Here's a question... you're about to jump off a bridge with a parachute... but the extra three feet of doing it from the railing doesn't seem safe...?

I can't even do 1 handstand push-up.

I suspect that having something to hang on to pre-jump is an important part of the process. Balancing on a six inch handrail three feet off the ground is one thing. Balancing on a six inch handrail 300 feet off the ground is another. I suspect.

Other than the climbing pics., the one of the jumper is what it's all about!!

I say just dive over the thing headfirst.
Just try not to catch a shoe lace going over.

Jason, sub some standing shoulder presses with the heaviest dumbbells you can press.

I used 25# dbs for the last run of Diane. I can't do one HSPU either. :)

Reed-ring me up when you get to town. We have got some more folks training @ the house. Congratulations to Larry.

Hi Jason,
Laura's suggestion is a good one. I approached it slightly differently. I can done 1 or 2 handstand pushups on a good day. So on a higher rep day I just do partial reps. I think it's important to spend time in the handstand position and just get used to it, even in the WOD. Just do 2" reps if you have to. It has helped me. I was not even close to a full rep a couple months ago and I would do 4"-6" range HSPUs. Other suggestions I've seen include:
Get in pushup position with your feet on the wall and your face looking away from the wall. Walk your hands backwards and your feet up the wall until you're in a full handstand facing the wall (don't tip over) and then walk back down.
Or, just elevate your feet at a high angle to approximate a handstand/elevated pushup combo. An accomodating resistance sort of scheme.
Matt

Until you've jumped you haven't lived ; )
Sort of like Crossfit......

Good point, Matt. I like the angled position idea. I tried it with a chair recently.

Actually, I have been trying to get away from substituted movements and just do the best I can with prescribed. Someday I'll try that strategy with HSPU. :) Maybe when I can do 35# dbs.

L.

Let's call this one "Fran's second cousin, twice removed."

Nice, Josh! I only have one off of a bridge here in California. A sweet three seconds! I think I'll stick to skydiving, however. :)

Any other jumpers on the board?

Met some guys in thailand when i was climbing who were jumping off the top of the wall on tonsai beach. Any of you guys here?

That was awesome entertainment each night. Especialy when they landed in trees, on longboats, in the water.

Jason,

Let me begin by apologizing for the length of this post ;)

Hand stand push ups are very tough. The effort is driven out of the delts and triceps almost exclusively with the pecs and lats acting as stabilizers to the shoulder girdle. The pectoral muscles lay flat and run from an origin along the breast bone across the front of the chest to an attachment point high in the front of the humorous (upper arm bone). They adduct the upper arm toward the midline of the body while the latisimus dorsi muscles help to stabilize the shoulder joint. So in a regular push up the pecs are the agonists (primary movers) and work though about a 90 degree range of motion.

The deltoid muscles however not only cross the shoulder joint from an origin along the clavicle and the upper scapula, they have to make a sharp (slightly more than 90 degree) turn to attach a little lower on the humorous than do the pecs. Their job is to abduct the upper arm away from the midline, then when past the midway point of their range of motion, they adduct the upper arm back toward the midline. In the hand stand push up the delts are the agonists. That 90 degree angle they have to work across in the beginning almost doubles the range of motion they have to work through and adds exponentially to the force they have to generate.

In otherwords, the structure of the shoulder joint means that the hand stand push up moves the bodies center of mass more than twice as far as does a regular push up. (See the latest CrossFit Journal for Coach Glassman's eloquent explanation of the physics and relating work performed to the distance the bodies center of mass has to move.)

That long winded explanation gives an understanding of another trick we can use to gradually shift the pressing effort from the pectoral muscles to the deltoids.

As an add on to Matt's post; use very small but ever increasing incremental raises in foot elevation up the wall to do push-ups. That is for one workout, begin by doing high rep push-ups in the regular position, then place your feet one foot up the wall and do another set. Then, another set another foot up the wall. Repeat this process until you're doing very high angled push-ups.

Mix this practise scheme with some partial reps of full hand stand push ups. Throw in some days of simply holding hand stands for time. Follow Laura's advise on doing dumbbell shoulder presses on some days, and pretty soon through dedicated practise you'll be doing hand stand push ups.

