Exercise Options

[TigerEyes]

Figured I should start a new topic for this, because hey, why not!

This post is in response to Soba's request for one arm pushup modifications and progressions, but feel free to talk about whatever exercise you like!

Here are the progressions for a one arm pushup, as laid out in the book "Convict Conditioning". Excellent tutorial, with other progression gems for full one leg squats, full one arm pullups, hanging straight leg raises (and also V-Ups), stand-to-stand bridges, and one arm handstand pushups with exercise descriptions, pictures, etc. It's like a video game tutorial, and the game is your body! =D

Here are the 10 progression steps for one arm pushups:

1.) Wall pushups. Goal before progressing: 3 sets of 50.
Excellent for someone building themselves up again after therapy, but the book encourages everyone to start at the beginning and slowly work their way through the 10 steps, no matter what their current level. This will allow tendons and ligaments a chance to get stronger to help support the muscles in the advanced stages. You can also use some of your "previous levels" as quick warmups when you get further down the road. =)

2.) Incline pushups. Goal before progressing: 3 sets of 40.
Find something that's about hip-height, and do pushups on it. You should be at a 45 degree angle to it.

3.) Kneeling pushups. Goal before progressing: 3 sets of 30.
Feet together, arms shoulder-width apart and in line with your chest. For some bizarre reason, most women who aren't "in the know" stop here, as they don't believe they can go further and/or are terrified of "bulking up". Ugh... XP

4.) Half pushups. Goal before progressing: 2 sets of 25.
Put a basketball or soccer ball under your hips, and do half-pushups until your hips touch down on it, and then go back up. If you can't do it from your hips at first, start with the ball under your knees, and work your way through it.

5.) Full pushups. Goal before progressing: 2 sets of 20.
Feet together, arms shoulder width apart and in line with your upper chest, and make sure your back and hips are in alignment. Don't sag, keep it straight. Come down until your collarbone is about a fist away from the floor. You can use a baseball/tennis ball, or even just lightly touch the floor if you need to.

6.) Close pushups. Goal before progressing: 2 sets of 20.
Same as with a full pushup, but with the tips of your index fingers touching as your hands are pointed toward each other in an almost "diamond" shape (your thumbs, however, do not touch, and should stay in close to your other fingers). Lower yourself until your chest lightly touches the backs of your hands, and then push up. EXCELLENT for the triceps, and a great builder for the more advanced stages. If you can't go all the way at first, just move your hands closer and closer together every time till they're touching.

7.) Uneven pushups. Goal before progressing: 2 sets of 20 (both sides).
Pushups with one hand on the floor, and the other hand on a basketball/soccer ball. Arms kept in close to the body.

8.) 1/2 One arm pushups. Goal before progressing: 2 sets of 20 (both sides). (This is where I am right now. =P)
Half-pushup position with the basketball/soccer ball under your hips, but use only one arm this time. By the way, make sure to work both sides evenly, and if one side is stronger than the other, catch up on the other side to prevent muscle imbalances.

9.) Lever pushups. Goal before progressing: 2 sets of 20 (both sides).
Pushup with one arm on the floor, and the other arm on the basketball/soccer ball, with the ball as far away from you out to the side as you can manage. The arm on the ball should be straight.

10.) One arm pushups. Elite goal: 1 set of 100 (both sides).
Proper form is with your feet together, back straight, and push up arm in close to your chest.

You can do the program as-is, or modify it to fit in with your current program. I did it as-is at first, taking my sweet time on the earlier stages (doing it about once a week, and progressing to the next stage after about a month, or longer if I needed). Now, I've modified it somewhat to fit in with my current training program, which also focuses on isometrics (which are amazing). There are 6 sets of 10 progressions that I'm working on as I mentioned, so I do one a day, six days a week, taking Sundays off.

Alrighty, there ya go! If you have any questions or need clarification on anything, just let me know! =D

This post has been edited by TigerEyes: Nov 14 2011, 10:29 PM

[Viashino_wizard]

One of life's little ironies: the more you need to exercise, the harder it is to do.

[TigerEyes]

One of life's little ironies: the more you need to exercise, the harder it is to do.

...That actually sounds encouraging to me. "It can only get easier from here!" =P

[Soba]

Luckily, I have some athletic background at least. I can at least do normal pushups well enough.

[TigerEyes]

Luckily, I have some athletic background at least. I can at least do normal pushups well enough.

