no change)
Left thigh: 22 1/2" (+1/4)
This just felt like one of the most typical, boring, standard-issue workout weeks I’ve ever had. Week 2 always feels like that. But then I go heavy in week 3, week 4 is just easy, and before I know it the cycle’s done and I’m a big step closer to those 1RM goals I set last year.
I did this workout in the presence of a much stronger and heavier-set friend. While I was setting up for the final set on OHP, he asked me if I was doing deadlifts. I allowed myself a little chuckle.
Overhead press
5x95
3x105
5x120 - Beat previous 6x115(10,2). I know from experience that a +5lb PR is harder to get than a +1 rep PR.
DB OHP
1x4:F - 50s - Thought I could get all six reps. Oh well.
5x6 - 45s
Standing DB skull
1x4:F - 60 - Well THAT didn’t go as planned.
1x10 - 50
1x10 - 55
1x9:F - 55
1x9:F - 50
Pull-ups - These went well, got all 15 pull-ups in just four sets.
6,3,3,3
15 total
I forgot yesterday was Easter. I celebrated today by scrambling my eggs especially well for my breakfast this morning.
Since doing these curls my biceps circumferences have evened out at 13" even. Didn’t even have to do anything crazy, just an easy set of 10 where I focus on stretching and contracting my bicep. Neat.
Should not have done so many sets to failure; I could’ve avoided it by dropping weight by 10 lbs instead of 5 lbs for the next set every time I hit failure. That’s what I normally do but when I get all but 1-3 reps in a set, I never know whether to drop by 5 or 10. I want to get as much out of myself as I can but I also want to finish the set.
Windmills
13x3
Stabbing hard prevents right knee from banging against ground.
Handstands
10x2
Headswipes
5x2
Airswipe/headswipe combo
5x2
some kip-up practice
Power with hips, focus on feet hitting the ground. I got a bunch of good ones, got winded, got a bunch of bad ones, and got pissed. I forgot to chase performance, not fatigue.
DB hold - 100s
2 towels
2x15sec
1x12sec:F
1x15sec
I felt out of it today. My windmills and backspins got worse. I burned my shoulder against the ground more often today than I normally ever do. I got weaker with DB holds, too. Damn it. Days like this make me feel like I have no clue what I’m doing with breakdancing practice. Just have to keep plugging away though I guess. Breakdancing isn’t like lifting. It’s not as easy as going in and busting my ass. I have to focus on technique, balance, rotation, but I can’t focus too much because I also have to think about the big picture of each movement.
Bench press
5x115
3x130
6-7x145 - Might’ve beat previous 7x140(9,3). I’ll just start asking whoever spots me to count how many reps I do because I always lose count when I do as many reps as I can with the main lift.
Bent-over row
3x6 - 175
1x6 - 180 (PR)
The bar still came up all the way to my chest. Despite my usage of body English I still feel the pulling really well in my arms and back as long as I start the movement with those muscles.
DB BP
1x3:F - 65s
1x5:F - 60s
2x6 - 55s
1x5:F - 55s
1x6 - 50s