First I thought the guy that posted a slow time last week because he had to run in a blizzard was crazy. Then I thought the guy that was amused that he knocked out his two front teeth was crazy. But jumping off that bridge is CRAZY! My "awesome entertainment" is reading these posts. I'm so glad I found this site.

26:02

- HSPUs: 5, 5, 5, 3, 3 Pullups: 21
- HSPUs: 5, 3, 2, 1, 3, 1 Pullups: 15
- HSPUs: 3, 3, 3 Pullups: 9

I think I have been neglecting my HSPUs. I thought that doing Handstands during warmup was enough to keep my level, but apparently, it was not. Will include HSPUs into warmup again.

7.25. The problem is that since I have no balance, I can't even approach an HSPU without my toes against the wall, which I am sure makes the whole exercise something of a cheat. So in penance I finished with 30 L pullups (set broken).

5:26

Done cold, soon warmed up. First 19 HSPUs unbroken new pr +7! Pull ups unbroken.

Good to see you back Adam!

Time to stop reading, time to start doing! This is my very first WOD (my Door Gym pullup bar just arrived yesterday). Been really looking forward to this. Had to break the sets up big-time.

17:11

-HSPU: 12, 4, 5 PU: 7,3,3,3,3,2
-HSPU: 10,3,2 PU: 5,3,3,4
-HSPU: 9 PU: 7,2

Finally, one for the little guys.
4:25
First set of HSPUs and all pull-up sets unbroken.

Warmed up with a 6 mile run and finished with some yoga, parallel bar L sits and tuck planches.

Congrats Graham, strong work!

4:45...but the 1st set of HSPU really was killing my R shoulder/deltoid @ the upper humerus area where ? insetrtson the humerus so after that I just did 35# DBs..
That same area hurts on OHSes & throws ???? any ideas Dx Todd H or othersCFers out there???

I have been laid up with the stomach virus or something the past 2 days. I am going to try this one and see how weak I have gotten. Hopefully not too bad. I would imagine the time won't be great, but hopefully I can finish it.

I can't do a strict, full-range HSPU. I don't know if it's a strength issue or a confidence issue or both. I subbed strict military presses with 2-45#DBs (roughly one-half body weight). After reading Matt's and Ross' posts, however, I'll try partial rep HSPUs next time.

18:02--all sets broken.

For those doing full HSPUs: are you doing them just on the floor, on paralletes, or what? Also, how deep are you going? Thanks, Seth

bah! A bad one for the long-arm big guys! ;)

10:43 as Rx'd (kind of)

HSPU were partials (1/2, 1/3, 1/4 reps). But hey, I am finally doing HPSUs. Yeahhhhh!!!!

6:38. Sub'd pushups with feet on a bar on the squat rack at about 5 ft. Also, jump assist on the pullups.

Finished with 4.6 miles at marathon pace!

As designated...6:20.01

14:47
This one is hard for me because I suck at hspu's. I was able to get eleven in a row, but after that It fell apart. On top of That I had to do finger pull-ups due to injury to my hand. I'll tell you what they are so hard, my hands got fatigued far before my lats did.

10:51
One break on first set of pull-ups... HSPU's very broken sets.

9:16 subbing DB presses for HSPUs and all but first 10 pullups assisted at 34# (bw=125), the first 10 were hop-ups. I am trying not to impede the healing of my back injury so I am being a bit conservative. Started with CF warmup x3 with pushups. Ended with 3 sets of 10 V-ups, lying leg thrusts and attempted the hollow rocker - I still have a ways to go on that one!

