Arm Wrestling and Acrobatics
I'll make this post as introduction. I've not yet read the book but I bought it on kindle so I'm halfway there I suppose. I'm almost 40 and this will be the first time in my life I attempt a real strength training program. I did some heavy bodybuilding exercises and T&F in high school, some gymnastics training in uni which resulted in several bad ankle sprains, a half assed triangle program for powerlifting that got me up to cat iv levels in 6 months. Next year was lw national strongman champion. Then I tried hard to gain mass and ended up hospitalized and came out smaller than I started. Got into rock climbing and calisthenics (did 3 rep chins with each arm), played a little with bending and grip (almost got an old #3), a few seasons of highland games to briefly hold the lw record for weight over bar, easily won my first arm wrestling tournament then a few weeks later stupidly tore my UCL in a training session against a giant roided up pro. Gradually rebuilt my side pressure with weighted muscle ups and came back stronger than before. Then I got into parkour and developed painful bone spurs in my ankles. Did a long bicycle tour and started losing mass. After 30 I started really losing mass and strength quickly. Began competing in ninja warrior and was doing well until suddenly my 10 year old UCL injury started hurting again and wouldn't stop. Was sedentary a few years and then 2 years ago got back into arm wrestling.
My strength now is about two thirds what it was at my peak and looks as though I've lost 20-30 % of my muscle mass. My old ligament damage is really bothering me and holding me back in training and competing. I want to rebuild my mass and power with the program, while strengthening my elbow, wrist, and ankle ligaments with accessory exercises after main lifts. Since arm wrestling is basically static, I was thinking of doing static holds for time and high volume low intensity short rom pulls at various angles. And since acrobatics is dynamic I was considering doing one foot and two foot hops in all directions until fatigue, along with some static ankle exercises. I think it's possible to do both sets of exercises at the end of each training session. Hopefully this won't interfere with the main program.
One more thing I've decided to substitute dips for bench press for several reasons. It's a more functional exercise especially for the sports I do. I've heard Mark say it's a superior exercise yet doesn't recommend it due to the awkwardness and risk of injury. I can easily do 3 sets of 5 weighted dips and I'm confident I won't get injured. I always felt bench was very impractical and awkward but I still wouldn't mind doing it except for the fact that I train alone and can't for the life of me find someone that actually knows how to spot. On top of that my gym is disgusting and the bench is covered with a permanent film of organic grease that makes me want to vomit. Plus I just really like dips.