Hello Tribe, Goodbye Inner-Slacker!

[rbrown]

Hello Tribe! Well it’s the beginning of a new year and I’m planning on making it a good one…starting with my health and fitness. I’m hoping you all can help. I have been fascinated by Coach Sonnon’s material for some time, but my inner-slacker has long had the upper hand and so I’ve only dabbled in it. Attention Deficit is a harsh mistress. I actually feel guilty for having this material and doing so little with it. It's like being a rich man and not appreciating what you have. There is a wealth of information here and I am going to give it the attention it deserves. Thank you for the opportunity Coach Sonnon!

Anyway, a bit of background to hopefully help you assess where I am. 39 years old, male, 5’11”, 198 lbs, never been in particularly good shape, never been consistent with any fitness program. Until recently, I had taken kung fu 3 days a week for about 4 years so I have some “reasonable” conditioning and flexibility. I have no idea what my max strength is. I can do 3 or 4 chins or pull-ups and 35 push-ups. I do 1-arm DB Snatches and C&Ps 10 times with a 38 lb DB if that’s of any help. I can do 10-15 Swipes w/15 lb Clubbell pretty easily, though I’m choked up just a bit. 10 Armpit or Shoulder Casts choked up about ½ way are not easy. 8 Forward and Side Leverage Press choked up most of the way is hard. This is only doing 1 set of each of these, one after the other, with very little rest between exercises (the time it takes to do the exercise with the other hand). My Clubbell exercise has been mainly to get used to the little beast and the various exercises.

I currently try to do the 5 Tibetans (5 reps) every day as well as Warrior Wellness (beginner). The 4CBD is a killer, but I do the beginner version with 3 reps and hold about 10 seconds in each position. I have also been working on some of the Body Flow BME’s.

My goals are to lose fat, gain functional muscle, increase my aerobic and anaerobic endurance, increase my flexibility/ROM, feel better (more lively, energetic, younger, capable) and become a better martial artist. Is this too vague? I would really like to utilize Coach Sonnon’s materials as much as possible for health/fitness and martial arts. There’s just so much great stuff, it becomes a bit overwhelming trying to craft a program to include plenty of it without becoming too burdensome. I tend to want to include too much and become overwhelmed, but when I include too little, I become underwhelmed due to lack of results or disinterest.

My equipment consists of one 15 lb Clubbell, some free weights (BB & DB) and a bench, one of those towers on which you can do pull-ups, dips, etc., a treadmill, a heavy bag on a stand, a living room and most of Coach Sonnon’s tapes and books as well as other tapes on yoga and martial arts. Sometimes I will have access to a training partner.

On the weekends, I am free all day. On weekdays, I have several evening hours. I’m not typically what you’d call an early riser, but could be if I needed to be.

I have a long ways to go in all fitness categories, but with your help on a program (leave the inner-slacker to me!) I’m sure I can make headway on the path of Knuckledraggerdom. Please ask me any questions you need to assess my situation.

Thank you!

[Scott Sonnon]

Congratulations on your determination to overcome the inner-slacker, Robert. If no one can address your request before I return home, then I'll attempt to get to it in a week.

[rbrown]

Thanks Coach! I look forward to it. In the meantime, I'll keep exploring Body Flow and CST in the hopes of being somewhat better prepared to take full advantage.

[rbrown]

Some pertinent information I left out of my initial post:

Although I can do a decent forward bend, bending backward is very limited. Also, the Spinal Roll is difficult. Not even close to touching my toes to the floor behind my head. I am working on opening my hips/pelvis with the Knee Switch and, though I still have a long ways to go, I see that I have made very good progress. So, I'd say my spine, hips/pelvis are my worst bits.

A few years ago, I had bilateral inguinal hernia surgery (they put in mesh patches) so there may be a bit of fear reactivity at work in my pelvic region. Not sure what I "should" or "shouldn't" do because of this, but I generally take things that would put strain on the area slowly and monitor how it feels.

Also, and I don't know if this has anything to do with my spinal inflexibility, but when I was a kid, I fell from a tree and landed flat on my back. I was able to get up an walk inside and lie down, but was in an almost dreamlike state during that short walk. I don't recall anything ever coming of this, but thought that if I still remember it like I do, maybe it is significant.

Anyway, thanks again for any advice you can give.

[Scott Sonnon]

Robert,
If none of the instructors can help you beforehand, I may be able to put a program together for you after the new CST Magazine issue releases. My schedule has thickened for the Spring, but you are not forgotten.