I could only do up to the kneeling ones when I first started, since I was also indoctrinated with the belief that that was all girls could do. But hey, it doesn't matter where you start from, just where you're going!

[Viashino_wizard]

...That actually sounds encouraging to me.  "It can only get easier from here!"  =P

It isn't. Because to someone who's significantly out of shape, it's like having to scale a forty-foot wall followed by a ramp: it gets easier, but it takes huge amounts of effort to get beyond the first hurdle.

[Soba]

But yeah, once I get some new tennishoes, I'm getting a membership at the local rec. I'l probably split my days up like "upper, lower, cardio, etc etc" With rest days mixed in

[oneluckyduck]

I'm just a weak, weak little child. I cannot do a pullup, last I checked, and I can't do pushups.
Linked to that, I am terrible at stretching. I can't do quite a few of my ballet excersises to what I believe I should be able to do, which is very disappointing.
So, does anyone have suggestions for stretches? Something to build up flexibility and strength and yes, yes, yoga, I know, please don't suggest that....

This post has been edited by oneluckyduck: Nov 14 2011, 01:23 PM

[xoxjoanxox]

I'm just a weak, weak little child. I cannot do a pullup, last I checked, and I can't do pushups.
Linked to that, I am terrible at stretching. I can't do quite a few of my ballet excersises to what I believe I should be able to do, which is very disappointing.
So, does anyone have suggestions for stretches? Something to build up flexibility and strength and yes, yes, yoga, I know, please don't suggest that....

LuckyDuck, are you me in disguise? I'm also pretty weak upper-body wise, but man can I kick hard.

Ballet is insane. I still can't do a split but hey... I can extend my leg pretty high?

For ballet stretching, it's harder to describe and easier to show. >_>,

This post has been edited by xoxjoanxox: Nov 14 2011, 03:19 PM

[The Two-One-Five]

"Convict Conditioning".

I love you.

But yeah, I read a few of Pavel and Wade'sbooks growing up but only recently did I decide to start doing some of those workout (though a guy at my shop who does this shit was why I began doing it in the first place). I'm at 8 one arm for my right and 5 for my left.

Because to someone who's significantly out of shape, it's like having to scale a forty-foot wall followed by a ramp: it gets easier, but it takes huge amounts of effort to get beyond the first hurdle.

It never starts easy (though getting over a plateau is always the hardest), but its easily doable with a right attitude and the proper knowledge. I mean, after I stopped playing sports I get really fat and college life made me eat cheap, fatty foods that could be cooked instantly. Then I decided to put some effort in what I ate and return to my old workout routine (which wasn't easy, since it involved explosive exorcises and cross country running) to get in a better shape than I was back in high school.

[Master of AFTER]

When I need a workout, I'll track down and kill some terrorists, drench myself in their blood, then hike half a dozen miles into the wilderness and scream "COME GET ME, MOTHERFUCKERS!" before it cuts to a sweet-ass montage of me fighting eight grizzly bears at once.

Other times, I'll scale things back a bit and stick to some light weight training, cardio, and nighttime jogging. I've been letting things slip a little since the beginning of the semester, actually... I especially need to be better about trimming down the ol' midsection. I've never had much of a belly, but things are headed in that direction if I don't start exercising more frequently.

[Valkyrie]

I'm sure you guys are already familiar with this, but this is a great way to stay fit.

[Soba]

Other times, I'll scale things back a bit and stick to some light weight training, cardio, and nighttime jogging.  I've been letting things slip a little since the beginning of the semester, actually...  I especially need to be better about trimming down the ol' midsection.  I've never had much of a belly, but things are headed in that direction if I don't start exercising more frequently.

Yeah, that's about where I am. I just haven't had the time with school and work usually.

[TigerEyes]

I'm just a weak, weak little child. I cannot do a pullup, last I checked, and I can't do pushups.
Linked to that, I am terrible at stretching. I can't do quite a few of my ballet excersises to what I believe I should be able to do, which is very disappointing.
So, does anyone have suggestions for stretches? Something to build up flexibility and strength and yes, yes, yoga, I know, please don't suggest that....

I really like isometric stretching (also known as PNF stretching), since it builds strength and flexibility at the same time. Intense, to be sure, but super effective. Because the thing is, there are actually no muscles, tendons, or ligaments running from one leg to the other. Nothin' but skin. If you can stand at a 90 degree angle away from a hip-height desk and put your foot on it, and then turn around and put the other foot on it, you're fully capable of doing the side splits already. However, we have this nifty thing called the stretch reflex that we develop over the years from fear, from sitting in ways that produce lots of tension in our muscles for long periods of time, etc. This helps to cancel out that reflex, and build strength in a way that will help you become more flexible.

