OACU is so close

All righty then. The One Armed Chin-Up (OACU) is so close, one finger away. I'd spent so much time with weighted chin-up progressions that eventually I found the 100 or so pounds dangling off the dip belt unwieldy. I also feared damaging the door frame from which I hung the chin-up bars. With the switch to off-set, bodyweight only chin-ups and now assisted, one arm isometrics, I am nearly there. Two days ago I pulled a single one-armed chin-up with the assistance of one finger of the free hand, and held on for 10 seconds of bent-arm isometrics. Today, three sets of of the same on each hand followed by 2x3x5 one armed chin-ups (with three finger assist).

12-7-11
-24 tuck lever body row
-20 HSPU (no pike!) + 30 sec bent arm hold
-2x3x(1+ 10 sec hold) assisted OACU
-50 burpees
-pseudo Maltese hold 2x25 secs

I've stalled a little bit on the Maltese progressions. The OACU and handstands distracted me from doing the straight arm isometrics I think are essential to the Maltese. Once I get the OACU suitable for YouTube, the Maltese will have my undivided attention.

A word on the tuck lever rows-intense. I didn't think the tuck lever body row worked my abs so much until I tried tuck planches afterwards. Tuck lever rows followed by tuck planches is a recipe for severe abdominal cramping. The first time I got the cramps, I got one goose-egg shaped knot in my gut. Yesterday, after 23 tuck lever rows, the tuck planches set-off a half dozen goose-egg shaped knots in my gut that doubled me over.

Assisted, single-arm-bent-arm hang (ASABAH)

The Assisted (with two fingers), Single-Arm, Bent Arm Hang-try saying that ten times- is the latest evolution of my OACU training. I've got one of my Rock Rings mounted on the bar for the two finger assist. Pull-up with one arm (with assistance) then hold for 10 seconds. No negatives at this point, so put your feet down and stand between reps.

12-2-11
-20 tuck lever rows (close grip today)
-11 inverted pike push-ups
-6x10 sec tuck planche
-bent arm, dip hold (2x30 secs)
-2x6x(1+10 sec hold) ASABAH

rethinking the OACU

I've often advised those seeking to increase their pull-up performance to use bent arm hangs and negatives. The strategy worked for me in getting from 10 bodyweight pull-ups to 20. Ironically, in my attempt at the OACU, I've completely forgotten this advice. Instead, I've pursued a path of increasing resistance with weighted and assisted one armed work and it seems to be taking forever. Back to square one.

What I'm going to do is work towards a one armed bent arm hang, then the one armed negative and see how it goes from there. A one armed bent arm hang is just outside my grasp, so I supplemented my purchase on the bar with two fingers of the free hand. This is what I did today.

11-30-11
-20 advanced tuck lever rows
-2x5x6 single-arm db C&P (back is still wonky)
-2x6x10 second, assisted one arm bent arm hang (2 finger assist)

TFCC interim report

In case you were wondering, I was, how long the treatment phase is, it's 8-12 weeks ( checked to make sure). Yup, I've got to wear the brace a bit longer. What I can report up to now is that it no longer hurts to do simple things like wash my face or grasp a frying pan. On the weight bearing test, however, I am still not at 100%, more like 80%, and it's still a struggle closing the COC grip trainer on the affected side.

I haven't been sitting on my hands all this time, as you know. I'm still working out, but activities like Sambo and Karate have been discontinued, at least while the wrist is recuperating. Whether I continue with them after recovery is the big question. Don't they say doing the same thing over and over again, in my case fighting, but expecting a different outcome, not getting injured, is a mark of stupidity?

Anyway, my daily workouts over the past week have consisted of 20 tuck lever body rows on the pull-up bar followed by elevated pike push-ups. The pike push-ups are an intermediate step towards handstand push-ups (HSPU). A good base with HSPU's will help in attaining the Maltese (and flag). I've done HSPU's and handstand holds before the wrist injury. The torn TFCC requires this intermediate step. To get into the elevated pike position, I stand a leg's distance from a wall, rest my feet against the wall and assume an inverted pike. Usually I'll do 5x5, with a 10 second bent arm hold after each set. So far, so good. No wrist pain. Yesterday, I used push-up handles to increase the range of motion.

The day after Thanksgiving I did a short workout comprising burpees and tuck-lever body rows: 5x10 of each. It was one of the few times, (second?), since tearing the MCL that I did burpees. I don't know what I was afraid of. I've been doing lots of squats, cleans, swings and rowing anyway.

A torn TFCC

Finally, my orthopedist diagnoses my bum wrist- torn TFCC (Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex). The treatment, he says, is arthroscopy. I trust the man. If there is any cutting to be done, I am more than confident he can do it. It's just that he won't know whether the surgery will involve debridement, that is removing damaged tissue, or whether he can sew things up. I'd thought about alternative therapies. I was particularly keen on PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma therapy), where growth factors and other proteins extracted from your own blood are injected into your soft tissue injury. Unfortunately, my insurance won't pay for PRP.

