Expected Time for Raw Beginner to Complete H1

I know Rome wasn't built in a day, but seeing how there are 12 PE's and 14 SE's, at 12 weeks for each element, that works out to 312 weeks or 6 years!  I am just completing week 2 of HS/PE1.  I was hoping to be able to do a handstand in a year, maybe two years tops.  I have a really long way to go.  Wow!

I suppose in the grand scheme of things, 6 years will go by fast.  H1 and F1 are now part of my lifestyle and I already feel the benefits after two weeks of F1 and H1.   I have better wrist and shoulder mobility and my core and back are feeling much stronger.

Mike

It probably won't take you six years.    Some elements may be bottlenecks and I'm pretty sure you'll snowball through mastery on others. 

That's my hope and I'm sticking to it.

seconded. as mobility is worked on and pe's build strength, you'll be able to slingshot across a few progressions and like Jennifer said, find your next bottleneck.

Just making sure you are aware of this, you do know that you don't have to start each element with week 1 followed by a 12 wee cycle? If this is the case re-read "Getting Started".

Then again, if it's your real starting point, be patient and put in the hard work. Good things will happen.

Coach wrote that H1 is a skill working program. You can check the other iM elemements and work very lightly on those too! I know that I need PPT in Handstand work and i'm trying to imrove that position also (stretching, playing with position). It'll also benefit the F1 program, because a lot of elements need the PPT.

Thanks for all of the feedback everyone.  Like some have already mentioned, I figured there would be parts I would fly through and other areas where I may reach a "bottleneck."  For example, I was doing 5 sets of 8 - 12 reps of bench dips (HBP/PE4)  prior to purchasing F1 and H1, and on week 2 of my training I was able to do 5 sets of incline presses of 15-10-10-10-10 reps respectively although the course portal states "5 sets of 3r" for week two.  I have no problem starting at week 1 because I understand that at my age (I turn 43 in two weeks) I am teaching my body to do things that some have been doing for decades.  I have found the wrist stretches and preparatory elements to be invaluable.  I could not imagine the injury I would have endured had I attempted to jump into handstands as shown on various YouTube tutorials without the proper preparatory and mobility training.  After week two of handstand (5 sets of 12s tripod), my wrists and forearms were sore a few hours after H1 training - they never experienced this kind of training in 40 plus years.  So yes I will "be patient and put in the hard work," as I know that "good things will happen."

i started with very bad mobility on first of december of 2012 then now i'm at the last element of H1.

You will be able to do a handstand  a lot earlier  than that. I think you  may be able to do a hs by the time you master HS/PE7. If you work on each element for 12 weeks, that's 1 year and 7moths. It won'd be perfect and you may not be able to hold it for too long but it will still be a handstand, and likely better than some folk's who don't follow H1.

It's important to remember that H1 programming is the 'work' part of your training, but you should feel free to 'play' with some of the later progressions. Each day after completing your H1 programming, you can try out elements you're not yet working on just to see how thy feel. Be smart about this, though - attempting elements that are too far ahead could cause injury, so you should make sure you're comfortable performing the previous element.

You have to also consider a lot of the elements overlap with each other.

If one element requires 5x90s for mastery, do you really need to go back to week 1 of the element for 5x120s?

Hmms said:

You have to also consider a lot of the elements overlap with each other.

If one element requires 5x90s for mastery, do you really need to go back to week 1 of the element for 5x120s?

No, not at all. Every time you advance an element, you should assess where you think would be the best place for you to start.

Joshua Slocum said:

No, not at all. Every time you advance an element, you should assess where you think would be the best place for you to start.

We are saying the same thing

I'd personally say stick to the H1 programming but also play around with the handstand. Play around kicking up into it and trying to hold it if you feel strong enough. Try the two armed body lever thing, headstands, frog stands etc. If you stick to the program religiously and never try a handstand against a wall until PE7/18 months or whatever it is, you'll probably get demotivated. Work the handstand from whenever you feel strong enough to start playing around with it, and watch it rapidly improve while following H1 at the same time.

I think it's silly to wait years if you are stuck on PE1-12 to not work around with a handstand while doing H1. We are adults here, after all, not kids. Waiting so long if your mobility is not up to par for a perfect handstand, it's out of the question. Show me someone who doesn't work with a freestanding handstand during H1 PE's and I will show you a liar or a fool

Biren P. said:

I think it's silly to wait years if you are stuck on PE1-12 to not work around with a handstand while doing H1. We are adults here, after all, not kids. Waiting so long if your mobility is not up to par for a perfect handstand, it's out of the question. Show me someone who doesn't work with a freestanding handstand during H1 PE's and I will show you a liar or a fool

Freestanding.. hmm cannot do yet, but I still do a few 1-2 min face to wall handstands even though I am only on PE2. Was doing handstands before this program, and see no reason to stop doing them because they suck, that is why I am doing H1, to better them. Just so happens that PE1iM and nowPE2iM are what's keeping me back, lot of other things further down are a bit easier, after that I expect smooth sailing for a bit until the next roadblock.

Hah, I believe that to be a accident on my part. I did want to say, just working more advanced exercises, not necessarily freestanding

The thing here is just play, not actual training. I play, of course I do, but I don't take it as a training at all because I don't want to reinforce bad habits as I did in the past. 

When I play I feel awesome, I do wall runs, cast handstand walks, kick ups... but nothing serious. Just for the sake of variety, of course. I'm still on PE2, go to play with more advance progressions is not something that we should do, but HAVE to do, to see where we are and for example how well are our shoulders or body awareness.