Today during my first Stage 3 Workout B, I thought of some questions I had:
1st what would be the harm in reducing the rest time for the ab work and prone cobras at the end of Stage 3? Say to 1:30 or maybe 1, especially on the bodyweight stuff.
2nd is it okay to increase the reps on the ab exercises like the jackknife and the swiss ball side crunch?
3rd would there be any benefit to adding a small weight to the swiss ball side crunch? any harm?
4th how much weight is too much on back extensions? I held a 25 lb plate today and felt like more would be doable but wasn't sure if there was a point to doing that much or more.
5th on the YTWL, again, should I keep the weights pretty light even if a heavier amount is doable? (it's not yet)
6th (and last) I would like to work in a little practice on handstand push ups and chin/pull ups. How might I go about doing that in this program?
Wow, that's a lot of questions! I guess it was all that rest time, LOL.
I know Diane and I tend to cut our rest periods a bit short. I doubt there's much harm in it especially for the "easier" bodyweight exercises. I would add a small weight tot he side crunches.. I used a 10lb plate with them but had a hard time balancing. And I used a 25 with the back extentions too, so I don't think going higher would be bad at all.
1st what would be the harm in reducing the rest time for the ab work and prone cobras at the end of Stage 3? Say to 1:30 or maybe 1, especially on the bodyweight stuff.
No harm. This is one of the times that I think they kept the rest periods the same just for consistency of writing the program--like it might be confusing if the rest times differed depending on the exercises. In addition, there are options and depending on which movements you pick, the best rest times might be different, you know? So here's a place where I think making some individualized choices makes sense. It'd be cool if Alwyn would tell us what he thinks, but we're not going to get that kind of attention from him. But that's what I think, for whatever that's worth.
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2nd is it okay to increase the reps on the ab exercises like the jackknife and the swiss ball side crunch?
Sure. OR (and this is what I did) you could stick to the philosophy of the programming stage and simply choose more difficult exercise choices. Mel, you're a more advanced lifter and you might do better with the 6 reps, but with more challenging exercises. Just be sure to stick to the same movement plane he's targeting with each exercise choice.
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3rd would there be any benefit to adding a small weight to the swiss ball side crunch? any harm?
If you're only going to do 6 reps, then you'd better add a weight, huh? Or see above answer.
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4th how much weight is too much on back extensions? I held a 25 lb plate today and felt like more would be doable but wasn't sure if there was a point to doing that much or more.
Same thing, if we're doing 6 reps, then we're going to have to add weight. How much is too much depends only on your own ability to execute the movement correctly (mostly meaning not throwing your low back into the lift, but focusing it in your glutes and hams). Athletes and powerlifters do these with pretty heavy loads as an accessory movement.
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5th on the YTWL, again, should I keep the weights pretty light even if a heavier amount is doable? (it's not yet)
Same thing. This is a lower rep workout. You'll have to use more weight than you did for the 10 reps of the prone Cuban snatch. I still find the L very difficult. My tight shoulder girdle just doesn't want to do that movement very well, so my loads are still pink. It's all relative though. You choose a load you can lift with good form for the prescribed reps.
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6th (and last) I would like to work in a little practice on handstand push ups and chin/pull ups. How might I go about doing that in this program?
If you're willing to make changes to the program (and I've already suggested that in my answers above!), then it'd be simple to substitute pull-ups for the wide-grip lat pulldowns. Same vertical pulling plane of movement, but a more challenging exercise choice.
There is some overhead work in this stage, but rather than a strictly vertical push he's written in more shoulder friendly overhead work. So there's not a single place to substitute in the handstand push-ups. I wouldn't do them at the end though. They're probably tougher than just about anything else you're doing in this program. So they need to go pretty early in whichever workout you add them to. Just figure out where you want to put them and add them in. They're not a really good fit, but if you're making them a personal goal, then that's your business.
Disclaimer: Some people feel quite strongly that messing with the programming, like I've suggested in this post, is a big mistake. And if someone lost the philosophy of the program or dumped essential exercises or messed with the set/rep scheme for the main lifts, I'd tend to agree. But any program written for the general public is general by its very nature. It is not designed for any one individual. If Alwyn himself were training you, he'd individualize the program for you. The key is knowing how and when to make a change that makes sense.
