Topic: Chris E's goals and conditioning

[Chris Eddington]

I think this might be helpful for keeping focused when I train Tuesdays and Thursdays.

- I'll try to pinpoint the three weaknesses troubling me most at the moment: 1) distance on vaults 2) precision jumps/balance going with the grain 3) smooth muscleups (2/3 of the time I'm still getting trapped in the struggle-up)

- I think I should set a workout goal for the month (March): I will try to complete a half-Angie in uder 10 minutes (currently stuck at around 15)

- I also need to be wary of injuries: I had an ankle aprain two months or so ago, it doesn't seem to be an apparent problem anymore, but warming it up properly is essential. I've had trouble with tenodonitis in my left shoulder, I need to be sure I don't push it into chronic territory. More recently, I've felt my knees a bit, which is a first, my guess is that it's a result of impacts. I've experienced landing and other heavy forces in Tae Kwon Do, but Parkour landings have been more intense, I should make certain I avoid extreme heights until the knees feel competely solid. Bad rolls have given me bruises, I can't push those until there are no bruises period.

- I need to remain focused and confident, if I waver on any of this, It'll be for nothing.

[Chris Eddington]

I tried to get some movement outside today to keep from being completely static on an off day. The bruises from bad rolls have mostly subsided, and I was able to work back into them, they felt solid and smooth, which I was happy with. I've had a slight fear barrier to cross when it comes to concrete and other unforgiving surfaces since said bad rolls. Fear barrier's gone now though, so I can keep moving forward. Still need to watch the shoulder though, I've been on a light NSAID to keep it under control, but if I push it too hard it won't matter what I do. I'm considering starting some fish oil to try and protect my joints in general, I'll try to pick some up tomorrow. I need to make sure what I'm doing with Tae Kwon Do isn't aggravating any injuries either.

[Ryan Ford]

good to see a workout log from you chris! ask me next saturday for some tips on vault distance. im not clear what your problem is on precision jumps. for the muscle ups, keep working on that pull up strength, making sure you are pulling as much as you can (get your sternum up to the bar!).

[Chris Eddington]

Thanks for the support Ryan, I appreciate it   . As for the precision jumps, I'm thinking mainly about the style we were working on this past Saturday, going straight along the rail rather than perpendicular to it. I couldn't land one and I'm thinking it may be something to do with how I was placing my feet. If I get a few minutes this Saturday maybe I can figure it out a little better.

[Ryan Ford]

Oh yeah, those are pretty tricky at first. You want to be landing on the rail how you normally do, so it requires a 90 degree turn in mid air. Just a matter of practice and balance probably.

[Chris Eddington]

Open gym was tonight but I decided to sit out. I felt pretty bad on Tuesday, so I decided it would be best if I took the rest of the week off so I'll be solid for Saturday. Got my shoulder checked out today, and it looks like the acute tendonitis is mostly gone. The problem now is that my shoulder has weakened, so I'm going to have to work to get that strength back. Injuries have been a major set-back so far this month. I'm going to need to pick myself back up and work towards conditioning that will off-set and prevent injury in the future. More than anything else I feel a deep respect for those traceurs who have become strong enough to avoid being slowed like this on a regular basis.

[Chris Eddington]

Saturday went better than I expected, no pains in my hips and my shoulder felt solid the whole time. We did muscle-ups for time once more, and I managed to complete the full 20, even if they weren't all very pretty. They're getting smoother though, I think I'll be where I'd like to with them relatively soon. Skills training unfortunately reinforced the fact that I'm having big trouble getting distance on vaults. I managed to clear a four foot kong and land the precision on a three foot box, but couldn't do the same for a rail standing literally one inch and a half farther back. The height was likely the problem, as I'm getting much farther when I don't have to think about getting up as much. I'll have to find the middle ground. I've got spring break this week, so hopefully I'll get a lot accomplished.

[Chris Eddington]

Got some movement outside Sunday so I wasn't static, getting a little work in on off days has helped offset soreness lately, so I plan on sticking with it. Found some interesting places with new opportunities. Found a solid 12 foot wall-run that I spent about fifteen minutes trying to scale. I couldn't do it at first, but finally realized that the problem was focusing so much on getting two steps. As soon as I settled for the one solid step, and focused on that, I made it up. Tonight (Monday) was Tae Kwon Do, and I recently got our instructor to try some cross-fit style conditioning, which he has come to like a great deal. It's now part of our routine and we did some tonight. Mainly tension kick hip flexor work, which was intense, but I also got some burpees and QM involved, which were a challenge for everyone. I'm planning on doing some serious all around work tomorrow, hitting a number of spots and trying to get some good conditioning in at each one in between skill sets, here's to hoping I can remain productive.