Dave K,

I have a similar problem with my right shoulder. Subacromial bursitis (a.k.a impingement syndrome) is the most likely cause. It is an inflammation of the lubricating sac (bursa) between the rotator cuff tendons and the undersurface of the acromion ( a bony projection off of the scapula that connects to the collar bone). During periods of excessive stress, the bursa becomes inflamed, swollen and painful. Often the pain radiates down the arm to the mid-humerus area. The condition is treated by initially avoiding stressful overhead activities (at least decreasing the amount of weight lifted), stretching, and anti-inflammatory medication (ibuprofen, aspirin, etc.) Stretching the shoulder by pulling the arm accross the chest by holding the elbow with the opposite hand is good for stretching the tight posterior capsule. Also work on overhead shoulder flexibility with a PVC pipe. Rotator cuff strengthening exercises are begun after the acute inflammatory phase is resolved. Cable external rotation, cable internal rotation, and dumbell lateral raises with the thumbs pointed down are good rotator cuff strengthening exercises. If the condition persists or worsens consider getting an orthopedic evaluation and x-ray, since other conditions may masquerade as bursitis. A cortizone injection is often curative. Finally, a rotator cuff tear is another cause of shoulder pain which may require surgery.

My shoulder improved by decreasing the amount of HSPUs I was doing and avoiding heavy overhead presses. KB presses still kill my shoulder so I avoid those for now. I try to stretch at least 20 minutes twice weekly usually doing yoga.

Hope this helps.

RCL -
I think you are a little crazy if you read the posts...

Ross great post!

This week I started adding "wall walks" up to the handstand position (like Matt described) at the end of my workouts. I plan to do a combination of wall walks, partials, and elevated push-ups for today's wod.

Thanks!

As Rx'd 11:48

My Wife ran 1 mile then WOD(modified),
20# Presses
Body rows

Time= 8:46

Jason, all whom it may concern:

I have another technique for doing HSPU when you can't do a full-on handstand pushup; support the legs over a table end or set a barbell on the squat rack high enough to allow the ankles to lay across the barbell and to bend the hips at a 90-degree angle. With the upper torso perpindicular to the ground and the legs parallel, this seems like a good way to rep out the arms & shoulders at the exact angle of a true HSPU and a reduced load.

Comments?

HSPU-13/8, 15, 9

Pullups-15, 10/5, 9

Time- 9:49

time 8:41, HSPU were split between partial reps against the wall and pushups with feet elevated 3 1/2 feet on barbell

I guess I screwed up on this one...I did 3 rounds of 21, 15, 9 of Pull Ups and HSPUs (I thought one round was 21, 15, and 9 reps of both)...i.e.:

21, 15, 9 reps of both Pulls and HSPU
rest a while
21, 15, 9 reps of both Pulls and HSPU
rest a while
21, 15, 9 reps of both Pulls and HSPU
run for the bucket...not needed this time...

Oh well...

looking for advice workout to prepair for Force Recon. I've been doing crossfit for some time now, but need some swimming and rucking tips.

12:34 *

HSPUs - managed to go all the way down on a few. all sets broken, feet flapping against the mirrors of my spotless health club.

Pullups - got 17 in my first set!! YEAH!

...oh, I saw "tonyd" coming out of the gym today. he said,

"as designated, 6:20:00 - and you could tell Matt G. that I just bought my ticket to Memphis".

Great, I'll be waiting.

man, thos HSPU kicked my butt.

They were broken all the way through.
Pull-ups unbroken.

23:00

Going to go running later...5 miles

did this one immediately after wod 050304.
for time:
HSPU 21/8+7/9 (all reps to forehead)
pullups 21/15/9
time = 4:55.8

my unintentional weight loss (giardia) seems to have helped the HSPU - 21 straight is a new PR.
i had to lay on the floor with the spins and a splitting headache for about 10 minutes afterward.
maybe it was the sinus infection dying...

Hey treetrunks I went to that link you gave me to make my own kettlebells but it did not work.

Went to Crossfit North...

It's saturday, we suffered...

I'll let Laura post the Brand X workout for today. Our 17th anniversary today so Mikki and I did the WOD together.
Mikki 10:40 (1st 21 pull ups unassisted!)
Jeff 7:50 HSPU 16,5 11,4 6,3
Pull ups 21 15 9,3

TODD H
Thanks so much for your input I'll take your Dx Rx & let you know...

Wade-
use the Search function on the Discussion Boards...swimming has been talked about there within the last month or two and i know there is some rucking stuff from a while back (i think Coach Sommer was talking about it).

