Introduction

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum and thought I'd introduce myself. I'm a former high school middle line backer(220lbs then) who went gamer, got fat(roughly 330lbs), got back into being healthy( now 162) through eating and weight training with friends.

So up until three months ago I was all about the deadlift, squat, military press, and bent rows. One day, I saw a few guys at the gym doing some hand balancing on parallettes, kettlebells, and using nothing but body weight for their whole workout. I figured I'd throw some in and fell on my face. I couldn't believe how stiff and weak I'd become at basic human movements.

So here I am looking yo transition from weights to body weight without losing my current strength, but gaining even more strength in the other forms as well. I'm pretty good when it comes to programming, but I've hit a snag when it comes to bodyweight programming and I've found myself being injured more or way more exhausted(that darn CNS.) I've been reading through the forums for tips, but I see a lot of "just buy f1/2/h1 comments. To be honest I'm hesitant for two reasons. One, my best friend tried it out, and quit do to feeling like it was slow in progressing and he felt like he was losing strength in some areas(lost his tuck planche and back lever) despite mobility coming back. Two, it's a good bit of money to continuously invest in. I would love some feedback on what all the f series entails. I've seen a little bit of f1 before it was returned, and it did seem really basic even after training three months on my own. If it helps, some of my goals, pretty basic, but are one arm push ups, planch, front, back, and elbow levers, I finally got my pistol but I'd like more strength and stability in it, I'd love to hit muscle ups on call, and the handstand/manna. I know it's a lot of goals, but dream big or not at all right? Also thought I'd throw in, I don't want yo be a gymnast. I'd like these skills just to further my strength, improve my movement repertoire, and to have fun with.

Thank you all in advance, and I look forward to meeting you all.

Hi Primalmove, welcome to the forum.

The Foundation series covers progressions of strength and mobility exercises for the development of seven main basic gymnastics strength skills - the Front Lever, Straddle Planche, Side Lever, Manna, Single Leg Squat, Hollow Back Press, and Rope Climb.

The Foundation series might be 'slow', but it is methodical, and thorough.  Per the name, its job is to build a solid base of strength and mobility on which more glamorous and demanding skills can be worked.  Injuries and plateaus tend to be the result of weak links; many of us have learned this through experience, and that, I can assure you, is a far worse use of time.

If you find that F1 is too basic, you'll probably be able to fly through the progressions -- there are instructions in the front on how to test each progression for mastery and moving on if you find you already meet the requirement.  Otherwise, the time spent mastering the element will likely be time well-spent. In some cases, if you are already strong, you might find that while you spend a full cycle on one progression, the combination of your previous ability plus your newly-strengthened weak link have you flying through a later one.

Some of the early elements really do feel very basic. But again, they are training movements and activation patterns that will be essential in the moves that you do want to achieve later -- and if one cannot manage them in their simplest form, how can one expect to achieve that activation when under multiple times the load?

If you are concerned with losing skills that you already have, then you may choose to train them after the F1 work, and as long as you still feel you have the recovery ability for it.  It's surprising, but it doesn't take much to maintain some moves.  There have been numerous accounts on the forums, and from people at seminars, who have shifted to using F1/H1 as their primary training, and yet found they've kept or even improved their other advanced skills.

Also, the courses have a money-back guarantee, so you can have a closer look and actually try it, to determine whether you feel it's for you or not. It might not be, but at least you can find out experimentally, without having to just take it on blind faith. (c:

Apologies for the long post, I tend to be verbose.

It's basic yeah, but it's supposed to be basic.  Foundation is all about checking your ego at the door and working at a level that's most productive for you.  For example, I keep wanting to add more pullups to my workout, but every time I do it affects my recovery and my Foundation work suffers, pretty much leaving me spinning my wheels.

Primalmove said:

my best friend tried it out, and quit do to feeling like it was slow in progressing and he felt like he was losing strength in some areas(lost his tuck planche and back lever) despite mobility coming back.

Believe it or not this isn't really supposed to happen.  If you're training with the right amount of intensity, you're still building strength and muscle size.  You might lose the specific efficiency that allowed you to perform a movement you used to practice regularly, but you'll find your overall level of strength measured across all dimensions should increase somewhat.  Anecdotal evidence: On a straight bar my maximum amount of chinups stalled, but I started being able to perform pullups, which I'd always had a problem with before.  So I have become stronger and more capable, even though on say the rings my maximum chinups have actually reduced in number.   Likewise, my maximum amount of pistols has gone down slightly, but my form has improved significantly (I can now do them with a straight leg extended) and I don't doubt that I could get back to my previous numbers with a bit of focused training in time.

