Artemis00 Embraces the Dragon

[Artemis00]

Saturday - Aerial


Intermediate Aerial

Notes:
Only three of us in class...so Colleen was working with the other girl on the hoop and I was working with Karen on the silks hammock. She had me working on a few things with open silk. Some of that was good...but others, IDK. I just hate going into the one position which is basically similar to "skin the cat". It is the grip...it doesn't feel secure like that especially when you aren't holding onto all of the silk. That seems to be a problem for me which I really do have to work on. Sucks because the position I am most uncomfortable in would really help me become stronger in a back lever since the other end of the silk supports the foot. After that, we were working on some stuff at the top of the silks, primarily crocheting the foot on one side...but Karen couldn't remember the rest of the sequence so I just played around with that a bit on both sides. Another thing I need to work on is being able to come up to a front balance from hip hang. I can do that on the silk sort of okay, but don't have that ability on the trapeze. I think building that will help me get even more confident on all of the apparatuses.



Intro to Aerial

Notes:
Karen had a pretty full class so she had a few of the "inbetween" people working on the silks and she was working with the really new ones on the trapeze. Colleen, Victoria and I worked on the hoop. Colleen first walked me thru the bicep pose on the top of the hoop that we were talking about last week. I tried it at home, but wasn't really putting a ton of effort into it so didn't release the legs. Colleen talked me thru it and was easily able to release the legs...it felt pretty secure and getting into / out of it wasn't too bad. Next she showed me a drop from the shoulder stand position on the hoop. Basically you get into a double knee hang on the top of the hoop and then adjust your shoulders until they are resting on the bottom of the hoop. Once you get your shoulders into position, you bring the leg you aren't slide off of the hoop and behind. Pressing it around 9 o'clock on the back of the hoop helps control the drop / slide. Then you release the other leg and let it slide along the length of the hoop until it catches into the knee which you can then take into a knee hang or a single knee roll. Karen saw me getting ready to do the roll but didn't see Colleen spotting me so was a bit concerned cause she knows how I am with some stuff. She didn't realize that I've done that roll before and actually was the one that showed it to Colleen. LOL. Later on I showed Colleen how to get into the inverted man in the moon and walked her thru the process. She got it and was even able to release one of the hands. Practiced an amazon and a few other things. Also try a doubles move called sleeping beauty where one sits on the hoop and the other anchors their legs with the other person's foot and their neck with the other foot.



Aerial at Lydia's

Notes:
A few of us went over to Lydia's place to setup the rig. It turns out that it was easier to set it up with only 3 people than with twice that number. Took about 10 minutes to setup. Thanks to Lydia's dad having a 10 ft ladder, we were able to adjust the equipment without having to take down the rig. We stared with the silk for a bit...practiced the Rebecca. Then Colleen and Victoria showed up with Victoria's hoop...so we all gave that a go. I tried the slide again and then into the single leg roll...but it wasn't that great because I changed into a pair of shorts so my legs were completely exposed and getting hung up on the sticky tape on the hoop. But got to see how the different height worked with me. It is a smaller hoop than the one at Airflex which made getting into the shoulder stand easier, but there was still a gap...so the 34" hoop should work really nicely for me. We went over a few other things that we went over in class on the hoop...then we switched it back to the new piece of silk. Karen didn't really care for that material...but I really found it worked well for me. I found it wrapped nice and had a nice feel in my hands. Actually ordered some of the same material for my home rig. I tried the heel hang which was okay, but because of the humidity and the exposed skin...it caught tight on my right calf which wasn't pleasant. So had to get out of it fairly quick. But definitely doable with that silk and at that height. Tried a double foot lock...but didn't bother going into any of the split stretching. Then tried a couple of the things that I was having problems with on Friday night. Like the spider descent. I don't have a problem once I'm in position, the problem is reaching above my head to get the silk. Karen said last night it was because I'm keeping my arm straight when I look for the silk...so I decided to give it another try with my arm bent and it worked perfectly. Actually did it a couple times to make sure it was repeatable and didn't have any problems at all. Sucks how something as simple as that will hold you back and how hard it is to diagnose it. I also decided I wanted to try the Rebecca belay since I've had so many issues with getting it right. So I did it and asked if I got it right. Lydia said I did, but I'm not 100% sure. I was at least able to get into the final belay although boy did it rub a bit of skin off my leg. Just have to keep working on it so I can do something from that position. One thing I will say about working on the rig outdoors is it certainly makes it a lot less nerve racking. Granted, I'm only going up 13 feet...but I think being out in the open makes it so much less intimidating. Looking forward to getting my own rig now...although should be interesting to see if I can figure out how to setup in under 10 minutes with only one person.

