Pressing Strength - Build Your Forward Pressure

For those clicking through from the Bodyweight Exercise Revolution e-blast, I messed up the link.  You can go here to read about the bodyweight "Challenge Workout."

I recently introduced a small group of students to the Forward Pressure program.  I think they found it to be a humbling experience.  We'll be using the program as the cornerstone of a six week training phase designed to build strength in the "surging" or sagittal plane.

In honor of the occasion, I decided to pull out this old article I penned about my own initial experience with Forward Pressure.  To this day it stands out as one of the "go-to" routines in my training toolbox.  Enjoy!  And let me know in the comments what experiences you may have had with this flagship Prasara flow.

For many weeks I had been gazing at the beautiful cover of Forward Pressure, reading the description and anxiously awaiting the release. When it came out I ordered it and duly received it, but I was in the middle of a THP cycle and had to sit drooling for a few more weeks before putting it to use.

I positioned Forward Pressure as the cornerstone of my handstand oriented Training Hierarchy Period program. As the GPP component, I wanted to use it to develop more than ample pressing strength and all-around burliness of the shoulders, triceps and lats. Having never used the course, and not having as clear a path to follow as is given in FlowFit, this allowed me to experiment a little with my own approach to progression. I let Forward Pressure and my intuition guide me on what became a very interesting exploration.

Going into my first Forward Pressure session I didn't know quite what to expect. So, basing myself on the FlowFit protocol, I set my watch timer for 14:30 minutes and off I went. Local muscular fatigue slowed me down a bit. I had to stop between reps a few times to shake out. The pump was tremendous. I ended up doing 9 reps in 15 minutes. My flow was not great, but I knew that it would come. All-in-all I was very happy with my first attempt! The question was how to proceed?

For my second session I decided to set my watch again, this time for 15:30 minutes, and to see how many reps I could do. Despite lingering DOMS from my previous session my performance was quite similar and I ended up doing 10 reps in 16 minutes, with shake outs and pauses between reps as necessary. Already the transition between movements was improving, and I felt that I had at least a modicum of flow.

However, it was on my third session that I really seemed to make a significant move towards greater flow. I needed less of a pause between reps, and the transitions became even smoother. This session brought me to 11 reps in 16 minutes. The following Monday I again moved up one full rep in the same duration, 16 minutes, for a total of 12 reps. I was ecstatic, but at the same time I realized that this kind of progress could not continue. I had to think about how to proceed from there. It was then that I stumbled on the idea of experimenting with the manipulation of either volume or duration exclusively in each session -- meaning that I would either set myself a target of total reps regardless of time, or of total time for maximum reps. For the remaining sessions of that week I chose an increase of two reps per session, so one session of 14 reps and another of 16.

I timed my volume oriented sessions, but I consciously decided to take my time and focus on going deeply into the movements, stopping to shake out whenever needed. I ended up finishing my 14 reps in 22:30 minutes, which was a bit of a disappointment. It seemed to me that I had taken a lot more time for two extra reps. However, I reminded myself that the volume was the important consideration for that and the following session.

The next day I was rewarded with some DOMS in my lats. In and of itself this may not be a good thing. However, to me it was an indication that I had indeed succeeded in going deeper into the movements, thus recruiting more musculature. At the outset of the cycle I had been relying too much on triceps strength. Happy with my progress, I moved into my third and final session of the week. I fully expected to add another few minutes to the total duration in order to achieve my 16 reps. During the session I felt that I was moving at about the same pace as in the previous session, and in general I felt a tad fatigued by the total volume of the week. Much to my surprise I ended up doing all 16 reps in virtually the same time as the 14 rep session (22:45 min)!! I was pleased and excited for Monday to roll around so that I could move to the next stage of my experiment, which was to compress the duration back down to 16 minutes to see how many total reps I could perform in that time.

When Monday arrived I felt strong. I was sure that I could squeeze out one more rep in 16 minutes. However, I was blown away when I ended up finishing almost 2.5 more reps in my 16 minutes! I finished 14 reps in 15:30 and 15 reps in 16:45. Not only did I squeeze in more reps but my movements felt more powerful and deeper. I was onto something. So, onward and forward, my next sessions would be comprised of a volume based approach at 17 reps on Wednesday and 19 reps on Friday, regardless of duration. But could I keep this kind of progress up?

