Wanted: Escrimador fitness

[sin_goodfellow]

Knuckledraggers,

I've talked to some of you in my time in this community, to those of you who don't know me, my name is Jesse Wells. I'm a student at Humboldt State and my two main passions in life are developing my body/mind and writing.

Last semester and until recently this semester, I was engaged in the great joy of Humboldt State Men's Crew. I've come to realize that while Crew is an awesome sport, it's no longer for me. To paraphrase my friend Kyle, Collegiate sports require the person involved to see said sport as his life. The athlete in question must be devoted to it completely.

My problem was that I wanted Crew to complement my attempts to forge my body, I did'nt want to be the best rower. The schedule and time committment was also too much for me this semester, i'd begun to nod off in class and slip behind in my studies. This was not acceptable to me, so I told my Coach and team that I could not continue to row with them. Perhaps in the future I can return to Crew, It is an awesome sport and rowing has been one of the best experiences in my life.

However, I now find myself bereft of a workout plan of action. Crew definitely increased my strength and endurance greatly. I pull the best 2k time among the novice in my weight class(6:58.5), can squat my BW plus some change and can do about 30 jumpies. Yet, I also can only benchpress about half my BW and still cannot do a pullup.

This summer I will be investing in the Mod 1. and hopefully getting my hands on some 15lb clubbells. I eventually want to compete in Escrimador tournaments and OCS, but right now my main goal is being able to do a pullup. I would appreciate any advice you might offer.

Physical Stats:
6' 2"
206pds
Thin, but not where I would like to be
Squat my BW+ 8 reps, strong lower body, back
Weak chest, Max Bench 8 reps of 100#
No major body injuries


Goals:
Perform a pullup
Get closer to benching my BW
Develop faster hands/feet for Doces Pares
Lose some more weight
General strength increase/Greater kinesthetic awareness

Accessible fitness equipment:
Gym with lots of free weights, cable pull down, Hammer Strength machines
Olympic Pool
Open fields
Body Flow
Warrior Wellness
Ergometer
Crew discipline

Current fitness plans:
T/TH Recreational Water Polo from 2-3pm
MWF free swim for an hour
IC(some)
Continue refining diet ala Connie Brown's excellent Incremental Dietary Progression article.

Schedule:
My Class/Study schedule allows for an addtional hour of exercise each day and I plan on doing 2 sets of WW a day.

Conclusion: I would like some advice on what kind of exercise movements I should pursue so I can continue the refinement I started with Crew and finish the semester able to say, "I can do a pullup."

Respectfully,
Jesse Wells

[crubio]

Jesse,

If your gym has one of those assisted pullup machines doing pullups on that ladder style, ie. 1,2,3,4 without going near failure will get you to a pullup in no time.

Clubbells would also help alot with doces pares.

[JasonE]

I have showed my ClubBells and a few movements like the Shield Cast, Clean to Order, Armpit Cast, and Wrist Cast to my Escrima instructor and classmates, and they can see how the movements translate directly into stickwork.

Gripwise, going from a CB to sticks, including largo mano, is a snap! After only a few weeks of working with CBs, my grip and stick control improved rapidly, erasing the damage that a 6-month layoff from stick training had done to my technique. After only 2 classes, I was already performing at the same level I was at before I took time off.

I don't have great upper body strength either, so I went with a set of 10 lb CBs and have been having great fun with them. In another month or two I will upgrade to 15s for strength development and use the 10s for movement sophistication and advanced routines.

I look forward to reading about your progress, especially when you start applying CST to your Escrima!

[sin_goodfellow]

crubio & JasonE

Unfortunately, I do not have access to such a machine up here in Humboldt. My Nissan just blew a headgasket as well, so my finances are going to take a substantial hit, which unfortunately means I may not be able to afford to purchase Clubbells this summer. :( Thank you for the encouragement and advice, I'm not surprised to hear that Clubbells are a great aid to Escrima practice.


Currently, I figure doing some negative pullups and a heavy weight, low rep scheme on the lat pulldown will help me get to a pullup. Any further advice would be welcome!

Jesse Wells

[Vbrown]

Hi Jesse,

Firstly, why do you care about the bench press? Since you are referencing much of your goals to your performance in Doce Pares, what value does the bench have to that performance?

I do, however, think there is value (IMHO) in the pullup if for no other reason than it does wonderful things for shoulder stability.

I've had poor luck with clients trying to translate the pulldown into pullups. Heavy sets of negitives with 3 second holds during decent, and scapular pulls (at full hang, squeeze with the scapula and don't pull with your arms.)

I feel your pain on being broke and wanting clubbells. If you have the video or the book, you can make do with cement stakes found at Home Depot. Get the shorter ones. They're cheap and heavy. DON"T mimic the motions of Doce Pares, just do the clubbell drills that are similar. Sheild cast, mills, etc. Your wrist strength will go up pretty dramatically. When you can afford a real clubbell, you'll really take off!

Hope it helps,

Vince
A,CST

[Chuck Kechter]

I feel your pain on being broke and wanting Clubbells®. If you have the video or the book, you can make do with cement stakes found at Home Depot. Get the shorter ones. They're cheap and heavy. DON"T mimic the motions of Doce Pares, just do the Clubbell® drills that are similar. Sheild cast, mills, etc. Your wrist strength will go up pretty dramatically. When you can afford a real Clubbell®, you'll really take off!

