Sunday, February 28, 2010

Geometry Class


A workout this week was inspired by a dinner conversation with my son about his math class in school. He's studying Geometry and it didn't take long for the material from class to come quickly back to me.....

Acute angles, Obtuse Angles, Right Angles, Straight Angles, Circles, Triangles, etc.

Of course, I just couldn't resist and had to work in some pull ups that challenged more then my memory of Geometry, but would pay tribute to it by replicating some of the shapes and angles. Here is what I came up with:

6-8 reps each exercise x 2 sets

* Side to Side (Pull straight up, them move to one side, to center, to other side, to center and then down)
* Diagonals (Pull up on an angle to one side, then down and repeat on other side)
* Circles (Self explanatory)
* L-Sit Pull Ups (A right angle that challenges the core)
* Triangles (Side to Side on bottom while fully extended, then up to a point and back down other side to form a triangle)

These were not easy, with a mixture of one sided and single arm strength and balance requirements; humbling actually. This was really a test in "Freestyle" pull ups that I mentioned a few weeks back. I definitely need practice to feel more comfortable doing these and to get them right. We captured some crude video footage of a few of the variations in advance of a fading battery; evidence of my poor form.




Next up.....anyone want to tackle the parallelogram?

Really looking forward to a coordinated workout this week with Blair Morrison from AnywhereFit. He's in Paris studying and our first installment of "Pull ups Across the Pond" will take place this Monday; updates in my post next week!!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Jump, Pull and Madonna??


Ok, this post could bring on an abrupt end to my blogging career.

A couple of disclaimers: First, I don't watch much TV. Second, I don't care for pop music and third, I left the typical gym treadmill cardio sessions behind years ago.

So with all that said, the heavy snow and the ridiculous handling of the removal in our area, kept me inside this week way more than I would have liked. Couple that with a bum shoulder and I found myself (in disguise of course) in my local Globo Gym and on a treadmill to make things even worse. Nonetheless, my body was craving a long, sweaty, cardio session, so I went for it and hoped no one would find out.

A consistent theme that I often cite, is the creativity and imagination that is so critical in our pursuit for the perfect pull up. An interesting derivative of this theme is “reinvention”. High school for me was in the mid 80’s and it was then that an unknown at the time (Madonna) came on to the music scene. Twenty Five years later, and endless new “looks”, she is still a relevant and a wildly successful pop star. While not my taste in music, I admire her staying power and more than anything, the creative approach taken to continue to reinvent herself.

Ok, so I am on the treadmill, Plasma TV’s overhead and all, and Madonna (with yet another new look) graces the screen. The song is “JUMP” and I had some immediate observations. First, she is in unbelievable shape. The muscle tone in her arms (and elsewhere) could not be missed. Second, the recurring scene could have easily been lifted from our local CrossFit box. Yes, she is jumping, pulling and doing muscle-ups and other gymnastic moves but all of this is on a steel bar system that made me proud. So while all of this equipment is cool, this issue of reinvention is what kept me thinking all week.

Reinvention, as defined by Webster is "to remake or redo completely or to bring into use again". In fact, I have read some articles that gives credit to CrossFit for its contribution to reinventing personal fitness. While this may or may not be true, it's really up to each of us to look within. The simple saying we have all heard many times holds true; "if we always do what we always have done, we'll always get the same results that we've always had". As it relates to our personal quest for fitness, this notion of reinvention sits at the very core. The commitment we have all made spurs the creativity, variety and imagination that results in continual reinvention each time we hit the gym. I love this idea of "bringing into use again"; it was just this past week that we spoke of engaging muscles that were previously unaffected as if they were sitting dormant.

Here are five really simple ideas to embrace this idea of continual reinvention: 1) Bust through your comfort zone 2) Surround yourself with like minded people 3) Set goals and take steps daily to achieve them 4) Keep learning always 5) Stay relevant.

It was over three years ago that I abandoned my prior view of staying fit. That's when I was introduced to CrossFit and the idea of high intensity training. A few adventure races, road races, a marathon and a Triathlon later, REINVENTION certainly seems like an appropriate label. It's the less obvious and daily steps we take that define true reinvention however.

For me, I promise to nurse my shoulder to health, stay off the treadmill and leave Madonna for others to enjoy!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

752 and Counting!

A challenge update...

It was just about a month ago when I set a personal pull up challenge to kick off 2010. It was a simple one that would prove to be a lot of fun & full of experimentation more than anything else. The premise was simple; see how long (with normal workout scheduling) it would take to complete 2010 pull ups.

This was never about volume or we would have knocked them out in short order kipping away. No, this was about seeking variety, challenge and exploring/finding the true benefits of the pull up. It hasn't let me down.

As I type, my lats and forearms are tender from this week alone; weighted pull ups, super strict dead hang pull ups and towel pull ups all made it into my programming. The past several weeks have forced me out of the comfortable "kipping" mode where knocking down high volume was the order and the result has been a test of my strength and a true measure of my progress made over time.

The overall experience also reinforces the idea that you can't judge kipping versus other pull up varieties as either better or worse. The point remains that every variation brings with it something else. Sobering for me was what appeared at the beginning of the challenge to be a set back in my ability to do strict dead hangs. Had I gotten weaker? It had just been too long since I had focussed there. In the subsequent weeks, the commitment to other variations engaging new muscles (and relying less on the momentum gained from the hips and the swing when kipping) quickly woke me up both physically and mentally; I can now produce more consecutive strict pull ups and can really see how far I have come since last summer...real progress at last.

When hitting the gym this week, I will use two adjacent hanging ropes and rings for pull ups requiring good balance and core strength. Then on to the thick bar, where I plan to mess around a while. While used occasionally, I am gonna experiment with 2", 2 1/2" bars and others with a variety of hand positions to see where that takes us.

So we continue....rings, ropes and thick bars.... the count is still on!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Get a Grip!

Pull up grip positions and overall grip strength was the topic of several conversations I had this week, so I felt compelled to share a few thoughts.

It was about a month ago that I had the opportunity to watch a (otherwise average looking ) guy tear thick phone books in half, bend thick nails by hand and pick up heavy plates by pinching the center with unreal hand strength. The "grip guy" is what we called him and he was anything but average when it comes to the strength of his claws. So just how does one develop this ability and why would you want to?

From the simple desire to command a bone crushing hand shake or master that next rock wall climb to just about any sport, a stronger grip is going to help improve athletic performance. While hand grip is important in sports, it can easily be overlooked since it is often only a secondary function. There are some sports however, that have made grip strength the focus; think Worlds Strongest Men Competitions.

To work your grip and forearm, there are many traditional exercises one could do including the classic Farmers Walk and deadlifts. Personally, I like thick bar pull-ups and for a real test, the towel pull up. Towel pull ups are really cool and like all pull ups, you don't need special equipment; just a good bar, your body and in this case, a gym towel or two.

While there a many variations of towel pull ups, I personally favor the version that uses two towels draped over the bar. You grab the ends of the towel in each hand and pull your body up using only the towel. The bulkier the towel, the more challenge the grip will be. You can alter this by working one arm at a time or stick with the standard version, using both hands and two towels. The further down the towel closer to the end, the harder the task and the more work involved. As you begin, there may not be much success getting full, deep pull ups. Maintaining a "hang" and/or doing negatives will also help develop the muscles until you have conquered the full motion.

check out this link to a demo of some one towel variations from CrossFit:
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_TowelPullupVariations.mov

You WILL feel these pull ups and your forearms will be the beneficiary with improved strength in response to the increased work and the difficulty in mastering the grip.

So to become the next "grip guy", don't throw in the towel, throw it over a bar instead and pull.