More Questions, Mobility, Future, etc.

If a person tests out of an Exercise but not the integrated Mobility, or vice versa, how do they proceed?  DO they go to the next exercise but stay on the previous mobility level? or do they not progress until both have been mastered?

Also - I know I asked this before but is there any info on what future courses Will contain?  Everyone harps on goals yet i am a little hesitant to jump into something w/o knowing the goal in the end? Any info on what future courses or skills would be appreciated.

Lastly, I originally found this forum because of the Ring Training and that's how I like to workout.  If the end goal doesn't involve Ring work I would've maybe been better off focusing on another program.  

I am not questioning this system at all, nor am i questioning if I would benefit from it.  I am, however, trying to determine if its the best fit for me.  

If you fail the iM element, it is recommended that you continue working that strength element at mastery levels (with deload weeks thrown in). This is to prevent the development of strength too far in excess of mobility, with tends to lead to injuries such as shoulder impingement.

Unfortunately there is not yet much info on future courses. Obviously, front-lever, straddle-planche, manna, single-leg squats, hollow-back presses and rope-climbs will make appearances. It has been confirmed that pistols are not the cultimation of the SLS sequence; it will be something harder. Foundation 2 is supposed to come out this month but I wouldn't hold my breath given how much difficulty they've had with predicting release dates in the past. 

In my opinion, it's likely that as the series goes on, we'll start to see more and more of the ring-strength exercises found in BtGB. The end goal of the course is to be prepared for learning 'intermediate' ring-strength elements, such as the iron-cross and planche, so I'd be surprised to find a scarcity of ring elements. 

I am not a flexible person, period.  I am 36 and it the lack of flexibility didn't see, to hamper me with sports as far as i can tell but I am concerned with the mobility requirements of this course.  I came to this site for the resources on Strength Training in rings and then learned more about Levers, etc.  So my goal is strength and as much as I would love to lay the foundation, I am concerned that I wont get out of the basement and my strength training will forever be mobility training.

As far as future course, noone has any info on end results of the series courses?  I want to be able to execute intermediate and advanced strength moves on the Rings/Paralettes/Floor.   I really need to know is this program will get me there. I assume it will but I cant really invest time and money w/o knowing for sure.  

Stating that you want high levels of strength with poor levels of flexibility and mobility is akin to tell me you are diabetic but want to eat lots of sugar. With your primary interest being rings, you would find this doubly true.

If you want to make the most strength gains, I recommend the following for your mobility:

1) Determine if your mobility is simply from lifestyle or an underlying pathology. This is a topic of itself, but soft tissue pathology will typically manifest through pain. For example, tendonitis in the supraspinatus and bicep tendon tends to show as some degree of frozen shoulder. On the surface, the shoulder appears to simply have limited range of motion, but upon direct pressure to the tendon and muscle belly of the affected tissue, it will immediately cause localized pain.

A ) Lifestyle issues will resolve mostly or entirely from mobility work and stretch therapy. Soft tissue work aids this but  may not be needed.

B ) Underlying pathology requires that the issue be resolved for the tissue to respond fully to the mobility/stretch therapy. In this case, you'd need to find the right professional who can hone in on the issue with laser-like accuracy (as opposed to a carpet-bomb strategy). 

2) Work mobility appropriate to your level as written in Foundation One.

3) Do an intense Stretch Therapy session once a week. The other days should be light stretch without isometric contractions and be more of a limbering exercise.

4) Work some active flexibility in your warmup for the areas that you lag behind in.

In most cases, this should get you where you need to be with mobility. If your tendons look like swiss cheese and your muscles act like they are superglued, you will eventually either stop gaining strength or have to take time off due to injury.

The program will get you there. I'm not going to go into any sort of detail here but suffice to say skipping the IM's is akin to trying to race with your parking brake on. You will limit yourself....do not fall into the trap.

If it makes you feel any better, I'm stronger than you in most, if not all, areas and I'm taking my time with the iM elements. They are good, and I am still getting stronger.

I actually include a long string of the mobility for mastered elements into my daily warm up, because it feels good, and keeps my flexibility improving, which is important for a lot of later work.

agreed on all accounts. 

I'm one whose suffered injuries to the shoulder girdle, cervical spine, hip girdle, knee, wrists and ankles. 

when I started GST in October, i got stronger in 5 months than i did in 3 yrs taking kung fu due to lack of experience and guidance with exercise programming. 

F1 is released....In F1 I'm working in elements FAR more elementary than what I was doing in my regular workout prior and currently, i am lagging behind a lot of people on the forum due to my previous injuries, mistakes i made in my flexibility program, mistakes i made in my previous exercise programming and lots of work sitting down on a desk and in a car out on the road visiting customers. 

even then, I am shattering expectations and paradigms, i have new gained mobility(which from what i have understood thusfar, as developing strength in a newly acquired ROM thus stunting the creeping retreat of newly acquired flexibility due to working a small amount of strength into the stretch;eg. stiff leg windmills, xiaopengs, H1 mobility work, jefferson curls.) 

before, I used to think I could pistol squat. I can still do these(but not to coach sommers standards, so personally, i know "i cant" do pistol squats properly, so im not gonna bother with that until it's time) and my legs have still gotten stronger due to SLS/PE1 with the included iM. 

