Foundation one for general strength?

Hey all,

Firstly, I'm new to the forum, so hello!

I have been running for a number of years and have been consistently clocking up 60-70km per week.  However, running is my only real form of exercise and when you focus on one thing exclusively then you tend to get good at that to the exclusion of many other things!

For example I, recently bought a surfboard and despite feeling pretty fit on the running track after 30mins paddling in small surf I'm completely spent.  My upper body strength is virtually non existent, Im fairly sure my little sister could beat me in an arm wrestle.  My vertical leap is pathetic and I lack any real explosive strength in my legs or upper body.

Having come to that realisation Im looking for a whole body strength program that will complement other activities like running and surfing.  There are, of course, strength programs aimed at improving specific areas of strength that will help with those two activities, but I'm after something more general and all encompassing.  I have no intentions of becoming a gymnast, but the exercises look like much more fun than lifting weights in a gym!

From what I can gather from the forums and other online sources, it seems like Foundation One is a great overall bodyweight program for upper body and core strength.  However, very little is said about legs.  

Does Foundation One address leg strength?

Obviously I get a lot of leg strength from running hills etc.  But I would like a strength routine that is balanced  between upper body and lower body.  Alternatively I could substitute the workouts in Foundation 1 with some extra leg work.

Would you recommend Foundation One as a general strength program for someone like me?

Looking forward to your feedback.

Cheers,

Rohan

Yeah, the leg work in F1 is brilliant.  There's a lot of nifty joint prep stuff, and by the end of F2 you have a full pistol squat and natural leg curls as well.  I can't wait until F3 comes out just to see what comes next.

Some people squat or deadlift once a week on top of their F1 workouts, but you don't necessarily need it.

Hi there well same here I am a newbie here. 

If all you do is run, then F1 is more than enough to give you a significant increase in leg strength. I would not recommend supplementing it with extra leg work like back squatting unless you already have significant experience with that movement. Most of the people who use weightlifting to supplement the SLS progression come from a background of having lifted for years. At least get through F2 before you start doing that stuff if you haven't done it before, because I think learning to lift for the first time while doing F1 will be counterproductive.

As far as upper body, there is no need for any additional work outside F1, except maybe armwrestling your sister every now and then to test your progress.

fitwell said:

 

As far as upper body, there is no need for any additional work outside F1, except maybe armwrestling your sister every now and then to test your progress.

....unless she happens to be doing F2 ;-)