Just for fun:
Repitition Bwt(70kg) cleans following USAWA's rules, clean starts from below knees but must not touch ground, got 8 reps.
Rested and repeated CrossFit style with 'touch and go' cleans, 7 reps.

here are a few, Wade:

Swimming:
http://www.crossfit.com/discus/messages/21/7054.html

http://www.crossfit.com/discus/messages/21/7098.html

http://www.crossfit.com/discus/messages/21/7096.html

Rucking:
http://www.crossfit.com/discus/messages/22/4568.html

http://www.crossfit.com/discus/messages/20/2689.html

13:07, immediately after yesterday's WOD.

used 50# db presses for HSPUs. still working on the HSPUs, but there are lots of great ideas to try in today's posts.

I warmed up with a 1.5 mile run to the gym. I cannot yet do handstand pushups, so I subbed 85# military press.
Time=22:00

12:30 or 9:30, I cannot remember. Did it earlier and did not write it down.

At first, 12 HSPU in row (PR) followed by 12 PU in row.

Hey jimc,
I think your idea for the "reduce load HSPU" is the best, I tried it and it works great and it does put you in the perfect position.
You can also bend at the knees and hips while hooking your feet on the bar, it felt more comfortable this way. :)

Wow, I did the workout using the parallel bars for the HSPU and I could not manage more than three or four at a time (on a flat surface I'am good for one without a wall and about eleven against one). What gives???? Let's just say my time was double digits.....

Sean

and to the question about climbers, if you are ever in Az., all we do is climb!!

19:55
Got to 15 HSPU's then switched to 40lb db's for the rest.
My shoulders are way weak!

Did 45:25 with first round of pullups broken up.

Did 49:32 Broken up HSPU and Pull-ups
First time on CrossFit

4:45 doing pushups with feet elevated on 3' workbench. Pullups unbroken.
I did L-sits after and OHS before, and 5 muscleups at the park this afternoon.
-brandt

All righty then! Thanks to Jeff for letting me post this awesome workout from today's Saturday class at Brand X:

This was a workout that took us to every station in the "Black Box" erm dojo, and out and around the building. Everyone started at different places but the letters indicate order of rotation:

A: 15 pullups
B: 400M run
C: Horizontal Rope Climb
D: 25 pushups
E: 7 Med Ball/Heavy Bag throws up/back
F: 5 Lying Down Rope pullup
G: Farmers Walk up and back length of building + 15 burpees between trips.
H: 15 rope pullups
I: 25 toes to bar
J: 50 KB swings (last time was walking lunges)
K: Sled Pull up and back length of building (front)
L:25 dumbell thrusters
M: 15 pullups
N: 50 sumo DL highpulls
O: 50 OH squats
P: 25 Med Ball throws (Wall ball)
Q:2 1/4 laps start at SDHP, end at back door.
V: 2 Rope Climbs

Numbers listed are for "Big Dogs" (Advanced), Pack members (intermediate) and Puppies (beginners) did half the reps and could substitute movements if necessary.

I did pack workout with standard movements - except I subbed knees to elbows for toes to bar. All the pushups were without knees, and the pullups were without jumps. I did a REAL kettlebell swing - 25 of 'em with the 24# kb unbroken!

Oh you want my time????? 40 minutes.

We did this workout before back in Novemeber and I did the big numbers but without the full movements. It took me over an hour. I think this was a better workout for me but I still wish I had gotten a better time.

First ever WOD. I substituted 22.5# DB standing shoulder presses as I know I don't have the balance yet for a singleton handstand.

Completed in 11:49. I managed to do the first set of 21 shoulder presses unbroken, but everything else was pretty broken up.

10:15

HSPU were broken every set into thirds, and were as low as I could go for the first couple sets. After that I was doing a slight dip, then power drop onto my head before kicking up and counting it as one rep.

Finished with 50 kb swings (1.5pood) and some L-sits. Hopefully I will get to practice my OHS some more tonight. Next week I should be getting my Bigger Faster Stronger bumpers - I can't wait!

didnt time it...
assisted hspu 21-15-9
ring pullups 21-15-9 broken

Finally a WOD that plays to some of my strengths. HSPU against wall with an increasingly high amount of balanced reps. Stoked about that but as soon as I try to do it on purpose I fall down. Ring pullups. Everything broken.

