Tag: Handstand Hold

Pulsing

I walked 18 holes yesterday. I sold my Airdyne in the afternoon to make room for a new piece of equipment arriving in the next month. Workout at 4pm today.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 Row (1,303m)
  • 80′ Lateral Monster Walk
  • 80′ Monster Walk

Handstands

  • Wrist Warm-up
  • 2×1:00 Hollow Body Wall Walk
  • 2x30s Hollow Body Wall Walk
  • 2×5 Kick-ups (bad leg)
  • 2×5 Kick-ups (good leg)
  • 1:00 Wall-facing Handstand Hold

That was a lot on the shoulders!

Midline

2 Sets

  • 8/8 Partner Banded Rotations & Holds (blue)
  • 8 Evil Wheels
  • 8 Parallette Shoot Throughs
  • 8/8 Partner Banded Rotations & Holds
  • 8 Parallette Shoot Throughs
  • 8 Evil Wheels

Conditioning

10 Rounds (each) w/ Partner

  • 10 Pull-ups
  • 10 DB Bench Press (50/25#)

I warmed up with 10 bench press @ 35# and 5 kip swings. Brandi skipped her last 5 pull-ups because of a big blood blister. Adding in time for those would have put as at about 12:10 to finish, which is much faster than I was expecting. I wore grips and was able to do every set of pull-ups unbroken without a problem. The dumbbell bench started to get tough in the last three rounds.

Accessory

4 Sets

  • 20/20 Landmine Curtsy Lunge Pulses (45+30#)
  • BikeErg during rest (easy pace)

It ended up being about 1:10 on the bike and I probably did around 700 meters each time. This was nasty, especially when doing pulses with the second leg. I should have alternated which leg I started with each time.

3 Sets

  • 20 Wrist Curls (12#)
  • 15 Plate Pinch Hammer Curls (10#)

As I type this all up about an hour later, my upper body is already wrecked!

All of the Dumbbells

At 4pm, not too long after getting back from a day+ trip to my brothers to help him with electrical work.

Warm-up / Conditioning

  • 700m Run
  • 1,000m Row
  • 700m Run
  • 1,000m SkiErg

I think I pulled around 1:55 on the rower and 2:08 on the SkiErg.

Handstand Balance Breakthrough

  • Wrist Warm-up
  • Kick-ups (goal: land soft on wall and come down)
    • 2×5 (bad leg)
    • 2×5 (good leg)
  • 1:00 45° hollow hold
  • 45s 45° hollow hold
  • 1:00 Wall-facing HS Hold
  • 2×5 Kick-ups (w/ finding balance)

I’m using the four week program we did as a base to create another four weeks as phase two. Stepping things up and adding in things I’ve found from other handstanders.

We were both extremely surprised how kick-ups went on our bad legs. We’re really getting the feel for how much power is needed to get up to vertical.

Back & Chest

3 Sets

  • 8/8 Landmine Single Arm Floor Press (45 + 50#)
  • 8/8 Kroc Row (70#)

3 Sets

  • 10 Weighted Ring Dips (25#)
  • 10 Close Grip Chin-ups

3 Sets

  • 8 Dumbbell Fly (40# DBs)
  • 8 Lat Pulldowns (126#)

DB Bench Press

  • 12×60#
  • 8×50
  • 8×40
  • 8×35
  • 8×30
  • 8×25

In the style of doing drop sets, but with prescribed rep counts for every set. Do the 12, pick up the next dumbbells, and right in to the next set until all sets are completed. I make a smart move skipping over the 45s. When I picked up the 40s they felt really light though and I busted out my reps. As I got towards the end of the 35s and through the finish it was a burn though.

Handstand Graduation

Warm-up

  • 5:00 BikeErg (2,562m)
  • 80′ Lateral Monster Walk
  • 80′ Monster Walk

Handstand Balance Breakthrough

Probably did about 8 sets of 5 kick-ups. Had some really good ones where I was holding for 4-5 seconds I think.

That completes the 4 week program. We made so much progress in that time. We’re going to continue a lot of the drills and try adding some other ones I’ve found. I’ve already written the first 2 weeks of our phase 2.

