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WEEK 20
Reading up was a great use of my time and I found several new ab exercises and also decided that a handstand is worth learning. A lot of people use a handstand as a starting position before descending into a straddle planche and there’s also a seated tuck into handstand transition that looks like it will build the right strength for planche.
To give my body a break from planche training I will switch to handstand training for a few weeks. The format will be the same as learning frog stand, which is 5 x 20 secs of a strength move followed by balancing practice.
20 Feb
Bent Arm Tuck Planche – 9,14,15,10,8 secs
Handstand To Wall – 17,19,23,20 secs
L-Sit with High Feet (end on foam roller) – 7,8 secsTo get the tuck handstand press it’s recommended to do a bent arm tuck planche for a stable base to push off. These were tough but taught me that my core is not the limiting factor in my tuck planche because I could hold my legs there easily. A regular L-Sit isn’t a problem so with straight legs I’m looking to hold them up over an object, in this case a ~50cm foam roller. Handstands were against the wall with the intention of pushing my feet off to balance for 2-3 secs, which didn’t really work.
23 Feb
Bent Arm Tuck Planche – 20,12,15,12,14 secs
Handstand (aided) – 30,35,13,15 secs
Free Handstand Practice – 3 minsGlad to see the strength from bent arm tucks come through and I hit my first 20 second hold. My wife caught my legs for the handstand but that felt more awkward than using the wall. I tried the standard ‘kick the legs up’ into a handstand hold and while it didn’t last more than 1-2 seconds I feel like that’s the best way to improve. I laid out cushions to soften my fall but the main problem was fatigue from the aided handstands, so next time I’ll jump straight into free handstands.
Here’s a few sets from the 20th
WEEK 2
13 Feb
Dynamic Warmup
Activation exercises
Ankle drill, CMJ, Glute drill
Oscillating Squats w 50kg
RLESS ISO w 40kg
Lower Back Exercise
Calf ExerciseMy right ankle seemed to flare up during the Ankle drills.
14 Feb
10 stretches
4 supersets (core, balance, feet)15 Feb
Jump Session
I started strongly, almost touching the backboard with a 2 foot approach, but last week I misunderstood the sets and reps and didn’t realise it was per leg, so some exercises I did double the volume. This meant by the time it came to longer approach I wasn’t explosive enough to touch the backboard again.
16 Feb
10 stretches
4 supersets (core, balance, feet)18 Feb
Dynamic Warmup
Activation exercises
Ankle drill, CMJ, Glute drill
Oscillating Squats w 50kg
RLESS ISO w 40kg
Lower Back Exercise
Calf ExerciseAnkle flared up AGAIN on the Ankle drill, the first time I thought it was coincidence but now it’s almost certainly being aggravated, so I’ll skip it next time. In general there’s so much more focus on foot strength and conditioning than any other program so my feet and ankles aren’t used to such a training load.
Here are my RLESS ISO’s, if you find my “Get Vertical” training log it has the same sets, reps and hold time in that program, so I’ve been here before https://9to5strength.com/forums/topic/get-vertical-program-by-christian-thibs/
END OF WEEK 1
11 Feb
Daily Stretches
12 Feb
Daily Stretches
Bent Knee Seated Pull ups – 4 x 4
Forearm Cool Down13 Feb
Daily Stretches
WEEK 2
14 Feb
Daily Stretches
Active Hang – 18,13,13 secs
Forearm Cool DownA little miscommunication on the first set, I explained that it should be around 60% effort. These were spaced across the day with a maximum of 2 sets in one visit, spaced 5 mins apart. That’s going to be the same for all of weeks 2 and 3. We have a bar in the garage so she pops in as she’s leaving the house for work and does 1-2 sets each morning.
15 Feb
Daily Stretches
Active Hang – 15,14,15,18 secs
Forearm Cool DownThe idea is to increase the number of sets each day and for simplicity I suggested adding one set each time. It’s a concept known as “Greasing the Groove” where you complete time under tension but space it across the day so your body isn’t fatigued. It’s commonly done with push ups and pull ups.
