Advice on my routine (help me reach my goals faster)

Started by Marian Cerny, March 28, 2013 · 4 Replies · 1,770 Views

Marian Cerny


I've recently noticed that my strength on certain exercises has been stalling or even declining.

 

So I was thinking that maybe some of the more skilled members of this forum could help me out a bit. I need to tweak my routine and optimize it for achieving my goals, which are the following (current level below each):

 

Strength goals: 

- front lever

(struggling with bent knees, this needs most work) 

- back lever

(really close here, doing straight legs, just a bit off angle)

- flag

(doing quite fine... straight legs, still a bit off angle)

- planche

(somewhere between bent knee and straddle)

- 1APU

(I can do one arm holds at around 90degs for a few secs)

- 1AHS

(just started training regular HS with one hand on a step, also on a good balance day I can do 7 push-ups)

- squat 150% BW (5*5)

(currently at 138%, 100kg at 72kg BW)

 

 


Currently my routine is pretty much improvised. I need a lot of flexibility, because I'm depending on conditions outside of my control (like weather for ring sessions). So I'd much rather welcome advice like "add this to the beginning of that workout" or "do this twice a week" rather than "follow this plan".

 

 I just switched from focusing on muscle ups on rings to increasing endurance and strength of my lats. I can't even do 5x10 simple chin-ups, which is quite bad. So I set this as a goal for now and tweaked my routine accordingly.

 

My routine looks something like this:

 

2x/w rings/outdoor bars workout

 

I usually start with flags on parallels, do 2 max holds. Start at vertical and move down to horizontal position in a controlled motion.

I then used to move on to muscle ups, but now with my new pull-up goal I do those on one of the workouts (trying to bust out 50 reps in as many sets as it takes, working up to being able to do them in 5 sets) and skip the MUs on the other one (because of recovery, see gym workout).

After those, I move to front/back lever training. Right now I do this: do a flat tuck in free hang, go all the way to back lever, untuck, hold max position, tuck back in, go to front lever, hold max position, tuck in, slowly go back to free hang. I do 2 sets of these. Then I do another 2 sets of those tucked rolls, only this time I don't hold the levers, and instead of BL I go all the way to german hang and back to free hang (repeat 2-3 times).

The I do something like a half iron cross where I hold myself on one arm and support myself on the other arm which is in the iron cross position. This is mainly to train for the 1APU.

I usually finish the workout with 2 sets of dips. Palms facing back, trying not to touch the straps with my forearms. I need to move to the next level here.

 

I'm probably missing out on many fun exercises, so if you have any ideas what to add or change, do share.

 

1x/week heavy weights gym workout

 

This is mainly for the squats. I do 5 sets of 5 reps of squats, adding weights each week. I then used to go to dips on parallels (BW+30kg, 5*5) and finish with pull-ups, which I'll be swapping now (can't add more weight on the dips anyway, because there are no bigger dumbbells, lol).

So this is the second 50 pull-ups workout.

 

2x/w HIIT

 

I try to cram in 2 HIIT workouts a week. This is mostly tabata style burpees, or 12 minute sprints. 

 

1x/week pull-ups + floorwork at the gym

 

I start this with my 50 pull-ups challenge and then move on to floorwork. It usually starts with planche training - handstand press and then slowly dropping down to planche. I do a max hold for a few secs and repeat this twice.

Then I move on to HSPUs. I aim for 12 reps, which I usually do in 3 sets.

After this point it's usually freestyle - 1 arm push-ups, random handstand work (like the one with the step), "seal push-ups" and other exercises, many of which probably don't even exist.

I also do some leg and stabilization work, like pistols, squats on bosu ball with dumbbells, back bends, etc.

 

This is the core of my routine. I tried to describe it best as I could, but it's a lot of improvisation. I also add random handstand/floor work at home. I stretch at least 3 times a week (doing pretty fine on this front).

 

There will be some tricking and martial arts involved as well, as soon as the weather gets better.

RandomHavoc

Glacing at it superficially, I see that you some things in your current routine which are not related to your goals. 50 pullups? That will not help with OAPU. HIIT will negatively affect your strength goals in general. HSPU doesn't appear to be done for maintenance since you have 3 sets of it. You have many goals. They are all feasible to accomplish at once but not with all the extra stuff you plan on doing in the summer. If those are part of your lifestyle, you should consider dropping some of those goals for the time being.

Marian Cerny

Why would HIIT negatively affect strength ? Do you have proof ?

I'm not dropping goals. And I'm not saying I want to achieve them all at once, but I will achieve them. I just want to tweak my routine so I achieve them faster.

So what's your advice about HSPUs ? I try to do at least 12 in 2-3 sets twice a week.

Also, I have a new goal: pike to handstand

Joshua Slocum

I would recommend working the levers and flag in either a half-lay position (bent at the knees) or stag position (one leg tucked). This should be sufficiently easy that you can hold in the correct position, but hard enough that holding it is still a challenge. I recommend this because when you train in the wrong position, your body learns to hold the wrong position. If you continue to train that way, then even once you're strong enough to hold a laid-out lever fully level, you're likely to struggle to find the correct position because your body is used to being above level. 

 

 

For the one-armed handstand, your primary focus should be on achieving an excellent two-armed handstand; get to the point where you have a really good line, and balancing for 30s or more is effortless. While you're working towards that goal some supplemental one-arm exercises, like what you're doing, will be helpful too. The reason I recommend having such a highly polished two-arm handstand before seriously training the one-arm is that the one-arm is a product of the two-arm. If your two-arm is shaky and effortful, your one-arm will be shaky and effortful. If your two-arm is steady and effortless, you will be able to develop a one-arm that is steady and effortless. 

Marian Cerny

I usually do the half-lay and stag positions on the levers. I just meant to say that I can't hold the right angle with legs fully extended just yet (although I'm pretty close).

 

What I'll do is I'll throw in one or two handstand holds every day. I also change my leg position when doing the HS, like go from straight legs to straddle, then kind of a figure 4 hold, then tuck, etc.