[Chris Eddington]

Got out today for about an hour and a half. I've been visiting some people in Erie since its spring break. I went to the local rec center to use some of the rails and walls, and it went well for the most part. However, someone from the center gave me a few disapproving looks and asked what I was doing. He left with a "don't get hurt." I kept going for a bit, but left not too long afterwards, I think perhaps just in time, as I saw a cop car making a round outside as I left. I can't prove it, but I figure it was about me. I was looking over my shoulder for a while afterwards, God knows how much grief I might have caught from a small town cop. I always feel a bit guilty when I think about parents with small kids calling cops on someone like me, as if I actually had done something wrong. I won't be going back there, it's too bad too, I got a lot accomplished with those rails. Tonight's Tae Kwon Do, need to be mindful of my hip, it's gotten better, but I'll need to avoid jump kicks or anything else that might put focused shock into it.

[Chris Eddington]

Saturday went fairly well, but with the exact same issues as last week. I can't get more than a foot and a half of distance out of a 4 foot kong to save my life. It's frusturating, but I know there's a solution, I just need to weed it out. I'll be hitting it hard at open gym this week. We did muscle-ups for time again, and mine are difinitely getting better, faster and smoother, though still far from perfect. I went to the gym and did three rounds of fight gone bad tonight. I came out with 181, which is 25 reps more than I made last time I attempted it. I need a more focused workout, though finding the time for it will be a problem in and of itself.

[TraceuseDS]

Hi! I don't know if this will help you with the distance on your kongs, but it helped me to focus on takeoffs: http://www.americanparkour.com/index.php/demon-s-drill-of-the-month/steps-to-a-more-powerful-kong-vault.html

Good luck!

[Chris Eddington]

Just finished two heinous papers and I need to get my mind on something else before I turn in for the night. I've got open gym tomorrow (Tuesday) and I think I've got some good direction for what to work on. Distance on vaults will be big (Carolyn's point on take offs is important, I should pay a lot of attention to them). I need to hit precision stuff, rail balance walking and cat balance in particular. I'll also hit those low underbars a bit if I can. No matter what, I'm making time for muscle ups, they're improving rapidly and I want to keep it that way. Need to make sure I warm up thoroughly and stay focused. I feel like I might finally be getting the hang of a lot of this, and I'll have to push hard to keep improving.

[Chris Eddington]

Saturday was good, no major pitfalls and I gained some ground on a few rough spots (distance on vaults, double kongs, tic tacs). The workout fulfilled my fitness goal for march as well. I finished the full Angie in about 17 minutes, considering I was shooting for ten on the half, I think I can count this. New goal for April: complete a benchmark for time every week. I'm feeling pretty good lately, making progress almost everywhere. Particularly in the fitness area, I can remember a time about half a year ago when an Angie sounded like a physical impossibility to me.

Also, my Tae Kwon Do master instructor came to meet us on wednesday last week, and he had a lot to say that really got me thinking, and more importantly, motivated. He told us that the main reason people are praising UFC and other MMA outfits while treating us like jokes is because most of us HAVE become jokes. Martial arts systems like ours have become day care for rowdy kids and cash raking schemes. MMA is a lot of things, but one thing it is for sure is serious, those people are doing what they do with the knowledge that they're going to do it full contact and full committment later on. Master Roena pointed out that it wasn't always that way, long before MMA blew up, he was fighting full contact and bare knuckle, serious business. I know he's right, if I'm going to benefit from ANYTHING that I'm doing, I need to treat it seriously, as if it were the real deal at any given moment. If there's anything I couldn't stand being, it's a joke.

Wow, that was long winded, but this is my spot. That's what's its here for right?

[Chris Eddington]

The weekend was unproductive, I couldn't go to COPK Saturday because of a training for work (six hours in the northwest part of Fort Collins with the snow and wind, bad times). To make things worse I have to do another one this weekend, which means I won't be able to go the APEX opening like I wanted to. Snow kept me from doing much of anything the rest of the weekend, hopefully things will be better this time. Not accomplishing much lately, a big part of that has to do with something hanging over me at the gym Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's eating at my thoughts constantly, and, regardless of the outcome, I need to deal with it tomorrow (Tuesday). I feel more committed putting it in writing, so I'm promising myself here that I will deal with this tomorrow, no matter how terrified I am of confronting it.

