I've Been Gone Awhile and Then, OOPS!

I know it has been a long time since I updated this blog, but I've been (or HAD been) training in my basement gym (The Dungeon) faithfully for the last couple of years, that is, until a few weeks ago. That's when I had a major OOPS!

Back around the beginning of this year, I got interested in Powered Paragliding or PPG. For those who don't know what that is, it's where you strap a motor with a propeller on your back, hook into a paraglider "wing", run into the air and fly like a bird. After much research, back in late June, I spent a full week training, learning mostly how to ground handle or "kite" the wing. A few weeks later, it was time to learn to handle the wing in the air. This is accomplished by hooking up to a ground-based "tow rig" which uses a winch and a small, very strong tow line to pull you up into the air, allowing you to glide down, controlling the wing as you go. This drill is supposed to end with a successful landing, where you land on your feet and take a few steps before turning and gracefully setting your wing on the ground.

Well, things didn't go as planned for me. The video below shows me being towed up for the third time that morning. On this third "flight", I landed on my rear end, put my hand back to catch myself and broke my wrist in the process. I'm now in a cast on my left arm from just below the elbow down. Did I mention that I'm left-handed? This has greatly limited my ability to train. There are still some lower body exercises that I can do, but most of the upper body stuff has been put on hold.

So, watch the video and have a laugh at my expense.

Spiderman Crawls!

Well, after about a month and a half of practicing the principles form Tim Anderson's book "Original Strength", I decided that since today was an "off" day (cardio-only), I'd do some Spiderman crawls. I only did a few minutes worth, spread out through the day but let me tell you, these things are HARD! I'm thinking that these will be a regular thing for me now. What a rush! I snagged the video below off of YouTube. Thanks to Steve Maxwell for showing us how it's done.

Pressing with Old Shoulders

On "Push Day", challenges arise, due to the cumulative abuse that these old shoulders have endured over the years. Truth be told, most of the underlying damage was probably done decades ago when in my youth, I did more pushing than I should have and not enough pulling, creating imbalances. Combine this with trying to go way too heavy on the bench press with way too wide of a grip and well, time catches up with a body.

I don't do any type of pressing with a barbell anymore. All weights that are pressed are now dumbbells only. I've also been experimenting with suspension training and it's a great tool to use for pressing movements while saving the shoulders. Two exercises that I really like are suspended flies and suspended triceps extensions. Here are a couple of videos that I snatched off of YouTube to show each.

Chest Flies (and Chest Press);

Triceps Extensions;

Pilot's View of Airbus A380 approach and landing at San Francisco

If you've got 14 minutes to kill, this is a pretty cool sequence of a German flight crew flying the massive Airbus A380 on approach into San Francisco.

Rotator Cuff Exercises For Rehabing Shoulder Injuries

I'm always trying new things in an attempt to keep my aging shoulders somewhat healthy. I've found the exercises in this video by Lee Hayward to be helpful in maintaining the rotator cuffs and preventing injury.

Crosswind Landing Testing

Boeing crosswind landing tests down in Brazil.

It's been around for several years and if you work in the industry or you're on my email list, you've probably already seen it.

If you haven't though, it's worth the three minutes. Can you say "coconuts"?