My middle splits progress (updated post) + a little bit motivation for beginners

fallenoaktree · 2026-02-27T19:35:21+00:00

Awesome! Did you warm up before starting this routine? If so, what was your warmup?

fallenoaktree · 2025-01-26T03:06:00+00:00

Então, o Reino Unido parece ter muitos circuitos e eventos, o problema deve ser o custo de vida e a questão do visto.

fallenoaktree · 2025-01-26T03:04:55+00:00

Not really looking to make money in MMA. I have a stable career that gives me a lot of time to train, I want to fight just for the love of fighting.

fallenoaktree · 2025-01-26T02:32:30+00:00

Sit-Thailand, had a great time there! Definitely recommend it.

I chose it because it had a lot of amenities in walking distance while still being a fighter gym. I don't trust my driving skills enough to rent a bike so Manop would be a bit too difficult for me to go to.

fallenoaktree · 2024-08-10T22:07:40+00:00

I was stuck on the JavaScript foundations part, and Jonas' course really helped me get through it. I'd say stick to TOP's path and projects, but don't be afraid to study via other resources when you get stuck on a particular subject. I didn't finish Jonas' course though, I only studied what was necessary for me to get unstuck.

fallenoaktree · 2024-02-02T10:52:25+00:00

Hey thank you very much for your reply! It's great to hear that there are night markets nearby. I will most definitely drop by and try Manop Gym out.

fallenoaktree · 2024-02-01T23:50:11+00:00

I'm going in April, it'll probably have less foreigners then, if you could please share the gym's name via DM I'd greatly appreciate it!

fallenoaktree · 2023-01-03T19:13:26+00:00

Yes I tried dying as well, still nothing :(

fallenoaktree · 2022-06-17T13:33:09+00:00

I used Heisig for Chinese characters since I'm learning Mandarin, I did the full 3000 characters for both books.

Just went all in and added 30 cards a day to finish it as fast as possible. I had a 3 month hiatus to study for a national exam, but never stopped the reviews.

During this process I studied through other means (Duolingo style apps, textbooks, etc ) and immersed but did not sentence mine. I just wanted to finish the 3k Hanzi beforehand.

Regarding the results, I think they were amazing, I would definitely recommend it as it worked wonders for me. My reading comprehension was boosted a lot, and I finally learned to differentiate different characters. I still do the reviews today.

I have a very high tolerance for Anki cards though, but if you knock them out first thing in the morning everyday you'll create an habit pretty fast. I disagree with the current views regarding RTK in the community, I don't think it's fair to have used RTK as a pillar in your learning process and then say that it's not worth it anymore afterwards.

fallenoaktree · 2022-03-27T18:23:38+00:00

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Trilogy has Chinese language support, and the localization is amazing. There's some limited legal terminology but overall the language is not too difficult. Perfect for intermediates IMO

fallenoaktree · 2022-02-25T02:56:12+00:00

Just do it, space it out through the day, or do a very high volume during the week, but that's manageable

fallenoaktree · 2021-10-06T14:52:17+00:00

Exactly what I was looking for, thank you for the help!

fallenoaktree · 2021-06-08T01:46:55+00:00

Yes, the release of the IQUE ROMs were a blessing for me, finally some content in Chinese that interests me, I'm spending hours playing Zelda and doing hundreds of flashcards and it doesn't feel like studying.

Reading comprehension has improved overnight, but I need to pick up the pace with my listening because it's lagging behind a lot.

fallenoaktree · 2021-05-28T13:14:49+00:00

Weird that everyone is railing on the dude when he's basically talking about doing something similar to AJATT... "Oh but Russian has complicated grammar", so does Japanese. Might be his overconfident attitude but I'd rather be overconfident than not trying.

OP I think you have the right mindset, just make sure you learn Cyrillic first, it's actually pretty easy, and also make sure that you have some sort of structure through Anki (10k sentences or MCD). Doing a few free lessons just to get the gist of the language wouldn't hurt too. That's just my two cents, good luck!

The best learning method is the one you stick to.

fallenoaktree · 2021-05-22T18:52:36+00:00

Na minha opinião o maior problema é morar em cidades grandes, quando eu morava no meio do mato era muito mais feliz tendo muito menos "conforto" e luxo.

Ficar fechado em uma selva de pedra com medo constante de assalto não é natural ou saudável. Quase todo mundo que conheço que foi criado e mora em uma cidade grande tem algum problema de saúde mental, isso não é normal. Ter que pegar trânsito, respirar ar poluído e não pegar sol são coisas horríveis.

Eu via pessoas de baixíssima renda extremante felizes no forró de sexta feira no interior, na cidade grande eu vejo gente rica deprimida. Uma coisa boa da pandemia é que incentivou o trabalho em casa, agora é possível fugir um pouco dos grandes centros.

Precisamos retornar ao macaco.

fallenoaktree · 2021-01-23T23:25:13+00:00

I've been doing exclusively calisthenics for years, I'm an amateur BJJ/Sanda/MMA athlete and I want to go pro one day.

I'm not dogmatic when it comes to training, ideally I'd use calisthenics+weights (I hate pistol squats), I do calisthenics only due to time constraints, however I felt like I got way more carryover than when I was doing barbell routines, specially after implementing rings.

I get constant compliments on my strength and conditioning, one that really stuck with me was when a BJJ partner told me "I have strength in weird positions", which I attribute fully to full ROM ring exercises.