In my search for alternate cures I came across the Wrist Widget. http://www.wristwidget.com/ What I like about this brace is that it makes my wrist feel stable immediately. It fits my wrist just as I would tape it. If all goes to plan, the TFCC will heal by itself. I'll be able to measure return to function with a simple bathroom scale instead of an MRI machine. If after wearing the brace for a few weeks I can press down on the scale without pain to a level close to what my unaffected arm can do, I am good. If not, there's still the option of arthroscopy. I'm on my second week of wristwidget voodoo. Wish me luck.

Training continues despite the injury. The details are pretty similar to what you've seen before.

11-10-11
-20 bodyweight pull-ups from a tuck lever
-dumbbell clean and press (1-6-1 pyramid)
-10 sec tuck planche

What's new is the tuck lever pull-ups and the tuck planche. The pull-ups were easy, but they probably set up the terrific abdominal cramp I experienced when I attempted the tuck planche. Ay chihuahua!

Maltese on the floor

I have for some time thought about mastering the planche. Since earlier in the year, however, my left wrist has proven so unstable, and lets face it, weak, that there's no way a planche is possible. If I reverse my hand position and use push-up handles, there's no wrist pain. Hello Maltese. Thus begins another long term project.

10-6-11
-Reverse push-ups (3x20)
-Pseudo Maltese holds (35,35,25 secs)

So today was devoted to working the Maltese project which began on 10-4-11. The push-ups and holds will require the use of the push-up handles, which I received as a gift a couple years ago but never found a use for until now. Reverse push-ups are done with my shoulders well forward of my hands, which are gripping the p-u handles underhand fashion. The Pseudo Maltese holds mean my feet are elevated by a bench, arms are straights, hands are gripping the p-u handles, chest off the floor. Much improved on these since the first try two days ago.

10-5-11
-200 kb swings
-6x6 weighted chin-ups w/off-set negs (24 kgs)

My brain wasn't engaged when I started the weighted chin-ups and I did the first set circular fashion. The weighted off-set concentric of the circular pull-ups were barely manageable with 24 kgs on the belt. It felt much better going back to weighted chin-up with off-set negs, but now there's a little soreness in my back and elbow. A little rest and judicious application of the lacrosse ball on the trigger points should do.

10-4-11
-goblet squats (30, 24 kgs, 1 min hold)
-db push press (2x24kgsx35)
-Pseudo Maltese holds (5x10 secs)

10-3-11
-20 bw pull-ups

The day before, I was watching a Marine Corps 20 pull-up test on YouTube.

10-2-11
-20 bw chin-ups
-100 goblet squats
-2x1 min shiko dachi holds

10-1-11
-200 kb swings
-went to rifle range and shot 650 rds of .22 through a Ruger 1022

9-30-11
-5x10 circular pull-ups
These felt a little tough.

9-29-11
-C2 rower, 10 minutes of seeing how the knee holds p to varying levels of intensity. The knee was OK.

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Pull-up Project:
750 bw
157 weighted (24 kgs)
25 weighted (26.5 kgs)
25 weighted (25.2 kgs)
44 weighted (40.8 kgs)
40 weighted (42 kgs)

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Maltese Project (10-4-11)

145 secs Pseudo Maltese holds
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full body isometric exercise

9-28-11
-200 kb swings
-weighted shiko dachi hold (24 kgs, 1.5 min)

I came up with the weighted shiko dachi a couple of days ago. In the past I had walked around with dumbbells held up by my shoulders in a rack position. It's a great full body isometric exercise, but as I get fatigued, I tended to let the curve of my spine take the weight-not a good thing. Enter the weighted kiba dachi hold. Shiko dachi, for anyone who hasn't taken a karate class, is a wide legged stance where your knees are bent close to parallel, knees and toes are angled outwards. Grab a kettlebell by the horns and draw it up to your chin, hold it close to the body. Assume the shiko dachi position and hold. Don't forget to breathe. After a few seconds, it will be hard to find a muscle group that is not quivering from the effort: pecs, delts, traps, lats rhomboids, abs, erector spinae, glutes, quads. Like Nana's soup, it's all in there.

9-26-11
-weighted pull-ups with off-set negatives (2x5, 3x6, 24 kgs)
-rack hold (2x24 kgs, 2x1 min)
-weighted shiko dachi hold (24 kgs, 1 min)

Clean the db's to your shoulders and walk around for a minute. Rest and repeat. There's your rack hold. I felt like I strained a pec on the weighted off-set negative. Gotta watch that. Maybe more warm-up.

9-24-11
-3hrs of sambo with sambosteve

I have been looking forward to this striking and throwing seminar for weeks. Although the turnout was small, some of the most progressive and influential Kyokushin instructors in the tri-state area were in attendance. My orthopedist would not have been happy to hear what I was doing, but I organized the event. I had to be there. Besides, good buds were signed-up.

For some, throwing and falling were new experiences. I was pretty happy to work on closing-in with a technique Steve called Key 2.

9-23-11
-circular pull-ups (8x10)

Pull-up Project:
660 bw
121 weighted (24 kgs)
25 weighted (26.5 kgs)
25 weighted (25.2 kgs)
44 weighted (40.8 kgs)
40 weighted (42 kgs)