CHIMERA + BLOG
CYCLE 2 - TRANSITION BLOCK - MESO 1/1
MICRO B - FRIDAY EVENING - UPPER // ARMOR
A1 | Ring Push-Up
7, 6, 5 x BW - 10-count eccentrics to super-depth
A2 | KB Drop-Catch Row
3x12/12x62
B1 | Pendulum-Catch Fly
3x12-15x25
B2 | Pendulum-Catch Shoulder ER
3x10-15x25
C1 | Single-Arm Triceps Pushdown
2x10/10x35
8/8x35
C2 | Back-Supported DB Curl
20+8+8+6+6 x 25s - Myo-rep set, 15-sec rests
Explanation of things below.
MICRO B - SATURDAY AFTERNOON - LOWER // ARMOR + CONDITIONING // LIGHT
Combo Plyometrics - Deep Tier Yielding to Overcoming
3 x (3x5+1)
5 yielding bilateral squat jumps to 1 overcoming vertical jump, landing in split squat
A1 | Barbell Split Squat Yielding Isometric
0:30/0:30 x 135
0:45/0:45 x 135
A2 | Cable Hamstring Heel Dig
2x15/15x35
A3 | Oscillations - Standing Reciprocal Knee Flexion/Extension
2x0:10x2 Light Bands
90/90 Hip Deadlift
3x5/5x44 - These are rough, GIF below
Pendulum-Catch Core Rotation
2x8/8x45 - Band attached to strap
Air Bike x Aerobic // Tempo Intervals
3 min warm-up at 50 RPM
20 rounds x (0:50 spins at 50-55 RPM + 0:10 pick-ups at 70-75 RPM)
3 min cool down at 50→40 RPM
Metrics
13.5 mi, 137 avg HR, 149 max HR, 250 cal (bike)
Blog below. First, here’s the 90/90 Hip Deadlift. Kills the front hip for ER capacity.
PENDULUM-CATCHES
Disclaimers: This is about the 5-10% sort of stuff in training. It’s not about a complete overhaul of training principles or the bulk of my training. Like with trying to make cardio out of lifting, you should just do actual cardio and leave lifting for what it’s good for. These things below are experimental ways to fill gaps that no other training accomplishes. Also, try at your own risk, this is not training or medical advice.
There are a few IG accounts I’ve been into lately that have this pendulum / hanging weight set up and exercises where they are jerking the weight forward and then catching it as it falls, shown in a variety of forms in this post, this post, and this post. All have some good info in the captions. The first (Rob Bozada) has a lot more variety and clear discussion around these things than the last (DAC / Brady Volmering), but both are worth a follow for expanding your training breadth. Grant Fowler, in the second link, has some very out there thinking around training/health and he leans a lot more towards some fringe and/or impractical health and supplementation side. But these accounts all have some really good outside-the-box stuff, as well as some stuff that’s pretty goofy and might not be the best thing to do, or could be covered via other more efficient means. I’m only talking about the pendulum stuff here.
There’s really not a name for these exercises beyond a couple of categorizations I’m gathering: First, “impulse reps”, which seem to be more aligned with a high-velocity collision against either an immovable object at a normal rep cadence, or a slightly movable object, at a higher rep cadence, for more of a hard-stop impact and a lot of direct joint/tendon/ligament loading. I’m not sold on those tbh, but they may be valuable for some rehab things.
Second, “reactive catches” or something to do with “jerk”, like the first 3 links I provided, which are more aligned with actually launching a load and catching it, high-velocity eccentric or isometric loading, braking, reciprocal inhibition, reactive contraction/co-contraction/joint stabilization, anticipatory strategies, reflexive global stability, and neuromuscular/motor control / RFD. Intuitively, these seem more useful to me. It seems like there are a couple of different ways to perform these, either catching the weight at mid-ROM or at the end. The former being more full loading of the muscle/tendon and stopping/braking/reversing the load as the central point. The latter being a hybrid of that and the impulses where a hard collision happens (the second link showing that in the first 2 slides). The former certainly being the safest of all of these options and what I did in the workouts above.
Tons of theory that could be discussed around these, but there are no scientific studies that have been conducted around them, as far as I know. I’m most likely only doing the reactive catches and I’m calling them “Pendulum-Catch [Exercise]” or “Pendulum-Impulse [Exercise]” (for the hybrid one) from here on, unless standardized name comes about. I’m thinking they will become a hotter topic of discussion over the next couple of years for athletic development, injury-resilience, and rehab. That or I’m just being algorithmically served these things based on what I’m consuming.
I’ll be using for them for Prep Flows sometimes, but mostly for my Armor days, along with hard isometrics, plyos, oscillations, and general control things under a lot of tension. Targeted hypertrophy exercises to meet frequency demands will also be included. I’ll need to ensure I’m not just fucking around, but these days will sometimes be exploration-oriented. These days are meant to fill the gaps and develop the unexplored aspects of speed, impact, tension, reactivity, and mobility that I otherwise don’t get from the other days and keeps robustness/durability as the central point of the Armor days. Hopefully, injuries will be decreased as a result. But who knows lol. I’m very interested in the Pendulum Paw Back exercise shown in that second link from Fowler, once my hamstring is healed fully. I clearly need durability in the hamstrings for speed-oriented running and it won’t come from traditional loading.
If you only care about traditional lifting performance, like I did for 15+ years, these things may not be useful to you. Unless something happens in life that requires sprinting, jumping, or controlling/fighting someone/something, they may never matter. But I also avoided all of that and still got a ton of small injuries that these exercises may have helped prevent, if I knew about them. So, if you want to be super well-rounded, durable, and athletic for a long time, these sort of things may be useful, along with all of the other Armor concepts. I’ll be seeing if that’s true. Either way, seems like fun.