also, there's form. lack of mobility will stunt the ability to properly execute exercises in their proper form that was the reason they were invented and adopted as strength building to begin with but if you can't get into that "shape" we are essentially also limiting the strength that we can be building. 

don't cheat yourself out of the basics. the more adv moves are a building block, so think of it like Jenga. if the Foundation is not upto par, you will not be able to "win" the strength game. 

my question to myself when I am performing my elements and before my workout are "how much are you going to allow your ego to cheat you out of today?"

the more humble we become, the stronger we become. 

if any of this isn't calming for you, try the program out and Coach has a Guarantee on it. if you don't like the results, consult with the other forum members through video to see if you are doing it properly and fix your execution and reap the benefits. if you don't like those benefits, simply ask for a refund. 

jwalker497 said:

I am not a flexible person, period.  I am 36 and it the lack of flexibility didn't see, to hamper me with sports as far as i can tell but I am concerned with the mobility requirements of this course.  I came to this site for the resources on Strength Training in rings and then learned more about Levers, etc.  So my goal is strength and as much as I would love to lay the foundation, I am concerned that I wont get out of the basement and my strength training will forever be mobility training.

 

As far as future course, noone has any info on end results of the series courses?  I want to be able to execute intermediate and advanced strength moves on the Rings/Paralettes/Floor.   I really need to know is this program will get me there. I assume it will but I cant really invest time and money w/o knowing for sure.  

From the thread you posted in the Getting Started forum about your shoulder pain, it sounds like you're already starting to run into over-use injuries. You can try to double-down and press on, but you will almost inevitably experience more and worse injuries if you don't incorporate preventative measures into your workouts. The mobility work in Foundation is there largely as a preventative measure, to ensure your joints are functioning healthily before you start putting too much load on them. 

With regards to end results: this is a foundation course. It's not designed to teach you advanced skills, like crosses or malteses. It's designed to get you, as quickly as possible, to the point where you are ready to start actually training those skills. However, along the way, you will pick up some pretty nice skills. After completing foundation, you will definitely have learned a full front lever, a full human flag/side lever, a straddle planche, and a manna. (Most likely, back lever will be in there somewhere as well). And it won't be some pansy "I briefly paused in the position while falling through it" hold. You'll be able to hold it to mastery-level standards. You will be strong as hell.

Hari_Seldon said:

 You will be strong as hell.

considering how Coach states that we won't just be acquainted with the elements but have achieved total mastery of that element, i fear for my pants life when I see what Coach considers being a "Master" of things like Hollowback press and Manna....

I can definetely see people and us included, underestimating the direction the Foundation course is going and once we see guys who have mastered it demonstrate some skill, we'll be like "HOLY SHIT LOOK AT THE GOLD MINE WE'VE BEEN SITTING ON."

Thanks and yes i am starting to stagnate and my shoulder is starting to hurt so i have been thinking that i just want to start from scratch. Naturally my ego doesnt want to lose my gains and also indont want to get flabby bu not really exercising. But i guess i cant judge it till i try it.

I am excited but also very apprehensive as well.

Cory im not sure what the cause of the mobility issues are its just the way in. I have never in my life touched my toes w/o bending my knees. If i tried it right now i could barely get past knees.

That said, I've lifted ran swam played golf baseball etc ally life and really never suffered an injury other than ankle sprains.

Wierd. Sometimes i think it helps not get injured and other times like golf i wonder how much better i could be if i could rotate more.

my dad is a very avid golfer(drives 200+ yards every time) but he can't move around his planes of movement like i can.

i'm not such a good golfer and i've played before. 

skill does have a strong neurological link, but it does have its strength and mobility component. 

if your "skill" has not gotten to the level you wish for it to go, being "ludicrously" strong will not help, only in identifying what elements in particular will help you. 

since i need pulling power, twisting power, pressing power, leg power, ab compression power, core power AND to top it all off, be able to use it in a variety of ways, the F series compliments me nicely because I have identified what I need to work on in a progressive manner that develops what im looking for. 

you simply have to undergo a similar thought process, the F courses can help me how? identify it, feed the dream and just train until you get it. 

The ego thing is familiar to me... I danced around this for years, but I have finally gotten it right and just forgotten ego altogether when it comes to training, and it is so, so worth it!

jwalker497 said:

I am not a flexible person, period.  I am 36 (...)  

LOL... this is not a good start, period!

I am not a flexible person either; I am 50 and making progress every day in my flexibility/mobility (maybe not every day, but certainly every 10 to 15 days).

When I was 36, I also thought that I could take every shortcut and use every excuse to avoid facing reality... I was strong and young after all... and very wrong! I sometimes wish I'd had access to the foundation program at that time so I'd have already addressed & tackled the issues I am dealing with now, but that would be an excuse and the creation of a fallacy to blame - fact is "I was too stubborn and ego driven to have listened to that sort of advice".

You can do one of two things at this junction jwalker497: you can move away from it, find another program and hope that your flexibility issues can be forever masked by increased strength; or you can move towards it and deal with this flexibility and ROM now.

No matter which way you choose will make a huge difference 15 years from now.

So, what is that going to be?