King Street Saturday

Went out into Alexandria this morning to get in some training with a group. We warmed up, rotated, hopped, quaded and then go into playing around. It was ridiculously hot today,w hich wasn't so exciting, but we got a good amount of work in. Lots of jumping and climbing here, which is always good. I prefer to work on the foundation of the jump, since I seem to have gotten a bit worse at that whole thing. My legs are rather exhausted after two hours of this. I think I'm going to take a nap.

The First Episode

Went out training last night. Didn't manage to write anything on it, though, so here it is. Being a little sick, and focusing mostly on documenting Corey's lesson and progression, I didn't do all too much. Corey, however, was pushed quite a bit. I had him do an extensive warm-up similar to what we did in Hamilton under Dan's tutelage, occasinally joining in myself. He needed to take some breaks, which is all fair, since I doubt with my asthma I could've done it without breaks either. But I did notice that he could only do a fraction of what goes on in Toronto regularly. I'm trying to keep him in the realm of what I am capable of doing myself, because I wouldn't feel appropriate making him go through something that I'm not capable of.

All the same, I was expecting more out of him. For me, it would have been the warm-up's intensive cardio that wiped me out, but I would've pushed through. For him, I saw his weakness in the conditioning segment that followed. Thirty squats, thirty push-ups (three different stances, ten each), and then 30 vertical jumps on steps. Rest. Duck-walk about 20m. That's paltry. Even for me and my low level of fitness. It's not a criticism in any way; I just forgot what it was like. He'll get better, and each time I meet up with him for this project, the conditioning will get more intense.

I didn't want Corey to work on specific techniques this time around. I think that would box him in too soon. So I just asked him to keep moving in the area in any path he chose. In the beginning, he took his time and analysed what he could do where... When he moved and reached a rail where he couldn't speed vault or lazy vault it comfortably, he stopped, walked around some more, and found another path. I told him to stop thinking in terms of vaults and techniques. If he has to slowly climb over something, then just do that, but he shouldn't have been stopping because he couldn't do a more dynamic move on that rail. Over time, he got more comfortable with just moving around. I wanted to help instil in him a sense of play and exploration. That's the most important lesson for a beginner: don't get boxed in. Don't let your technique rule you. There are only two rules for Parkour: Condition. Move.

While I was filming, I did do random exercises, conditioning and some technical play, off the camera. But I'm just letting my body rest up for now.

Holds

I didn't warm-up or cool-down today other than stretching before bed. Today was all about practicing my holds while I let my body rest for the most part. Repeated trials of:

Tuck planche
Handstand
Pistol hold
Wall-assisted planche

I've gotten worse with the tuck, which is a real shame. Must work on that more.

HIIT

Warm-up:
Joint rotation
1:00 jog

Work-out:
20:00 HIIT sprints

Cool-down:
1:00 walking
Stretch

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Been working out my legs too much lately. Need to rest them over the next long while.

Georgetown Cat Leaps

Unexpectedly, I came out to a training meet at Georgetown University today. Also surprisingly is the fact that the one who set it up had to cancel, which left me alone with what looked like a 14 year old boy named Logan. No problem. I rotated my joints and messed around with some light vaults and balancing, and we moved onto the dreaded Georgetown wall that I swore I would get by the end of the summer. Did I get it? Hell no. But I got one hand firmly grasped and I hung there for a second. Because I didn't expect it, I didn't get the other hand up. So I know I can do it now, at least, just not regularly. We were kicked out by the security before I had the chance to actually get it. Next time, I swear.

We moved about and played with some more rails. There was a precision jump out into a cat grab by what i dub the "Leon precision area" that is relatively fun. It was here that I noticed that Logan had no conception of how to absorb the impact from a cat leap! His landings normally were fine, but if you do it horizontally, he would slap into the wall with amazing force. I tried to work with him on it. His problem was that he only braced one foot, so he didn't manage to disperse the impact properly or equally.

Due to some wet paint on the rails, our next spot had to be "Jesse's speed vault parking lot." So I messed around quite a bit here, doing random jumps and landings and also doing a few vault circuits. Scared some cleaning ladies when I shot out from one of the Jersey barricades a good 8 feet into a roll. They did [i]not[/i] expect that. Across the way from the parking lot was a really fun area, but it really just involved a rail, a sidewalk, some steps, and a cat leap. I landed a very long one (maybe a ten foot leap) a little sloppy.. doing Logan's one-foot thing. I'll get it, though, cleaner.