[rbrown]

No problem at all Coach. I understand and appreciate. I'm keeping myself busy with Clubbells, bodyweight and biomechanical exercises and various drills from your tapes. Besides, I'm eager for the new CST Mag too. Thanks much!

[rbrown]

Hello, I thought I’d attempt to craft an exercise regimen just to see if what I come up with is even close to reasonable. :? I’d like to use Clubbells for most (if not all) of my strength/strength endurance work if I can get a comprehensive workout with 1 15 lb Clubbell. I say, if “I” can because my grip may fail before the rest of my body has had a proper workout. So, if Clubbells alone won’t be enough at first, perhaps I could fill in the gaps with bodyweight (chins, pushups, dips, etc.) and/or dumbbells (snatches, c&p, side presses, Turkish getups, etc.). I’m trying to get a “good” workout without biting off more than I can chew. Anyway, here goes. If someone could guide me or just start me over from scratch even, it would be much appreciated. I haven’t actually tried this out yet, so I’m not sure how long it will take.

Mon/Wed/Fri

3x10-15 w/15 lb Clubbell of the following:

Hammer Throw (both directions) – skill exercise for Core Activation and practicing being breathed
Single-arm Armpit Cast w/Lunge
Single-arm Shoulder Cast w/Sidestep
Single-arm Forward Leverage Press
Single-arm Lateral Leverage Press

Note: my ceilings are too low for me to do circles with Clubbells.

1 set, almost to failure, of the following bodyweight exercises (to fill in the gaps?):

Chin-ups
Pull-ups
Dips
Push-ups on parallelettes


WW (beginner) – including 4CBD for 3 reps, holding for 10 seconds

Tue/Thu/Sat

Body-flow (BME’s and Kinetic Chains) – 30 min
Drills from Priming Your Bioenergy – 30 min
Mookwork (wooden dummy) – 15 min
Heavy bagwork – 15 min

Treadmill w/35 lb pack, 10% incline, 3 mph – 30 min
Treadmill w/o pack, 10% incline, 3 – 3.5 mph – 30 min

Note: the treadmilling is temporary to prepare for hiking/backpacking in the Badlands of S. Dakota this summer (as well as burn off some fat). Also, 3.5 mph is about as fast as I can go without shaking the bedroom too much. I’m a pounder when I run.:roll:

WW (beginner) – including 4CBD for 3 reps, holding for 10 seconds

Well there you have it. Too much? Not enough? Wrong stuff? Something left out?

Some thoughts: I’m wondering if I’ll be too fried after the CB workout to do any BW stuff. I feel like maybe I need a pull in my Clubbell workout, but thought the chins/pull-ups might suffice. Just didn’t want to do too many Clubbell exercises. Is one set of the BW exercises even worth doing or should I do more? Is there any problem with doing Body Flow before Clubbells on M/W/F also? I’ve been doing the treadmilling nearly daily for almost 2 weeks, but haven’t done much else before or after it, so not sure how T/T/S will be. I’ve been doing the Clubbell workout but only 1 set of 6 to 15, depending on the exercise. I’ve not been able to choke all the way down on any of them yet.

I’m open for any critique/guidance. I realize what I’ve put down here may very well be laughable.

Thanks!

[rbrown]

Okay, I've realized that program I pulled out o' me wazoo, looks like I pulled it out o' me wazoo, so...

The Clubbell workout is just grinding exercises, so how bout I add the following before the grinds:

Pre-Swing Cleans to Order
Forward/Backward Pendulum w/Lunge (but eliminate Lunge w/AP Cast?)
Inward/Outward Pendulum w/Side Step (but eliminate SS w/Shoulder Cast?)

or could I add Combination Routines such as Swipes and Mills?

Also, I like the Shield Cast, but not sure how to fit it in. Should it replace something? Since several of the exercises seem to have common movements, I don't want to unwittingly overtrain and develop tendonitis or some such.

Speaking of overtraining, is it okay to train with Clubbells 6 days a week? I suppose that would have to do with how taxing a workout I was doing, but if I understand Double Density training, then training once a day would be sort of a wimpy version of DD wouldn't it?

Okay, I admit, I'm lost. I'll keep experimenting, but won't go hardcore without someone's expert advice.

Thanks!

[rbrown]

In my post above, I said that maybe I should add some Pendulums to my routine and...wow. I guess I hadn't worked with the Swings much and didn't realize just how much that momentum taxes your grip. On the surface, they look deceptively easy, but upon doing 10 F/B Pendulums in a row, my grip was quite tired (I was choked up about 1/3 of the way). Then I did I/O Pendulums and, crikey, my grip was fried. I could only do 8 with my left hand. I guess I better take ALL these exercises seriously!

