My gymnastics-based strength training log

[tedrodai]

So, I've been doing cardio + bodyweight exercises since last April on a pretty consistent schedule, and I've enjoyed it at least as much as I used to enjoy weightlifting in the gym, if not more. I also did Muay Thai classes for about 7.5 months last year, which was a blast, but I temporarily quit when my daughter started trying to come early...and now she's almost 4 months old . I'll start back with martial arts if I can fit it back into the schedule; but regardless, but I've found a very specific set of long term goals that will be very rewarding both during the journey and at the destination. And the routine is a heck of a lot easier for me to stick to since I can do it during the day or at home with minimal equipment and it doesn't add extra time away from the family.

I'm following training advice mostly from the www.gymnasticbodies.com forums and picked up the guy's book. I want to record my progress along the way, and since I browse these forums pretty regularly, I figure this is a pretty good place to do it. I'll be honest and admit that in the past (probably as late as a couple of years ago), I disdained training that wasn't structured around weights in the gym, at least for myself. But this is great stuff too!

Anywho, these are my minimum goals to meet:
-handstand (free-standing)
-planche
-front lever
-back lever
-v-sit

I'll consider the goals met if I can hold them at least 15 seconds. I don't know how long it will take me, but it'll take a good long while. Right now I'm still working on pre-reqs prior to even practicing the static holds lol. Anyways, I'll be recording my progress monthly. I could say with 100% certainty if I tried to record progress every day I'd fail (with the records), but monthly should be easy enough.

---------------------

I should also mention some of the long-term dynamic exercise goals I'd like to meet as well. The static hold goals I mentioned are going to be my primary endeavor, but I will also be working towards these:

-press up into a handstand (free-standing)
-handstand pushups (free-standing)
-planche pushups
-pistols (1 leg squat)
-muscle ups

Goal met if I can handle 3x5, then I'll move on to something else

 

[tedrodai]

I started this training regimen on April 30th 2012, about a month ago. My initial routine consits of 2 workouts that I alternate, with 30mins of cardio mixed in 3 times a week. I started with a M/Tu Th/F rotation, but I've since moved to M/W/F strength & Tu/Th/Sat cardio.

Warmup:
plank
reverse plank
hollow hold
arc hold
parallel bar support
pronated grip dead hang

-The initial goal for the warmup is to work up to an easy 60 seconds for each of these holds.

Workout 1 = warmup + fundamental static position (FSP) work
Workout 2 = warmup + fundamental bodyweight exercises (FBE) work

I'll have to finish the post this weekend, cause I'm wasting too much time at work lol.

 

[EvilYoda]

Nice! I love this idea and hope you do well. I've realized over the last few years that I really enjoy practicing gymnastics movements - probably partially because I've always had a good strength-to-weight ratio, but I love that it's just your body in space. That said, holding a planche and levers is no easy job...I look forward to popping into this thread every now and then to see how you're doing.

You've actually inspired me to look through my copy of Building The Gymnastics Body - it might be just what I need to keep me motivated while I'm on the road and unable to find a local gym.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Nice, I've been working on my general gymnastics skills as well. Haven't seriously gotten into levers yet, but have been working on proper ring position, doing ring dips, pull-ups, L-pullups, L-sits, planche progression, and transition from push-up position toward handstand position. I've been doing these because I can work on some of them without equipment while I have breaks. Hope your program works out. I'll be checking this thread out.

 

[tedrodai]

I will finish my post soon I swear...had a trying weekend including lightning striking one of my HVAC units. lol...there's always something. Family (and the house, considering) are fine, just got a lot of organizing to do.

 

[tedrodai]

OK, where was I? I'll start by posting my results from my first week of training a little over a month ago. I had been working out for the past year, but none of it was focussed on strength.

I went ahead and measured a max for some of the FSP holds despite my warmup goals not being complete, because I wanted some perspective.

