I’m currently gym-less in Canada, so I’m taking this opportunity to rediscover aspects of my mobility that I may have been neglecting in pursuit of other goals. It is humbling, to say the least. I’m a big fan of intuitive warm-ups - using a group of familiar, basic movements to communicate with the body, reminding myself of proper movement patterns and exploring points of tension that might be new or old. I expand my warm-up from there, delving deeper in to those areas which may be holding more tension or require in-depth preparation (this also helps with skill-specific warm-ups).
My basic warm-up consists of bodyweight squats, up/down dogs, hip-stretch push-ups, hip rotations, cat/cows, cossack squats, sun salutation lunges, and neck rotations. I do one set of five repetitions each movement (repeat any that feel necessary). I then break in to any movement (aka muscle) group that requires further attention. It staves off the monotony of a cookie-cutter warm-up and keeps me in touch with my body before beginning a workout. I have been known to alter my workout based on tightness or pain discovered in the warm-up, which I’m confident has saved me from injury at least once.
This week I’m playing around with some different bodyweight movements, rediscovering the details of each and toying with different workout structures. The past year has been heavy on Olympic lifting technique and building strength in my basic lifts, so doing more than five reps of any movement is always fun (I use that term loosely). I’ve kept up on my GPP, so I’ve been doing higher repetition stuff, but not so much with bodyweight, or as a primary component of my workout. So here’s what I’ve been playing with so far this week:
Monday
1. Extended warm-up (includes tumbling, neck mobility/strength)
2. 5,4,3,2,1 of Jack Lalane push-ups and pistol squats (reps per leg). The Lalane push-up is also known as a Chinese push-up, though a true Chinese push-up is done on the fingertips. The trick seems to be in locking the lats and the spine before beginning, a queue which is manageable with a wider foot and hand stance, but it becomes significantly more difficult as hands and feet come together. I’ve developed a bit of a cheat when my hands are fully outstretched above me head wherein I push for a split-second off my forearms right off the ground. It doesn’t seem to make much of a different, but I’m a purist, so I’ve been rebuilding the movement.
Pistols have been a challenge for me ever since I tore the meniscus in both of my knees (lateral in the left, medial in the right). I did them next to a door frame to give myself a bit of a stability security blanket. The primary goals on these is to keep the spinal arch throughout the movement and prevent side-to-side knee wobble.
3. Headstand work: did a couple pike-ups from the tripod position and worked on keeping the glutes tight in the full extension position.
Wednesday
1. Warm-up (including lacrosse ball work)
2. Three rounds of six reps of divebomber push-ups, hip-stretch push-ups, and standard push-ups. This thing was a burner. The divebombers started off easy, but the single-side focused nature of the hip-stretch push-ups really burned me out, so by the time I got to the push-ups, I was struggling through what is usually a really easy number.
3. I did the same thing for cossack squats, lunges and squats: 3x6. Kept the numbers fairly low and worked on speed. This wasn’t as bad as the push-up sequence, but it was a good hip opener series.
Hopefully I’ll be able to add in some more variety and higher intensity work later this week, but I’ve been caught up trying to get situated, so it’s been a less than optimal week in terms of overall volume. On a positive note, it’s forcing me to put intensity into movements and form in a way I might not normally.