Legs

4 Sets

  • 8/8 Landmine Curtsy Lunges (145#)

3 Sets

  • 8/8 Bulgarian Split Squats (35-40-45# DBs)
  • 8 DB Stiff Leg Deadlifts (60# DBs)

3 Sets

  • 10 Front Squats (85#)
  • 8/8 Lateral Step-downs (50# DB, 15”)

2 Sets

  • 10/10/10 Calf Raises (60# DBs)

Conditioning

5:00 AMRAP
1-2-3-4-5…

  • Burpees
  • HSPU

When we did this on April 14th I got through the 7s + 10, which was a big PR at the time. Today I was able to stay unbroken, even though my HSPU got slow with some pausing. Another PR, by 11 reps this time, finishing the 8s and then getting 5 more burpees. No doubt the handstand work is helping a lot here as well.

All 30

My hands were aching again this morning and my legs are feeling that Friday workout a little. Out in the garage at 10am.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 BikeErg (2,511m)
  • 80′ Lateral Monster Walk
  • 80′ Monster Walk
  • 3:00 Wrist Warm-up
  • 2 Sets
    • 10 Kip Swings
    • 10 Air Squats

Conditioning

“Jackie”

  • 1,000m Row
  • 50 Thrusters (45#)
  • 30 Pull-ups

Still hard to believe the first time I ever did this benchmark workout was on April 13, with a time of 7:45. I pulled a 1:50/500m pace on the rower and was extremely cautious doing thrusters since it was my first time touching a barbell in months after a back tweak and physical therapy. I struggled though 7-5 and then 2s and 3s on the pull-ups.

Today I was having a hard time slowing down at the beginning of the row because it felt so good. Ended up a little over a 1:48/500m pace when I hopped off. I knew I wasn’t going to make up significant time on the row and didn’t want it to leave me too gassed for the thrusters and pull-ups. I did very controlled thrusters and focused on breathing. My shoulders were on fire for the last 15. Finished them at 6:11 and I was hoping to be able to do 3×10 pull-ups. The first ten felt great so I decided to keep going for 15-20. Then I got to 20 and knew I could go unbroken. Finished at 6:58 for a big PR! That felt really good and there is still a lot of room for improvement with the thrusters.

Handstand Balance Breakthrough

  • 50 Wall-facing Handstand Sponge Shifts (3×10, 20)
  • 1:00 Handstand 45° Hollow Hold

Even after the thrusters and pull-ups, this was a huge improvement since trying the sponge shifts 15 days ago. Look at these videos…

More Conditioning

With Partner

  • 100 Burpee Box Get Overs (48/38″)

Went back and forth with Brandi, doing 10 each and then I’d pull off the 12″ block and she’d add the 2″. Then vice versa after her set. We finished in 10:46, so would have been around 10 minutes if we had 2 stacks.

Midline

4 Rounds (20s work / 15s rest)

  • Landmine Twists (45+25#, club grip)
  • Bicycles (5# ankle weights)
  • Leg Lefts (5# ankle weights)
  • Hollow Hold (5# ankle weights)

Bounce vs. Muscle It

I didn’t sleep very well last night. My abs are getting sore from yesterday. Worked out at 4pm.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 BikeErg (2,450m)
  • 80′ Lateral Monster Walk
  • 80′ Monster Walk

Handstand Balance Breakthrough

  • Wrist Warm-up
  • 2 Sets
    • 20 Banded Arm Circles
  • 3 Sets
    • 2 Handstand Split to Stacked
  • 2 Sets
    • 30s Wall-facing HS Hold

The split to stacked drill felt better than the list time, but still not nearly as good as the kick-ups last week.

Legs

4 Sets

  • 20 DB Walking Lunges (diagonal, 50# DBs)
  • 10/10 Single Leg RDL (foot on wall, 70# KB)

3 Sets

  • 12 Barbell Hip Thrusts (85#)
  • 12/12 Lateral Step-ups (50# DB, 24″)

I bet it’s been at least three years since I’ve done barbell hip thrusts.