(with perfect form and completely under control)
max holds on warmup exercises:
plank - 1m 15s (*1)
reverse plank - 1m (*2)
hollow hold - 20s (*3)
arc hold - 15 s (*3)
parallel bar support - 1m (*4)
pronated grip dead hang - 45s (*5)

wall handstand - 50s
L-sit - 12s (*6)
front lever tuck - 5s (*7)
back lever tuck - 10s

1) feet elevated so my body is parallel to ground; though I switched to feet on the floor to help with #2
2) feet were elevated; but I found this placed a LOT of uncomfortable pressure on my elbows, so I decided to swtich to feet on the ground until my joint was better conditioned to handle it. I've had people verify my alignment for me while in the reverse plank to rule that out.
3) I'd never done a hollow or arc hold (or the reverse plank for that matter) which is why I think my times started out so low. They improved by a good 10 seconds by the second week.
4) I didn't actually take a max here, just held it for 60s easy. It wasn't so easy that I couldn't stand to measure it, but at the time I wasn't thinking about it.
5) 45s initially made my fingers hurt quite a bit when I was done (tendons etc), so I made sure not to push it during future workouts.
6) This was with hands flat on the ground, which seems to be a lot harder for me than when gripping parallel bars. IDK if I'll ever move to holding it with fingers, but I'll be slowly conditioning my fingers as well.
7) So yeah, won't be working on this for a while. I held it with good form, but my muscles gave out quick.


Since I'm in no place really to work on the tough FSP holds yet, my FSP days were primarily focussed on the wall handstand and L-sit.

As far as FBE, I started with--depending on where I was working out and what equipment I had access to--weighted dips and pseudo-pushups, regular pullups and lat pulls, and various squats. I'd work in regular barbell squats and deadlifts if I had access to the weights, but alas I do not.

 

[tedrodai]

I'll be caught up when I get this down. It's been a crazy weekend + the last 2 days. Week 5 was actually last week, and I recorded these on May 28th.

Anywho, I'm going to be taking maxes on the warmup exercises every 4 weeks until I feel I'm in a position to turn them into ...well, just a 6 minute warmup. I'll also take maxes on my wall handstand and L-sit. For anything else, I'll just mention what exercises I'm focusing on and how many reps/sets I'm doing.

Warmups
plank - 2m (+45s from last time); feet elevated
r. plank - 90s (+30s); feet still on ground, but elbows were comfortable
hollow hold - 40s (+20s)
arc hold - 40s (+25s)
PB support - skipped maxing this cause my wife was in a hurry to get somewhere lol
dead hang - 60s (+15s); grip is slowly improving, as are my fingers' strength

FSP (& handstand)
L-sit - 15s (+3s)
wall handstand - 60s (+10s)

My traps/triceps/pecs definitely wanted to rest rather than attempt another max right away, but I wanted to get a rough idea on these 2 as well. I might do these on another day next time.

FBE
3x5 on psuedo pushups
3x3 on L-pullups

I'm still doing about the same # reps on my pseudo pushups as when I started, but I've noticed I'm holding form a LOT better. Being concious of the hollow hold and improving my ability in that area (even though it's still pretty low) has really made a difference. 5 reps doesn't bring me to failure, but it's definitely a good challenge still in that range with good form.

I've just started the L-pullups, and they're recruiting some stabilizers that definitely need some work, so the 3 rep range seems to be about right for now in order to stay in control and use good form.

 

[tedrodai]

And thanks for the comments guys .

 

[tedrodai]

It's a quiet day...just me and the baby (ok so it's FIGURATIVELY quiet) and the laundry, so it's a good time to make a couple of posts here. I actually meant to respond to you guys' comments that week, but with all the craziness I forgot to come back to it.

Nice! I love this idea and hope you do well. I've realized over the last few years that I really enjoy practicing gymnastics movements - probably partially because I've always had a good strength-to-weight ratio, but I love that it's just your body in space. That said, holding a planche and levers is no easy job...I look forward to popping into this thread every now and then to see how you're doing.