[buckeyenutz]

^cliifs?

[Artemis00]

^cliifs?

LOL

Cliffs

- Did a ton of aerial in the last two days
- Hands hurt a lot
- Didn't die
- Winning

[LaughingStorm]

^cliifs?

Cliffs: Art goes HAM.

[Artemis00]

Cliffs: Art goes HAM.

Seriously can't wait to get my own rig so I can finally get some vids of what I'm doing on those silks for personal form critiquing...although should be interesting to see if I can figure out how to assemble with only one person. If it was a tripod, that would be easy...but with it having four legs...that makes it a bit harder, but I have some ideas.

Oh yeah, ordered some new silks for it. Can't wait for it all to come even if I may not use it until it gets a little less hot.

[Artemis00]

Sunday - Gym

Chest / Triceps / Stretching

Bench Press
Set 1 : 45.0x12
Set 2 : 65.0x5
Set 3 : 95.0x5
Set 4 : 110.0x5
Set 5 : 125.0x10
Set 6 : 135.0x2


Notes:
I was glad I was able to at least tie my previous max reps at 125 lbs...but very disappointed with my jokers set. Last time I did 125 lbs for that many reps, I followed it with 135 x 3 and 140 x 2. But I could tell I was feeling a bit weak and was extremely tired when I got to the gym. Really should have tried to take a nap before hand rather than desperately wanting to take a nap on the bench instead of benching. I'm probably still feeling the effects of jet lag and the long day on Saturday. Amazing how that stuff takes it out of you. Given I got my reps, I'm not losing strength, I'm just not able to recover as well. Next week isn't going to be any better since I'll have an even longer day helping out at the RPS meet. But eh, I'll just keep going with 5/3/1 until I fail twice. Then I'll restart. Just wish I would stop beating myself over it. Odd because the previous years have never been that bad with my mentality, but I've been making so much progress that I don't want to lose the momentum. But at the same time, I know I'm probably burning myself out a bit by doing more aerial...so shouldn't be too surprised and will just have to tolerate it.

Rest of the workout was okay. Right shoulder was not happy during the workout. Did some reverse close grip benching that probably aggravated it even more than regular benching. Think I'm gonna ease off with tricep / chest work for the next few weeks other than benching and see if that helps out the shoulder a bit. No reason to waste too much effort on auxiliaries that aggravate the shoulder when I can focus on ones that don't. Maybe take the time to do some legit shoulder stretches to help it out. Oh and it did not like dips. Haven't done regular ones in a while...but they really hit the area of the shoulder that is angry. I should have stopped, but I was stupid. LOL

[LaughingStorm]

Seriously can't wait to get my own rig so I can finally get some vids of what I'm doing on those silks for personal form critiquing...although should be interesting to see if I can figure out how to assemble with only one person. If it was a tripod, that would be easy...but with it having four legs...that makes it a bit harder, but I have some ideas.
Oh yeah, ordered some new silks for it. Can't wait for it all to come even if I may not use it until it gets a little less hot.

Yeah, don't want to mess around with this heat. Sweat will have you slipping right off.

[Artemis00]

Yeah, don't want to mess around with this heat. Sweat will have you slipping right off.

That may be true with the hoop if I don't tape it, but with silks it is exactly the opposite.

