No, but here’s a pearl of wisdom from my teacher:
“transitions are everything in dance, as they are in life. in the end we’re all going to make a transition…if hell is other people, we all die alone, so we must be going to heaven!”
After the first bit I was expecting something super-woke but no, off to madame’s eccentric philosophical views. I am not sure if this makes any kind of sense but it was a very good class.
(Been working through a stinking cold and bad back, so not much lifting nor dancing antics.)
On Friday:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Dip | 7 | 3 |
| B | Chin-Up | 6 | 5 |
| C | Overhead Press | 6 | 5 |
| D | Barbell Curl | 6 | 5 |
| E | Skullcrusher | 6 | 5 |
| F | Conditioning: Short Sprints, Bodyweight Complexes, Heavy Bag, etc. |
Did the OHPs at 75kg, curls 30kg, skull crushers with a 30kg DB, then 3x100 20kg kettlebell swings.
Today’s:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Barbell Hack Squat | 7 | 3 |
| B | Dumbbell Lunge | 6 | 5 |
| C | Glute Ham Raise | 6 | 5 |
| D | Weighted Burpee | 6 | 5 |
| E | Standing/Seated Calf Raise | 6 | 5 |
Dance was off because I was going to a political meeting and in any case the hurricane force winds suggested I’d get enough core exercise.
So…this was ok but the squats are still pissing my back off. It seems to be lower, right side, either the SI joint or the erector? I think I’m not bracing enough, and possibly rounding a bit when I take the weight to walk it out.
OTOH the GHR bench has landed and it’s a sight better than trying to improvise. Not sure if it hit the glutes or hamstrings more than being a kind of super-situp. but worth it.
Exercise Sets Reps
A Pull-Up 7 3
B Gironda Neck Press 6 5
C Seated Dumbbell Military Press 6 5
D Preacher Curl 6 5
E Dumbbell Flat Tight Press (elbows tucked in) 6 5
80kg for the press, 2x24kg for the seated DB, 2x30kg for the DB press, 30kg bar for the preacher.
Strong ballet class on Sunday with a focus on turns. Noticed I was beginning to get the sensation of spotting with the head actually taking me around.
Today…
Exercise Sets Reps
A Barbell Squat 7 3 170kg
B Romanian Deadlift 6 5 120kg
C Barbell Hip Thrust 6 5 70kg
D Dumbbell Walking Lunge 6 5 32kg DB
E Standing/Seated Calf Raise 6 5
Bracing properly and warming up better seems to help the back tolerating the squatting
Had some trouble with the forum but just to say…
Days 2 and 3 done.
Exercise Sets Reps
A Pull-Up 7 3
B Gironda Neck Press 6 5
C Seated Dumbbell Military Press 6 5
D Preacher Curl 6 5
E Dumbbell Flat Tight Press (elbows tucked in) 6 5
Done yesterday. 75kg press, 2 24kg Dbs for the military, 30kg bar for the curl, 2x30kg Dbs press. Bodyweight pull ups because fuck yeah.
I’ve not been totally idle. Back in on Friday for day 1 with heavier squats, RDLs, thrusts, and lunges. Dance class on Thursday and Saturday. Today…
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Dip | 7 | 3 |
| B | Chin-Up | 6 | 5 |
| C | Overhead Press | 6 | 5 |
| D | Barbell Curl | 6 | 5 |
| E | Skullcrusher | 6 | 5 |
| F | Conditioning: Short Sprints, Bodyweight Complexes, Heavy Bag, etc. |
80kg press, 40kg barbell curl, 30kg crusher, 200 20kg kettlebell swings
A strong training week despite everything. Knocked off the previous week’s days 3 and 4 and this week’s day 1 yesterday. Now doing the squats with 180kg, RDLs 130kg, hip thrusts 80kg.
I notice that everyone is spraying the iron with disinfectant now. The other day someone asked me if that was sweat on the bench…no, it’s disinfectant!