I got off to a good start on that following Wednesday, doing my requisite 17 reps in 23:30 minutes, then 19 reps in 25:00 on Friday. That meant I was even a little bit ahead of the pace of my previous Friday session. I took a brief pause between almost every rep for a quick "shakeout." At the end of these sessions my triceps were still a bit engorged, but the pump effect was definitely growing less pronounced. I also suffered very little DOMS anywhere in the period following these sessions. I did my Friday session late in the evening, so I felt "heavy" and a bit tired. I was pretty sure I was going slowly, so I buckled down and told myself that I would finish no mater how long it took. Turns out I was pretty much on pace with my Wednesday session. Who "woulda thunk" it? One thing I was pleased about, even though I felt tired my movements still seemed very full and deep. I really felt that my technique was growing strong.

At this point I had also come to recognize a fringe benefit to Forward Pressure. I had been watching the Hardwork DVD quite a bit, and during one of my sessions the idea of "not being there" came back to me. As the effort became intense I caught myself grimacing several times, and this afforded me the opportunity to work on not letting the effort or pain show on my face. By keeping my face neutral it seemed like the effort became less arduous. However, I had to consciously school myself to keep it up, and found that I sometimes went back to grimacing from time to time during intense moments.

Excited by my progress and by all my discoveries, I felt very motivated when Monday rolled around again to put up the numbers. My goal was 15 reps in 16 minutes and I did it in 15:30! That was one minute and 45 seconds better than the previous Monday! This left me thinking that it was definitely feasible for me to pull off the 16 reps in 16 minutes feat. I set out to complete my week using the same volume based approach as in previous weeks, achieving 18 reps in 25:00 minutes and 20 reps in 27:00 minutes. Although I felt that muscular fatigue set in early during both of these sessions and that I was going slowly, I still ended up improving my pace over the previous week! I was realizing ever increasing Forward Pressure!

I had experienced such steady and exciting progress that I awaited my final Monday session, and the final session of this cycle, with a hint of trepidation. Although CST isn't about the numbers, that kind of benchmark still provides a powerful catalyst for personal motivation and drive. An oft stated tenet of CST is of course competition, the offshoot of the Latin con and petire, to seek together. In this case, the approach I took to Forward Pressure afforded me the opportunity to compete with myself. My physical, mental and emotional comfort zones provided me with ample opportunity to test my mettle and to grow in my physical practice.

My fears were unfounded. I blew my goal out of the water, finishing 16 reps in 15:30 minutes. After the weekend's rest I felt incredibly strong and solid for the first few reps. Then, as muscular fatigue began to set in, I really had to explore the concept of selective tension in order to keep up the pace. I took any opportunity in the flow to release tension from the fatigued areas. I also had to dig down deep and face my "Inner Pansy."

I had immeasurable fun with this cycle and with the Forward Pressure course. I looked forward to every step along the way and I reveled in every small success. To put it into perspective, I went from doing 10 reps in 16 minutes (96 sec per rep) to doing 16 reps in 15:30 minutes (58 sec per rep) on my last day over the course of a four week cycle. I feel that the mix of volume oriented sessions versus the duration oriented sessions were the magic ingredient in this rapid progress. I should note that I decided to use the Beginner level flow throughout this cycle. This allowed me to develop a solid strength and skill foundation with the Forward Pressure flow. When I come back to Forward Pressure I will start working with the Intermediate flow. I wonder where it will lead me?

It's hard to believe a few years has passed already since I then.  Forward Pressure, and components of the flow, have continued to figure prominently in my training and the programs I craft for my students.  What have you done with Forward Pressure?  Better yet, what could you do with it?

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Comments

[Bob Canale jr]

Thanks for the article. When I started playing with Forward Pressure I had no clue where to take it either. I decided to plug it into a 4x7. Moderate days composed of the flows and Hi days mixed with FlowFit. It was fun as well. I would like to try your style though!

[Adam Steer]

Hey Bob,

Good to hear from you! Sounds like a great program you assembled. Forward Pressure is an awesome program. I hope you give the approach from the post a try. I think you'll get some pretty impressive results.

Cheers,
Adam

[coach purses]

If your life feels like it is lacking the power that you want and the motivation that you need, sometimes all you have to do is shift your point of view.

[Retro Jordans]

Here, you must strive, grasp your time well, and always keep up the pace of the other members.