Drop CrossFit for H1 + F1 ?

Hi Guys,

 

I've been doing H1 for about 3 months (4 days a week) along with CrossFit (3 times a week.) 

 

My contract with my Crossfit gym is about to expire and I'm honestly enjoying the Coach's method of training (tiny incremental steps) much more than the ad-hoc method of CrossFit.

 

If I get F1 and integrate it along with my current H1 training 4 times a week, will that suffice as a total body workout routine for the next few years, or would I still have to supplement that with other exercises?

 

My personal goals are:

 

1. Stay fit & in shape.

2. Develop long term strength.

3. Keep my cardio system in check.

4. Be able to do a handstand for at least 30 seconds.

 

Thank you in advance!

 

 

-Nash

Drop CrossFit and incorporate F1 and H1 into your life. It is all you need to say fit & in shape, Develop long term strength and you will be able to hold a handstand for longer than 30 seconds. You could add some cardio training in if you wanted to. 

If you are not enjoying it, by all means quit.

Why not trying the proposed program for 2 or 3 months and see how you feel? You can then adjust & fine tune to your needs.

 

If you miss crossfit at that time, you can always enroll back in, or take on swimming, or martial arts, or darts, or dwarf throwing, or whatever else you wish to try...

Would you expect peop,e on the gymnasticbodies to recommend anything other than the site's product? that said, Foundation and Handstand will do things for you you never thought you could do.

For example, I could never hold a Bridge. After 7 weeks of Foundation, pushing up into a Brodge was easy. I'm not talking about a lodortic, bent-leg, bent-arm Bridge, but a perfect semi-circle.

See you in the forums

Ha ha! Yes, you're right. If I asked this question in a CF forum, I'd be banned for life!

 

What I really wanted to see is if you guys supplemented your F1 + H1 training with any other stuff like running or whether it's enough doing that 4 times a week.

 

Thanks!

 

 

-Nash

Supplementing with hiit and running is good and has been encouraged for those capable.

As Dan said, you want some cardio on top of F1/H1

If you are finding your local Crossfit gym programming ad hoc you need to change. Good Crossfit programming should show systematic progression as well as variety. You could do Crossfit at home and follow your own program or one of the many free program's that are out there.

Gymnastics > Crossfit period

I run 6-7 days a week (HS cross country) and my training for running is still top notch. I do put running at a higher importance than F1, but I still do both. I perform Foundation 4x a week and have noticed great strength gains.

Mark Collins said:

If you are finding your local Crossfit gym programming ad hoc you need to change. Good Crossfit programming should show systematic progression as well as variety. You could do Crossfit at home and follow your own program or one of the many free program's that are out there.

Hi Mark,

 

Yeah, I like Crossfit and my gym is great and it's the variety that seems to be standing in the way of safety & progress. For example, we usually do snatches once a week or twice a month (we can't do more because there are so many other things to cover), which really doesn't give us enough time to improve our technique.

 

It feels like the only way to improve reasonably is to buy equipment and practice at home. This would have to be in addition to going to the box. But not everyone has the time and space.

 

With H1, I noticed that almost everything is built in. Progress is planned incrementally towards the final goal. There's a built in failure mechanism (mini-cycles). And your strength is assumed at 0 with clear mastery templates to jump up.

 

I haven't looked at F1 yet, but I'm assuming that I'm going to lose the high intensity training we go through at Crossfit. That worries me about my fitness level and if I can maintain it with H1 + F1.

 

The biggest thing though would be losing the social aspect of my gym since the guys there are great. All the local gymnastic places in Houston seem to be geared towards kids.

 

I think for now, I'm going to try out this program: 7 minute workout* + F1 + H1 @ 4 times a week and see how that goes.

 

Thank you all for the input.

 

* http://lifehacker.com/scientific-7-minute-workout-makes-your-android-phone-an-706714821

the other day I went running to the beach (car broke down) and doing the whole heel-less running technique fried my calves and also made me sweat like a mad man (i was running at an even pace[2-3mph? idk, not slow but not running hard], but my calves give out before my breath does)

Nash said:

I haven't looked at F1 yet, but I'm assuming that I'm going to lose the high intensity training we go through at Crossfit. That worries me about my fitness level and if I can maintain it with H1 + F1.

 

That's not going to be a problem. Foundation is quite high in intensity. 

