Topic: revkon's journal

[revkon]

hey everyone,
i've known about the training journals sub-forum ever since i joined the apk forums, but for the longest time i didn't realize that people actually put useful comments in other's journals.  for this reason, i've been inspired to start my own online journal. 

i've meant to keep a training journal for the longest time but always lacked the motivation to update.  i figured this online setting would be the most convenient and honest way to log my training.  there's no need to open and save documents - just continue going to the apk website everyday, and now i have the knowledge that someone out there will be (virtually) keeping me accountable to my training. 

a little bit about me: i'm a 20-some year old student at berklee college of music in boston, ma.  i commute about an hour to school so i rarely find much free time during my day (it usually goes from 7AM - midnite).  the only big chunks of time that i can dedicate solely to parkour are the occasional saturday afternoon.  i've taken a liking to the MIT campus and will usually opt to train there when i have a free saturday.  other than that, most of my training has to occur during small (under one hour) blocks of time - usually right after i get back from school and before i cook dinner. 

physical history: i've been practicing parkour since march 2006.  so far i've experienced large leaps of progress during the summers because of more free time.  i wish that i were able to make the same kind of progress during the school year, but it really doesn't seem possible to me. 

i used to run (and not stretch) a lot during high school, and this made my calves very much prone to cramping.  during the summer, i religiously stretched all my leg muscles, but with the onset of school i have definitely been slacking. 

shortly after i started parkour, i missed a step while running along a curb and hurt my left ankle badly (my toes landed on something much higher than my heel with a lot of force).  being the ever-impatient and foolish one, i didn't let it heal properly and never even gave rehab a thought. 

currently, i am pretty happy with my eating.  i was on the typical college diet of ramen, cookies, and chips until the winter of 2005.  disappointed that i couldn't overcome a fitness plateau, i came to the conclusion that my diet was my weakest link.  i turned my diet around and ate paleolithic for six months.  after six months of amazing fat loss and digestion problems, i switched to the warrior diet. during that time, i came across the eating articles on trickstutorials and dogentricks.  and now, four months later, i've been able to mix-and-match the elements of my research and experience to create a set of my own dietary rules and an eating schedule that work well for me. 

interests: my interest in parkour has been on the decline since the summer.  not being able to find time to go out and run has left me feeling like an inadequate traceur.  i guess i lose some confidence in my skills when i'm not able to practice them frequently.  however, this is something i really want to change.  i want to get fired up about parkour again, even though i may only be able to fit in two or three dedicated practice sessions per month. 

because i usually only have an hour of free time during the weekdays, i've found that tricking is a good way to fill them up.  i'm still a total beginner at it, but it has really opened my eyes up to how inflexible i am. 

one of the driving forces behind my interest in parkour has been my interest in strength feats.  beastskills is one of my favorite websites and i've been working strength feats for longer than i've practiced parkour. 

goals: i apologize in advance that some of these are tricking goals and not parkour-related.  i'm going to divide this next section up into goals and a to-do list.  goals are what i wish to achieve, the to-do list will contain items that will hopefully help me achieve my goals.  i'll post more detailed and current progress on these later. 

- land running precision jumps
- tornado kick with an unbent leg
- butterfly twist
- planche
- one-arm chin-up
- 60-second v-sit
- bar muscle-up from hanging start
- iron cross
- one-arm push-up
- backflip
- wallflip

to-do list: i'm open to any advice for this part - whether you think there is a more effective exercise i could be doing, have an alternate one you want to suggest or think i am doing something useless - lay it on me. 

- stretch leg muscles
- re-watch titanium ankles, design rehab routine

current routine and thoughts: or what i've done since my last post and how i feel about it.  i'll try to include this section, the to-do list (with things i've done crossed off), and applicable goaals in all my posts.  for now i will only discuss what i've done since last week.  i'm not sure how specific i need to be for this section in order to receive good feedback, so let me know. 

