Scattered mental energy is in evidence here, I know.

[flexagon]

• I keep thinking of different ways that various things in my life fit perfectly into my energy quiz results. For instance, the whole minimalism thing. Paring down possessions this year took physical and emotional energy, which I generally have, and has resulted in my stuff taking up way less mental energy (which I often don't have). So, put in those terms, no wonder it worked for me. I may still do more of it.



• I replaced a worn-out plastic pig keyring with this pewter frog keyring this morning. WAY BETTER.



• I dreamed that my first lover was actually also my fraternal twin, and we'd been separated at birth.



• Recently I've read in several places about "bucket lists". I don't like them... it feels like the focus is on entirely the wrong thing. I want lists of things to do while alive, not "before I kick the bucket".



• There's a good article in Wired about the effects of stress, and on which kinds of stress are the worst for you. It says, among other things, "the most dangerous kinds of stress don’t feel that stressful. It’s not the late night at the office that’s going to kill us; it’s the feeling that nothing can be done." But this is individual too -- what happens when one person feels like a job affords them plenty of control, but another who has the same job feels stifled?



• bluechromis pointed out that I'm not working on my press handstand as much as I should be, given my current annoyance about not being able to do it. It's true. So I'm doing more stuff... part of what I did is order some books containing handstand drills from here. Isn't that just like me? I always think that anything is possible if and only if I have the right books, even though in this case part of me thinks I will never do a press handstand.

Comments

[nevers.livejournal.com]

i love that having a pewter frog keyring comes right after minimalism ;). and yeah, the phrase “bucket list” is awful. it's only popular because there was a movie with that name.

i loved that stress article. it was like the stress version of the pain book i read recently, in that both addressed how BAD they are for you.

how is your flexibility, as far as limiting your press? rebecca told laura not to even bother training her press until her straddle and her pancake (straddle + forward bend) were better.

[flexagon]

Hey, the keychain was appropriate enough... it's a perfect one in, one out upgrade. :) I had no idea there was a movie of that name. IMDB confirms it and says it's from 2007, so why is this awful phrase hitting my eardrums now?

My straddle/pancake is definitely limiting my press, but I'm more flexible than some guys I see pressing. I know it's a combination of strength, flexibility and technique, and I don't have the same upper body strength and the same center of gravity. But I'm cloooooose, darn it, so at least in theory I'm just working on everything. I don't know if daily straddle stretching has a place in this program.

Any advice? (I remember for a while you could lift your feet from the ground, though it was not up to a hs. But I can't lift my feet from the ground.)

[nevers.livejournal.com]

i hear you on the one in one out thing. and i'm not criticizing your decision to have a decorative item on your keychain, but it strikes me as funny because i like my keychain minimal: just keys and ring.

lord, presses. even though i've "had" mine for years i still struggle with it so much. the technique is so specific and easy to lose. but also i can talk about training them forever :).

the best technique advice i can give without seeing yours is telling you what i always think about: ribs in and up, opening your shoulders as much as you can before you even start to try to lift the legs, using your abs to lift as much as you can. upper abs and lower ribs really draw in and up. and as you lift your toes you want them to come in closer to your body, to deepen the fold of your hip crease (i know yours aren't coming off yet but really emphasize this in your headstand presses).

strength advice: for the abs, skin the cats (your arms and back work totally differently, but your abs are lifting your butt and legs in the same way)(make your your hips lower until they're equal height as your shoulders, if not lower, or work up to this goal). for the arms and shoulders, you want to improve your flexion strength, because that's what you're doing as you press up -- flexing from starting position (shoulders slightly closed) to straight handstand (shoulders completely open). elbows-in pushups (if you can do more than ten, make them more challenging by lifting your feet or putting a weight plate on your upper back or wearing a weighted vest or whatever) and/or handstand pushups (still the best use of the smith rack...), straight-arm front raises, whatever you like to do for your pecs.

training and drills:

• press walks


• elevated headstand presses (with that fancy yoga lift, i approve!)