Lastly, we went into this back alley and played around with more wall techniques. Tacs to cats and whatnot. It was a good session with a lot of climbing involved. My legs were pretty sore from yesterday's tabata squats, but I managed to get everything done well enough. Good training. Laid back and not strict, but also intense enough to get a good workout.

Tabata squats

Warm-up:
Joint rotation
5:00 jog

Work-out:
Tabata squats

Cool-down:
Stretch

Running endurance, some strength

Warm-up:
Joint rotation
5:00 run

Work-out:

15min HIIT

5 sets of:
60 weighted crunches (30lbs)
60 weighed Russian twists (30lbs)
1 min front plank hold
12 squats (160lbs)
30 calf raises (160lbs)

Cooldown:
1 min front plank hold
1 min handstand hold
Stretching

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It's been a few days. There've been some personal things getting in the way, but I'm hoping to not let it get at me too much. I'm feeling good about today, though. I need to do some shin raises, though. Some pain while I was running. Could definitely feel the impact. Maybe I'll go to more padded shoes in the forefoot section for a little while until those muscles have gotten stronger. I do enough barefoot training to keep my feet conditioned, anyhow.

NOVA TTM - Wall Techniques at Robinson

A themed training meet today at Robinson High School. PRetty good turn-out. Leon warmed us up and I started the conditioning with a duck walk circuit (probably total of 50m) that totally KILLED everyone's legs... and then the same circuit as QM. Next, Leon had us do inclined press-ups, side QM, inclined press-ups, etc. across a ledge. We proceeded to a grip shimmy along a wall (about 20m) and then a dip shimmy on the return. Everyone was pretty sufficiently exhausted at this point, but everyone was also a good sport about continuing. Next came pistol-walks (do a pistol/one-legged squat, take a step, do another) along a length (about 10m), and pistol-walks backwards... Lastly, we did a plank shimmy across 20m.

After the conditioning, we began the themed training, focusing on wall techniques. First came pop-vaults and turn-vaults on a ledge. After this, we spent the rest of the time with wall-runs, climb-ups, and tic-tacs. After becoming ridiculously exhausted from the conditioning session, i twas interesting to see how people had to adjust to train technique. You could visibly see that most people had not done anything of the sort before! Great session, overall, and I'll likely be feelng this tomorrow.

Restructuring Diet

As of recently, I've been eating rather terribly. I was eating better before I got my job, but not extremely well. Still, since September, I had dropped from a 34 waist to a 31... Now, I am back up to 33 in the two months that I have been working. The reason is mostly because I eat out for lunch... and the reason I don't pack food is because I live at home again, which means that I don't buy my own groceries (ended as of today).. Problem is that I only bought $20 worth and had trouble fitting it in the fridge! Haha. (All our veggies are otherwise very leafy vegetables with little nutritional value that my dad likes to put in his soups... these are rather.. Asian leafs..)

In any case, I'm basically restructuring my diet from the ground up, and I want to double-check with everyone here to see if I'm getting the right proportions.

First of all, I'm avoiding most grains and starches, allowing myself bread/pasta/rice no more than twice a week. Otherwise:

Breakfast:
Normally consists of 2-4 eggs, either hardboiled or raw, a piece of fruit (normally a banana or a peach), and three spoonfulls of yogurt.

Snack: Roughly 2.5-3 hours later. I will be snacking on about a cup of raw vegetables, a half-cup of nuts, and about two spoonfuls of yogurt. I will try to vary this as much as possible, but that's the portions of carbs/protein/fatty-something that I'm going for.

Lunch: Roughly 2-3 hours later. This will consist of two cups of two different vegetables, a protein/fat source such as natural peanut butter (roughly two tablespoons), or a lean meat like 3-4 slices of turkey, chicken.. or a grilled quail or whatnot. If I am to have the lean meat, I will add two fish oil pills to the process. Occasionally, I will make a sandwich with whole grain bread or whole grain pita, keeping in mind the no-more-than-twice-a-week rule.