- tricking practice (about every other day, at about 7 PM)
   > kicking practice (inside/outside crescents, front, side, back; both legs; start low and slowly work up to max height)
   > butterfly kick practice (until it feels it won't get any better)
   > handstand holds (about 5 seconds at best, i can do some walking.  trying to figure out how to recover when i fall back into starting position)
- strength practice (maybe 3 or 4 times this week, 8 AM)
   > l-sit hold (i think my best has been 30-40 seconds, but i haven't been timing recently.  1 rep)
   > tuck planche hold (best hold has been 12 seconds, but i don't usually time now.  this skill has been at a plateau forever.  1 rep)
   > l-sit hold with wide grip (increased the distance between paralettes to three heel-to-toe footsteps to train iron cross.  max hold is about 3 seconds.  1 rep)
- bar practice (twice this week, afternoons)
   > one-arm chin-up practice (pull up with baseball grip, release forward-facing hand and hold.  left arm hold is probably 1 second.  right arm hold is at least 3 seconds.  1 rep)
   > pull-up practice (mix and match finger/hand combos.  3f+3f, hand+2f, vary fingers etc.  until "pleasantly" exhausted.  1-3 reps of each)
   > muscle-up practice (from jumping start, 2 and 1-leg jumps.  until "pleasantly" exhausted.  1-2 reps)

sorry this is so long.  it's my first time logging anything in this much detail but i hope to get some good feedback on how to improve.  i'll try to read some of the other journals when i have time so i can give back to the community.  if you have similar goals to mine or have achieved some of the things i haven't, feel free to contact me (aim: revkon; email: bchin@berklee.net).  or i guess you can just reply to this post   =P
-ben

[Steven Low]

Hey, check out the link in my sig which will give you a good background on training knowledge.

I've done most of the goals you have already that aren't tricking so I can help you out if you have any questions after reading it. Either AIM me or post up a question in the General Fitness forum (preferable so other people can learn too) -- and make sure to search cause your question might have already been answered.

[Jumpin Jiminy]

I will be difficult to reach all of your goals at the same time; focus on one you would like to accomplish first by including it in every warmup.  I wish I could do a fraction of your list; maybe someday.  I look forward to reading your progress and welcome aboard!

[Gregg]

Ben --

I have the same time problem. What helped me: I've got a couple breaks during the work day - 15 minutes here, 15 minutes there. I'll try to squeeze in as much of the APK or CrossFit Workout as I can.

Take advantage of transit... if you have 5 minutes to walk from point A to point B, find a path that lets you throw in a couple pull-ups, or a staircase you can go up 2 or 3 steps at a time. Throw in a handful of squats. Mix it up. You may even find some places to do minor PK - handrails, small precisions, etc. If you have to carry stuff, look at it this way: There may be times when you have to flee somewhere with your instrument, pack, etc. Might as well train that way a little.

Sitting time: There are lots of slow stretches you can do while sitting at a desk. With a little practice it won't distract you or the people around you. Toe, foot, heel, ankle extension, flex, and rotation. You can use one leg to provide resistance for the other.

If your performance classes are like our practices, there are a lot of times when you're standing around waiting a minute for someone else to plug in, tune up, or rehearse a part. Most stretches have you hold a pose 15 sec, release, then hold a slightly more stretched version for 15 sec. As long as you're paying attention, not delaying others, and not being too much of a distraction, you should be able to get in all your upper body, your hips, and some of your torso stretches/ light exercises.

Commute: Don't exercise and drive. If you're a passenger, go for it.

All this won't turn you into David Belle, but it will help keep you from turning into a marshmallow.

[revkon]

goals: forgot to mention that i have no timeline for reaching these.  don't care when i get them as long as i'm making improvement.  i'm putting >'s next to goals that i emphasized this past week. 

- land running precision jumps
- tornado kick with an unbent leg
- butterfly twist
> planche
> one-arm chin-up
> 60-second v-sit
- bar muscle-up from hanging start
- iron cross
- one-arm push-up
- backflip
- wallflip
- side split
- front splits
- kip-up

current routine and thoughts: this week was hardly routine, but here's how it went:
- paralette practice (2-3 times, in the morning)
   > l-sit hold (started timing again, getting about mid-20s seconds, 1 rep)
   > tuck planche hold (started timing again, about 10-12 seconds wavering between tuck and advanced tuck)
adding another set of tucke planche holds reduced my time to 3 seconds so i decided to restrict it to once a day.  i tried straddle planches but can't maintain straight arms so i will also hold off on those until i can get better form.

