Adarq.org

WEIGHT: ???
SORENESS: glutes a little
ACHES/INJURIES: none
MENTAL STATE: good

- warm up
row x 1 min; joint circles; row x 1 min; walking sprint mobility stuff

- row x 2000m in 8:25.6
humbling. got this only in the second attempt; went out WAY too hard in the first attempt, ~1:45 pace, knew by 500m that i would not be able to finish. stopped, rested a bit, regrouped, and tried again a bit more modestly. had a negative split (4:20/4:05), which is good. but man i have a lot to learn about the rower.

i have to try one of these again - one day.. i remember using one way back but can't remember at all how it felt. seems fun / brutal.

- card circuit x 9
-- push ups
-- leg lowers
gassed, meant to do a full rummy hand (13 cards) but just ran out of steam on the push ups.

- stretch

thinking about new goals for pakistan. dunking, jumping, and sprinting are going to have to take a back seat for the next while because i won't have easy access to a court or track. i don't really want to switch to full-on strength training, although that's tempting, because i think i'm still going to be on the road a lot and want to be able to feel like i'm working toward something even then. and i've neglected aerobic training for many years. so instead, i think it makes more sense to pick some more aerobic or "fitness"-type goals.

here are some possibilities:

- C2 tests: 500m in 1:29 (baseline 1:41) and 2000m in 6:59 (baseline 8:25.6)
interestingly, i'm much closer to a respectable time on the 500m than 2000m.

- deck of cards workout for time: clubs=air squats; diamonds=push ups; hearts=leg lowers; spades=band pull-aparts (would need a baseline for this, no idea how long it would take, push ups would be the limiting factor)

- double unders x 200 for time; single unders x 30 mins for turns; criss-cross double unders x 10

- burpees x 5 mins for reps

- turkish get ups (or sandbag get ups if/when i can fix myself up a sandbag) x 10 mins for reps

- pull ups for reps

- army physical fitness test for score (perfect 300 is 77 push ups, 82 sit ups, two-mile run in 13:18)

any other thoughts? it really helps to have goals or targets, if i'm aimless then training tends to slacken. none of the above does much for power, limit strength, explosiveness, or speed. thoughts about what i could do in limited space on those fronts? adarq in particular, i'm curious what you found helpful back in your vert days that didn't involve ME RVJ. box jumps and depth jumps come to mind, but those are hard to progress, really. if there's some way to measure vert i could add SVJ to the mix? at least try to let it not regress too far?

when i'm in islamabad i should be able to continue doing barbell/dumbbell work, but as i said i think i'll be on the road a fair amount. met with boss today and he's already planning for me to go to karachi and lahore in the next month or so.

You listed lots of solid stuff to do in small spaces.

As for aerobic/anaerobic fitness, Jump rope would be my goto. Then treadmill if possible, then finally the rower. Just because of the "impacts" of the first two. I still like the idea of the rower though, sounds dope.

Everything else you listed (high rep bodyweight calisthenics, other than high rep pullups) is cool but also sounds like it could be quite draining. I *personally* like low tempo calisthenics with proper recovery. I know you would also be using it for conditioning BUT, from my experience, it seems more effective to utilize traditional cardio (jump rope, running, rowing) for improving aerobic/anaerobic fitness, and then using calisthenics to focus on strength / improving weaknesses.

A good example of that would be:
- controlled {walking lunges or bodyweight squats} for volume VS a circuit of all kinds of squat/lunge variations of ~10 reps each @ high tempo
- the latter almost seems to become sensory overload .. as for myself, it definitely makes me feel alot weaker/slower that's for sure.

Anyway it's not a problem to do high tempo crazy circuits various exercises once in a while, I just think it would be counter productive (to strength/power) if done too often.

If you don't have access to heavy weightlifting equip:
So I personally would focus on calisthenics for strength - controlled (to failure or not) with proper recovery.

As for explosiveness .. like you said, DJ's are solid.. BUT, you can also replace that with MR Tuck Jumps, MR Double Leg Pogo Hops, MR Single Leg Pogo Hops, MR Squat Jumps.. 3-5 sets of 10-20 contacts done at near-max-effort (closer to the 10-20 rep spectrum) to max-effort (closer to the 5-10 rep spectrum). In addition you could definitely just get in some Broad Jumps, SVJ's or 1-2 step RVJ's just to get the movement in - if you have space.

So you could do something like:
- solid warmup
- reactive work
- finish with a ton of cardio or strength

or

- solid warmup
- cardio
- reactive work

or

- solid warmup
- strength
- cardio

So, some thoughts on just general programming. For strength, I like the controlled calisthenics exercises (progressively making some of them more intense over time) with proper recovery. For explosiveness/reactivity, I like the MR reactive work & variations of normal movements (broad jumps, svj's, squat jumps, drop step jumps etc). For aerobic/anaerobic endurance, jump rope/treadmill/rower will get it done etc. And if you can get in some sprint sessions out on the streets (if it's safe? or if it it's not crowded?), getting in some freestyle sprints/runs outside would be very beneficial.

