Sunday, August 25, 2013
Mission... complete!!!!
And with good form! No kip! Pretty pumped! I will keep everyone updated on my complete training schedule and possibly post a video soon.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Almost there!
Just posting a few thoughts
After my failed attempts, I realized I will have to work on my triceps a bit more. Those machine shoulder presses have paid off far faster than I thought they would. After just three months into my training I am able to make it halfway up on both arms. My old shoulder injury from my time as a wrestler is giving me a bit of trouble, along with my left foot. My form is a bit off at the midway point as well.... I think. Thinking I may need to start moving my body towards the pressing arm as I push off, keeping everything close to generate more power and stability. Not exactly sure about it all..... But I will not attempt again until this weekend. I am not expecting to get it, but want to see if I have made any significant improvements during the week.
Need to be careful training triceps! I have avoided pull downs and have been using machines to isolate them better. Must not over train!
Training my upper chest is also a priority. Pushups are out of the question until I can figure a way around my foot. Handstand pushups are the best option right now outside of seated machine presses.
May work on my grip strength a bit more.
My goal is to knockout the one arm handstand pushup within the next three months.
After my failed attempts, I realized I will have to work on my triceps a bit more. Those machine shoulder presses have paid off far faster than I thought they would. After just three months into my training I am able to make it halfway up on both arms. My old shoulder injury from my time as a wrestler is giving me a bit of trouble, along with my left foot. My form is a bit off at the midway point as well.... I think. Thinking I may need to start moving my body towards the pressing arm as I push off, keeping everything close to generate more power and stability. Not exactly sure about it all..... But I will not attempt again until this weekend. I am not expecting to get it, but want to see if I have made any significant improvements during the week.
Need to be careful training triceps! I have avoided pull downs and have been using machines to isolate them better. Must not over train!
Training my upper chest is also a priority. Pushups are out of the question until I can figure a way around my foot. Handstand pushups are the best option right now outside of seated machine presses.
May work on my grip strength a bit more.
My goal is to knockout the one arm handstand pushup within the next three months.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
One arm pushup training (1 hour)
Shoulder Press (on each arm)
10 reps- 45 pounds
10 reps- 90 pounds
3 reps- 135 pounds
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1- 135 pounds
10 reps- 90 pounds
10 reps- 45 pounds
50 controlled dips focusing on triceps.
Cable chest flies
15 reps- each selected weight for 6 sets
I haven't been doing regular pushups due to my feet, so I have been replacing them with dips and handstand pushups. This shouldn't be an issue, and may help me out more.
Tweaked my right elbow on the last few reps at 135 pounds. The weight felt pretty manageable and I may have been able to up the weight 10 pounds to reach my body weight.... but I'll go for it the next time I go heavy. Making progress!
10 reps- 45 pounds
10 reps- 90 pounds
3 reps- 135 pounds
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1- 135 pounds
10 reps- 90 pounds
10 reps- 45 pounds
50 controlled dips focusing on triceps.
Cable chest flies
15 reps- each selected weight for 6 sets
I haven't been doing regular pushups due to my feet, so I have been replacing them with dips and handstand pushups. This shouldn't be an issue, and may help me out more.
Tweaked my right elbow on the last few reps at 135 pounds. The weight felt pretty manageable and I may have been able to up the weight 10 pounds to reach my body weight.... but I'll go for it the next time I go heavy. Making progress!
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
When the mind and body arent on the same page
Today I was going to have a nice and easy session dedicated to one arm pullups. In my mind I knew I wouldn't be satisfied with doing just 50 one arm pullups and heading home no matter how light a day I had planned.... but I was wrong. As soon as I grabbed the bar my body said no. My shoulders were still recovering from the one arm handstand pushup training a few days ago and my biceps were sore for some strange reason. What was supposed to be a quick 10 right, 10 left 1st set turned into barely doing 5 on each arm. I knew just one more rushed set and I could have done serious damage to my shoulders, forearms, and possibly biceps. Knowing my limits, I decided to stretch a bit and do what I could before my body really told me to stop. I had to swallow my desire to reach a set number of one arm pullups and work with what my body had to give.
I ended up doing only 40 one arm pullups, 20 wide arm pullups, and 20 chest to bar pullups. While I didn't accomplish much today, Ill just train one arm pullups at the end of the week when my body give me the thumbs up. Being healthy enough to train another day is always a top priority.
I ended up doing only 40 one arm pullups, 20 wide arm pullups, and 20 chest to bar pullups. While I didn't accomplish much today, Ill just train one arm pullups at the end of the week when my body give me the thumbs up. Being healthy enough to train another day is always a top priority.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Light OAHP home workout
Couldn't make it to the gym today so I decided to do a quick home workout. Feels like facing the wall will be more comfortable. Not sure how far my hand is supposed to be from the wall to actually count as legit... will look it up. But!... workout was as follows....
Negatives- 3 attempts per arm- 2 were successful right, one successful left
Hands farther away from the wall, halfway down and back up- 5 each arm
20 attempts to push from starting position each arm- no lift off= depressing
3 sets of 10 handstand pushups using bars
2 sets of 10 handstand pushups no bar
I think I am going to up my OAHP training. If my elbows and wrists starts to give me problems Ill cut back to one workout per week. I feel as though each week I am starting over... its only been 2 months but still... something is off. So before bed, maybe two-three times a week, I plan on getting into the starting position, with my head on the ground, and knock out 10 attempts, along with only 1-2 negatives per arm. While this wont be equivalent to an actual workout, I want to get my body used to bearing the weight. During the week I will continue to work at a pace that promotes strength gains.
