It's Videos Like These That Make me Appreciate Foundation Even More!

Do you even ABH, bro?

I used to watch a lot of calisthenics videos on youtube before I found this site and I cant help but notice now how the many of these guys who make books and dvds have bad handstands and side levers and tell you that it only takes a few months. At first I balked at how long this program was gonna take me, and now I see these guys who have been doing handstands for years with poor alignment, and the level of mobility on some of them is worse than my current. 

i think the big problem with this tutorial is that it neglects building up the required straight arm strength for the human flag.

Not the best look Elliot hulse

James Hall said:

Not the best look Elliot hulse (:/

I've watched a lot of his stuff for a couple years, he's almost too big to be doing any kind of gymnastic stuff, and he used to be a whole lot bigger too.

It's funny that thing about "dominant" arm below... of course.

Bleh, just recreational calisthenics. Ok to the people that want practice that way, but bleh. But as same as all these things, hold a position for 1/2 seconds doesn't mean you own that skill at all.

I always imagine Coach Sommer saying: "Big men, 10 second perfect hold, 5 sets, with only this mobility exercise as rest."

I wonder how long the hold is for SL in F4. Anyone know?

10 secs. For 5 sets. With maybe 40-45s at most given the iM you have to perform. So yeah, this kind of videos does make you love GB even more. 

Videos like this make me want to spread GB to the world. I can only imagine how many people are spinning their wheels trying this stuff

Lol believe it or not guys people were doing flags long before Foundation came out. It is possible.    People work with what they know and a lot of them get pretty far. Good for them.

Maybe master what Foundation has set out for you first and post your perfect 20s flags before making threads about how how inferior other calisthenic practitioners are?

Also, Elliot easily weighs 200+ lbs and can lift a 140kg atlas stone, cold. How about you?

red1392 said:

Lol believe it or not guys people were doing flags long before Foundation came out. It is possible.    People work with what they know and a lot of them get pretty far. Good for them.

Maybe master what Foundation has set out for you first and post your perfect 20s flags before making threads about how how inferior other calisthenic practitioners are?

Also, Elliot easily weighs 200+ lbs and can lift a 140kg atlas stone, cold. How about you?

You are right, noone is inferior, noone was born skilled or knowledgeable. Like most bodyweight skill guys who are on the lighter to medium end of their build always perform better. Elliot Hulse on the other hand is a beast, and capable of things I never will be, nor will I try. 

I will say though, if you devote yourself to anything, be it career or hobby, you owe it to yourself to seek the best education you can. Does this make you better? I can't say it makes you better than anyone else, but it will make you better than who you would be if you didn't.

Here is the world record for human flag, 1min 5seconds, pretty awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9FlC3w4stQ#t=55

There's some pretty nice flag work by these guys here:

I think this guy uses an anti gravity hack... His control is just epic !

red1392, you make a valid point.

from what i understand, elliot hulse is pretty well respected in the weightlifting world.  i gotta give him credit for being willing and humble enough to try something new and not only that, but he tried something new and put out a video of it.   

PhilTaylor said:

I think this guy uses an anti gravity hack... His control is just epic !

Ouaou! This guy is something else. One day, one day.

red1392 said:

Lol believe it or not guys people were doing flags long before Foundation came out. It is possible.    People work with what they know and a lot of them get pretty far. Good for them.

Maybe master what Foundation has set out for you first and post your perfect 20s flags before making threads about how how inferior other calisthenic practitioners are?

Also, Elliot easily weighs 200+ lbs and can lift a 140kg atlas stone, cold. How about you?

Just like it doesn't take a doctor to tell if someone is sick, it does't take a coach to tell if a set of progressions is lacking. Thank you for trying to set a moral standard for me, but I don't have to do a 20s side lever in order to critique a flawed program that many are probably following right now and can potentially injure themselves.

This guy should've clearly stated that what he's teaching has worked for HIM and that it might not work for others. Being able to do a side lever and owning a camera doesn't make you an authority and teacher of the human flag. It doesn't make you aware of the possible injuries that your viewers might endure.

This hits home for me because when I was working on my handstand I followed so many of these videos, but got nowhere. Months of wasted time. Then I realized that most of these guys weren't covering all the possible weaknesses. They were just showing what worked for them without any reference to their prior training or current strengths.

Then came H1 & Foundation which assumes that you're 100% weak in all the critical places and asks you to prove that you're not. Hence the title "it's videos like these that make me appreciate foundation even more."

No one is ridiculing "calisthenic practitioners" or Elliot. Just their methods. "Good for them" is right, but most likely not good for others that might not know better and end up hurting themselves or waste months trying.

Nash said:

Ouaou! This guy is something else. One day, one day.

 

 

Just like it doesn't take a doctor to tell if someone is sick, it does't take a coach to tell if a set of progressions is lacking. Thank you for trying to set a moral standard for me, but I don't have to do a 20s side lever in order to critique a flawed program that many are probably following right now and can potentially injure themselves.

 

I forget what its called, the golden mean or something, but the guy I apprenticed under a few years ago would always tell me, even to the untrained eye, good and bad are still the same, so always make your work look good, and people will notice it. Because if you put in the effort to make it look good, chances are it is gonna be good. 

Nash said:

 

Just like it doesn't take a doctor to tell if someone is sick, it does't take a coach to tell if a set of progressions is lacking. 

No, just owning a copy of Foundation apparently 

Nash said:

 

Thank you for trying to set a moral standard for me, but I don't have to do a 20s side lever in order to critique a flawed program that many are probably following right now and can potentially injure themselves.

 

I'm not trying to set a moral standard, just trying to point out how silly it is that you've created a thread to essentially pat yourself on the back for finding and buying the right program, and then putting down others who haven't got the same resources but have managed to achieve a side lever regardless. Until you actually GET to the same level yourself, maybe you should reserve judgement.

Nash said:

 

 

This guy should've clearly stated that what he's teaching has worked for HIM and that it might not work for others. 

How do you know it doesn't work for you? Sorry but you can't know what works for you if you're not even remotely close to a side lever.

Nash said:

 

No one is ridiculing "calisthenic practitioners" or Elliot. Just their methods. 

That's my point. You shouldn't be ridiculing their methods at this stage because they are much further along in achieving a side lever than you are.

Cool man. We have different perspectives about things.

I made my point above and now I'm going to go continue enjoying my deload week and my "resources".

See ya!

-Nash

Eliot hulse produces some very good stuff and utilises many different areas of strength building. We have all found GB and gymnastics methods but the barstars, Al Kavadlo, convict conditioning et al. shows the world that bodyweight exercises aren't just endless push-ups. I think that getting a weights guy to give respect to body weight moves gives credence to what we do. After all I started doing calisthenics and only did GB exclusively after foundation came out. The more weight lifters like Eliot and Bud Jefferies preach about body weight the better.

MattProulx said:

I forget what its called, the golden mean or something, but the guy I apprenticed under a few years ago would always tell me, even to the untrained eye, good and bad are still the same, so always make your work look good, and people will notice it. Because if you put in the effort to make it look good, chances are it is gonna be good. 

Wonderful statement. Perfect example of this is Willy Weldens - hand balancer in France. His handstand has all the typical mistakes - ribs out, closed shoulders, etc.. But, his ability in performance, showmanship, and his confidence is so great that he is actually one of the most entertaining hand-balancers to watch. Second to perhaps eric valeres...another french handbalancer...maybe I am onto something ha! Anyways, Willy Weldens is not a fantastic handbalancer but he is good at what he does. Same will apply to gymnastics and calisthenics.