I would add to Vince's list: Logs, lead pipes, BB plates (that you can hold in your hands--singularly, or with a two handed grip), hexagonal (one-piece) DB's, et cetera. It's the principles and philosophy (to me) that is most important, NOT the impliment. Not to take anything away from Clubbells' they seem like a GREAT tool.

Play, explore and have fun!

Chuck

[sin_goodfellow]

Vbrown,

Increasing my bench press is mostly a matter of wanting to strengthen those muscles in a GPP fashion. I'm just frustrated with their weakness though I must admit part of it is simply ego. The Bench press and I have had a tumultuous relationship, full of disses and anger.

Of much more concern to me is being able to do a pullup. I like to go backpacking and want to get into bouldering/mountain climbing. Being able to pull myself up when I may not be able to find purchase for my legs is to me an imperative from a simple survival viewpoint.

Thanks for the advice on home-brewed implements Vince and Chuck!

Respectfully,
Jesse Wells

[Vbrown]

Glad I could help....

I still stand by my positions on pulldowns....

If you're going to work the chest, at least do dumbbells press. More stabilization, free-er range of motion to help avoid shoulder trouble in the future and you'll still get a hell of a workout.

If you're feeling masochistic, look up how to do "inverted flyes" using rings and your bodyweight. Nothing makes you focus on an exercise like the possiblility of tearing both biceps, both pecs and ripping the shoulders free from the socket if you lose your attention. Good times... :P

Best of luck and have some fun. Don't let the vanity take over, but it's ok to indulge it once in awhile

V

[sin_goodfellow]

Vince,

Having worked with the pulldown for a good couple of months during Crew and not seeing much improvement, I will switch to just doing negatives. Now, by three second hold during descent, do you mean I should make the descent last three seconds? Or stop in the middle and hold that for three seconds?

Concerning dumbbell presses, I started to do those originally, but even the most stubborn of people(me)can be swayed by society on occasion. I also had some shoulder injury fun for the first time when I started really working the bench press. It seems to be fine now and I think the actual pull occured when I was doing 500m sprints on an Erg and went all out, dropping my split time down to the 1:30's for some strokes.

I'm also going to experiment with Scrapper's 8 count Iron T exercise, as it looks like it's an awesome torso exerciser.

Jesse

[sin_goodfellow]

Knuckledraggers,


Wednesday I experimented with the lifts I want to do and today I got my first taste of the intensity of water polo. I've worked up what I believe will be a good routine for building overall body GPP, especially in my upper body. Any comments would be greatly appreciated!

I would especially like some help in utilizing the Double D protocol for my pullup training, as that is my biggest goal. I also plan on incorporating WW every night. I may be able to do it twice a day if that is deemed neccessary. Right now, after 2 sets of negatives, my form begins to deteriorate, should I try a ladder? I don't think I have the ability/time to incorporate Body Flow at this time :( Hopefully I can do that over summer break.

Jesse's Barbarian GPP (12 weeks)

Monday/Wednesday/Friday: Lifts with Double D pull-up training, Scrapper Toughness and Renegade Will

Morning(rain or shine, love that cold!): Negatives, 2 sets, 4 reps, increase with time.

Midday(Love that Iron, heavy as it can be with good form!):
Squats 2 sets/5reps
Single Arm Cable Pull 2 sets/5reps
Single Arm Cable Push 2sets/5reps
--------------------- 1 minute rest ----------------
Dumbbell Benchpress 1 set/5reps
Dumbbell stiff leg Dead + Press 1set/5rep
Military Press 1set/5rep
Repeat 2x
10 Explosive Sandbag Burpees
Shadowbox for 60 secs

8 count Iron T 5reps
Dumbbell Squat 1set/5reps
Wood Chop Cable Pull 1 set/5reps
Repeat 2x
10 Explosive Medicine Ball Burpees
Shadowbox for 60 secs



Evening: Lat Pull, 2 sets/5reps

T/TH,Sa: Stamina days + Active recovery

Hill H.I.I.T RPE of 7+ (Rain or Shine, mostly Rain) 20-30 minutes
Water Polo as Active Recovery
1 Hour of H.I.I.T/LSD Swimming (Saturday only)

Su: Rest like the dead.

"The coward believes he will live forever
If he holds back in the battle,
But in old age he shall have no peace
Though spears have spared his limbs."
-The Haevamael

Respectfully,
Jesse Wells

[sin_goodfellow]

Knuckledraggers,

Last week I did my weight lifting on wendesday and was still really feeling it on Friday and so did not lift. I also did not get any warrior wellness in however and that may have been a big culprit. I intend to fix that this week!

With the Double D protocol, I want to get in a WW session between the two correct? I'm still unsure of how to setup a good Double D pullup-training routine, if I could do at least one pullup I imagine it would be much easier... Right now I am simply going to be doing sets of negatives in the morning and latpulls in the evening, so as to get both negative and positive muscles exercised.

I look forward to this summer when hopefully I can finally get some clubbells! I really wanted to get some and be a Delta cadre member, but you don't always get what you want.

Respectfully,
Jesse Wells