You've actually inspired me to look through my copy of Building The Gymnastics Body - it might be just what I need to keep me motivated while I'm on the road and unable to find a local gym.

Thanks. I enjoy the 'body in space' aspect as well, or the way I think of it is body control--the balance, strength, flexibility and awareness to be able to manipulate your body through space to do what you want to do. I also love that to do many of these exercises (or further progressions of them), it's forcing me to catch up with some really underutilized muscles...and even pointing out what those underutilized muscles are.

Yeah, it'll take me a while .

Nice, I've been working on my general gymnastics skills as well. Haven't seriously gotten into levers yet, but have been working on proper ring position, doing ring dips, pull-ups, L-pullups, L-sits, planche progression, and transition from push-up position toward handstand position. I've been doing these because I can work on some of them without equipment while I have breaks. Hope your program works out. I'll be checking this thread out.

Thanks for mentioning the transition from push-up to handstand position. I was primarily thinking about the static holds when I first posted and how much effort it would take to work towards those, but I should really lay out some of the dynamic exercise goals I want to work towards as well (such as the press-up to a free-standing handstand & handstand pushups). I'll update my 1st post with some of those.

 

[tedrodai]

On week 7 (2 weeks ago) I added a couple of exercises to my routine:

-3x3 of ring dips to my strength day, in place of the pseudo pushups
-3x of headstand tuck pressups followed by practicing my headstand balance

The BtGB (Building the Gymnastics Body) book suggests Russian dips as my next dip progression, but I don't yet have any sort of reliable parallel bar setup on which to do them. Once I get some bought or made, I'll switch back to the suggested progression, but until then I'm limited on what sort of PB work I can do.

I added the pressup to headstand in order to practice holding my balance with my body aligned vertically. I hadn't made hardly any progress in balancing my handstand by bringing my feet off the wall, so I decided to take it down a notch. I like it and feel it's a good exercise to work on right now for me, as long as I don't get cocky (see next paragraph).

I've been actively trying to prevent myself from going too hard during each workout (to failure, etc), which is a bad habbit I acquired way back during high school strength training for football. I almost never had an injury from weight lifting back in school, but in the years since that habbit has cost me...it'll make my muscles too tight in the days following workouts and then I end up pulling them. I've done pretty good until this past week, but the headstand got me. It is new and unfamiliar to me, but it felt deceptively easy, so I was doing it for too long and too many sets. Lesson learned...had to spend Thurs-now recovering from a pulled lat.

 

[tedrodai]

This week is going to be a light week, both to make sure my lat recovers and since I've gone strong for a good 8 weeks.

I'm going to exercise every day, but light cardio and easy bodyweight exercises only (probably wait til Tues or Wed for bodyweight stuff).

I'll record new maxes and my current dynamic exercises again next week.

 

[tedrodai]

Maxes:

Warmups
plank - 2m (no change); feet on bench
r. plank - 2m (+30s); feet on bench
hollow hold - 1m (+20s)
arc hold - 1m (+20s)
PB support - easy 2m...just stopped there
dead hang - 60s (no change)

FSP (& handstand)
L-sit - 22s (+7s)
wall handstand - 60s still (no change); added maybe 1 hands-width (total) from shoulder distance to help work on balance, however

FBE
L-pullups - 1x3, 2x4
Ring dips - 1x3, 1x4, 1x3

----------------------------------------------
Muscles were shaky after maxing the warmups, so I'll probably get FSP on Wed. I'll figure out what FBE's to do either tonight or on Fri.

I was happy with the results today (Mon) everwhere except the dead hang. For each of the warmups where I cannot hold an easy 1min, I've been performing the exercise at 3 sets of 1/2 my last recorded max. It obviously did nothing for my dead hang though, where my grip is the weak point. Therefore, I'll start doing some grip strength exercises, probably starting with towel pullups.

 

[tedrodai]

I plugged in the maxes for FSP and FBE in my last post. Happy about L-sit progress and FBE, but I'll have to make a change for handstand progress. On FSP days, I'm going to add partial handstand pushups (head touches mat, then back up). I can currently do 3x2.