You may lose some deadlift and backsquat strength, but I wouldn't worry about it too much.  Other people have added in deadlifts and / or squats once a week using 5/3/1 programming with okay results, so you can do that if you worry about it too much.

The thing is, Foundation really strengthens you across all dimensions.  I know people who can military press more than me, or do more chinups, but I always win at say, holding a heavy weight out to the front with a fully locked arm.  The joint preparation is incredible.  And you say you want an elbow lever?  In F2 you're using them as rest time!

Really, it's a great program.  It's humbling, but I think that will change once I start moving on to the more difficult progressions.  I mean, it's going to be hard to be humble when I have a human flag, manna, planche, front lever ect...

Thank you both for your replies. I believe the program will benefit me and will be well worth the money spent. Another question I have is, is there an equipment list or anything needed other than pull up bars, rings, or parallettes? When I started body weight training, I left the gym, and only use the park( kids park with only chin up bars that go to my shoulders, and I hang my rings from the swings) to workout in. I also have 3 kettlebells, 16kg, 24kg, and 36kg.

Ive seen the opposite effect with my tuck planche and back lever; although I hadn't trained them for months my tuck planche didn't decrease and my back lever got stronger following foundation.

Plainly it is the best option by a substantial margin, but its not the only one. Theres quite a bit of information on programming abduction scheduling on this site

Edit;

Dammit, programming AND scheduling. Honestly Autocorrect, not EVERYTIME I begin a word with a I am writing abduction...

Jon Douglas said:

Ive seen the opposite effect with my tuck planche and back lever; although I hadn't trained them for months my tuck planche didn't decrease and my back lever got stronger following foundation.

Plainly it is the best option by a substantial margin, but its not the only one. Theres quite a bit of information on programming abduction scheduling on this site

So all of you recommend this for anyone in pursuit of bodyweight training, handbalancing, and what not as a primary way of fitness training?

PrimalMove said:

So all of you recommend this for anyone in pursuit of bodyweight training, handbalancing, and what not as a primary way of fitness training?

Well, there are a handful of people around here that don't train F1 or H1, but they're generally either really advanced, broke or ignorant.

Bipocni said:

Well, there are a handful of people around here that don't train F1 or H1, but they're generally either really advanced, broke or ignorant.

lol, well I am ignorant and broke, but I'm not advanced. I did go ahead and purchase F1, and I used today to test where I am. I'm honestly surprised at what all I need to work on. Other than legs( PE 3,) I'll be starting in the beginning or middle  of PE 2.

Thank you all for the advice and tips. I look forward to learning more and growing with all of you.

PrimalMove said:

So all of you recommend this for anyone in pursuit of bodyweight training, handbalancing, and what not as a primary way of fitness training?

As a minimum/basic expected standard for specific training, I think Foundation is amongst the single best approaches possible. Once you have those tools, you can certainly specialise in whatever direction is for you.

Jon Douglas said:

As a minimum/basic expected standard for specific training, I think Foundation is amongst the single best approaches possible. Once you have those tools, you can certainly specialise in whatever direction is for you.

Excellent, thank you! As I told bipocni, I did my foundation testing today, and look forward to growing with all of you. I hope after I finish basic, I'll even get to come to a seminar to further my education.

PrimalMove said:

Excellent, thank you! As I told bipocni, I did my foundation testing today, and look forward to growing with all of you. I hope after I finish basic, I'll even get to come to a seminar to further my education.

Welcome aboard

If the opportunity for a seminar is there for you, highly recommend you get there as early as possible. Getting hands on time with Coach is by far the quickest way to progress, and getting those correction on the basics pays very high dividends.

I thought I was too low-level or new to the GST thing to really benefit from the seminars; don't think this if anything the earlier the better to get on the straight and narrow. But that's also what we do in the Foundation fora; we keep each other honest

Jon Douglas said:

Welcome aboard

If the opportunity for a seminar is there for you, highly recommend you get there as early as possible. Getting hands on time with Coach is by far the quickest way to progress, and getting those correction on the basics pays very high dividends.

I thought I was too low-level or new to the GST thing to really benefit from the seminars; don't think this if anything the earlier the better to get on the straight and narrow. But that's also what we do in the Foundation fora; we keep each other honest

That sounds good to me! I'll try to get to one ASAP then!