The Training Session

[Wolf]

I know I'm really interested in all kinds of sports, exercises, and physical activities. I wanted to make a thread where everyone could come and post about pretty much anything exercise related. If you saw a cool video, need some work-out advice, have a goal you want to reach, or just want to talk about your favorite activity, then feel free to post it here.

Right now I'm trying to obtain the holy grail of jumping strength. The 40 inch standing vertical. I was inspired by the Frank Yang video right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVKayGh7LTg

Wish me luck, I have a long way to go.

[penguinism]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVaQSNwf7Ls

clip at 2:19-2:23 or so, i was there in the crowd

:) used to do it in high school jumped 13" junior year, senior year couldnt jump at all due to injury, teammate i jumped with is now jumping 16" as a sophomore in college, red flagged first year so not including this year he still has 4 more years of jumping available >_<

dangerous sport also not a sport just every1 can do, but id suggest for every1 to try it...dunno what it is about pole vaulting probably that no one is really competing aganist other people only really against urself and ur own past jumps, but everyone ive met that pole vaults is so laid back and fun its like the sport just produces a really good atmosphere to be apart of

[Wolf]

Dude that's a creepy coincidence. I vaulted all through highschool. That was my bread and butter event besides for the 200m dash. My best in competition was 14' which landed me a seat for states. Unfortunately I busted my ankle trying to hop on a bigger pole after districts. Seriously it's THE best track event ever.

And yeah you're right there is really no hardcore competition. Everyone is there pushing each other to go higher because everyone's just there to fly.

Did you ever try vaulting in college? I got too wrapped up into parkour to commit to my college's team.

[Seijuro]

I just started kendo. It a lot of freaking work but it so awesome i get swing a sword around. I know that kind of defeats the purpose of disicpline and all that but it so freaking great. The other excersise i do a lot is 25-40km rollerblade depends on my mood. It works your legs with out actually killing your lungs. until you hit the last 1 or 2km then your at the point where you just want to stop but you know you cant. Well for those who actually rollerblade at least. I wouldnt recommend this if you dont rollerblade on a regular basis.

[Wolf]

Kendo, damn man I give you props. I would never trust myself with a sword, wooden or otherwise. I sliced myself up somethnig awful because I was being retarded with my friend's sword.

I was into rollerblading awhile back in middle school and Air Gear almost made me get back into it. But I just can't stand having my ankles stationary. It feels so completely unnatural to me. I was always a sprinter so 40km of anythnig is too much. Do you trick with your blades? Grinding always looked freakin' sick on rollerblades.

[Seijuro]

my old blades i used to tricks on but i ended up need them to get places and where i used live had large hills and stuff so i ended up buy speed skates so i can go farther faster. But tricks and grinding are great the best feeling is finding a huge hill and tucking all the way to the bottom. I like speed more then anything. There was one day i was up at the local ski hill in the summer and there is like 5 or 6 switch backs going down. So me and a buddy bladed all the way down it was awesome to get going so fast. as for the 40 km i only did that a couple times and mostly cause i didnt realize i went so far. I just started kendo like 2 weeks ago. But it is still pretty awesome. Its alot of using a wooden weighted sword and practicing repeated movements something about muscles memory

[Wolf]

Muscle memory is what sets apart the talented from the pros. Knowing the ins and outs of a certain motion so that it becomes effortless and natural. That's the state I'm trying to obtain with my runs. My flips, although good, are still awkward because my rotation ends at different times. I haven't been able to sync myself up to make the landing and transition flow. It's the leading reason why I can't add spins to my flips. Which is why I'm trying to overcompensate with an outlandish jump height. A 29" vert seems to low for me.

It sounds like a blast to go cruising down a hill like a bat outta hell. The wipe outs must be wicked. Going fast is a great damn feeling. I still like the control of doing it on my own two feet instead of wheels but damn you have to be going like 2x faster on blades.

Rollerblading might be a good alternate for jump rope for getting my fast twitch muscles going not to mention quad stabilizers. I'm going to keep it in mind when I start to peak in my jump training.

[Seijuro]

I am not a huge fitness nut but i do my best to stay in shape. My vert is horrible except on ski's its not bad. But even on rollerblade once you get over a foot rail i sometime have trouble. But its understandable I am 6'7 most of my height is in my legs so i have never had to jump. Not even in basketball all that much. I always stood above everyone. I actually like hurdles in track mostly because for a long time i could almost just run over them with not real jump and land. But im not much of sprinter so. You should read D-ash at onemanga its pretty good. The main character a talented 100 meter sprinter. Its kind of comedy. A really good work out is doing hill training on blades. I have to up and down hills when going to a from work. But going up hill its slower than running. Well i found the best is i go up one big hill then some stairs then another hill coming home. But thats just me im not real athelete.

[penguinism]

Did you ever try vaulting in college? I got too wrapped up into parkour to commit to my college's team.
naw never did, lol i took a yaer off before goin to college now im so out of shape it would just be hell to get back in shape to vault again...i vault with my old coach from time to time helping him to coach/give examples considering hes too old to actually be jumping on a pole giving examples :P

[Wolf]

@Seijuro, Damn man 6' 7" you make me feel like a toddler at 6' 2". I'll check out D-ash a little later on today. Hill training is amazing for any type of person you are. Even if you're an distance/endurance runner hill training ups your stamina like crazy. And for sprinters it's an awesome explosion exercise and downhill is great for stride stability. Utilized either way, any person can get into shape. Being an athlete only takes the willingness to try and give all for something you enjoy. I'm not a huge fitness nut either. I just love what I do and want to soak up all the knowledge I can about it. A little bit everyday is all it takes.