Then, there's my incredibly weak grip to work on...at least compared to body weight. I can handle 1 rep per set of towel pullups, and my grip fails at or near the end of the descent. I can also handle 3x3 fingertip pushups with fingers curled in (kit laughlin's recommendation to compliment towel pullups...will link the video later on my PC, cause it's too much trouble on this phone)...on my knees and with plenty of pike. This knowledge does not deter me, however. It just shows me I have lots of room to grow and makes my eventual triumph that much sweeter!

 

[tedrodai]

phew, motivation is scarce today...for work that is, not exercise

I've been meaning to track my weight as well. It might be vaguely useful to know what my bodyweight is and has been if I'm doing bodyweight exercises, no? Yeah... Anyways, to make up for not already recording this info:

When I weigh, it's in gym shirt/shorts and no shoes @ the beginning (if I plan on sweating a lot--cardio) of or during the middle of my midday workout. I was averaging around 183lbs when I started this regimen, but I started a slow bulk at the same time. I broke 190 avg around the beginning of June and held there til this month, when I started a slow cut. The bulk/cut terms are relative...just using them to indicate the direction of the trend. The bulk was intentional

Today 13Jul2012:
188lbs

hovered between 186-188 this week. I've been missing a lot of cardio workouts for the past month, unfortunately.

 

[tedrodai]

bodyweight: 187lbs

Was a little tired last week but took maxes regardless:

Warmups
hollow hold - 65s (+5s)
arc hold - 75s (+15s)
dead hang - 65s (+5s)

FSP (& handstand)
L-sit - 27s (+5s)
wall handstand - 65s (+5s)

FBE
L-pullups - 3x5
Ring dips - 3x4
HSPU - 3x3 (hands on floor, head to ground)

 

[tedrodai]

I'm late making an update this month, but it's due to some special circumstances. I'm not counting August as far as my routine goes. I got pretty darn sick on 7th and it lasted the rest of the freakin month, and I had a big vacation planned from the 15th - 29th with my wife; but we came home early because...my father passed away on the 20th (not completely unexpected, but no less difficult for that). I got some sproadic exercising done during that whole period, but I missed a lot of scheduled workouts.

Therefore, I didn't bother with taking new maxes this month. My routine lately has been:

Cardio 3-4 times a week (Insanity, not necessarily the entire session -- yeah, probably going to affect my strength gains, but it's been fun so far, and as long as I eat/sleep enough I've been recovering very well)

MWF
-Warmups
-3x sets of HSPU work, L-sit work, Pistols work
TTh
-3x L-pullups, ring dips

I kinda forgot about towel pullups. Ignoring the handstand hold for time and just focussing on the HSPU's for shoulder strength has worked a LOT better for my ability to hold a freestanding HS, but I still have a lot of work to do. I plan to nix the dead hang and replace it with towel pullups & finger pushups soon.



We all miss you Dad. Thanks for everything. I wish my daughter was old enough to remember you down the road, but I'm really glad you got to meet her and spend some time with her since Feb.

 

[tedrodai]

Perhaps 2x cardio sessions this week, but nothing else--I want some extra rest so I can recover from having started Instanity workouts in place of my regular cardio routines for the past 2.5 weeks. It's also time to measure/record my progress again next week, so I want to be fresh.

