Haiku is too easy

[flexagon]

A rather boring cold October day.
I should have worn my jacket. Now I see.
I told the cats don't shed until Friday
But do not think they're listening to me.

At work, I didn't get much done today.
I'm lonely now that all my friends have quit.
A little progress would help to allay
this feeling that I'm sort of faking it.

Then yoga -- by a strange coincidence
we worked on straddle-ups in class. And though
I meant to post of something else for once
I'm working on them still, and now you know.

All day I loved and hated life, in turns.
I want to quiet my brain, but still it churns.

Comments

[nevers.livejournal.com]

so how are your straddle-ups?
i am getting pretty close to a back walkover. i can kick over from a bridge about 1 in 5 or maybe 1 in 3 tries. when i try to connect them though i tend to freak out and bail out, even though it's technically easier to do them connected. it would help if i had a spot to work with me every day.

[flexagon]

errrr... elusive? yeah, that's the word. :)

however, I've got heisenbug spotting me on them every night now and I think that really helps. I can feel that he doesn't have to spot me much. I'm still thinking of the separate pieces of the straddle-up as quite separate things: shift weight, then jump and try hard to push through the calves and roll the lower back and press through the shoulders. it doesn't feel like one integrated motion yet.

a spot on the back walkover helps ENORMOUSLY. all they have to do is push your butt over gently and not let you stop. Can h not spot you?

[nevers.livejournal.com]

hmm... i don't usually have any energy left for acro when i get home in the evenings, and i also don't usually keep our living area clear enough to do a back walkover in it.

equinox doesn't seem to have a member bulletin board for finding an acro partner :(

[flexagon]

oh, should I be working on acro when I'm not dead tired? ;)

sadly, I do in fact work on it after my weight workouts at the gym, and after my regular yoga classes otherwise. this is probably stupid and contributing to my slow progress, but damn it, I hate to drop the weights. hate to drop anything. want to do it all.

[nevers.livejournal.com]

haha. if you can do stuff when you're dead tired, more power to you!! i just feel way too tired to trust myself. also usually by evening my shoulders hurt... and they do not like bridges one bit.

i hear you on not wanting to drop anything.

what kind of weights stuff are you most into? are there specific muscle groups or lifts? just curious since i don't do that stuff at all and don't feel any lack (that is not wholly true but i'll spare you an essay)

[flexagon]

the weight stuff I'm most into is... well, geez, I'm pretty boring when you get down to it. I do almost entirely free weights and/or body weight now, to make sure I use my stabilizer muscles (the only machine I still use is to give me any mechanical advantage is the lat pulldown machine, to warm up for pullups). Dumbbells instead of a bar whenever possible for the same reason. I hit all the major muscle groups. I have upper-body and lower-body days now, but haven't felt the need / found the time to split it up beyond that. Most things I do 3 sets of.

upper body:

lat pulldowns, then actual pullups
military presses
bench presses
bicep curls
side bends with weight in 1 hand (I always laugh when I see people doing it with a dumbell in each hand... don't they realize that defeats the purpose?)
abs, if I think of it... usually leg raises at the dip station, or just holding a low plank for 60 seconds or whatever. I know lots and lots of ab exercises. If at the dip station, try an L-sit.
triceps I used to do dips, but now yoga hits my triceps plenty hard.

lower body:
squats... 5 sets, light, more, more, MORE, light.
hamstring curls
back extensions, aka hungry caterpillars because it looks to me like a caterpillar waving its body around looking for food :)
calf presses
more leg raises at the dip station

then, after either of these I will stretch and do a few handstands.

[nevers.livejournal.com]

very interesting. why bench presses as opposed to pushups? also, do you do bicep curls to help your pullups, or for definition? also curious about the hamstring curls.

the one thing i think would help me with weights is squats. i used to have such powerful legs when i was dancing, and i've lost out that. i am SO RIDICULOUSLY SORE from pushing off for and landing a dozen front handsprings on tuesday. and stronger legs will also help me as a base. but squats, ugh, i just can't get myself to do them.

haha, clearly I could talk about this for a long time

[flexagon]

bench presses: they are heavier/harder than pushups, at least for the pecs. Pushups are good ab work, and obviously a more whole body exercise, but I like the heavy, heavy weights squishing me into the bench. I like knowing my chest is strong.

bicep curls are just for having strong biceps, not for any other cool move -- some of my friends call them beach muscles, but it's funny, they never say that when i'm helping them move boxes in and out of their apartments. :)

hamstring curls... well, I have heard that they're not as useful for other activities as other exercises that use the hamstring to move the hip joint. I like them though. They've made my knees feel more stable in positions where I'm holding a leg out behind me and straight, which used to (and sometimes still do) feel sort of dangerous/wobbly around the knee. If I were strong enough to do glute ham naturals instead, I probably would; but I'm not, and I do back extensions, and yoga, both of which use the hamstring to move the hip.

I highly recommend squats. Warning though: they felt awful to me for four months straight before finally, the seventeenth week, I loved them. So, only if you plan to stick with them. Also, they don't do a damn thing for jumps since they teach you to move fastest in the middle of the movement and slow again at the end.