16 Feb
Daily Stretches
Active Hang – 12,15,14,10,10 secs
Forearm Cool Down18 Feb
Daily Stretches
Active Hang – 10,8,12,12,12,14 secs
Forearm Cool Down19 Feb
Daily Stretches
Active Hang – 11,12,12,10,11,11,10 secs
Forearm Cool DownThis is the end of week 2, doing 5 days of active hang. This was because she can’t hold for 30 seconds, and if she could the next progression would be hanging in the top position for up to 30 seconds. In week 3 it will be six days a week of the same thing, but 80% intensity instead of 60%, meaning this week was more like a primer for the volume to come. I’ll test her grip strength tomorrow.
WEEK 18
5 Feb
Scap Pushups – 2 x 10
PPPu – 8,8,8,6
Tuck Planche – 9,8,11,8,5 secs (41 total)WEEK 19
11 Feb
Tuck Planche – 11, 12 secs
L-Sit Tuck Hold – 25,25,25,20 secs15 Feb
Tuck Planche Pulses – 3,3
Tuck Planche – 4, 8 secs
PPPu – 6,8,8,7,5I am seething. My progress is so bloody slow and I genuinely don’t know how to structure my training to make incremental gains, which is new territory for me. I still can’t even tell which muscle groups are failing me. I am going to set aside 45-60 mins to reading more material on planche training because right now that’s the best use of my time.
WEEK 1
Throughout this I will be purposefully vague so as not to give people the whole program for free. The layout is Day 1-5 and it looks like you can choose how to space them, as long as Days 1, 3 and 5 have sufficient recovery.
6 Feb
Dynamic Warmup
Activation exercises
Ankle drill, CMJ, Glute drill
Oscillating Squats w 40kg
RLESS ISO w 30kg
Lower Back Exercise
Calf ExerciseI enjoyed this. When I did the pushup & pullup program it made such a difference to my mind-muscle connection to start with activation exercises, and it’s the same here.
7 Feb
10 stretches
4 supersets (core, balance, feet)I’m familiar with a lot of these stretches and the principles of the ab stuff. It’s nice to work on foot conditioning as I can’t remember another program that’s addressed it.
8 Feb
Jump Session
This is like Jump Science 2.0 in that there’s a dedicated technique day. I had a narrow window to get this done on a Saturday morning before work and to save time I didn’t bring my tripod or intend to film anything. During one of my approaches I touched the backboard for the first time ever (I should note it’s 293cm and I did touch 294cm with a mini hoop in my garden) meaning my gains are already 2cm. Some of this could be attributed to my increased freshness having done heavy squats the previous week, but my technique felt sharp so I want to give the program the benefit of the doubt.
9 Feb
10 stretches
4 supersets (core, balance, feet)This is the same session as above and there’s the option of doing it a third time as a “Day 6”, which I won’t be doing.
11 Feb
Dynamic Warmup
Activation exercises
Ankle drill, CMJ, Glute drill
Oscillating Squats w 45kg
RLESS ISO w 35kg
Lower Back Exercise
Calf ExerciseWeights got heavier but everything else stayed the same. As you can see Days 1 & 5 are the same, as are Days 2 & 4. I should also note that on Day 3 there’s a pool workout but my nearest one is 10 miles away so I did the alternative exercises. That’s also the case on multiple occasions where he uses gym equipment I don’t have in my home gym, and in fact I bought resistance bands to be able to do some of the others.
My first impression is that it’s a good program but it’s very involved, I had to spend 30 mins for each session going through the videos and making a note of the coaching points, and there’s a lot to get through even if the sessions take 60-90 mins. The draw of some of the other programs is their simplicity, and I can see why nobody has made Vert Code Elite free online, because you’d need to link to all the videos to understand the program. I’m already confident I have my money’s worth for the first 4 weeks and so I’ll roll over and allow the money to be deducted for month 2.
Here are my oscillating squats from today, I’ve seen a top dunker do them in his leg day so they are maybe more common than I thought.
