Defining "Mastery"

The exact definition of Mastery is.... ?

Yes if I can complete the PE & IM , but how proficient should I be at the PE before I am comfortable to move on ? No Shaking yes, but almost effortless ?  Should I feel almost bored by the end of set 5 because it is so easy ? I realize that might take more time to progress, but wouldn't it be a huge asset as I progress through the more advanced progressions ?

The last two or one sets should be difficult, but without you losing form. It will by no means by easy, but form should be great throughout. If you feel you didn't master it, go back a microcycle.

It should look easy to those watching, but you might be dying on the inside. So good enough to appear effortless or close to, but not necassarily being so.

I'm guessing that mastery means reproducible.

^ important point

Perfection, or even quality, are somewhat abstract concepts.  Read zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance if you want to see someone take a good stab at defining "Mastery."

Otherwise, as long as you look like the demonstration video (or better in the case of some SLS progressions, hinge rows ect...) you're good to move on.

Thanks Guys. My perception of mastery was a close to effortless execution... but based on the above I can move through F1 much faster !

How about.... Mastery is when you can demonstrate it in front of non GST trainees and they're completely underwhelmed because you made it look like nothing?

Hi guys,

sorry to bring up an old point, but can someone give me some more definitions of what is "mastery" with regards to gymnastic bodies training?

Hi Wahid,

Thanks for reaching out.

GymnasticBodies has a system of standards called mastery for how to program an exercise and when to know when it's appropriate to move to a harder progression. Each standard of mastery has been broken into smaller pieces of programming called "steps." So for example if you cannot do Step 9 (Mastery), you would start on whichever previous step in the programming best reflects your ability. The workout scheduler has an option to figure this out automatically. By choosing "Test Mastery" you will get a placement test. If you pass (make sure to log your workout) it will give a harder progression test; if you fail it will automatically assign the best step for you to work on.

Please let us know if you have any further questions  

Thanks Pauline for your reply,

I understood now how the the progressions work, I couldn't find the "Test Mastery" button. I just do the workouts until it becomes "Too Easy". 

Anyway I have another question, I train core one day and upper body the following day, everyday. This is always before or after a gym workout. So say daily I spend minimum 2 hours in gym. I dont feel tired at all or fatigued except in mornings, but I guess thats usual with alot of people. Do you think I'm over training? Honestly its yet to catch up with me, but in terms of making progress... should I increase my rest inbetween?

PS. I am progressing in my training and have not hit any plateau yet. Sometimes during the week I may take a whole day off if I'm busy, so say every two weeks I take a full days rest. Finally, I have been training years in cross fit, jiu jitsu etc so my body is used to high volumes of training.

Thanks

Hi Wahid,

These are great questions. 

The test mastery option is no longer a part of Foundation One. Once a category reaches Foundation Two, that option shows up. Just continue using the smiley faces and your courses will be programmed for you. 

As far as your programming goes, if your schedule is working for you, stick with it. If you stop performing as well, feel fatigued, etc., then change things up. Just don't be stubborn; stray flexible enough to change things up if needed. If you're not showing the signs and symptoms of overtraining, then I doubt you are. 

Once a progression has been mastered, should I be able to easily go back and repeat step 9? For instance, I am close to mastering FL pe3, but I know that I would struggle with completing step 9 of PE2. Should I go back and spend more time on PE2? I still include a few sets of PE2 every week.

Hey Valerie,

It is not necessary to maintain mastery level fitness for all progressions. Just keep a single set of mastery reps/time in your warmup. For your core warmup, keep a single set of 60 tuck hollow body rocks along with one MN and one SL exercise (unless you're on PE1).

Just a really small point to throw in here on @Wahid Emran's question about fatigue, overtraining, etc., to add to the other comments.

I train 4 days a week on foundation, HS and pHS, plus 3 days a week where I do 1-2 hours of kung fu, and then finally I try to do 1 or 2 stretch classes if I can squeeze them in.

So I'm probably similar to you, Wahid. And every now and then I would also feel really fatigued, and wonder if I was overdoing it.

But then whilst doing the Thrive course, I get told that my usual 5-6 hours of sleep a night was really not enough for this workload!

It's amazing that when I felt tired my first thought was to reduce my training. I've spent so many years assuming that I didn't need a lot of sleep that I just took it for granted that 5 to 6 hours was my norm. But when I tried to get to 7 and sometimes 8 hours, that 'fatigue' just disappeared.

Anyway, that's not a sales pitch for Thrive (although I would recommend it), but just something else to throw into the mix--check that you're getting enough sleep to recover, not just having the odd 'day off'.

All the best,

Mark

On 10/17/2017 at 10:05 AM, Everett Carroll said:

Hey Valerie,

It is not necessary to maintain mastery level fitness for all progressions. Just keep a single set of mastery reps/time in your warmup. For your core warmup, keep a single set of 60 tuck hollow body rocks along with one MN and one SL exercise (unless you're on PE1).

Everett, do you recommend this over the old (unofficial) standard of 200% Mastery as a warm-up? 

Thanks for catching that, Benjamin. I should clarify that that should be the minimum warm-up standard. I personally use the 200% mastery rule for two things: ensuring I have mastered a progression and warming up. If I can't perform 1x200% of a progression then I don't qualify myself for mastery. An equal alternative to the 1x200% mastery warm-up would be the warm-up specifications from the intro article on the topic. 

5 minutes ago, Everett Carroll said:

Thanks for catching that, Benjamin. I should clarify that that should be the minimum warm-up standard. I personally use the 200% mastery rule for two things: ensuring I have mastered a progression and warming up. If I can't perform 1x200% of a progression then I don't qualify myself for mastery. An equal alternative to the 1x200% mastery warm-up would be the warm-up specifications from the intro article on the topic. 

Thank you for clarifying. I’ve been liking the 1x200% to keep myself honest, so this is good to know!

Another easy way to define it is to add a 20% of the reps/seconds in the last set of the last week of the template.

I mean for example :

-when I hit the 5x5, the 20% it is one rep.

then can I do 5 set 5 with one last more rep in the last set ? (this mean hit 5,5,5,5,6)

-if yes, move one. if not stay of 5x5.

-same thing for 30s. the 30% it is 6 sec. can I do for the 5x30'' as follow: 30,30,30,30,36?

If I may give another idea too, I like to add one more set of the same reps.  In this way it helps me to, sometimes, overcome plateaus and if I succeed this other set, I know I'm good to go.