ring muscle up before I'm 40

Game fucking on y'all. My.nerve damage has diminished to the point where I can train my upper body safety again. In the same way I hit a 500 dead after herniating multiple discs (immediate thought after was oh nooooo I'll never be strong again) I'm going to hit the target I thought was lost to me the moment I injured my neck.

Context. In a single day in 2021:

- I hurt my neck doing handstand pushups (d'oh).

- Hurt it more trying to do a muscle up with no training (why).

- Then made the problem 10x worse by doing farmers walks later in the day (I thought it would stretch me out!).

What resulted was my neck hurting so badly I couldn't move without assistance, my entire left arm going numb, and my body losing all ability to pull (the nerves literally didn't connect). Am I 100% better? Nah. My strength isn't what it was, and there is always some residual numbness. But I'm smarter now. Maybe. Active daily mobility and actually training my neck is mah friend. You probably can't compete at the highest levels of (fill in something) with nerve damage. But a muscle up? Bitch please. This is doable.

The system

Full body every other day. 

- heavy focus on upper body.

- lower body is super light via rehab and acclimation.

Daily practice with false grip. That shit hurts.

Off days.

- neck and foot strength.

- mobility.

The only thing that will change once my lower body is cleared is extra conditioning sessions. I want a larger engine, not necessarily to directly strength train my lower. This means kettlebells and sandbags. Together at last.

shower thought biceps on biceps

The pelican curl is the Nordic hamstring curl for the arms. Extremely high tension and high difficulty ceiling. 

Training elements are mostly the same. Slow negatives, full range of motion with bands 

calisthenics progression (still vetting)

Every once in a while a fun idea comes across your brain. It's too good to ignore sonit gets put into immediate action.

Concept 

Prioritizing calisthenics via both weights and leverage progressions 

What it looks like

Shoot for a rep goal

Add weight when the rep goal is achieved 

Repeat until stale

Deload movement

Replace movement with a more difficult variation.

Example

Pushups 3x15, increase weight

+2.5lbs Pushups 3x12

+2.5lbs Pushups 3x15, increase weight

+5lbs Pushups 3x10

...weeks later

+25lbs Pushups 3x6, my shit hurts.

Pushups 3x5

Pushups 3x10, switch to new movement.

Archer Pushups 3x7

Archer Pushers 3x9

Etc

staggered rest versus supersets

I read something in Overcoming Gravity (gymnastics training for gen pop, excellent read and reference) that resonated with me and I've since implemented in my own training. 

Concept

Staggering rest periods instead of super setting exercises. 

Example super setting followed by rest

Set of ring pullups

Set of ring dips

Rest 3-5min

Example of staggering rest periods

Set of ring pullups 

Rest 1.5-2.5min

Set of ring dips

Rest 1.5-2.5min

Benefits

- fatigue from the leading exercise does not limit the second exercise.

- grip strength is not a limiting factor.

- rest periods can be used to stretch antagonist muscles, warm up the lower body, or sit and chill.

- overall cycle time of the workout is not extended.

Overall performance will still be better if you chose neither of the options above (pullups, rest 5min, pullups, etc), but the tradeoff is a longer workout. If your goal is to improve conditioning, then this method is not for you. The rest periods in line are geared towards strength development.

I was able to use the stagger method to complete the sets below in 45min. 

Ring pullups X3 stagger bar dips X3

Pelican curls X3 stagger pushups X3

V sit x3 stagger Romanian deadlift X3

Ring wrist curls x1