[Chris Eddington]

Completed Bertha as my benchmark for the week, also did a 20 minute EDT workout on Sunday. 10 min Pullups and dips followed by 10 min tension kicks and squats. I still haven't been that productive, tiring weekend with some baggage to boot. But it's over now so I'm going to keep my focus forward. This week I'll hit another benchmark and try to get over the baggage hump to make Tuesday and Thursday work again.

Two things that have improved lately: - Muscleups are getting MUCH smoother, I still lag a bit in the   pullup->dip transition phase, but they're at least 5 times faster than when I started, and I can rep them from a dead hang (albeit not a staggering amount). Hopefully I can take the small pause out of that transition soon.

- The workouts I've been running for my Tae Kwon Do class have been going really well, they're benefitting me a lot both martial arts and Parkour-wise. The rest of the class is enjoying it as well, everyone's enjoying the challenge and measurable improvements. It's even raising interest in Parkour down there. So three cheers for cross-training.

[Chris Eddington]

I've managed to complete one of my original goals. I've finally got the muscle up where I wanted it. I can perform one from a kip and a dead hang with almost no pause. They're still not perfect, but I'm not doing the struggle up anymore. I'm going to continue working with them as often as possible to get that transition speed up.

I'm going to try and focus heavily on precision and rail balance going forward, I'm definitely not where I want to be in this area.

I also need to think about structuring more effective workouts. With summer so close, I'm seeing a major opportunity to make some serious workouts a part of my week. Right now the only days I'm getting a real one are Saturday and Sunday.

I also need to address another major weakness: handstands. Mine are terrible, I've never held one longer than three seconds, most of the time I topple right over, they aren't working. I need to find out what I'm doing wrong.

[Chris Eddington]

The last week or so was pretty decent. Biggest thing for me was finally making a 9 foot broad jump, a goal for a while now, I can't do them consistently by any means, but usually there will be at least one in any set of 8 or 9. I'm going to keep working on them, try to get more consistent. I think doing more ground kongs might have had something to do with reaching the mark. I also managed my first flagpole this past Wednesday, so I'm going to keep working with those. Handstands still aren't good, but I'm getting four to five second holds a bit more consistently then I was before, so I'd like to think that indicates some progress.
I've been managing to effectively complete more COPK workouts lately, getting all the work done in a more timely manner. I'm happy about this, those workouts used to seem insurmountable to me, to say the least. Exercises like muscle-ups and ring dips are coming much easier, and I'm absolutely going to use my summer in Boulder to do more of this kind of conditioning, more often.
Belt test for Tae Kwon Do tomorrow, so I spent yesterday evening working kicks. I'll be doing more tonight, since I don't feel confident with the techniques I need to break with yet.

[Chris Eddington]

A hectic few weeks have passed. Finals are over and I'm done with classes for the semester. I'll still be working, but it will be in Boulder rather then Ft. Collins. So I'm looking forward to making the next three months a chance to really improve in all my areas of interest.

Things that have happened recently: 1) The new workouts I've been running for my Tae Kwon Do group have been well received and are constantly evolving through input from eveyone invovled, and the necessity to increase the difficulty. Our master instructor wants to continue investigation into Crossfit and Parkour to perhaps make a proposal for official integration to the ITF (our governing body).

2) Some areas of difficulty have improved, my broad jumps have gotten better, I can clear much more distance with vaults, and wall-runs and tic-tacs have become much more efficient. My muscle-ups are much smoother, and my climb-ups have gotten better as a result.

3) Some areas of difficulty are still pretty bad. My handstands are still terrible, rail balance and precision jumps are nowhere near where I'd like them to be. Also, I've had a few too many instances of being unable to quite complete a workout. I just wasn't strong enough. I also can never get myself to commit to the at to cat, extremely frusturating.

Goals for the summer (in no particular order): 1) Spend at least 30 minutes a day working with handstands and precision jumps/rail balance.
2) Become able to successfully rep my body weight on the bench press for workouts (my body weight: 145 lbs, current weight I can rep more than 3 times per set: 115 lbs).
3) Get a pair of rings and a weighted vest.
4) Substantially increase the amount of endurance and power exercises I do, in particular: tuck punches, ground kongs, tabata sprints, endurance QM.
5) Find good spots to progress on the cat to cat.
6) Continue to find ways to successfully meld my martial arts training with Parkour.

[Ryan Ford]

nice, you're living in boulder for the summer? i'll be training around here a lot so give me a call sometime.

[Chris Eddington]

Will do, hopefully you can show me some of the good spots around town, so far I've only hit Park Place.