[Progress] M - 22 - 6’2”/188cm - 221lbs/100kg — Progressing barbell strength and calisthenics (205kg x5 deadlift and 2 reps of free HeSPU)

[von20207777]

Hey everyone! Been a while since I posted training updates. Over the past year-ish (last September til now) I’ve been training with @s.marko - the main accomplishments have been:

Handstand push-ups (went from 0 to 2 reps), 50lb deadlift PR not peaked (500lbs -> 550lbs), improving my front lever, getting generally stronger at all lifts, gaining 15lbs of size, developing a better mindset towards training as a whole, and figuring out how to approach goal selection to beat plateaus.

The main things I’ve gotten out of this past year apart from all the improvements have been the last two things above. I went from trying to attack probably 10 or more goals to just 2 upper body (front lever and HSPU) ones and 2 lower body ones (squat and deadlift). At the size I’m at I was just struggling to recover from those goals + mobility training + OAC training and I was stagnating at everything.

I never really know what to say for these posts exactly, so ask any questions you may have, I love talking about combining powerlifting and GST, both sports individually, and training/life balance in general.

Video of recent training progress:

 

[tammyfish12]

@von20207777 Congratulations on the results. Fellow tall and heavy guy here, working towards freestanding HeSPU. Do you mind sharing how you approached the training for this move?

 

[von20207777]

@tammyfish12 For me it was taking a lot more time on pike push-ups. Pause reps at the bottom, slow tempo negatives, higher reps (adding in a day of 5x8). Just reaaaalllly perfecting form there (record yourself) and doing a good amount of volume. 2-3x a week, one day 5x5 of a variation, one day 5x8 normal, one day maybe some wall hspu work. That was when I could maybe do one okay stomach-to-wall HSPU. As a beginner just more reps of regular pike push ups (decline if possible). Reps and reps and reps of it.

Building a solid foundation of shoulder strength with them is a must.

 

[tammyfish12]

@von20207777 Thanks for the advice. Currently working on the wall 2 days a week, aiming to progress linearly. I will regress the difficulty one of those days, and try to focus on higher volume.

 

[von20207777]

@tammyfish12 No problem! What kind of volume are you putting in each session for pressing?

 

[tammyfish12]

@von20207777 Warmup: 2 set x 5 reps pike push up.

1. Wall HeSPU variation 5 x 2-4 (usually manage a total of 10 reps).
   
   - Eccentric with tempo till nose to floor --> feet push off the wall --> pushing "freely" back up.
2. Wall HeSPU regular 3 x 2-4 (usually manage 6 or 7 total reps).

Total volume (warmup included) = 26-27 reps

That is the pushing work of my bent arm (BA) days. I do BA twice a week, monday and thursday.

I currently cant really increase the reps, though that is the goal. The above is by no means easy, and i struggle to maintain quality. Is it similar to your volume?

 

[onevoiceunified]

@tammyfish12 Same here. 6 foot and 240 lbs. I know I’m gonna have to be patience, and while I do want to lose weight the lowest I really want to go is 220. It’s inspiring seeing someone bigger do these things.

 

[von20207777]

@onevoiceunified Check out my response to the parent comment.

 

[bibbigo]

@von20207777 Cool progress! I suspect like many, I have a lot of the same questions that would normally be answered when you provide the required information in a progress post rules.

My basic questions would be:

1. Front Lever progression ~1 year ago vs. Current (~5 sec single leg FL)?
2. Weighted Pull-up ~ 1yr ago (1RM / 3-5RM) vs. Current?
3. Any Planche progressions?

 

[von20207777]

@bibbigo My bad on that.

FL progression one year ago I had a 1L hold for probably about 7-8s and now I have a 1L with 1L adv tuck for about the same time. Progress is slow while gaining weight and I’ve put on a lot of leg mass.

Weighted pull-up is nowhere near a priority, just use it for training volume. But I went from 10lbs being for tempo sets of 8 being very tough to 55lvs for tempo sets of 6 being manageable.

For planche, I achieved a consistent (had it once or twice in the past) press HS and also got a few stalder press negatives. Planche isn’t a goal of mine currently.

I never really test anything - just usually kills progress for me.

Progress is very non-linear for me with my size and especially due to having put on a lot of leg mass. Main reason I didn’t put a lot of quantified stuff up top.

 

[brobear]

@von20207777 Wouldn't heavy pull ups help with FL?

 

[von20207777]

@brobear It’s why I’m using them for an accessory. But you can’t just add accessories more and more and have them always help, there’s a limited amount of volume you can recover from.

On phone, so won’t link, but look up concepts of minimum effective volume and maximum recoverable volume from Dr. Mike Isratel. I probably spelled/acronymed like 5 things wrong there but you should be able to find it.

 

[brobear]

@von20207777 I see, great that you found out your sweetspot between mev and mrv

 

[sweetplum]

@von20207777 Same as what @tammyfish12 asked, how much time did you give to learning Handstands per week?

 

[von20207777]

@sweetplum When I was really learning handstands and focusing on them, 4x weekly on average. Now to maintain them I do my HSPU work (bent arm presses mostly) and maybe one quick balance session per week.

 

[daxx]

@von20207777 Great progress! I can relate to trimming my goals down, just recently I sta down to write myself a new program and by the end each workout was looking to be over an hour, and since I'm going for frequency by training everyday it just wasn't feasible.

I picked two goals for upper and lower body with a general overall body comp that I want to attain through eating. Each workout should now only be about 30 min not including a few minutes if warm-up and stretching.

Hopefully condensing my goals will have a good result in the coming months. I just want to accomplish so many different feats it's hard to choose which ones to focus on!

 

[von20207777]

@daxx Just gotta pick the ones that will carry over the most to other areas. Most of the time that’s HSPU work, FL work, then pull-ups, and planche. Good luck

 

[jonnyy40]

@von20207777 awesome work, i love the mix of strength progressions!

 

[von20207777]

@jonnyy40 Thank you!

 

[lukedj9607]

@von20207777 The girl at 50 seconds also impressed with your progress.