Negatives- 3 attempts per arm- 2 were successful right, one successful left
Hands farther away from the wall, halfway down and back up- 5 each arm
20 attempts to push from starting position each arm- no lift off= depressing
3 sets of 10 handstand pushups using bars
2 sets of 10 handstand pushups no bar
I think I am going to up my OAHP training. If my elbows and wrists starts to give me problems Ill cut back to one workout per week. I feel as though each week I am starting over... its only been 2 months but still... something is off. So before bed, maybe two-three times a week, I plan on getting into the starting position, with my head on the ground, and knock out 10 attempts, along with only 1-2 negatives per arm. While this wont be equivalent to an actual workout, I want to get my body used to bearing the weight. During the week I will continue to work at a pace that promotes strength gains.
Friday, July 5, 2013
One arm handstand pushup progress 2 months in.
I have been training for this strength feat for about two months now. Since this is my first post about the one arm handstand pushup, Ill explain how I plan to master this monster and brief you on how things have been going so far.
....So far.... I have realized that the one arm handstand pushup is noooo joke. Far harder than I thought it would be and even harder than the one arm pullup. A humbling test of strength this beast has proven to be. I think this exercise could take my overall training to the next level, much like one arm pullups did. Obviously, I knew this would be a task, but the fact that no one has done it, and provided proof, made me want to do them even more. What makes this feat even more difficult is my complete lack of balance. The majority of my training for this has been spent twisting and leaning in different positions to find the best place to start. I'm still having a bit of trouble with this part, but watching a ton of videos and falling on my head A LOT has helped.
The next step was to determine if I even had the strength to begin attempting. I gave myself a set of requirements to accomplish before beginning to seriously put more time into training. As of now I am still working to meet all of these requirements, and a few may be added or changed down the road.
....So far.... I have realized that the one arm handstand pushup is noooo joke. Far harder than I thought it would be and even harder than the one arm pullup. A humbling test of strength this beast has proven to be. I think this exercise could take my overall training to the next level, much like one arm pullups did. Obviously, I knew this would be a task, but the fact that no one has done it, and provided proof, made me want to do them even more. What makes this feat even more difficult is my complete lack of balance. The majority of my training for this has been spent twisting and leaning in different positions to find the best place to start. I'm still having a bit of trouble with this part, but watching a ton of videos and falling on my head A LOT has helped.
The next step was to determine if I even had the strength to begin attempting. I gave myself a set of requirements to accomplish before beginning to seriously put more time into training. As of now I am still working to meet all of these requirements, and a few may be added or changed down the road.
1. Knockout 25 handstand pushups in one set, no break
2. Knockout 15-25 diamond handstand pushups in one set, no break
3. Push my body weight ONCE with one arm on an overhead shoulder press machine... preferably the ones that let you alternate between the left and right freely.
4. Perform a negative one arm handstand pushup on each arm...staying in control throughout the rep
5. Dumbbell press my body weight on each arm (optional as of now due to safety)
6. Find a decent angle that will allow me to keep my balance on the wall as I attempt the pushup
7. Complete 3-10 super elevated one arm pushups with feet against the wall
As of now I have met 1,2,4,and 6. I am close to 3 and 7 but have yet to attempt 6. Training for this falls on chest or tricep day usually. But no matter what, I train for this once a week to prevent injury and allow myself to heal properly. I may end up doing them using the perfect pushup or some kind of pushup bar since my wrists have begun to hurt.
One thing I have noticed is that people train using the free arm for assistance. When I say assistance, I mean using the free hand on an elevated surface, or using the free hand to help by planting a few fingers on the ground. The idea is to slowly ween yourself off of the help the arm provides until you are able to do them with only one arm. Sounds really good.... But I refuse to train this way and believe it instills a false sense of progress. I will even go as far as saying that this tool works against you! If this technique works so well.... why has no one done a one arm handstand pushup yet????? Yup. I could probably knock out a thousand one arm pullups if I used my index finger on the other arm. I think people forget how much weight is relieved when the opposite arm is used. But to each their own. If it works for them... awesome.
So far I haven't seen anyone training negatives, which kind of shocked me at first. I figured negatives would be one of the first places to start. I also found that holding my thigh with my free hand helps more than having it off to the side for balance. Since I am using the wall for the majority of my balance I dont need to worry about it as much. Speaking of the wall.... It seems to make things a bit harder in exchange for the gift of stability. Its going to take more strength to push myself up from the starting position due to the traction created by my feet as I push at an angle.
So to sum it all up... after two months I am still unable to do it.lol But I am much closer. My latest attempt ended with my head slightly leaving the ground. By slightly I mean... my hair was still touching... but my head was definitely off the ground! lol Frustrating, but I'll get it.
Let me know what you think! Agree? Disagree? Advice? Thanks for reading!
Welcome to my blog!
This blog will focus on my training and the reasoning behind what I do. Keep up with, contribute, and participate with me as I do my best to become one of the planet's strongest athletes!
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