- bar practice (only once this week)
   > one-arm chin-up practice (isometric holds at the top, right arm gets a few seconds, left arm gets none, 2 reps)
   > pull-up practice (1 hand + 2-3 fingers, mix-and-match, 3 reps)
my finger work was disastrous this week.  i did 2 reps with right hand + index and middle finger on left hand, decided to switch the fingers to middle and ring.  right when i switched fingers, they gave out and my two poor fingers were violently pulled outward.  my left hand can't grip anything without slight pain now.  this happened today (wednesday 8/10). 

- hiking! (once)
   > hiked mount monadnock in new hampshire (about a 2 hour hike up, 1 hour down, 1 rep   =P)
definitely the highlight of my week.  i went up the spellman trail, which is monadnock's steepest trail.  i raced up the steepest parts as fast as i possibly could and it was ridiculously fun.  i started getting a bad cramp in my left calf about 4/5 of the way up so i took it easy for the rest of the hike.  besides the hiking, i also climbed a tree, balanced on a thin log, pulled numerous flags and half-flags for friends.  lots of good stretching happened afterwards. 

- stretching/rehab (almost every nite)
   > stretching back, and all leg muscles, including splits
   > did some shin raises (i think that's what they're called), until i feel a slight burn

to-do list:
- re-watch titanium ankles
- work on a different goal

definitely didn't re-watch titanium ankles, so i'm putting that back on the list.  i'm going away this weekend so it may not happen this week, but hopefully it will.  i've realized how little i know about rehab and that i'm not quite as immune to injury as i thought i was.  if you have any thoughts on my left hand/wrist let me know. 

i put up the second item on the to-do list to get more variety in my exercise. 

one random question: after the day of hiking, i pulled a half-flag and it really hurt a muscle on the inner part of my thigh (in the upper leg i think).  what muscle is this and why was it hurting so much?

and now some personal replies:
steve: read your article, good stuff, well organized.  i'll probably contact you when schoolwork lets up.  i meant to hit you up on aim this week but school was too busy. 
jjiminy: thanks, and i put some clarification about my goals in this week's post (it should have been in my initial post but i was careless)
btay: good ideas, i'll try to incorporate some of them into my day.  i do the stair thing and occasional vaults while carrying a bag.  it's never anything too ambitious because i don't want to break laptop or anything like that.  generally i hate doing pk while carrying stuff - makes me feel burdened and restricted.  but you make a good point about getting away via clumsy pk versus getting caught. 

i'll try to include an image from my week's training to add some spice, but no guarantees i can do it every week

[revkon]

goals:

- land running precision jumps
- tornado kick with an unbent leg
> butterfly twist
- planche
> one-arm chin-up
- 60-second v-sit
> bar muscle-up from hanging start
- iron cross
- one-arm push-up
- backflip
- wallflip
> side split
> front splits
- kip-up
> flag pull-ups

current routine and thoughts: skipped out on paralette practice this week.  bigger emphasis on parkour training instead. 
- bar practice (2 times this week)
   > more of the usual one-arm chin-up practice.  i think i'm going to put this on hold or try something different because i don't see much improvement
   > muscle-up practice (jumping start, 1 rep at a time with less jump on successive tries until failure to top out)
   > flag practice (holds with adequate rest, tried to move my legs in a circular motion)
i think i might've overdone the flag practice.  my left elbow is a bit sore. 

- tricking practice (once)
   > butterfly kick practice
probably should've skipped this, my form got slightly worse and i still couldn't get the courage to try the twist

- parkour training (one extensive sessioin this week)
   > lots of balance, cat balance on narrow surfaces
   > handstand practice
   > a bit of combo practice (successive vaults, jumps) followed by a roll

- stretching/rehab (just about every nite)
   > stretching back, legs
   > started doing ankle exercises throughout the day, but not often enough
   > my left wrist is no longer sore

to-do list:
- don't push myself to injury
- do more ankle stuff and stretching throughout the day
- work on one-arm push-ups

i did end up watching titanium ankles and now i have a good idea of what exercises to do during my school day.  however, i have to turn it into a habit in order for the rehab to be effective. 

with my recovering elbow, wrist and hand, i should probably take it a bit easier this week.  or at least be careful of those joints.  i'm putting one-arm push-ups down because i haven't worked them in awhile. 

