F1 Form Check - My personal strength journey..

Hi everyone!

I want to start this thread because ,training all by myself, I need to verify if I meet the high standard of the Foundation program.

Below there is a video of me performing all the 7 exercises of Foundation One, this week I had he mastery week for a few elements, HPB/PE2 and iM, RC/PE2 and iM, MN/PE1 and iM and SLS/PE1 and iM, however I insert the current week of the other PEs.

I’d appreciate as much criticism as possible, I know I need to better myself and I’m willing to work harder on improving my weak point.

Sorry for the quality of several videos, but I had problems placing the camera for a few exercises. In SL the feet are together all the time, I don’t why they’ve been cut. I’m not so good at video cutting, I’ll try to do better next time, anyway I’ll screen pictures of the missing parts.

Here are the videos:

Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFO5wuXmC_A

Video 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9NrOT-80fs

I want to share with you part of my fitness and performance story. I’m 21 years old, I live in Italy, Rome and I have been always fascinated from strength and outstanding performances. I thought, back in my teen years, that strength means lifting or throwing big weights. I read everything possible on internet, trying to understand which was the best way to accomplish this kind of super-human strength.

I found the PL world, I was fascinated by this huge men lifting effortlessly 3 times my BW! I say to myself “ I want to do that, no matter what it takes, I want to do PL! “. I found a gym, near my home, which a bunch of guys training PL style. I jumped in and for three years I trained at this facilities and competed in several PL meetings.         

Do you want to know what I found? This PL approach doesn’t work for me.

I had several injuries. I spent a lot of time out of the gym trying to heal my broken body, I always felt pain anywhere.  I know something was wrong, but I hear “are you a man or what?! Come on and enjoy the pain!†all the time, so I supposed that I wasn’t man enough to handle these sport, a fact that makes me more willing to push harder just to broken myself more.

Then the light was coming, slowly, but I wasn’t ready yet to delete all these mental attitudes built in years of PL practice. I found GST, long time ago, in this website. I read Coach Sommer’s first article and I was stunned by what He said. I understand that I have no business in lifting heavy weights, when I’m not even capable of move my own body! But it wasn’t so easy at the beginning. It never is right? I still don’t understand the importance of basics in training, in life, in everything.

I spent other times playing with this PL thing, but I was slowly turning my mind into this GST things, I really like it so I started with the most beautiful movement: Handstand. I started my gymnastic journey trying to learn how to properly handstand.

After about a year, I managed to have a decent looking handstand, or at least I was able to “stand†on my hands! Then, one year ago, I made the on best decision of my life: I left the gym to jump into GST. At the beginning, I was lost. I don’t know where to start, if I was following the right directions.

 I found a facilities where a learned the basics of acrobatics and thumblings. This experience made me aware of my lack of mobility/strength in the easiest exercises, even if I could deadlift 200kg! It wasn’t acceptable for me, so I tried everything under the sun to better myself in strength feat that was over myself.

I tried to learn everything possible on internet, from different gurus or books, articles and much more, but I always felt that something was missing, something was wrong. I was find someone that say to me “ehy, you want to do this? Here is the path, you just need to followâ€.

And then, the light finally came. I wasn’t aware right away, but I was definitely on the right path. I found the Foundation One course. My first thought was “So what? I can do these basics exercises in the spurt of the moment if I want†(I have to admit that I’m stubborn as hell and I needed a long time to change my previous mindset).

So I keep doing what I was doing before, trying to achieve a BL, a FL a PL. I want to have a FS HeSPU easily, I do ring support, dips, pull ups. You know, same story as always. Eventually I find myself not improving anymore, in pain and with no clue for the future training regimen.

Then I thought back “damn, I’m in the same situation as before, but why? I was following good advice, what is missed?â€

And then the solution came, It was a kind of epiphany for me, I understand what I always know and denying to myself: I need to learn and master the basics of movement.

I humbly understand that I have to give Foundation a try. No choice was better than this.

