Confessions of an athletic consumerist pig force of social change

[flexagon]

• I bench pressed 100 lb (using dumbbells) on Thursday since I had heisenbug there to help me get them into position, and it was good. Four point something reps.
  
  I'm not allowed to work on backbends for the moment since I went a bit far with my spine on Weds. The extra energy is going into hip flexor stretches. Bend backwards, you stupid hips! And rotate out, too, and be willing to move to the side and stuff! Well, they must be doing okay since I did get into bound half lotus on both sides Saturday in the gym, although on the left side I'm relying a lot on shoulder flexibility to get the foot. In other news, I can now sort of jump backwards from firefly pose to chaturanga, although I still land with my feet way apart because I don't have time to pull them together in midair. Jumping is probably the wrong way to think of it -- it's more of an attempt to snap yourself straight before hitting the floor, while slowing the inevitable fall with hands and back. (For what it's worth, I think of my regular jump back to chaturanga in this way and I'm one of only a couple people in the studio who land silently.)
  
  I find this page on a progression to press handstands quite interesting, thanks nevers, although I am nowhere close to their step #1 (straddle-up) and can already do their step #2 (press headstand), which makes me feel abnormal. I tried a few press headstands with my head on an aerobic step today (step #3) and it went nicely enough... the step with one pair of risers is challenging but doable. With two sets of risers I can't quite press, but if I cheat and jump myself there I can press from that to a handstand (against the wall). Fun!



• Fruity Cheerios are a bad idea. I'll "whole grain" you, you people who don't say a word about oats being the first ingredient in regular Cheerios and corn being the first ingredient in this crap. Like we don't eat enough corn-derived food already. :(



• I can't help it... it still drives me crazy to go to the gym, be the only woman (or sometimes one of two) in the free weight area, then walk back toward the locker room and see all the women in that women-only room. Helloooooo ladies! You are creating the imbalance! Come out!



• After years of sending me catalogs with no luck, Tiffany's has managed to seriously tempt me; I think I might buy either these classy earrings or these more funky ones. (If I bought both I might have to consider myself a bad person. But they're both so pretty!)



• Yesenia, the fishmonger who I loaned $100 to in August, has paid back $16.53 of her loan. Eeeeee, the kiva thing is working!! Also, Kiva is finally 501c3 now, which means that they can be externally audited (good for reassuring those who think it's a scam). In September few of the loans appealed to me and they were begging for a flat-screen monitor to be used in setting up the first-ever Kiva kiosk in a popular retail store, so I bought them a used one. Nothing about that on their blogs yet, but whatever, it'll happen.

Comments

[nevers.livejournal.com]

the orchid drop earrings are pretty amazing.

i really recommend workingon jumping up to a hs through a straddle. it's a really useful skill. and i found the elevated headstand presses REALLY useful. my next step after that (aside from doing a LOT of presses with a spot) was to work on jumping up to a straddle and lowering down really slow. and then pressing up with my feet on a step -- you probably saw all my videos of that.

[flexagon]

they really, really are. sigh, swoon. i think i'll go see them in person and then sigh some more.

I am not very close at all to jumping up through straddle to handstand, unfortunately. hell, I can't even tuck up anymore, which for a little while i could... wait, i just went to the wall and did one but the point is it's not consistent. anyway, i was just thinking about your old videos of straddling/tucking up onto platforms and wondering where the strength of your jumps was coming from. what I didn't say in my post: headstands were okay, but for handstands I couldn't even KICK up onto the aerobics step, even with no risers, and I felt pretty bad about that. :(

when i see you in philly maybe you can spot me and tell me what i'm doing wrong!

(after working on the wall again and doing 2 more successful tuckups) here is my latest possible insight on doing tuck-ups: the feet have to propel me forward, it's my shoulders and core that translate the forward motion into rotation, thus pushing me vertical. what do you think? do you feel like that?

[nevers.livejournal.com]

hmm. i don't think of any forward motion in tuck-ups and straddle-ups. you should start with your shoulders directly over your hands, so you just have to get your hips up (which means slightly forward, i spose) and then your legs on top of them. i really just think of jumping UP.

i think straddle-ups are EASIER because your feet stay roughly in the same vertical plane the whole time.

[flexagon]

hmmm... kay, thanks, your impressions are always very useful to me. I remain very aware of the forward component of the hip motion though. As for shoulders, in yoga we jump up from a short downward dog, so I am used to having to move them too. it's probably worth experimenting with getting my shoulders right over wrists to begin with, thanks, I will try it that way very soon. :)

as for straddle-ups being easier, I hadn't thought of the feet staying in the same plane, but still, they are not easier for me. as a side note, sometimes our more impressive yoga teacher pikes up, which is probbly the worst of both worlds in terms of difficulty but looks pretty cool.

[nevers.livejournal.com]

yeah, piking up is lots harder and so much fun!
i think yogis are crazy for not starting with their shoulders over their hands. i mean, i understand that it's useful to be able to go from down dog if you're doing a vinyasa but if you want to really learn handstands, forget that.

[flexagon]

tried this (shoulders starting over hands) last night. The first time I went up surprisingly easily -- after that it felt too unfamiliar and I couldn't get it. but it has promise!

[nevers.livejournal.com]

p.s. funny, my watch is frank gehry, too. i haven't been that interested in his architecture from what i've seen, but i guess i like his wearables :)