[rbrown]

Well it's been awhile since I posted anything here and I haven't had the time to "really" work at CST hard, but have kept at it. I've mainly been doing some bodyweight exercise in GTG fashion to build some GPP (pullups and pushups mostly) and have made some good gains.

As far as Clubbell work goes, I have concentrated on Swipes and am up to doing 3 sets (each arm) of 15 Swipes w/1 15# Clubbell, switching arms between each 15 with no rest (and no choke-up). That's quite an improvement for me.

Next month, I should be able (schedule-wise) to get into a more structured exercise regimen. Any thoughts on my posts above would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

[sin_goodfellow]

Robert,

It looks like your keeping up with your work, congratulations! I know it can be really hard to break out of that rut, but one day you wake up, do your exercise routine and when your done, you realize you did'nt have to think about it. That is a good day.

I have Body Flow and Warrior Wellness, which I also am hoping to make better use of. The CST instructors have a whole lot more people asking about programs right now than they used too, so it may take more time than usual to get a reply. Keep up the hard work.

Jesse

[Doug Szolek]

Robert,

read with great interest your thread here and I have to say that I'm sorry it had somehow slipped my radar in the confusion of my getting back from my tour last month. I have a good idea of where your coming from and have some fun ideas to really put everything you have at your disposal to use. So if you're up for it, here goes:

I need you to perform the following three exercises at zero choke on your 15lbs clubbell and tell me how many you can do before failure.

Parry Casts

Arm Casts

Forward Pendulums

Do each in a controlled manner and stop at least a rep before failure so pay attention to form to keep it from sneaking up on you. Take a long rest between each test to keep your performance of one from weakening you for the next. Also if you have a large disparity between the strength of your left and right arms I'll need to know your max reps in each of these exercises for both arms.

Once you've done that I need you let me know what the heaviest Dumbbell is to which you have access. For what I have in mind you'll only need one of them.

Now that the weighted side of it is being addressed, are your spine hip/pelvis still presenting issues with your movement? In other words would you still write today what you wrote back in January about those problem areas or have you made progress with them since? If they are still a problem, we can get you Body-Flowing in some directions to help release these areas.

This last part is mostly speculation as I'm by no means a Neurologist. It sounds like you suffered a concussion when you fell out of that tree as a child. The trama from that fall is probably still being stored in and around your spine because you were never shown how to release it. We'll tread gently but I also want to get you Body-Flowing in a way that will allow you to reclaim the string-of-pearls spinal mobility that you were born with.

Let me know how this finds you and again I apologize for the delay in offering structure to your road of strength.

In Faith,

[rbrown]

Coach Szolek,

Thanks for taking the time to go over my posts. It's much needed and appreciated! I performed the 3 exercises as you requested, resting around 15 minutes between each one. There wasn't much disparity between right and left hands, so I did the same number of reps with each. Here are my results:

Parry Cast - 20 reps
Armpit Cast - 20 reps
Forward Pendulum - 25 reps

During the Parry Casts, I had to readjust my grip as my hand would slip to the knob. I did this without using my other hand, just jerked upwards and slid my hand down a tad. Hope that didn't skew my numbers on that move. Quite a bit of popping in my wrists as I did the Parry Casts and I felt the slippage was caused by lack of ROM in my wrists/hands.

I have a pair of adjustable DB's and can put on them more than I can reasonably use, so I don't think I'll have any problem with having too little weight for whatever evil thing you have planned for me. :twisted:

As far as spine, hip/pelvis flexibility goes, I think I've made a little improvement with them (just haven't been doing as much Body-Flow, WW, etc. as I should), but still very much need help in these areas. I would love to reclaim my string-of-pearls spinal mobility.

Thanks again, Coach!

[Doug Szolek]

Ok here's what I've got in mind. Let me know how it will fit with your schedule and we'll tweek it accordingly.

Coach Szolek's "Bull-Whip You into Shape"

Monday, Wednesday, Friday:

Parry Casts - 5sets of 10reps

Arm Casts - 5sets of 10reps

Forward Pendulums - 5sets of 10 reps

This is skill practice training so take an adequate amount of time off between sets to keep from frying the grip too soon. Also keep consistent notes of your RT and RPE for each of these exercises. Give this at least two weeks or more until your RPE gets down to a 6 with an RT of 8 or higher. Once you get there we'll have some restructuring to do to put these exercises together into a combination routine 8) .