I want to thank Coach Sommer for his work, for what he made possible for all of us. Now I started my training journey, I still can’t see the end, but I’m ok with that. I have a secure guidance thanks to Foundation One and if stick with that, I know where all of this will end.

So, I say my story to make a point clear: Always sticks with the basics.

If you are new to something, especially training, spending time of mastering, truly mastering the basics, will pay enormous dividends at the end. You won’t regret any single moment spent doing “boring†or “not-cool-party-trick†movement.

I can attest that the more you master the basics, the more you speed up the process later on your training career.

Stick with the basics folks, you won’t regret.

In training, as in life, as in everything that you want to do or achieve.

Federico.

Hi Federico,

Unfortunately, I'm not qualified to comment on your form also being at the beginning stages of F1 myself. On a more pedantic note however, I would suggest that you mark your youtube vids as having privacy setting "Unlisted". This will mean that the only way to view them would be to click on an appropriate link (which would only be listed in these private forums). As it stands, someone could find your vids showing all titled PE1's and some PE2's in google fairly easily

Coach or others may suggest it's ok to leave as it is and that I'm being overly cautious/paranoid/pedantic , but considering the effort required to put this course together, it feels considerate to keep the material as private as can be

I'm sure others will comment with feedback on your form soon  

Andy

Hi Gregory,

thank you for your advice. I changed from public to unlisted.

Hope not have done anything wrong posting my videos on YT for a form check!

Well done! I'm sure alot of people have the same backround as you and I hope alot of poeple read your story. There is nothing worse than beeing injured. Keep working hard and when you feel ready contact Nic Branson and do the Mastery test 0.5. Even if you dont make at the first try you will get some great feed back.

Hi, nice post!

Couple of pointers from first video.

FL point your ankles and prinkg your neck to neutral

sPL lock your elbows

HBP IM 1 keep your right hand limb and staight all the way up.

Nice job all and all!!!

Second video:

MN point your ankles and pull knees all the way to your chest. Do the movement little faster.

MN im maby not that wide stance

And have to say that i am not qualifyed but rather compared to the videos in the series

@Mats Trane: Thank you for your kind word. I hope to achieve a level that will eventually allows me to contact Nic Branson and have a 0.5 level certificate, it's what I'm training towards! I felt like sharing my story would have helped other people that maybe, like me, were struggling to let previous misconception go away and train wisely insted of trying to achieve what you, at the moment, can't.

@RiQc: Thank you for your feedback, I really appreciate that. I'll study how to implent what you see, trying to understand how to feel your suggestions in my movements. Just a question: What do you mean by "point ankles" ? Since you said that for both fl and mn, it's something that I miss unawarely. 

Sorry. I think pointing the toes is the right term. Make shure that your toes are pointing like ballet dancers and the line is more beautiful

Oh, I see. Now it makes sense! Thanks

Federico Pregnolato said:

Hi Gregory,

thank you for your advice. I changed from public to unlisted.

Hope not have done anything wrong posting my videos on YT for a form check!

You haven't done anything wrong, don't worry! Everyone is posting form checks on youtube, myself included. I'm just thinking better safe than sorry as all elements were shown in this case Apologies if I came across as a little abrupt

Congratulations on "seeing the light"; to come to that realisation while you're still only 21 is pretty massive. Some people will never draw that conclusion and will beat themselves up in the gym for the rest of their lives (or until their body gives up), being surprised that they aren't making progress. I try to tell people I know that, but very few listen. A great example is a work colleague of mine. He wanted to start going to the gym after laying off for a couple of years. I suggested maybe working on some simple bodyweight movements (not GST orientated) and improving his mobility for a while, but he was insistent on starting with weights (PL movements). I then suggested he start very very light and cycle up slowly, but he just wouldn't accept that this would make him stronger in the long run. If he could deadlift 100kg today, then surely he must start with 100kg and then lift 105Kg next time? (I think you can see where this is going). I insisted his was the route to injury, but he wouldn't listen. Only a month in, unsurprisingly he stalled. He pushed on regardless and started to experience pain. Thankfully he didn't injure himself; his lack of progress meant he stopped after just 3 months. This was 4 months ago

Back to your form though; As I said before, while I don't have the experience to definitively comment on whether what you're doing is right or wrong, I will say watch and re-watch the demonstration videos and compare yourself as honestly as you can. I understand as beginners we are not really sure what to look for in the videos and deduce which parts of the form beyond the focus points are most important (usually all of them, though we may not necessarily know what "they" are ). When in doubt, try to emulate the form shown as closely as possible.