As for measuring the MR exercises .. that's tough. People with jump mats could measure GCT's and such.. It almost seems like we have to go by feel for those exercises, unless we purchase some kind of vert device + app.. that could give us valuable data.

my 2 cents for now.. hope some of that helps!!!! lmk.

pc!!

new notation because i'm going to break workouts into sections and it'll help me keep track of what i do when. would be great to have a script that would transfer these from a spreadsheet to posting format. would make it easier to sort and count what i've been doing. for example, after a month, how many cardio chunks have i done and what total volume of different types of cardio have i done? nbd, but in case one of the coders on here is feeling bored...

also i'm going to stop tracking weight. it doesn't matter, i'm not trying to gain or lose, and unless i see major mirror changes i don't care.

SORENESS: glutes a little
ACHES/INJURIES: head a little but it went away during warm up
MENTAL STATE: good, tired

warm up

- row x 1000m, joint circles, walking sprint-style crap

reactive/explosive

- SL pogo x 10,10,10/leg

- near-ME SVJ x 5,5,5
felt strongly in the VMOs, especially on landing, weird

strength

- circuit x 2
-- DB OHP 20s x 5
-- BSS @ 2:1:2 x 10L
-- pull up x 5
-- BSS @ 2:1:2 x 10R
easing into things still

cardio/finisher

- jump rope x 5 mins
4-5 mistakes, one of which turned into an extended (~30s) break. the gym's jump rope is really heavy so this gassed my hands and shoulders. next time will do 10 sets of 60/60 or something and try to make no mistakes.

stretch

that is all super helpful, yes. thank you.

cool np!

when you say "controlled tempo" do you mean like on a count? for example 2:1:2 eccentric:bottom:concentric? or do you just mean under control and for volume. i remember you doing hundreds of lunges in a row back in the day, do you think that built strength?

ya just under control for volume. I definitely think those lunges were capable of putting some mass on & improving strength, my legs were ridiculously swole after every session. I remember them being particularly snappy after I recovered from those sessions. AND I remember just out of nowhere, wanting to jump off one leg. I remember attributing that sensation of wanting to SLRVJ at the time, to those high volume walking lunges.

I started to get into them again a few months ago but they made me sore for 7+ days... hehe. My body just hates sustained tension right now and I don't even feel like doing it. I do think about incorporating them eventually but, i'll wait a little longer before I re-consider experimenting with that.

so ya I definitely found them very effective at giving my legs alot of "pop" and making them feel crazy strong.

one thing i love about the rower is that it's so easily measurable. still kind of not sure what kind of goals i could set for calisthenics. although i just remembered that gymnastics are a thing, so i could have goals be around doing a handstand, doing a planche, doing flat-footed pistols, etc. jump rope goals are easy: build up to 10 minutes continuous, then 20, then 30. build up to 50 double unders, then 100, then 200. learn criss-cross double unders, then create a jump rope kata and improve time (e.g. 100 skips, 20 double unders, 100 skips, 20 criss-cross single-unders, 100 skips, 20 double unders, 100 skips, 10 criss-cross double-unders, 100 skips).

ya the jump rope stuff is easy and very fun.. for calisthenics I think the measureables are like you said -> mastering new/more difficult positions and sets/reps. I personally don't like turning that stuff into a "cardio style workout" like I mentioned above.. If we are able to focus more on each movement and recover properly, calisthenics can be a great strength training tool.

gonna go do warm up + reactive + strength now.

kewl!

now THIS is a workout i can get behind. was fun to do, i feel great now. will not be mad if the only thing i get better at while i'm here is gymnastic stuff, if i can also stay in reasonable shape and get a few jumps and jumpy-type things in. it's okay to hit the hamster wheel on a lot of stuff.

hah awesome.

ya, lots of fun sessions coming.



also on the broad jumps, just never sacrifice "distance" for "landing deep/nasty".. ie, land more safely, just mentioning in case. Combine-style max effort broad jumps, squeezing out every last inch, can have some excessively intense stress on the knees etc... safer landings preferred.

word!!

islamabad social life began tonight with a party at the australian high commission. to the aussies on the board: cheers y'all. your countrypeople throw a solid party.

Nice! Was there any VB on board?

not that i spotted. the only aussie beer i saw was hahn low-carb, i think. someone bought me one -- one benefit of being the new guy is everyone buys you drinks, i didn't pay for anything last night -- and it was gross, so i switched to asahi and moretti.

Ha yeah hahn is not something many aussies drink. Same with Fosters. Even VB (which used to be a national icon) is struggling these days. Just so many good craft beers on the market. Asahi is one of my favourites but definitely prefer Kirin if it's available.

was planning to play ultimate tonight at the british high commission but have some GI issues. decided the wiser course of action would be to stay close to a bathroom. so it goes, the pitch will be there and apparently there are multiple games per week.

if i feel better in a bit i may go up and do some light work, maybe rowing.

SORENESS: glutes a little, abs, traps
ACHES/INJURIES: right wrist during handstands, damn it
MENTAL STATE: good

- warm up
superset x 5 of jump rope 60s + joint circles

- handstand practice x a couple
my wrist is going to prevent me from really working on these. shit.

- jump rope 120/60 x 3
tough on grip, left hand was cramping on the last set. might make this the focus for a while: building up to 12 rounds of 180/60. should be easier once i get my own ropes, which are stuck with the rest of my stuff in lahore.

- stretch

Are you doing any wrist prep? When I was doing handstands it took me a while to get used to it but there are heaps of wrist prep articles out there that I took from. GMB have heaps of free stuff. This is just one of them:

https://gmb.io/wrists/