@penguinism, I tried coaching the kids at my highschool. It didn't work out too well. Each kid that got interested just gave up after they realized it actually takes work to fly high. I'm trying to get into sprint shape again but it's not working out too well so I feel for you. I've grown sick of running in circles for hours on end. If you keep with coaching you'll gain a base that you can use to ramp yourself back into shape. You know you wanna.:D

[Seijuro]

still growing two. I figure i have like 2 more years to grow. Lately i have been doing just before bed 200 situps consectively on alternating days. And then after the 200 do pushups till i collaspe then fall asleep. It more just gets me tired then anything. But its enjoable enough. I think the thing i hate the most about my height is when people ask do i play basketball. For a while i would say know. Now i just say yes cause it shuts them up. It so freaking annoying. One thing i love about height though is so easy to start a conversation with some because i can just start with my height.

[Wolf]

Hahaha yeah that is an easy conversation starter.

How in the hell do you workout right before bed?!?! I must know the secret! :confused: Once I'm done lifting I need like an hour just to calm down enough to get some sleep. It's probably because I'm a borderline insomniac.

But still calisthenics all the way. I never do weight training unless it involves my legs. When it comes to upper body I see no place where I would be lifting anything more than my own body weight. Sure I will admit that people who lift big weights see gains quicker but you lose range of motion, flexibility, and muscle tone. So from a performance stand point I'll do my pushups instead of bench press. Feel free to argue with me on this point because there is no real correct answer :p

[Thunderlord]

Most important thing is to have a balance in your body. There's no point in doing bench press ups if you body balance is offset(mostly the shoulder alignment). But this can be easily adjusted if u do continuous small set lifts. I myself prefer push ups, bit slow at first but the results do tend to show up later

[Wolf]

I have to agree that balance is extremely important. If I am reading your post correcting you value opposing muscle balance like bi's vs. tri's and chest vs. back. Or are you talking more about posture and correct execution of the exercise? Both should be taken seriously when you start to exercise and will help you get better results for the same amount of effort.

I think high repetition exercise does help you speed yourself into a workout routine but I don't believe you should neglect the endurance of your muscles. I seek muscle failure or exhaustion in each set of my exercises and I personally enjoy the last set the most. It's the time to push for that little something extra you didn't have the day before. It makes me feel tingly(though that's probably the lack of oxygen).

[Thunderlord]

It's about correct posture and exectution. Easy way to notice the off balance would be to try to bench press something heavy (not toooo heavy), and see which way side the weight slightly tilts to. That'll show the body off balance.
Aparts i try to do atleast a 1000 push ups everyday. Took quite awhile to get used to:o

[megami_yume]

hmm... don't get much exercise nowadays except for walking...
i had to cancle my advance swimming lessons since they were too early (7am)
plus i have classes from 8am to around 8pm...

if it's sports though...
i've tried basketball, a little better at volleyball, not bad at badminton, okay with table tennis, LOVE swimming..., pretty much capable at softball ^^

my body's reaally flexible though... i'm actually a "frustrated" gymnast...

i almost forgot...
i also did a few sessions of Karate-do.

[Wolf]

my body's reaally flexible though... i'm actually a "frustrated" gymnast...

Stretching is the bane of my exercising existence. I can't stand sitting there and pulling on a muscle that doesn't want to move that way. Granted I do it because it's better than tearing a muscle. Quad tear during the 100m dash FTL. I was out for a week.

I actually wish I had gotten into gymnastics in my early years. There are a lot of times when I parkour that I wished I had a gym to go to and practice beforehand. All of the tricks I do have been hard earned on hard surfaces. Mats would definitely make progressing in the finess and difficulty of runs so much easier.

That'll show the body off balance.
Aparts i try to do atleast a 1000 push ups everyday. Took quite awhile to get used to:o

I have always found that dominant side inbalance is very difficult to undo. Even if you concentrate on good form and control of your lifting, your dominant side still gets extra work in everyday life. Upping your weak side's weight by 2.5-5 lbs usually fixes the problem within a few weeks though :D.

Do you split you're pushups into sets or vary them in anyway? Because going straight military-style pushups until you reach 1000 is a waste if you don't work upper and inner chest. You get the horseshoe effect and that just doesn't look right.

[Setsuna]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVaQSNwf7Ls

clip at 2:19-2:23 or so, i was there in the crowd

:) used to do it in high school jumped 13" junior year, senior year couldnt jump at all due to injury, teammate i jumped with is now jumping 16" as a sophomore in college, red flagged first year so not including this year he still has 4 more years of jumping available >_<

dangerous sport also not a sport just every1 can do, but id suggest for every1 to try it...dunno what it is about pole vaulting probably that no one is really competing aganist other people only really against urself and ur own past jumps, but everyone ive met that pole vaults is so laid back and fun its like the sport just produces a really good atmosphere to be apart of

I can imagine the happiness of everyone's expression when they made it over and looked at the pole still in place. :]