When humidity is high or you are sweating...that silk sticks to any of your exposed body parts like glue. Makes it a lot easier to get tangled and to get some nasty silk burns like the bite it took out of my on Saturday.

[LaughingStorm]

Makes it a lot easier to get tangled and to get some nasty silk burns like the bite it took out of my on Saturday.

Mortal wound? You gonna make it?

[Artemis00]

Mortal wound? You gonna make it?

I'm not sure. It is really touch and go right now. I think I should go and see an expert to determine if I'll make it or need to lose the leg.

On the plus side, if I need to lose the leg...well I'll finally get to nail my levers and add another 5-10 reps to my pull ups.

[LaughingStorm]

I'm not sure. It is really touch and go right now. I think I should go and see an expert to determine if I'll make it or need to lose the leg.
On the plus side, if I need to lose the leg...well I'll finally get to nail my levers and add another 5-10 reps to my pull ups.

True. And if you lost both legs, it would barely affect your squat and leg day

[Artemis00]

True. And if you lost both legs, it would barely affect your squat and leg day

Yeah, and I might be able to get a split.

[LaughingStorm]

Yeah, and I might be able to get a split.

[Artemis00]

Monday - Gym

Aerial Conditioning / Abs / Back Stretching


Notes:
Started with my routine...it is getting better...smoother. Did manage to get a full 60 seconds with my right elbow hang. Unfortunately didn't get in the right position for the left one so could only hold that for 30 seconds. Did manage to hit a new PR with my ankle hang...wasn't much but got another count. I'm up to 21 counts now. Still need to work on those. Did play around with these knee hang transition that I did before. Getting much more control over it. Hard to explain them but they work the lower abs and obliques. Messed up my neck with my dragon flags...had to have happened on the last set since I would have stopped had I noticed it earlier. Didn't feel that great. Did a little bit more but then started working on stretching. Tried to bridge a few times but the neck wasn't happy about that...so finished up with some cobra pose. Was adjusting it to try to get some flexibility in different parts of the back.

[Artemis00]

Tuesday - Gym

Bicep / Legs / Splits Stretching


Notes:
After a warm up of chin ups, I decided I wanted to give pull ups a try. Managed 4 sets with anywhere between 10-12 reps. The forearm certainly didn't like them, but need to start using it more in hopes of maybe breaking up some scar tissue. After that I decided to do some heavy hammer curls which I haven't done in a while for the same reason. Although they hurt the forearm, they felt great to be able to do. Granted the left arm is a bit weaker than the right due to the forearm which isn't normal, but hoping to get back to where I was before. Did get a nice pump. Then moved onto some legs before doing split stretching. I still feel like I'm making progress with my stretching. I'm to the point where I can hold my body weight at the lowest point for a lot longer than before. Can even raise my hands above my head which I wasn't able to do before. Hoping to keep up with this progress.

Oh yeah, neck feels a bit better. Hopefully it will be fine in a couple days.

[LaughingStorm]

Art doing legs?

[Artemis00]

Art doing legs?

They aren't squats so they don't count...and I'm good with that.


Actually now I'm not sure what I'll be doing tonight at the gym. I have absolutely no clue.

[LaughingStorm]

They aren't squats so they don't count...and I'm good with that.
Actually now I'm not sure what I'll be doing tonight at the gym. I have absolutely no clue.

But they're also not curls. So I didn't figure you bothered with them, bro . . .

[Artemis00]

But they're also not curls. So I didn't figure you bothered with them, bro . . .

Very true. Curls are really all that matter.


Still can't believe there are people out there that don't like them...how can you possibly hate that pump?

[LaughingStorm]

Very true. Curls are really all that matter.
Still can't believe there are people out there that don't like them...how can you possibly hate that pump?

I have started doing them low volume with very heavy weights. Not as fun, but the sport demands it.

[Artemis00]

I have started doing them low volume with very heavy weights. Not as fun, but the sport demands it.

Makes sense. I've always liked to do a bit of both with my bicep workout. Love having them be strong but also with a great pump. The strength helps out big time when it comes to functional strength. You'd be surprised how many activities require curling especially grocery shopping. And damn, I load those bags up as much as I can.

