achey traps and progress on the tuck planche

Greetings faithful readers.  Sorry for the dearth of posts, I've been distracted by life's little events.  Anywho, a reader asked how my wrist injury had healed and whether the Wristwidget had helped.  Well, I've regained a lot of the lost function in the injured wrist, so I believe the Wristwidget did good.  However, it's my impression that my wrist will always be the weak link, always prone to re-injury.  Lots of tape or some sort of brace will be forever in my future.

I have been able to hold a tuck planche for a few more seconds now;  20 versus 10 at a shot.  That's a positive development.  With the longer tuck planche holds, my shoulders have been taking a beating.  I decided to make it a shoulder mobility day.

Sledge hammer pendulum swings-  Grasp a sledge hammer by the handle and let it hangover the shoulder and behind your back.  Your elbow points straight upwards.  Now sway from side to side.  The sledge hammer head will oscillate.

Sledge hammer casts and swings- I took these from Indian Club exercises.  Look them up.

Sledge hammer trap fixer- Take your sledge hammer and sling it over your shoulder.  Allow the handle to see-saw over the tight spots in your upper trapezius.  My wife wears out her thumbs trying to massage my traps.  The sledge hammer handle works with no effort.

Today's workout:
-HSPU (3x10+10 sec bent arm hand stand holds)
-weighted chin-ups (5, 6, 5; 24 kgs)
-weighted bent arm hangs (3x10 secs, 24 kgs)
-advanced tuck, front lever bodyrows (3x20)

more db squat cleans

Yes, I am back. . . not that I had ever left.  It's just that I have been working on the db squat cleans, HSPU and advanced tuck front lever rows with very limited progress.  Just to refresh your memory, the HSPU and the advanced tuck, front lever body rows are laying the ground work for the one armed pull-up and human flag.  The db squat cleans are for general strength and conditioning.

When I reported here last, I was doing sets with 100 lbs.  I have since added a little weight to the db's (104).  Just 2 days ago I completed 50 reps, resting one minute for every minute of work.  I averaged 5 reps per set.  Today, I tried to go for 6 reps per set and burnt out at 24 reps.  Any more and I would have strained a muscle, I'm sure.  It was tremendously difficult to get my breathing under control during the rest periods.  Oh man.  I think I'll build a bigger base of work capacity at 5 reps per set.

5-3-12

-advanced tuck, front lever rows (3x20)

-HSPU (3x10, 3x10 sec bent arm handstand hold)

-db squat cleans (4x6, 104 lbs)