Joshua Slocum said:

That's not going to be a problem. Foundation is quite high in intensity. 

noted. I have not been doing Cardio per ce and I just had a heart check done and I've really improved since April when my last check up was. 

 

i don't credit F1 and H1 alone to this, though movement is essential to health and so is adequate nutrition. per following Josh's recomendation  of not going over 30-35g of protein per feeding, 30-40g of carbs per feeding and also introducing a substantial amount of green matter with each feeding. 

 

I'll be honest, adjusting to it with my hectic lifestyle has been about as challenging as a F1 workout, but the efforts invested have paid off AND I further tested the validity of these claims by going cold turkey with my supplements. 

 

I hypothesis more energy, more fat loss, increasing bone density and brain function after including my supplements and not focusing on them as substitutes to good eating to which i have opted the whole foods route. I also have to focus on learning how to calculate how much calories i do need per meal daily due to my confusion in that subject....nothing a little more reading and searching in the nutrition forum cannot fix

Joshua Slocum said:

That's not going to be a problem. Foundation is quite high in intensity. 

More like low on rest times at first, with intensity building as you move on to harder exercises.

 

If you follow the workouts as written, which means rest times are very short (often either just long enough to do your mobility or 60s INCLUDING mobility), you're going to have no trouble maintaining your conditioning.

 

You will probably find yourself wrecking your old WOD times when you go back to play with them in 6 months or something. There are several people who have already made the transition that you are considering, and everything got better for them.

 

All you need to add are a few Tabata sessions, and perhaps 1-2 sets of barbell squats, 2x per week on leg days, and you will have far, far more strength AND conditioning than you'll ever get from Crossfit WODs.

Foundation is intense, but you can do a hard leg workout afterwards. Something like 3 Snatches, 3 Clean and Jerks, 3 Back Squats and 5 Deadlifts. Weight is up to you. Rest and repeat. That should have you covered

Just took the plunge and bought F1!

 

By looking at the vids, it seems like I'm going to need some equipment.

 

Are there any cheap solutions out there to cover what's needed?

there's a topic in the foundation forum that is about how to find substitutes for equipment

I was speaking with an ex Australian gymnast who now competes at the national level for Olympic Weightlifting. He was of the opinion that all gymnasts should do some olympic lifting. Even though he doesn't train in gymnastics anymore he still had a front lever, back lever and straddle Planche.

Foundation won't give you the same cardiovascular conditioning as crossfit.

Holy crap! F1 is orders of magnitude harder than H1.

 

I assumed that I would at least be able to show mastery in incline pushups, but not even those!

 

I'm starting from week 1 for all workouts. 

 

My current schedule:

 

Mon, Wed, Fri: H1 + 5K jog.

Thurs, Friday: F1

 

I'm going to give this a couple of months and see how it affects my fitness level.

 

 

 

-Nash

How are you doing F1 twice a week? Also, this does not belong in this forum.

Aadil,

 

All 7 movements on Tuesday, then again, all 7 movements on Thursday.

 

 

-Nash

Mark Collins said:

Foundation won't give you the same cardiovascular conditioning as crossfit.

I can't speak in terms of which discipline is good for what, but I have not been doing Cardio at all. F1 + H1 have been more than enough for me and my work load + life and I've substantially improved my myocardial oxygen consumption(basically how much oxygen your heart utilizes to get work done, from what i have understood) per results of a heart check I got done in April and a follow up I got done 2 days ago.

I will say this though, really focusing on removing fast food and focusing on whole foods and getting inverted are two things that i've also changed since april, so i don't want this to seem like discipline bashing, only sharing personal insight and experience.

if I may also add that the veggies i've been eating have been a mixture of cooked + raw, more leaning towards cooked.

After doing a couple of F1 sessions I can tell that Mark is right. Crossfit is much more aggressive on cardio. I'm usually on the ground gasping for air after a WOD.

 

With F1, I feel tired (even though I'm still on week 1 on most movements), but not cardio tired.

 

 

I think I'll add 50 burpees + 50 pull-ups + 50 push-ups after my F1 sessions to make up for the cardio. Then I'll scale back on those as F1 gets more difficult.

 

 

-Nash

I have a question for you. If you are unable to do the mastery even fore incline push-ups, why would you do 100 push-ups in your anaerobic hiit sessions?

I don't particularly have a problem with that setup but just make sure you do things with decent form even when doing them fast.