 

[tedrodai]

(will edit to fill in stuff as I complete them this week)

Maxes:

Warmups
*Only concerned with the ones I don't have an easy 60s hold for. Also, I think I was doing hollow holds incorrectly. I was definitely making some improvements, but after watching a good technique video on gymnasticswod.com, I modified mine to make sure my butt is off the ground...and my max time has decreased because of that lol.
hollow hold - 45s
arc hold - 90s (+30s!)
dead hang - 60s


FSP (& handstand)
L-sit - 30s (+3s) booyah! - minor milestone achieved!
wall handstand - 110s

FBE
(max reps for 1 set with good form)
L-pullups - 7
Ring dips - 5
Towel pullups (for grip) - 1x5 (much better than when I started these weeks ago...initially couldn't reach the bottom of rep 1 without needing to let go)
HSPU progression - 1x5 (hands on ground, tryin to keep elbows in)

 

[tedrodai]

Last week, I also attempted a tuck back lever and tuck front lever to get an idea of how my training so far applies to those exercises. When I originally attempted these, I thought I was keeping my arms straight, but they weren't straight. They were ever-so-slightly bent...and the first time I attempted to straighten them, I couldn't handle it. Well, I was able to knock out the following times with completely straight arms:

tuck back lever: 12s
tuck front lever: 18s

I'm not going to start training those exercises til my warmups are easy, but it's nice to see that the exercises I am doing are indeed helping me get a good base for FSP work.


PS:
It seems like I got a deltoid strain towards the end of last week while doing an Insanity workout. I didn't do any further strength stuff after that point. I'll figure out today what exercises I'll have to stay away from while letting it heal.

 

[tedrodai]

I was able to do about 1/2 of my normal stuff due to the delt strain last week, so I'm counting 2 missed days from that. Earlier this week I caught a throw up bug from my daughter (ugh), and so I missed another 2 days. Not a good start to this month, but I feel good and am getting back to it today.

Meanwhile, I'm modifying my training split a little to see what kind of a difference it might make:

Mon/Thu:
Light warmups
L-sit
HSPU
Pistols
Towel pullups
Optional light cardio (15 mins)

Tue/Fri:
Heavy warmups
Pullups
Dips/PPPU (each once a week for now)
Optional light cardio (15 mins)

1 additional day/wk:
Cardio 30-60 mins

Light warmups = easy 60s if able, or 3x 33% of max hold
Heavy warmups = 3x 50-75% of my max hold

If it's an issue, I'll prioritize L-sit & towel pullups over the warmup exercises that will tax those same areas on the heavy warmup days.

 

[tedrodai]

Today I was able to complete full ROM pistols for the first time! Heck yeah!

My balance is slowly getting better, which enabled me to try for it today. From the time I started pistol progressions, my balance on the left leg has been better than on my right leg...I think it's a strength imbalance.

Did 2x4, 1x2 (right leg) 1x3 (left leg)



Also, I should mention I weighed in @ 187 lbs today. I've weighed in around 190 for the past couple of months at least.

 

[EvilYoda]

Nice work! Plenty of people at my CF gym still can't do pistols unassisted despite having worked on them a few times. I never had an issue but I realize that it's mobility/balance/strength all wrapped up in one awkward movement.

Now you can move on to weighted pistols...and weird fun stuff like doing one on a kettlebell.

 

[KIAman]

I thought I could easily do a body weight pistol considering I can squat 1.5x my weight but to my surprise (and to everybody's amusement watching me) I couldn't keep my balance and kept falling on my back at the very bottom.

I've seen one impressive fellow at my gym who puts 135lbs and front squat pistols all the way down. I've never seen him squat but if he did, I bet he could easily squat 400lbs.

Nice work!

 

[mchammer187]

I thought I could easily do a body weight pistol considering I can squat 1.5x my weight but to my surprise (and to everybody's amusement watching me) I couldn't keep my balance and kept falling on my back at the very bottom.

I've seen one impressive fellow at my gym who puts 135lbs and front squat pistols all the way down. I've never seen him squat but if he did, I bet he could easily squat 400lbs.

Nice work!

I have never tried front squat pistols but I found holding a 25 lb weight in my hands for balance that pistols seemed easier.

 

[tedrodai]

Thanks guys . Doing them ON kettlebells? Heh...I don't want to think about that anytime soon.

I have never tried front squat pistols but I found holding a 25 lb weight in my hands for balance that pistols seemed easier.

Do you mean holding it out in front of your body to act as a counterbalance? Or holding it up at your shoulders?