A few months in and I'm starting to settle into a bit of a routine.
The past few weeks I've managed some hoop-action in the park on the way home on Monday and Wednesday nights, with the plan being to squeeze in another sitting at home later in the week, although this has so far proved elusive as I'm usually totally wrung out at the end of the week.
Routine is currently
- Ring rows, x10
- L-sit (or as pitifully close to it as I can get) for 30 seconds
- Ring pressups x as many as I can manage, currently about 5
- Dead-hang knee-raises x 10
This routine is done three times and finished off with an as-long-as-I-can-manage fully relaxed dead hang to decompress everything.
I'm also looking to incorporate some supported tricep dips too but find them bloody difficult and my form is terrible.
The rings remain absolutely punishing but it also feels great to be exercising bits that other activities can't reach. Progress is slow and I still largely resemble a potato, but I can feel a difference in the fit of my clothes around my shoulders / lats / delts / traps.
The rings are a great exercise to do on the way home since they largely target the upper body, meaning I can give it a hammering while leaving my ability to get home largely unaffected. Plus, since it's targeting a whole different set of muscles it effectively doubles the source of post-exercise endorphines, usually leaving me with a pretty substantial high afterwards.
It's deceptive how much effort is required for some of these exercises - last night I clocked 75% of max HRM after doing on of the L-sits. The dead-hang to finish is fantastic as it leaves seemingly most of the upper back and arms stretched and loose; leaving me with a lovely lightness in the upper-body for the ride home. While my muscles ache a bit in the days afterwards they never feel tight or painful.
I should probably concentrate a bit more on the weights as I've let these slip, but it seems that between the bike, rings, dumbells, pressups and a bit of walking that's most bases covered