  • 12 DB Front Squats (40# DBs)
  • 12/12 Single Leg Calf Raises
  • 12 DB Front Squats
  • 12/12 Single Leg Calf Raises
  • 12/12 Single Leg Calf Raises

I skipped the third set of squats because my back was feeling weird.

Conditioning

2 Rounds

  • 10 Pull-ups
  • 10 Box Jump Overs (24/20″)
  • 15 Hang Power Snatch (75/50#)
  • 10 Box Jump Overs (24/20″)
  • 10 Pull-ups
  • 3:00 Rest

Pull-ups felt great throughout and I can really feel a huge difference when I concentrate on my hips in the kip. I did a lateral jump over the box so I wouldn’t have to keep turning around. The snatches in the first round were not great. I was trying to bounce them off the high pocket position, which was getting to me and slowing me down. The second time around I bounced them off my thighs and did sort of a muscle-ish snatch. First round was 2:00 and second was 1:50, so the snatches were much faster.

Don’t Forget

I got about 9 hours of sleep last night! Workout at 4pm.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 SkiErg (1,077m)

Handstand Balance Breakthrough
Forgot to do any wrist warm-up. Whoops!

The tuck balance felt much better than the first time we did them. The hold was only programmed as 15 seconds, but that seems like a waste of time, so we did a minute.

Arms

5 Sets

  • 5 Weighted Ring Dips (25-30-35-40-45#)

3 Sets

  • 12 EZ Bar Preacher Curls (56-66-66#)
  • 12 French Press (60# DB)

3 Sets

  • 12 Tricep Pulldowns (underhand, 71#)
  • 8/8 Static Hammer Curls (30# DBs)

6:00 EMOM (alt)

  • 30s Tricep extensions on Ski Erg
  • 30s Bicep Curls on Rower

Conditioning

2 Rounds

  • 200m Run
  • 25 T2B
  • 30 Burpees
  • 35 Sit-ups
  • 40 Double Unders
  • 45 Hollow Scissor Kicks

I went 20-5 and 10-5-5-5 on the toes-to-bars and wasn’t wearing any grips. My double unders were not very good today. Went 30-15 on both sets of scissor kicks. Finished in 14:06.

Almost Twenty

Yep, my hands are feeling the muscle-ups and carries from yesterday on top of what they’ve been feeling lately. My shoulders are feeling it as well. Workout at 9:30am this morning. Usually we do long monostructural work on chest and back day. Not today since we went long yesterday.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 SkiErg (1,078m)
  • Wrist Warm-up

Handstand Balance Breakthrough

The start of week 3 already!

We didn’t time the handstand split to stacked work, but kept alternating between us with time on the wall getting a feel for the drill. It was a new challenge for sure. Probably went 6-8 times each.

Gymnastics Test

MAX Strict Pull-ups

Haven’t tried this since May 10th when I got 17. Maybe not the best day to test after doing 56 muscle-ups last night, but I was still able to get 19! And I have the 🌲 back!!

Back & Chest

Warm-up

  • 5 Pendlay Row 45
  • 5 Bench Press 45
  • 5 Bench Press 115

3 Sets

  • 12 Pendlay Row (115#)
  • 12 Bench Press (165#)

I could definitely feel tired in the various muscles doing these sets.

3 Sets

  • 12 Seated Cable Row (120#)
  • 12/12 Static DB Bench Press (60# DBs)

Wasn’t sure about the 60s for this, but they went well. Glad I bought them.

3 Sets

  • 10 Close Grip Chin-ups
  • 10 Weighted Ring Dips (15#)

2 Sets

  • 8-10-12 Renegade Row (Right, 50-40-30#)
  • 8-10-12 Renegade Row (Right, 50-40-30#)

Nasty. Go all three dumbbells with increasing weight on one arm before repeating with the other arm. Rest 2-3 minutes and do it again.

2 Sets

  • MAX Diamond Push-ups

Did 40 and 32 reps.

The Push of Repeaters

Got over eight hours of sleep for the second night in a row! Who am I? In the garage at 4pm.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 BikeErg (2,539m)
  • 80′ Lateral Monster Walks
  • 80′ Monster Walks

Handstand Balance Breakthrough

  • 10-5 Shoulder I-Y Band Drill
  • 3x30s Handstand Shape 45 degree Hollow
  • 3x30s Hollow Hold
  • 3x30s Handstand Tuck Balance

All with 45 seconds of rest between the 30 seconds of work. This stuff is already feeling better. We’re excited to see where this program goes over the next three weeks.

