Thursday, October 2, 2014

One Arm Elbow Lever progress / How to progress in your training on shitty days


Training these past few months has been quite a wreck for me, with what seems to be: Low energy, long lasting DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), decrease strength in some skills. I manage to pull through, with proper rest and just stay moving,  going easier on my training; working on greasing the groove instead of up the intensity.

One Arm Elbow Lever 

One of my current Side Goals that i've been working on, i'm stuck around using a few fingers from my other hand as assistance. I'm twisting my body around trying to find that sweet spot where i can balance on the elbow. On the video, i'm on my index finger and thumb, on the last few sec i could go on only my thumb, although my hands are quite shaky.

How to get started on training One Arm Elbow Lever

If you want to work towards the One Arm Elbow Lever as well, i suggest working on two arms first. If you can do 4 sets of 20 secs with both arms, i would say you are ready to try this.

Your hands should be rotated out, fingers pointing towards the side. The supporting hand, can be on full hand on the ground, and slowly lift each finger off as you progress. DONT RUSH IT, people try to just quickly take their supporting hand off the ground, jumping right into it, instead slowly peel off your fingers one at a time, till you find that balance.

How should you train on days you just feel like shit/tired/off?

On days where you don't feel good, for whatever reason, its better to step back on a progression or 2, OR you could stay on the same progression, be work with much lower reps with more sets.

So for example you are working on a Front Lever progression, usually you would do 4 sets of 10s holds, with Straddle legs, on those shitty days you prob have a hard time, so do 5 sets of 5s instead. Or you could step back a progression, which would be the Flat Tuck, and do your 4 sets of 10s there.

It's always important to stay moving, whether its a light jog, some yoga, or just doing some boring cardio on the bike. The point is to get that momentum going, before you know it, you are doing a full workout, and you will be performing like a beast.

You can apply this to pretty much any kind of training you do, perhaps your life in general