• hands on floor, feet elevated (are you working on this? how high do you have to elevate your feet to be able to lift up to a hs?) and really really working your good technique


• in any of the above, if you seem stuck at a level and can't progress to a lower level, add ankle weights, i think they are an amazing training tool.


• training tuck presses too in the same way as above -- even though they are harder they will still inform your body.


• tuck-ups (or kick-ups) and negative-press down as slow as you can, try to end with the tips of toes just kissing the floor. if balance is a problem maybe you can do this with your back to the wall? not sure


• get up however you like, lower your legs as far as you can in the press and still be able to come back up to a handstand. is your balance good enough for this kind of drill? also do this with tucks and pikes. i used to kick up to a hs, try to lower my straight legs to parallel to the floor and lift them back up -- i think that was my goal right around the time i was initially training my press.

[nevers.livejournal.com]

p.s. what do you mean by "this program?" if you mean your program to improve your press i'd say YES YES YES it definitely has a place. even with my flexibility, there is always room for me to use it more in my press. that points to the fact that your active flexibility is important, not just passive. do this exercise to increase your active pancake flexibility:

Seated Straddle Leg Lifts. - Sit in a straddle position, lean forward slightly and place your hands on the floor. Lift your legs up and back as far as possible. The farther forward your hands are placed, the more difficult the exercise will be.

but of course the more passive flexibility you have first, the farther your active flexibility can take you. i don't know any women who are less flexible than i am and can do straight-arm presses. not to say you can't be that person. but many of the lava gals aren't as flexible as i am and have struggled with their press for years.

[flexagon]

Seated Straddle Leg Lifts.

Ah yes, we do them. They are a fast track to a crampy psoas muscle, but I was slowly starting to like them. Hearing you say they're effective is all I need: I'm going to start doing them more than 1x/week.

[flexagon]

Thanks so much for the detailed writeup. :)

Just did a skin-the-cat to be sure -- yep, I can totally get hips lower than shoulders. So I can start to do those in sets. I've been doing various anterior deltoid things lately and they're helping, I think.

Here's something sad: I can't yet find ANY level from which, feet at that level and hands on floor, I can press. I know it's essentially not possible that that level doesn't exist, because I do drill pressing down as far as I can (leaning on a cheese mat on the wall) and coming back up. But, yeah, haven't found it. *blush*

My balance is also not good enough for negative presses in the middle of the room. (Bad, huh, you didn't take nearly so long to learn to find your balance.) I can do them with the yoga lift or with my head touching something.

When I settle on any kind of routine I'll post it for sure.

[nevers.livejournal.com]

interesting, that tells me that there's something off with your technique. have you done presses with a person spotting you, and gotten feedback on your technique?

this weird thing just happened where i was picturing myself spotting you on a press when you are in nyc later this year and i immediately had an image of what you are doing wrong. i could be totally wrong but i think you are letting your shoulders sink or collapse too far forward. you want to keep your shoulder angle as open as possible from the beginning, and think of opening them more and more as you press (this action seems to start at my fingertips, which press down into the floor to prevent my shoulders from coming forward, actively pushing my shoulders back in the direction of the heels of my hands). and you want to push the floor away so that your shoulders go all the way up to touch your ears, so you're lengthening your side body as much as possible. one line of energy goes from your hands up through to your waist so that section of your body can work as a solid piece, not a piece that hinges at the shoulders. it makes sense that if you can press with the yoga lift (where your shoulders are out of the picture) and with your head touching something (where you are allowed to lean forward as much as you need to), that your shoulder use is the missing piece.

how is your shoulder flexibility? that might be holding you back. the more open your shoulders are the easier all handstand stuff is, including presses. if you're lying on your back, can you touch the backs of your hands to the floor over your head with you arms straight and your ribs down and in, no arch in your back? if not, i prescribe daily shoulder stretching.

i didn't take so long to find my balance because i did a million handstand-kick-up-balance-attempts a day in between cubicles at work, twisting out of the overbalances.