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday:

One-Arm Dumbell Snatches w/ a 50lbs. Dumbell.

For this I want you to start with 5/minute for 10 minutes alternating arms every other minute. So on minute 1 you'd do 5 with your right arm, then on minute two you'd do 5 with your left arm and so on until 10 minutes have passed. When you can finish this 10 minute session with an RT of 8+ and an RPE of less than 7 you will add a rep to each set.

After that 10 minute session I want you to work on the Following Biomechanical Exercises.

Spinal Rocks

Twisting Spinal Arches

Long Leg Creep

Work each of these as a play time sort of session for 5 minutes each. You don't have to worry about keeping track of how many you do so long as you keep moving for the entire 5 minutes. For the Spinal Rocks and the Twisting Spinal Arches you main performance goal is to keep your throat open, for the Long Leg Creep focus on keeping your spine perpendicular to the floor.

Everyday of the week you need to do a Warrior Wellness session. This is a heavy work load and you won't be able to recover from it all if your not doing WW everyday.

Finally, I'd recommend that you hold off on the bodyweight drills untill after this cycle. I can promise that if you follow this plan you'll add significantly to your numbers at the end of it, but tossing them into the mix right now will probably be more than you need and more than you can recover from in time to keep up with your other sessions.

So let me know if all this makes sense to you and then we can get you set up over at the Program Log forum to grow along with you.

In faith,

[rbrown]

Thanks Coach Szolek! I will put this into practice immediately. I will not be able to be consistent with it until early next month (which isn't far at all), but I will do what I can from this program starting today. Next month, when I hit it "for real," I will start an online training log. The program looks quite interesting; hard but "do-able." I'm looking forward to it. Once again, thanks Coach!

[rbrown]

Coach, yesterday I did the Monday workout and today I did most of the Tuesday workout. First, let me say I like this program. Thanks for crafting it for me. I think I tend to make my workouts to big and complicated and then I get overwhelmed. This is very do-able, yet it's a beast. I was actually a bit sore just from the tests you had me do and I'm curious as to how sore I'll be tomorrow. :wink:

A couple of questions: how much rest is too much rest between sets of the Clubbell exercises? I did all the sets of each exercise together, with maybe a minute (or less) rest between those sets. Between the sets of different exercises, I took maybe 15 minutes rest. Is that too much?

Also, I can manage the Spinal Rock and the Long Leg Creep (not that they are easy!), but I cannot even come close to doing the Twisting Spinal Arch. I can't arch my back enough to "go under." Is there a modified way to do them or some other, less challenging, exercise that I could do to prepare me for Twisting Spinal Arches?

I may not get to any/all of this for a few days, but come March 2nd I'll for sure get on it full-bore (at which time I'll start my online training log).

Thanks Coach!

[Doug Szolek]

Hmm... it seems to me that if you're able to do all five sets of the given exercises with only a minute of rest between sets then you may want to take steps to increase your RPE, that is make the work harder by increasing the available variables.

To be sure about this I'll need you to start marking your RT and RPE for each exercise.

Also, 15minutes between exercises seem a bit excessive but this will probably lower once we begin to align the rest between sets and between exercises.

About the Twisting Spinal Arch, how are you at Lateral Shoulder Rolls? If your able to do these then they'd make a suitable substitute to get things loosened up in that area.

[rbrown]

Coach,

The minute or two rest didn't include the rest I "automatically" got while the other hand was working...and it was "hard." My hands cramped up pretty good but I shook them out and did some wrist and finger circles between sets as well. My calluses are coming along nicely. :) I'll be doing them again today and I'll let you know how it goes (RT/RPE).

I wasn't sure how much rest was "plenty" and I was doing other things, so I sometimes got sidetracked between sets. I will lessen that rest.

I have yet to try Lateral Shoulder Rolls, but I'll give them a try and let you know how that goes as well.

Thanks much for your time and advice!

[Doug Szolek]

Good work Robert,

looking forward to seeing your progress,

[rbrown]

When you get a chance, would you mind taking a look at my exercise log, "Robert's Bullwhipped into Shape"? I realize you're busy, so there's no rush, but since I've taken some minor liberties with the program you worked up for me, I wanted your input on how I'm doing and next steps.

http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1749

Thanks!

[Doug Szolek]

I"ve been keeping my eye on your log but like you've said, had little time to coment lately. A couple months of pure training and working should change all that now. I posted my thoughts on the next step of your training over on your program log. Let me know how they look and whatever questions you may have for them.