For example, your cat cow form looks different from that demonstrated; your hips move backwards when you arch (the athlete's remain directly above his knees), so the arch in your spine is reduced. Now I don't know how vital that is to consider the movement mastered, all I'm saying is there is a visible difference . I'll put money on you being able to keep your hips above your knees if you tried though.

Good luck!

Andy

Thank you Andy for sharing your story, I perfectly understand how you feel. Anyone who knows me wanted to do or train the way I do, you know handstand rings and other, but when I explain them that they need at least to have a minimum strength in bodyweight exercises, they become bored and prefer to go to the gym, where they PAY for not having results AT ALL. But as time goes by, I understand that some people go to the gym to show off, or to talk to the pretty girl on glute machine and so on. So I stopped trying to make them understand and only if they ask me I explain that they should do. Anyway, I understand you my friend, it's kind of frustrating to see people mess with their body and eventually their health.

Thank you for your tips and advices, I really strive to emulate the videos of the exercises, but sometime I miss something (as you highlighted for my cat cow). This is the reason why I put my videos on this forum, because of the active community so willing to help someone out of his/her errors. So don't worry, I'm far from perfect and I want to improve. I just received precious tips from RiQC and I'll try them tomorrow in my next session (which happen to be also my deload week, more focus on form than trying not to think of the burn) and a very good motivational from Mats Trane and now advices from you. I thank all of you again guys, I really appreciate that.

Hope that someone else come along and help me with my form!

A couple things which no one has mentioned yet...

Video 1;

Looks pretty good to me. Try to avoid twisting your body on the German arm swings, and slow down the top of the xiao pengs-- really feel that twist and top of the arc. I think your incline pushups are a bit high too; I'd prefer if they were a bit lower.

Video 2;

Make sure your knees are locked in the arch body hold. Tuck v-ups are a bit slower than necessary but that won't hurt you

You can see the problem with your windmills-- keep that weight stacked straight up and down above your shoulder. You can get away with it at this weight, but as you go heavier this will become awkward, and then dangerous. That's one to definitely fix. Looks better on your left side, but your twist of the arm is better on the right

One side of your skiers looks quite a bit more flexible than the other side. Try to make the twist more from pushing the hips back than reaching with your torso. That could just be the angle though..

Twisting squats are OK but they could stand to be a bit smoother-- you don't need to exaggerate this though. It might be easier to put your feet a little further apart.

Generally looks good! I had to look hard to find small things, but no real problems except the shoulder/arm position in the windmills. I'm sure you could do everything else once you are aware of it.

Welcome to the forum, I enjoyed reading your post

@Jon Douglas: Thank you Jon, I'm happy that you liked my story. Hope that it wasn't too long Thank you also for your advices, they are a treasure for me, I know I always miss something, it's very difficult to keep everything tight and right, but with your feedbacks I really know what I should focus more. 

I have nothing to ask to clarify for now, you've been very clear highligthing my weak points, especially for windmills, which I have problems controlling the weight rather then going down! I'll try to incorporate your tips in my training this week, really focusing on what you say and then I'll try to refilm as soon as possible the videos of the exercises, this time trying to have a better light, camera and angle!

Thank you again for all of you, I'm so happy to be part of this wonderful community, I really find enthusiasm in trying to get better on our way to move and perform. Hope to be an active part myself, on day, when I'll know what i'm doing, to help other people reach their goals, like you're doing with me now! 

So here I am again!

I implement all of your suggestions in my PE form and now they feel better!