[LaughingStorm]

Makes sense. I've always liked to do a bit of both with my bicep workout. Love having them be strong but also with a great pump. The strength helps out big time when it comes to functional strength. You'd be surprised how many activities require curling especially grocery shopping. And damn, I load those bags up as much as I can.

Aware.

[Artemis00]

Wednesday - Gym

Aerial Play / Stretching


Notes:
Had no idea what I was going to do even when I got to the gym. Was even thinking about just taking the day as a rest day, but decided to go anyway. Warmed up with my smith machine routine a couple of times and did some ankle hangs. Then decided to just play around and improvise. That was fun especially since when I improvise, I like to do things far faster rather than holding a pose or doing something pretty with my arms/legs. Also realized I haven't spent much time trying back levers. I've done the one leg tucked front lever, but not much with back lever. I think I got a straddle version but is hard to tell without a form check. Part that sucks about these moves is after a few attempts, you just get gassed out. Really do have to play with them more.

After that I did some back and split stretching. Granted, I did split stretching yesterday but wanted to do it again since my legs felt good. Got a bit deeper and was able to hold it longer...but definitely was feeling it afterwards. Think I may be focusing on shoulder stretching on Thursday.

[Artemis00]

Thursday - Gym

Shoulders / Legs


Notes:
My shoulder has been really acting up since last Chest day so rather than push it too hard during my shoulder workout, I decided to do work them a different way with some handstand work. Started off with some one arm handstands against the wall. Then wanted to see how long I could stay up...managed to last 90 seconds which was 5 seconds longer than my previous PR. Eeking out those extra 5 seconds wasn't easy. The arms are shaking so bad at that point that you have to wonder when everything is going to collapse. Then I decided to alternate between calf raises, supersault squats and kicking up into a handstand. The goal was to not over kick and to just play around with the balance to see how things felt. Have to say it was a lot of fun in a sense. Sometimes I'd nail my center of gravity and everything felt so still...until I lost it seconds later. Other times I found I could balance better if I wasn't so focused on keeping my legs straight but rather moving them around more. And then a few times I found moving my hands helped me stay up a little longer. Of course the next time I would attempt the same things...failure. LOL. And by the end, my kick ups weren't as good because I was gassing out...but was a lot of fun.

Today I have my sports massage which is going to be about 45 minutes later than normal and my silks class which is going to be an hour earlier than normal. I hope I don't have to drive directly from one to the other but will bring my stuff just encase.

[LaughingStorm]

Wednesday - Gym
Aerial Play / Stretching
Notes:
Had no idea what I was going to do even when I got to the gym. Was even thinking about just taking the day as a rest day, but decided to go anyway. Warmed up with my smith machine routine a couple of times and did some ankle hangs. Then decided to just play around and improvise. That was fun especially since when I improvise, I like to do things far faster rather than holding a pose or doing something pretty with my arms/legs. Also realized I haven't spent much time trying back levers. I've done the one leg tucked front lever, but not much with back lever. I think I got a straddle version but is hard to tell without a form check. Part that sucks about these moves is after a few attempts, you just get gassed out. Really do have to play with them more.
After that I did some back and split stretching. Granted, I did split stretching yesterday but wanted to do it again since my legs felt good. Got a bit deeper and was able to hold it longer...but definitely was feeling it afterwards. Think I may be focusing on shoulder stretching on Thursday.

I assume you did OHP and deadlift Thursday like all good and decent people.

[Artemis00]

I assume you did OHP and deadlift Thursday like all good and decent people.

Yes, I pressed the floor and dead lifted my body over my head.

And who are you calling good and decent?

[LaughingStorm]

And who are you calling good and decent?

Myself, of course.

[Artemis00]

Myself, of course.

Okay...as long as you aren't insulting me.

Keep that self hate to yourself.

[LaughingStorm]

I thought it was common knowledge that I am the very model of goodness and decency.

[SophieM]

Is this the same shoulder that was acting up before?