Update: After going to log this on the platform I noticed more notes that explained how to do it. It was supposed to be done as 30 seconds of each of the three movements and then rest 1:30-2:00. Whoops! We still felt like it was effective.

Legs

4 Sets

  • 10/10 DB Split Squats
  • 10 DB Stiff Legged Deadlifts

I used the same pair of dumbbells for both movements and did 35-40-45-50#.

3 Sets

  • 12 DB Front Squats (35# DBs)
  • 12 DB Sumo Squats (70# KB)

3 Sets

  • 10/10 Suitcase Deadlift (70# KB)
  • 10/10/10 Calf Raises (50# DBs, out, neutral, in)

Conditioning

Warmed up with 5×45, 5×95, 3×135, and 2×165 touch-n-go power cleans.

5 Rounds

  • 10 Burpee Pull-ups
  • 5 Power Cleans (185#)
  • 1:00 Rest

My round times were 1:25 – 1:20 – 1:15 – 1:13 – 1:06, which I’m stoked about. After the first round I would have said that pace was going to be hard to keep. Burpee pull-ups are a movement where you find your rhythm and comfort once you get going.

I really love these repeater style workouts because they’re making me push much harder than I ever would and I’m learning new things.

Without Rest

Played 18 holes yesterday and rode in a cart, which, I think, was the first time all season. Last night I got over 8 hours of sleep for the first time in over a month. Workout at 4pm with our friend Bryan in town from California.

Handstand Balance Breakthrough

Tris, Bis, & Shoulders

3 Sets

  • 12 EZ Bar Skull Crushers (66#)
  • 12 Hammer Curls (40# DBs)

3 Sets

  • 12 Reverse Grip Tricep Push Downs (60-71-71#)
  • 12 EZ Bar Curls (66#)

3 Sets

  • 12 Wrist Curls (10-12-12#)
  • 16 Shrugs (60# DBs)

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • Partner A:
    • Row
  • Partner B:
    • 40 Mountain Climbers
    • 16 Box Jump Overs (24/20”)
    • 30 Hollow Rocks
    • 14 Single Arm DB Hang C&J (60/40#)

Bryan started on the rower and I started with the movements. Split the clean and jerks 7/7 per arm. Wanted to use the new 60s I got and it felt good. When I was on the rower I got about 900, 780, and 940 meters. Was pulling 1:50/500m or better. Total time was 18:35. Partner workouts without any real rest are always brutal and this was no exception.

Oh, I also got a bunch of lighter kettlebells to replace the adjustable one.

9 is the Best Nano

Feeling yesterday’s workout already. Out in the garage at 9:30 to start.

Conditioning

30:00 AMRAP

  • 400m Run
  • 500m Row
  • 1,000m BikeErg
  • 500m SkiErg

I got faster as it went because my heart rate and breathing felt good. Then I really picked it up in the third round because I wanted to make sure I had time to finish the next run. Got through 3+506m.

Handstand Balance Breakthrough

  • 20 Hollow Lats with Foam Roller
  • 45/30/45/30s Hollow Body Wall Walk w/ 1:00 rests
  • 30s Wall-facing Handstand Hold

Those controlled wall walks with a focus on quality are a lot harder. Excited to see where this program goes.

Back & Chest

3 Sets

  • 10/10/10 Bench Press (105#, wide, neutral, close)
  • 12 Reverse Close Grip Kneeling Lat Pulldown (104#)
  • 20s Superman Hold

3 Sets

  • 12 Chest Fly (35-40-40#)
  • 12 Reverse Grip Straight Arm Pull Down (49#)
  • 10 Supermen

3 Sets

  • 8/8 Single Arm DB Bench Press w/ Hold (50#)
  • 12 Seated Cable Row (115#)

Yeah, the upper body is feeling rough from that weight vest work on the rings. Not looking forward to how tomorrow will feel.

Another pair of Nano 9! These shoes are so good.