06:25. Vision started to blur on the last round.

Finished with a Tabata-stationary-cycle-fest of ten intervals. No score kept, just went balls out for twenty seconds. That was brutal.

-D.

T.Rain,

http://geocities.com/briangl2002/kettlebell.htm

I built mine to look like the bottom one. I have had both a 1.5 and a 2 pood of this design for about 3 years, and they both work great.

12:54

HSPU:21(12,4,4,1)
Pull:21(6,3,3,3,3,2,1)
HSPU:15(7,5,3)
Pull:15(4,2,3,3,3)
HSPU:9
Pull:9(3,2,1,1,1,1)

CF WU x3 (No OHS, handstands vice pullups)

5 rounds
135 OHS x 15
400m

20:30

thus begins The Weekend of 500 Perfect Squats, the first weekend of my month-long committment to perfect squat form (and to getting my butt in gear...literally). the total will be 250-300 perfect squats today and the rest tomorrow. i also did/will be doing the Sommer pike stretch, my ass-to-ankle hip stretch and upper hamstring stretch, some L-sits and planches, and some other crap GTG-style. and i got a bar muscleup by combining a swing with a kip gymnastics style. actually, its probably considered more of a kip than a muscleup but whatever...i started from a hang and was above the bar at the end and it was pretty sweet.

im getting ready to re-PST to get my run time down but my sprained ankle and a closed pool limited me to Volume PT (in place of the WOD) as follows:

sets on the minute:
pushups: 6 sets of 42 reps (250 total)
2min rest
situps: 6 sets of 42 reps (w/ an extra 15s rest before the last set; 250 total)
2.5min rest
pullups: 7 sets of 7 reps (w/ 8 on the first set to make an even 50 total)

today was a good day...i didnt even have to use my AK.

14:25

Man, my pull-ups suck right now. Gotta be more consistent. Subbed 35lb dumbell press for HSPU. On the last set of 9 did HSPU, but can only do about 1/4 range of motion. The weakness is leaving the body.

Straight by the book.

13:37

Warmed up with some medicine ball cleans.

On handstand pushups I alternated between partial handstand pushups facing the away from the wall and really inclined puhups facing the wall.
On pullups I alternated pullups, chinups, and alternate grips.

21HSPU: 5+3+2+4+2+2+3
21PU: 10+5+6
15HSPU: 9+2+3
15PU: 7+4+4
9HSPU: 5+4
9PU: 5+4

24:03

Three rounds 21- 15- and 9 reps for time of 10'18"20 (with several interruptions from gapers)

Hanging push-ups
Pull-ups

For hanging push-ups I girth hitch 2 daisy chains from a pull-up bar and attach handles to them with carabiners so they hang just above the floor then place a box under my feet to elevate them.

See Chain Suspended Push-Ups with Blast Straps in Dave Tate's article "7 Exercises for Rapid Strength".

Tried to put in a link to the Dave Tate article but it didnt work. So here it is:
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do;jsessionid=44EA27232435D62B53674054293133A2.titan?id=564244&pageNo=0

Crossfit warmup
16:11 as perscribed all pullups unbroken.
Ended with weighted pullups and dips step 9 45#

18 minutes

Dead Hang Pull-ups unbroken (Couldn't kip because I was using an unstable bar)

HSPU very broken, but at least my form is improving.

New PR of 21 dead hang pull-ups. I should have gone for a max set, I think I had at least 2 more in me.

Cesar,
I'm glad they helped, I think I'll start using these after reaching failure trhe regular way.

12:20

All sets broken. I can't do full range HSPU's... so I just did partials, trying to get as far down on each rep as possible and still be able to push back up.

Then:

Grace w/ 95lbs in 10:20

Then:

4 intervals of 500m on the C2.

1:41.5 to 1:43.5 / 500m for all 4 with a minute rest between each.

Mashed my back up doing summersaults the previous day. (Or should I say TRYING to do summersaults).

