On Sunday, around lunchtime, I had one of (if not the) best workouts of the year(!). The workout was as follows:
A1) Deadhang weighted Chin-ups w 20kg KB: 3 sets x 7, 7, 6.
A2) One-leg Squat 10 second eccentrics w 20kg: 3 sets (alternating legs) - 3, 3, 3
A3) Turkish Get-Ups w 20kg (overhead squat style): 3 x 3 reps each side
B1) Bent Press w 20kg: 3 x 3 reps each side
B2) Swing Complex w 20kg: 10 x 2-hand; 10 x L; 10 x R; Side swings 5 x each side. [3 cycles]
The workout went about double the time I've been taking this year - ~45 minutes. I had about 4 minutes rest between each 'A' cycle..walking around the park, enjoying the sun.
A few notes:
• Dead hang (slow and enjoying) Chin-ups with weight are such an awesome exercise. So much of the body gets involved. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm also liking doing pull-up ladders in my other workout.
• Eccentric only weighted pistols (one legged squats) are a really good external hip rotator; glute medius (yes it externally rotators too); adductor and pelvic floor stabilization exercise - besides the quad/glute/hamstring work. Actually, the dynamic interplay between the stabilization muscles and the prime movers is one of the great things about this exercise.
• Bent presses are awesome! The novel stabilization effect of the lats; teres group; serratus anterior; QL; etc. - feels really 'healthy'. They actually feel better on my shoulders than military presses.
• Getting back into Turkish Get-ups was fantastic. 20kg is lighter than I would normally do, but it was decently heavy, and still light enough to play around with psoas and transverse abdominus activation stuff on the way up, and do a weighted spinal wave on the way down.
I actually think what makes TGU's so awesome is you can do them light as a conditioning exercise (timed sets); Heavy 'Tonic' workout primer; Medium weight movement exploration and activation/body-awareness with some time under tension work. Awesome movement pattern.
• Side swings are cool..am still a bit un-co with them. More practice is necessary.
The day after (Monday) I was 'virtuously' sore in all the right places. Today (Tuesday), I had some glutes and hamstring DOMS kick in (and used it during walking today).
If anyone gives the workout a go, PM me and let me know how it feels in your body.
I'm going to try it again this Sunday, and see if it has the same awesome effect.
Showing posts with label Turkish Get-up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turkish Get-up. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Turkish Get-ups
I need to get back into Turkish Get-ups (TGU's).. Talking to a couple of like-minded gents last night, the topic of how awesome TGU's are as an exercise came up. One can work on them in different ways throughout the year, thus keeping this great motor-pattern in your movement vocab.
Two common recommendations for the exercise are:
1) Do 2 or 3 sets of very heavy 'tonic' strength work at the beginning of your workout (the movement and stabilization effort mean that you don't want to do this heavy mid-way, or near the end of your workout).
2) Do the exercise at a lighter weight for timed sets. I must admit I leaned more in the 'tonic' direction when I was training it regularly. Might try this one too, this time..
HERE is an article from a few years back of an EMG (Electromyography) study of the mean and peak activation of different ab and 'core' exercises for rectus abdominus; internal and external obliques and spine erectors. TGU rates best 'all-rounder' it the peak activation statistics, and has lots of other benefits to it above and below the trunk.
One thing I really like about TGU's is the effect that training yourself to move around your straight arm (which is holding a big weight) has on the strength-control aspect of the muscles around the arm and shoulder. It's almost like training the pecs, lats and traps to act more like a secondary rotator cuff (at least that's how it feels in my body).
My PB for the TGU was 56kg at a body-weight of 71kg (Kit shaved an extra kilo off for me on the youtube description!).. not quite full body-weight, but close enough for me to want to try for this in the future. HERE I'm doing a 48kg with some bizarre music for ambiance.
I'd love to have a base strength workout of TGU's; Weighted chin-ups and deadlifts for a year (and fill in my other training with movement patterning, skill and agility work). Finding somewhere with a barbell to deadlift in the winter may have to be investigated..
Two common recommendations for the exercise are:
1) Do 2 or 3 sets of very heavy 'tonic' strength work at the beginning of your workout (the movement and stabilization effort mean that you don't want to do this heavy mid-way, or near the end of your workout).
2) Do the exercise at a lighter weight for timed sets. I must admit I leaned more in the 'tonic' direction when I was training it regularly. Might try this one too, this time..
HERE is an article from a few years back of an EMG (Electromyography) study of the mean and peak activation of different ab and 'core' exercises for rectus abdominus; internal and external obliques and spine erectors. TGU rates best 'all-rounder' it the peak activation statistics, and has lots of other benefits to it above and below the trunk.
One thing I really like about TGU's is the effect that training yourself to move around your straight arm (which is holding a big weight) has on the strength-control aspect of the muscles around the arm and shoulder. It's almost like training the pecs, lats and traps to act more like a secondary rotator cuff (at least that's how it feels in my body).
My PB for the TGU was 56kg at a body-weight of 71kg (Kit shaved an extra kilo off for me on the youtube description!).. not quite full body-weight, but close enough for me to want to try for this in the future. HERE I'm doing a 48kg with some bizarre music for ambiance.
I'd love to have a base strength workout of TGU's; Weighted chin-ups and deadlifts for a year (and fill in my other training with movement patterning, skill and agility work). Finding somewhere with a barbell to deadlift in the winter may have to be investigated..
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