I'll post soon a video just for MN\PE1>iM, which was the worst execution of the previous videos.

Today I filmed my early morning session of HBP\PE3. I'm just practicing and not really training because I want to have a bulletproof form before starting training seriously! So here is the video, I appreciate as much criticism as possible in order to perform at my best!

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8sT4ed62QM&feature=youtu.be

Hey Fede,

just one sentence to your HBP/PE2 in the first video.
Like someone told me for a week or so, we should keep the elbows more in, yours are flaring out to wide - pointing away from your body. 

And here i got some question and maybe another hint for your, when doing the HBP/PE2 and we lower down and touch the floor with the pecs with straight body line do we have to make some movement with the shoulders forward? The reason i'm asking this is, that the guy in the video is nearly touching the ground with his shoulders and the looked rolled forward. But when i try doing this at the bottom of the push up it does not feel right and does not feel like a push up, maybe he just has bigger front shoulder muscles that it looks that way?! Also i can do 5x10 push ups with good form, but when i try haveing the shoulders like the guy i stuck at 5x5 reps. Maybe overanalyzing?!

 

@William: Hey William, thank you for your feedback. I have slightly flared out elbows in the vid, when I usually keep them near my body (coming from training hspu I learned the lesson) but you're right and I need to pay attention more!

For your question. I remember read sometime ago a posto saying "don't overthink, it's just a pushup. Keep a straight form, but it's a pushup". I think the guy in the video has more protracted shoulders which means that instead of touching his pec he rolls a little forward and almost touch the ground with his shoulders. I don't know if it's wrong the way I do the pushup, which I think it's similar to the guy in the vid, perhaps it's a little bit of overthinking. Maybe you should post a video so that we can see the difference, I'll do another video soon so that I'll ses if there are noticeable differences!

Hey could you be so kind and make in the vid one normal push up like and one where you active roll your shoulders forward, when you are making one.Just for comparing   For me having the elbows more to the sides results in more work for the triceps, so i think thats the way to go for the next progressions.

I made the pushup video in my afternoon training session along with MN\PE1>iM, let me know if it's improved or I need to work on other form issues and do not forget to check my PPP form!

@William: I filmed what I suppose are the two PU variation at the end of the video. As you can see, there isn't very much difference. In PU1 I do my usual PU, while in PU2 I roll forward with my shoulders so that they touch the floor. I can't find pretty much difference in intensity, but perhaps someone more knowledgeable than me can answer this question! However, I will keep working on PE3 and work on my form in the warm up!

Here is the vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ihERbFllwo&feature=youtu.be

@William: Hey, don't know if you're still giving thought to shoulders in pushups. Today, while I was warming up for PPP, I found myself actively pushing my elbows in and my shoulders naturally lean forward like in the video. I think I was doing this without being aware of it, just want to let a feedback from today's training were I actually feel this roll.

Ah thanks, i read your last post but forgot to answer to that...
Last week i had a problem with chest-touching when doing push ups, because my upper abs are touchgin first the ground, am i the only one?My chest isn't the thickest one right now of course
But i felt that my body line was straight without moving, when i do it like the guy in the vid, i think, my body is just different to him.

Maybe i have to make a video again. 

short question - f1 should cover everything you need for balanced strenght, so i was wondering why there is no vertical push like hspu in it for balanced shoulders and health!? i know there is h1 around but without that, may i get unbalanced shoulders? i read that at first you do push up variations, after that comes hspu...is this the way f1 goes?

There is no vertical pulling either; the bent-arm strength rotates through the planes of motion until you are working multi-plane pushing and pressing. It will definitely balance out

Thats, what i wanted to hear!
Ok, yeah i knew there will come vert pulling like pulls ups and so on over time, but wasnt sure about pressing.

 

William said:

Thats, what i wanted to hear!

Ok, yeah i knew there will come vert pulling like pulls ups and so on over time, but wasnt sure about pressing.

 

It's not confirmed but pretty sure that after F2 will come HSPU variations and then onto multi-plane pressing, culminating in hollowback press