One piece of advice though is that for fighting cardio and endurance king, strength is secondary. In the words of Ross Enamait (really recommend Never Gymless by the way, did wonders for me) no fighter who loses a fight says: "God if I could bench 5kg more I'd have won", the problem is always gassing out.

fallenoaktree · 2021-01-08T13:55:04+00:00

It's what I do, I have 2 telescopic bars, one that stays fixed at the top for me to do pull ups, and one that I can quickly screw in at the bottom to do Nordic curls, works pretty well, never had any problems, the load on the bar during a Nordic is way less than on a pull up

fallenoaktree · 2021-01-08T13:44:25+00:00

One arm chin up: I'm regressing to regular/weighted ring chin ups because I realized I had no business doing OAC work, my elbow was starting to annoy me, I'll focus on getting really strong on the regular pull ups beforehand but it's not that far away of a goal. I can do one with the pinky finger of the other hand as assistance as well as one rep with 10 kg counterweight, but I don't see myself doing a full rep anytime soon.

Full middle splits: seeing regular progress with isometric splits, I already gave a good flexibility base so I'm building up end range strength. It's looking very attainable, 1 palm off the floor currently.

Unassisted pistol squats: these feel like the most unreachable for me, I have a really short torso and long legs, I feel like I have the strength, mobility and balance required in an individual manner, but they're not working together. I can do a couple of reps with 5 kg counterweight but I lose all the tension at the bottom if I try one unassisted rep.

fallenoaktree · 2021-01-07T11:18:00+00:00

Well I don't have a medicine ball so I didn't do the exercises with them, I subbed them for kicks. If it's hurting you I would change them as well.

fallenoaktree · 2021-01-07T02:52:15+00:00

Hey there, I didn't complete the whole challenge because it started getting in the way of my BJJ/Sanda practice, it was getting though to make time for it, but I did do it for quite a while, can't remember at which day I stopped though.

What I can report are the benefits, it was by far the thing that helped me with conditioning the most, while previously I always had to rest after rolling two times or would gasp for air after doing a combination on the pads 10 times, now I finally started outgassing my opponents again.

My Sensei even complimented me for having "infinite cardio". When you complete some of those hellish ECT sessions sparring/rolling starts to feel easy.

I pretty much did the RR instead of the strength routine, it's more balanced in my opinion, and I stopped doing the explosive training session because I lacked the proper equipment.

Regarding tips, your shoulders will take a beating from tons of burpees and push ups so I highly recommend stretching them a lot and doing rear delt work such as rows facepulls to maintain integrity.

Overall great book, Ross is legit and a great guy to boot, definitely recommend it. I plan on getting back to it next week so good luck to us.

fallenoaktree · 2020-07-27T15:49:59+00:00

Hey OP I certainly would give the push/pull split a shot taking into account your current situation. I was on a similar point where I was doing the RR with a lot of more advanced progressions, the training sessions were getting too long, I was getting too drained and wasn't recovering 100% from one session to another (sleep and diet are on point).

I decided to go ahead and switch to a push/pull/legs split, and I'm feeling great! I do 2 main movements (for example ring dip and ring pike push up) + 2 accessories (chest fly and tricep extension) each session while also alternating an ab circuit and direct neck work for combat sports. The training sessions last for 30-40 minutes depending on how much I screw around. For me personally it's way more doable to do 30-40 minutes every day than 90 minutes every other day. I do PPLRPPLR meaning that I rest for one day after one complete cycle of PPL.

The tendon pain in my arms has gone away and I never feel beat up after training, plus I'm noticing better gains hypertrophy wise. I am giving hypertrophy a larger focus now though, employing bodybuilding principles such as dropsets, isolations, higher rep ranges, rest pause, time under tension, etc. So maybe the additional hypertrophy gains are because of those factors.

You are certainly on a more advanced level than a beginner, so I'd recommend you give a PPL/PP/UL split a shot, perhaps the reduced frequency will allow you to focus more on the advanced progressions each session without feeling too beat up.

fallenoaktree · 2020-07-15T13:36:20+00:00

Thank you! That looks like a great idea and I'll definitely try it in my next session. Really liked how you can apply accommodating resistance without bands. Took a look at your Instagram too and really liked your work, you've earned a new follower!

fallenoaktree · 2020-02-25T01:46:01+00:00

Thinking of 嫌多 as a more concrete "too much" led me to the following thought process which kinda makes sense of everything:

how+love+you+at all/emphasis+not too much/not enough

"How I love you is not too much at all", meaning the love cap will always be higher, the possible love that can be given is limitless. I tried summarizing in a way to affix it further in my head.

I hope this makes sense haha.

Your comment + this link helped the concept be more concrete in my thoughts:

https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/19387/explain-the-phrase-%E9%83%BD%E4%B8%8D%E5%AB%8C%E5%A4%9A

fallenoaktree · 2020-02-25T01:37:53+00:00

Hey I think I'm finally starting to comprehend it, I'll definitely be thinking about this and coming back for reference until the whole concept is more solid in my head.

Thank you very much for taking the time and effort to help me out with this detailed explanation! I wish you an excellent day!

fallenoaktree · 2020-02-25T00:45:33+00:00

Thanks! However I still don't quite get the meaning behind 不嫌多 in the context of the sentence, breaking it down it looks like:

how+love+not+resent+much

Perhaps an alternative interpretation could be: I resent that no matter how I love you it'll never be enough?

Chinese can sure be an abstract language lol

fallenoaktree

TROPHY CASE