[revkon]

goals:

- land running precision jumps
- tornado kick with an unbent leg
> butterfly twist
> running 360 cats
- planche
> one-arm chin-up
- 60-second v-sit
- bar muscle-up from hanging start
- iron cross
> one-arm push-up
- backflip
> wallflip
- side split
- front splits
> kip-up
- flag pull-ups
> front lever

current routine and thoughts: i wrote this entire post, instinctively hit undo when i made a typo, and my browser crashed.  so this is my second time writing this.  anyways, this week was a mix of good training and lukewarm training. 
- floor practice (2 times this week)
   > advanced tuck and tuck planche holds (1 set, still about 10-14 seconds)
   > one-arm push-up holds at the top (1 set, both arms, i forget what times i got)
   > one-arm push-up attempts (1 set, both arms, very slowly, as low as i could go, but not to collapse)

- bar practice (3-5? times this week, definitely more than usual)
   > one-arm chin-up holds (1 set, right arm only for a few seconds)
   > new pull-ups: hang, l-sit, raise legs, then pull.  like a seated row turned ninety degrees (1-3 sets of 1-3 reps)

- tricking practice (once)
   > kip-ups (watched a new tutorial and tried kipping into a bridge.  still needs some work, but it seems like a good progression)
   > wallflip (resolved to do one, but couldn't muster the courage)

- parkour training (once)
   > rail balance (surprised myself by how well i did, seems like it's hard to lose a sense of balance   =D)
   > cat balance on rail (still have difficulty with this, but improving)
   > kong vaults (increased take-off distance on monkeys, didn't have much energy in general to do countless repetitions)
   > thief vault (made sure i could still do it)
   > dash vault (almost got the courage to do it on a new barrier)
   > stationary cats with rotation (almost got to 360.  definitely broke some fear barriers so i was very happy.  ended my training for the day on this high note)

to-do list:
- stretch
- ankle exercises
- continue new pull-ups
- more cats with rotation
- backflip, wallflip or dash vault

i slacked on stretching and ankle rehab so that's going back up on the list.  i did the push-ups from last week but i didn't feel much improvement.  the rest of the stuff on this week's list is what i had fun with, and the things that still scare me.  no picture because my camera broke from water damage (miraculously it just started working again today!)

[revkon]

goals:

- land running precision jumps
- tornado kick with an unbent leg
- butterfly twist
- running 360 cats
- planche
- one-arm chin-up
> 60-second v-sit
> bar muscle-up from hanging start
- iron cross
- one-arm push-up
> backflip
- wallflip
> side split
- front splits
- kip-up
- flag pull-ups
- front lever

current routine and thoughts: what a hectic week, maybe this weekly update thing is a bit too much for me.  or maybe it's a good thing. 
- bar practice (2 times this week)
   > l-sit holds (as many sets for 60 total seconds, i got 28s+21s+10s+1s, the next time was 37s+23s)

- metcon (2 times this week)
   > tabata intervals of burpee - pull-ups (4 reps of 45s on, 15s off)
   > tabata intervals of burpee - jump muscle-ups (4 reps of 45s on, 15s off.  didn't make it through the third interval, probably shouldn't have done metcon twice in a week)

- tricking practice (once this week)
   > backflip attempts (didn't go so well.  couldn't commit and landed once on my butt, once on my head)

to-do list:
- stretch!
- ankle rehab
- continue l-sit holds
- continue metcon
- try to fit in more 360 cat practice

definitely have been slacking with stretching and ankle rehab.  i'm going to try to make progress on the things that have been going well.  i have a pretty active weekend coming up so i may not be able to get the last 3 items in. 