Thanks Red and Mermaid! Those were my instincts as well.
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I treated the whole ab series in S3 as a real superset....only resting between the entire superset.
Oooh Jane! That is a brilliant Idea! I am so doing that. Oh yeah.
Lisa~you are the best! I was hoping you'd stop by. I really wanted to make sure that the changes I wanted to make were in line with good training practices, so your thoughts and ideas were very important to me. I have to say, I'm not one to change a program. I am usually very happy doing what is prescribed and don't want to do anything that would wreck the spirit and intent of this program. That's mainly why I asked, because I want to make sure that any little adjustments I make still fit in with the program goals.
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This is one of the times that I think they kept the rest periods the same just for consistency of writing the program
This was my initial thought too. I figured it was just to keep it easy.
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Sure. OR (and this is what I did) you could stick to the philosophy of the programming stage and simply choose more difficult exercise choices. Mel, you're a more advanced lifter and you might do better with the 6 reps, but with more challenging exercises. Just be sure to stick to the same movement plane he's targeting with each exercise choice.
My issue here, is often, if there aren't suggestions in the book, I'm not sure what to do. Or, I'm doing the advanced version already. For example, I do the swiss ball pike instead of the jackknife and I don't know a more advanced move. So, i did more reps of those. I really like what you say about the movement plane. I think that will help me pick exercises. Do you have any other suggestions on how to look for advanced versions of exercises? I wish I knew enough about this to know on my own, but I'm pretty afraid of doing the wrong thing....
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If you're willing to make changes to the program (and I've already suggested that in my answers above!), then it'd be simple to substitute pull-ups for the wide-grip lat pulldowns. Same vertical pulling plane of movement, but a more challenging exercise choice.
Great idea! Duh! Geeze. It really bothers me that I can't think of these things on my own. I can follow a program, but when it comes to knowing why I'm doing things and what I am actually doing, I just don't know enough.
Again, I can't tell you how much I appreciate the time and thought you put into answering. It is reassuring and helping in my learning process. You Rock!
Great questions, Mel! I'm especially glad to see you asking about the ab sets--those were the same questions I had as far as rest periods, adding weights, advanced versions, etc. (But, I didn't want to ask since so many people are against changing the program in any way .)
I've finished stage 3 as close to as-is as I can, but I was also wondering, for anyone who might know the answer, what would be an appropriate at home substitute for the back extension? I know Lou mentions doing the prone cobra instead, but I find those so boring when they're already in the same workout again. Not to mention that I can easily hold prone cobras for more than three minutes and don't know a better substitute for that either. I have been doing various back/hamstring/glute exercises to get the same benefits, but I'd love to know what others think and have been doing, too. (I know the back extension is coming back in stage 5 and I'd really like to have a better plan by then.)
Lisa~, thank you for thoughtful responses! I try to read all the information you post to learn as much as I can about this program, individualizing it for myself, and exercise in general.
what would be an appropriate at home substitute for the back extension?
You're welcome! Thanks for your kind words.
You can do a back extension over a stability ball like this: Stability Ball Back Extensions. But it's difficult to get really good glute focus when they're done this way.
I'd probably do reverse hypers over a ball on a bench, like this:
Here's a video. They even named them reverse stability ball back extensions. This guy is kicking up a little bit, so be sure to move in a controlled fashion and focus on glute contraction. Don't go into hyperextension where your back is arched. http://www.performanceworkouts.com/e...kextension.mov
Thanks for the help, Lisa~. I had been doing the extensions the first way you posted and it was a little difficult to get a really good glute focus, just like you said . I worked on doing a couple the second way you posted and had DH watch that I wasn't arching. I like those much better and find it easier to focus on glutes that way. Thanks again!
Thanks for all the great answers to questions I didn't have to ask myself, since mel was kind enough to do it for me.
I was particularly wondering about the back extensions substitutions since I also didn't want to just do more prone cobras. I giggled at one of the videos on one of the links from Lisa because I suggested to my husband that maybe I could use our incline bench and he was dubious ... oh, well (though to be fair to him our bench doesn't have footrests, so it's not really the same). I tried leaning over the back of our futon and that definitely didn't work. heh.
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