So for example, if you're practicing side splits, you get into the ol' side split position, with your knees slightly bent to take some pressure off the ligaments and keep the focus on the muscles. Keep your hands on your legs if you have to put them somewhere; just make sure all the weight is going to your legs. Go down as far as you can, and then contract your inner thighs like you're trying to pull your legs together like a pair of scissors, without actually moving them together. Contract as hard as you can for 30 seconds, then immediately relax and go down a little further. Relax and stand up for a couple minutes, and repeat up to 9 times total. And if you want, you can even finish off with a beastly 90 second contraction for even better results.

Front splits are similar of course. If it hurts to put your knee on the floor, put a pillow underneath it as opposed to moving your knee out to the side. Also do your best to keep your hips aligned with each other. One trick that I just discovered a couple days ago that's working really well for me is that I keep my back foot against my bed (or any other immovable object) to keep it from moving, and put my folded-up massage table (or any heavy, but movable, object) in front of my front foot. Then, I actually push the massage table away from me, and it allows me to deepen the contraction even further.

Go slow, especially at first, and make sure you have something to help you up nearby (like a chair or something). You probably will be sore even after working out the stretch for just a couple minutes, so doing it even every other day is alright. Alternatively, you can cut down on soreness by practicing for just a couple of sets. This way, you can also do it every day (although you should rest at least one day a week, of course). Whichever way you like better. =)

This post has been edited by TigerEyes: Nov 14 2011, 10:34 PM

[Carnage]

In case anyone is wondering, the work out for Insanity is bomb. Besides daily PT, I do this on my free time and I am down to 110 of pure toned muscle.

[Zana]

I stay in shape by being late to everything.
But I think I might try some of these pushup things, seeing as my arms are essentially twigs.

[Soba]

I am resisting fast food urges, and am forcing more fruit into my diet (got some smoothie king right now.) I prefer fruits over vegetables anyway. I'll probably eat more chipotle too, if I eat out, because the way I order it, the only thing that's really potentially bad is the cheese. I don't like sour cream, and I'm afraid of trying guacamole. It's gross looking.

[oneluckyduck]

If you can stand at a 90 degree angle away from a hip-height desk and put your foot on it, and then turn around and put the other foot on it, you're fully capable of doing the side splits already.

Wait wait wait, what? Say that again? I must be mishearing you!

[TigerEyes]

Wait wait wait, what? Say that again? I must be mishearing you!

Like I was saying, if you can pass this test without feeling any bone-on-bone grinding sensations (extraordinarily rare), you are already fully capable of doing the side splits because there are no tendons, ligaments, or muscles that run from one leg to the other that prevent you from doing so. However, our bodies start resisting going into these positions after a number of years because many of us stop taking ourselves through these ranges of motion, because of fear of getting "stuck", and because we gradually lose the strength to hold these positions (until we build it up again, of course). And also because we tend to generate massive amounts of chronic tension in our muscles from doing things like sitting, which is actually pretty terrible for you, especially if you do it for extended periods of time. And so, the stretch reflex kicks in.

So basically, I gave you an outline for active stretching, as opposed to passive stretching. Active stretching is also preferable because you can gain the strength to take your muscles through more flexible ranges of motion, which I imagine is important to you as a dancer. And active stretching is much less likely to result in injuries (if you go slow and do it properly while listening to your body, of course), so it's win-win.

By the way, whatever stretching routine you decide to do, make sure you do it AFTER you work out. NOT before. Doing it before not only temporarily decreases the strength of your muscles due to fatigue, but it's way more likely that you'll be susceptible to injury.

I am resisting fast food urges, and am forcing more fruit into my diet (got some smoothie king right now.) I prefer fruits over vegetables anyway. I'll probably eat more chipotle too, if I eat out, because the way I order it, the only thing that's really potentially bad is the cheese. I don't like sour cream, and I'm afraid of trying guacamole. It's gross looking.

Hey, good job! By the way, thought you guys might get a kick out of this. =P

This post has been edited by TigerEyes: Nov 15 2011, 03:13 PM

[oneluckyduck]

I...I could do splits right now? Holy crap.
I think I like this thread!