Over the weekend I got back in for days 2 and 4:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Dip | 7 | 3 |
| B | Chin-Up | 6 | 5 |
| C | Overhead Press | 6 | 5 |
| D | Barbell Curl | 6 | 5 |
| E | Skullcrusher | 6 | 5 |
| F | Conditioning: Short Sprints, Bodyweight Complexes, Heavy Bag, etc. |
I did the dips and chin-ups with body weight, presses 80kg, curls with 25kg in the preacher, crushers with a 30kg DB. Then the gym closed so I couldn’t do kettlebell swings.
The next day I really didn’t like the idea of 1 hour 45 with 20 of my closest friends in a barely ventilated basement studio so skipped dance and went back to the gym. Keeping the official 2 metres’ distance was pretty easy and I have been spraying everything down before and after use for weeks now.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Barbell Hack Squat | 7 | 3 |
| B | Dumbbell Lunge | 6 | 5 |
| C | Glute Ham Raise | 6 | 5 |
| D | Weighted Burpee | 6 | 5 |
| E | Standing/Seated Calf Raise | 6 | 5 |
Squats 180kg, 32kg DB for the lunges. Then decided to fetch the missing conditioning:
Kettlebell swings, 20kg KB, 3x100.
Gyms are still open (mine is tweeting about how much chlorine they’re putting in the pool) but this week I am getting pretty leery and also increasingly feeling I should avoid seeing a bunch of young’uns and then my older girlfriend.
I have noticed a lot of runners in the streets, presumably people who usually exercise some other way, so maybe I might commit cardio rather than just rot.
This makes it seem as if you have more than one girlfriend…?
Glad you are still logging!
Technically, people should be avoiding seeing anyone really. If you want to think of whom to avoid from the sense of negative fall-out then young’uns are less likely to fall significantly ill and you should really make the effort to avoid contact with the elderly and immunocompromised individuals.
No, there’s only the one of her!
Has the ballet school closed?
Central School has shut down but Danceworks hasn’t. Which is odd as CSB has a pretty stable population, mostly its own students and the regulars, and Danceworks has a lot more blow-ins and lots of different open classes in the same studios…did I mention that studio 11 especially is an unventilated, low ceiling sweatbox?..so I hope they’re not keeping going just because they’re more commercial.
Also they’re right in the centre and Westminster has more cases than anywhere else thanks to all the ski snobs who brought it back from Italy and Austria.
I’m going to start bringing my own spray bottle with cleaner to the gym I think to make the barrier for cleaning up after myself zilch. But then I think I’d still only be mindful enough to clean machines and maybe barbells. To clean all the weights that I touch? Doubtful. Doing a drop-set with dumbbells? Unlikely.
If you know who Steve Wozniak is, he postulated he was patient zero in the US as he returned from a trip in China. Either way, there are so many people that are transmission vectors across borders. A few of the first confirmed cases in my city were researchers that had been abroad for conferences.
The gym is closed. The studio is closed. The pub is closed. Fortunately Lynn Charles is on YouTube:
I just did this barre using my mantelpiece - it’s actually a slightly more comfortable height for me than the usual ones - and my calves are on fire.
PS if you don’t do ballet regularly, don’t make this one your first, especially not if you’re using the back of a chair or whatnot without a teacher, the women in it are all either current professionals or teachers.
If you just want a savage calf pump, though, 48.03 onwards will get you there.
Nina’s class didn’t die, it just met up again in hell. She’s now leading regular classes on the internet, so I got an hour in including a few turns and an actual jump or two in my living room
So, since then I’ve done:
ENB’s class with the boss lady (Tamara Rojo):
This was really quite savage as you’d expect from them (also the camerawork makes it a pig to follow at times).
The Dutch National Ballet’s barre, a bit lighter and 20mins shorter:
Also decided to start thinking about bodyweight training as the Great Iron Famine shows no sign of ending. Couple of days ago I knocked out three sets of 50 pushups, then realised I could brace against the cooker with my feet for a situp-gone-GHR sort of thing. 5x10. Bodyweight squats. Result: what I believe our bodybuilding cousins call a sick pump in the chest and real soreness in the triceps. I think this will need some kind of systematic program though.
aaand regular teacher on Sunday afternoon.
Dutch National barre, the second:
