Phase One

Today was the last day of the first phase of my bodyweight workouts. Next week will be a recovery week, though I'm not sure what that means for actual workouts. I'll probably do one of Craig Ballantyne's Bodyweight 250/350/500 workouts; they're a fun challenge and a break from what was becoming a less interesting routine.

Which is not to say I wasn't making progress. I definitely moved through each workout faster and faster each week, and through it wasn't easy to measure my progress there were some noticeable gains. The one that really stands out is the Elevated Wall Planks, where my feet press against a wall while I hold a pushup position. I was able to do that today for three sets of :60, :50 (bad hand position) and :60. Not exactly the Body Prop, but it's a start.

Not sure what I'll do in the next phase. In fact, I might extend this phase another week since I'm going out of town next week -- for GenCon, which is ComicCon's even nerdier cousin. But whenever it starts, the next phase will be more endurance work, and it will involve my shiny new manila climbing rope as much as possible.

Took a look at G4's latest videos, my first look at this year's American Ninja Warrior qualifying course. My first reaction was that the course seems much easier than last year. Sure there's still the Bridge of Blades and Warped Wall, but the Spider Walk's been replaced by the Jump Hang and the Rope Swing's replaced by the Log Grip. Of course, if the course is easier to complete than the trick will be to get through it as quickly as possible.

And I'm sure that plenty of those clowns trying out will wipe out on the first obstacle, the Quad Steps. I could mock the less serious contestants, but part of me thinks that they've got the right attitude, at least for Gameday. Keep loose, have fun, and don't take yourself too seriously. Obviously, since I'm blogging about my training, I have some work to do in that regard.

Interesting to hear that the Warped Wall is only 14 feet tall. Sure, that's 4 feet taller than the basketball hoop on which I have never dunked. But a 6-foot guy reaches to 8 feet just standing up, so if you can run four feet up the wall you just need to be able to jump 24 inches from a running start. Hey, if a fisherman can do it, so can I.