[revkon]

goals:

- land running precision jumps
- tornado kick with an unbent leg
- butterfly twist
- running 360 cats
- planche
- one-arm chin-up
> 60-second v-sit
- bar muscle-up from hanging start
- iron cross
- one-arm push-up
- backflip
- wallflip
> side split
- front splits
- kip-up
- flag pull-ups
- front lever

current routine and thoughts: another busy week, i did hardly anything in terms of training.  the rain didn't help with that either. 
- bar practice (once)
   > l-sit holds (as many sets for 60 total seconds, 44s+16s)

to-do list:
- stretch
- continue l-sit holds
- anything else

stretching was a little better this week, but i still skipped out on a lot of stuff.  i'd like to be a little more active this weekend so i'm leaving the "anything else" to be pretty open ended.  i'll be happy as long as i do something.

[revkon]

goals:

- land running precision jumps
- tornado kick with an unbent leg
- butterfly twist
- running 360 cats
- planche
- one-arm chin-up
> 60-second v-sit
> bar muscle-up from hanging start
- iron cross
- one-arm push-up
- backflip
- wallflip
- side split
- front splits
- kip-up
- flag pull-ups
- front lever

current routine and thoughts: almost went to sleep before updating   =P   another mostly inactive week, here's what i did:
- bar practice (four times this week)
   > l-sit holds (as many sets for 60 seconds, 45s+15s)
   > pull-ups (returned to gtg pull-ups.  2 sets this week.  6 reps.  4 reps with a 5-10 [i think] lb backpack)
   > jumping muscle-ups (i did a lot, one at a time, over a span of 10? minutes i think.  stopped short of failure)

- floor practice (once)
   > finger-tip push-up holds (60 seconds at top of movement)

- ankle rehab (once)
   > calf raises (did it while waiting for the bus one morning)

to-do list:
- stretch
- expand finger-tip strength routine

still slacking on stretching.  i think i'm giving the one-arm pull-ups a rest and going back to GTG pull-ups.  try to increase ankle exercises still.  time to sleep, this is later than i wanted to stay up but i'm glad i did this hurried update. 

[revkon]

i haven't posted in this log for awhile because i didn't have internet access at home and recently i was busy with moving.  i highly value a training log of some sort and i've decided that an online one is not the easiest way for me to keep track of my training.  instead, i'm switching over to a paper-and-pen chart. 

my chart has four columns: time, date, exercise, and time/reps.  it has been working well for me for the past 3 days and i will definitely update this log when i accomplish something significant. 


my workout log and my new room (with plenty of floor space for handstand and paralette work)

[revkon]

something significant happened that i felt like sharing.  i now mostly keep a mental log and post significant items on my blog (http://aphtyr.avara.net).  the following is copied from my blog. 

i have two videos and one story to share:
first up is my current progress on the muscle-up.  i still need a slight swing, but i'm working on eliminating it. 

http://aphtyr.avara.net/tmp/08sep/mup.mov (4.4 MB)

the next video is a highlight of my flow practice which concluded an unusually rigorous day of training (warm-up, sprint, flags, planche practice, handstand walking, sprint, muscle-ups, sprint, ring training, sprint, cat grab training, and finally flow practice).  i ended with a nasty fall because i was too ambitious and unrealistic about the day's training goals and my body's capability to complete them.  between the last two clips, there was about a 2 minute window where i patiently waited out the pain in order to stand up again (fun stuff).

as a side note, because i'm a very cautious traceur in my practice methods and i don't videotape that often, i consider this accident video to be "rare" footage.   =P

http://aphtyr.avara.net/tmp/08sep/fall.mov (10.6 MB)

so what happened?
i was getting tired, and my vision was beginning to blur.  however, i wanted to add an extra move into my sequence.  combined with a weaker-feeling jump into the vault, i should have known to stop, but i went through with it out of sheer determination.

i think the lesson learned here is pretty obvious, and i gotta remember that there's no rush to achieve my goals.  better to progress slowly and not hit a benchmark than to risk losing the ability to train for awhile.  i should be able to walk with minimal pain tomorrow, but this is certainly one of those rare moments where i could have prevented a potential injury and chose not to.

photo here: http://aphtyr.avara.net/tmp/08sep/snap.png