Snack: Roughly 2-3 hours later (this would be right before I head home) A piece of fruit and an egg and fish oil pill, likely, or similar proportioned alternative.

Dinner: Roughly 2-3 hours later. A larger protein source, two cups of two different vegetables, and either a fat source coupled with the protein (in the case of say.. a salmon fillet) or an independent fat source (an avacado or something) or two fish oil pills.

Snack: Roughly two hours before bed. This will be the lightest of all, consisting of a cup of vegetables and maybe an egg or a spoon of peanut butter or something.

The vegetables/fruits will be rotated as often as possible, giving myself as much of a variety as I can at different times of the day. I will aim to never eat the same veggie/fruit source more than twice in one day, and not more than four times every three days.

And I will be drinking nothing but water during this process.

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After some advice, I need to shift the nuts over in favour of more protein and also moderately increase the amount of vegetables to get a sufficient amount of carbs.

Goals and Means for Accomplishment

Goal: Remove dead-weight.
Means: 1) Cut out simple sugars; success rate: Fail... Had candy yesterday.
2) Avoid processed starches; success rate: In-between... I only eat wheat, but I need to cut out ALL starches aside from sweet potatoes and brown rice.
3) Transfer basis of meal to protein and vegetable-based carbs; success rate: Fail... Only manage to do that about two meals a day.

Aim for Goal: I intend a paradigm shift. There will be a complete restructuring of my diet. I will go to the grocery store today and procure all that is necessary to avoid starvation/eating improperly at work.

End of Goal: The reason for this goal is because I still move sloppily over obstacles, and part of that is due to excess dead-weight keeping me from moving as best as I should be able to.

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Goal: Increase cardiovascular endurance.
Means: 1) Intensify workout regimens; success rate: Fail... Only one work-out per week is what I would consider super-intense
2) Increase frequency of HIIT/tabata training; success rate: Fail... It is at most once a week.
3) Increase frequency of duration cardio; success rate: In-between... Standard training is duration cardio, but I could run more.

Aim: I will aim to run at least three times a week, no matter the distance or intensity. I will intensify my other work-outs so that cardiovascular abilities are necessary for completion of the anaerobic workouts at all.

End: I fully realize that my endurance is rather poor, and I would like to be able to move at full sprints across obstacles, which is currently rather taxing (and dangerous).

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Goal: Increase muscular endurance (stamina).
Means: 1) Perform QM exercises/lunge exercises/etc. for further distances; success rate: In-between... They are at good distances, now, but I need to continue to distance it.
2) Increase quantity of all calisthenic exercises; success rate: In-between... My push stamina, particularly for my arms, is rather exceptional, but everything needs more work.

Aim: As above. This will be coupled with the intensifying work-outs means.

End: The end should be rather simple here. I should never NOT be able to perform a climb-up, just because i'm tired and my muscles are giving up on me. Same with a jump, or a vault, QM, or run.

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I realize that it's technically "bad" to have such open-ended goals. But I have more specific "means" that can be considered goals. Each means is calculated in my head. For intensifying the work-outs, for instance, I will be increasing distances by 10m every week or two, and increasing sets for exercises by 50% for the same duration of time. The other specifics are already listed.

Another Day at Sidney Lanier

I went out training this morning at that middle school again. Such a fun spot. I'll put up a video when I can. Leon and some of his VT guys showed up. The training session today was a lot less regimented than normal, and it mostly consisted of exploration and playing around. However, we still trained hard enough to benefit. People began to take off their shoes and train barefoot, so I followed suit. Jumping and taking landings without the protection of shoes changes a lot of dynamics, but it also is incredibly liberating and refreshing. The concrete was very smooth and easy to step on, so that was always good.

We managed to hit all three spots present at the school, which offered a nice variety of difficulty. I also understand some more of my own limitations and also where I have started to fall behind.. things that I should be able to land easily took effort, or I did them extremely sloppily.. which tells me that I haven't been training enough. Honestly, I know most of it is a weight problem, because I gained back a lot of the dead weight I had lost over the course of the previous year (my waist size has returned to a 33). I've been going too easy on myself, been not concentrating hard enough, been not training as regularly.. WEll, this needs to change. All of it. And I've been trying, recently, to head at it more intensely, so I need to keep this up.

I will not allow myself to become complacent and useless.