The bungee pic looked quite amusing. I did a bungee but nothing like that. I have lived, and I want to keep on living thanks. lol

Sub ring pull ups
4:53

A little different. Did Db incline presses with 80# 7,5,5 Push ups with feet on top rung of smith machine. pullups

Did HSPU against the wall facing away from it.
First time doing them in about 15 years.....very hard, for once the pull-ups weren't my limiting factor. Pull-ups were started with 17-18 straight then realized I wasn't going fully down, adjusted, then found them much more difficult but definitly able to do more now than a month ago when I started.

time=8:22

21:06 (8:27 + 7:59 + 4:39)

broken sets for each, but less rest time and more reps on both handstand pushups (toes to the wall - I'm working to the heel to the wall level) and on the pullups.

5:37
Bad form, but improving

11.20

First couple of HSPU were full range, then partials. No breaks on pull-ups.

9:05

HSPU's nice and deep for the first few of each set, growing progressively shallower. Still, I'm getting better at them.

Right knee very sore from the squats Friday morning. IT band is acting up again. Glad it was an upper body day.

5:57 with dumbell presses subbed for hspu's after the 1st set.

7:24
No breaks on pullups; several breaks on HSPU.

Warmup: OHS 65x10, 85x5, 95/100/105x1, 110x2
Finish: kb bench press: 26s x 10, 35s x 10, 35/44 x 6/6 (don't have a pair of 44s yet so used one 35 and one 44)

11:34 as Rxd

No idea of time. But slow. Finished work out like this for both

7x7x7
5x5x5
3x3x3

8:08, subbed 50lb db presses for HSPU.

Once again, a day late:

11:00 even

Did the HSPU with my feet on a table
Pullups broken, longest set was 13

Did this one a few days later. WOD #2 of the day.

Subbed elevated pushups for HSPUs. Feet elevated to chest hight. Probably too easy of a modification. Not nearly as hard as the pullups.

8:38

Mike Donnelly

Did this one a day late... 18:00

Not that impressive compared to some of the animals around here, but for my level, and coming off a week break, I was pumped about this! My HPSU's and pull-ups have come a looooong way.

15:12 with full HSPU's at about 80 degrees facing the wall. The quality of my HSPU's are definitely improving.

subbed jacknife pushups with my feet elevated for hspu. managed 9.33. all pullups broken

21:27 with completion, not speed, the goal.
Fun workout.

8:35

Five rounds
15 pushups
15 jumping pull ups

13:27

Just to keep things moving over the weekend.

Late entry.

8:55 as Rx'd

HSPU sets shattered, not just broken. Depth suffered as the workout progressed.

Wife:
11 min? - Can't remember exact time. - 23# DB presses & jumping pull-ups

Did this one on Sunday, around noon.

Warm-up:
Squat clean, 10 singles, 175#

My HSPUs went to crap earliear than usual. Lots of broken sets. Singles and doubles by the last set. Used the wall for balance and went nose to floor. Pull-ups were overgrip kipping. Time was 12:21.

2:16 as Rx'd

All sets broken. Decent form on first couple HSPU, but that didn't last long.
9:10

Military Presses at 115lbs subbed for HSPU.

All sets broken 12:40

21 minutes
HSPU's from wall, feet on top of dip stand so probably took a bit of weight off
1) 7,7,7 HSPUs
pullups 3's, and 2's
2) 5,5,5 HSPU's
pullups couple of 3's mainly 2's
3) 5,4 HSPU's
pullups 2,2,1,1,1,1,1

PS: did a test HSPU at home last night, wife wasn't happy to see footprints on the wall!

13:33

broken sets. need to go down a little further on handstand pushups.

8:41

HSPU are only 4-6"

Balance is improving

12 mins

5:56 Assisted weight while my elbow gets better

BW=212
HSPU all broken, last 9 were negatives on parallettes
I=6:20/ II=12:08/ III=16:29

Round 1 --
HSPU's -- 4 plus 1 minute standing on head. PU's -- 8, 5, 4, 1

Round 2 --
HSPU's -- 5, 4, 2, plus several isometric contractions.
PU's -- 6, 4, 3, 2.

Round 3 --
HSPU's -- 4 plus 4 isometric contractions.
PU's -- 6, 3.

Did 4 extra HSPU's plus 3 extra isometrics. This workout was clearly beyond my current abilities, but I pushed myself as hard as I could!