Sunday 21st January 2007

In Brief:
Joint Mobility

Pistols and variations 3-6 reps x 5-8 sets Kneeling Hamstring reverse curls 3-5 x 3 sets Jumps (depth/tuck/1 leg/2 leg/with rolls/precision for distance) 3 x 6 sets

Pull up and variations 4-6 reps x 5-8 sets Handstand holds (static and dynamic) and presses x 5 sets

Monkey lateral moves x 10s x 3

Partner rope tow 15m x 3 in fast succession

Alternate dead clean and press (kb chosen based on ability to just complete time) x 5 min continuous

There were 10 of us in attendance and we all....nearly all...managed to get there by 9.30....approximately. By midday we were done, and it was good..

The agenda for the day was strength training using bodyweight. Finishing off with some conditioning with a long rope and kettlebells.

Before that though as always we kicked off with a dynamic warm-up and joint mobility (essential for joint health and longevity, heightened body awarenes and improving movement quality)

Cj Swaby led the way with an upper body bias using some Qi Qong along the way and some "tea cups", Simon Clohessy was to follow but promptly delegated the rest to me! Cossack drills and variations for hip mobility and glute awakening, a few minutes of an overhead/yoga squat combo (à la Steve Maxwell) and few of the other usual suspects.

We then split into two groups and got on with it.

It was obvious that bodyweight strength training was going to involve pistols (single leg squat). We hit a variety of versions to suit everyones abilities and to kept reps in the 2-6 range.

Hamstrings were screaming with only a few sets of kneeling reverse hamstring curls. Adjusting the leverage took a bit of awareness to get the most out of this drill.

Hip snap was put into practice when to complement the strength work we got on with some jumps. Jumping with 1 and 2 legs over benches and steps in series working on effective landings and flow into the next jump and the odd roll.

We finished the leg part of our session with some precision jumps for distance from step to step under the guidance of James Bower who seemed to hang in the air in NBA style.

We traded insults with the other group whilst moving from studio to ground floor, they had started with an upper body dominance and we needed to cuckoo them away from the pull up bar.

Before he went on his way back up to the studio Michael Rook shared a version of the hindu push up with us that is inflicted upon him by his Silat instructor. It involved a praying mantis like rock onto the elbows whilst sweeping down then driving off them again into the cobra finishing position. This variation gives an extra bite into the triceps and trunk.

The upper body dominated part of our work was a combination of hand stand and pull up work.

Handstands
From walking into handstands to lateral movement in HS to handstand pressing.

Pull-ups
With pull ups the possibilities are endless to hit various parts more heavily than others. Pull up and travel along the bar, off set pulls using the Metolius Rock Rings/towel/rope, clap pull ups and pull ups from the carabina attachments. Using the carabinas forces control of the swing, the option to push the elbows wider as you pull and also gave us room to pull up then reach higher to climb up the straps. We also did some muscle ups and inverted pull ups.

Those who were still working on their pull up abilities did prolonged hangs with an emphasis on cycling the tension from grip to lats, to trunk, to glutes. They also did some inverted rows (reverse pushups) hanging from a racked Olympic bar.

Before we rejoined the other group James Bower (above with the banana) took us through some prone supported preparation work that he experienced at one of the urban freeflow get togethers( http://www.urbanfreeflow.com/ ). Spider crawls, monitor/lizard crawl (whatever name you use it is basically a creeping press up with a knee in) moving forward and back. Then some monkey laterals with legs lifted and reaching out to side. These drills were well put together and a structured combination of primate training/cossack work, bear crawling and break dancing.

A brief conditioning session followed the bodyweight work.

Hand over hand rope pull to tow a body along the runway of judo mats. Everyone got involved, some keener than others! Once towed in, the towee[!] jumped up and ran back to the start of the run way, lay down and got towed again. Its a great bit of kit. Many thanks to Anjum who recycled this from London Heathrow.

We have managed whole workouts with the rope with various pulls, drags, whipping and swinging actions. Thanks to Martin Snow of Trinity Boxing gym in New York for the whipping innovations he showed me. ( www.trinityboxing.com )

Final bit of work was a 5 minute continuous piece of kb Clean and press