Introduction and hope?

I'm new to Gymnastic Bodies and the forum so I thought I'd say hi and introduce myself. 

I only learned about Gymnastic Bodies and Coach Sommer less than a week ago when I heard him speak at the recent PaleoFX conference in Austin, Texas. 

I came away from his talk impressed and promptly signed up for a two hour workshop that Orench was leading the following day.  The workshop both kicked my ass and inspired me so I went home that night and purchased F1 and HS1.  

As I write this, I am on day 3 of the first week of a 3 day F1 + 2 day HS1 program I started on Monday.  I have to say that it has been pretty eye opening and humbling so far. 

Based on my assessment I decided to start with ground zero on week one across the board.  I'm a 45 year old man with some serious mobility issues due to tight joints and poor range of motion.  I'm 5' 8" and weigh 165. 

I had come to think of myself as pretty physical and a little strong due to 20 years of martial arts training and regular strength work over the last 4 years.  Suffice it to say, I'm re-evaluating that perspective.  

I also now see that continuing to add on muscle to my frame and increasing strength in some areas while ignoring others, all the while neglecting and working around my ROM issues is a recipe for disaster down the road. 

So I'm going to start from scratch and see if I can address these issues and build a more solid foundation of real whole body strength for the future. 

Based on my first couple of days, it seems like progress from here will probably come pretty slowly - mostly due to my issues with mobility.  At the same time it seems like there may be hope for me if I persist and the program works as it should. 

Have others come at similar points in their lives with similar ROM and spotty strength issues and seen the results they were hoping for?

John

Hi and welcome aboard.

Well, I've been working on MN/PE6 for three months now, just to build the proper ROM. I didn't think it would be possible for me to attain the R.O.M. demonstrated, but it seems to begin to click now. Building volume with the new ROM is the next step.

It sounds cheesy, but sometimes you just have to persist when you hit a wall.

Is it okay if you provide a summary of Coach Sommer and Orench Lagman's talk at the PaleoFX? I'm really interested in hearing about it

johnmcole said:

Have others come at similar points in their lives with similar ROM and spotty strength issues and seen the results they were hoping for?

John

Welcome John and good luck with the training.

For me the results will be at the end of F training, but along the journey to them I have seen strength and mobility increases - faster in some areas than others (depends on your starting state). The neuromuscular aspect of the training is taxing but in a good way. Looks wise, my body has developed a natural trained look, the muscles feel harder than they did when I was doing weight training.

The good thing about mobility is that you can work on it off days too.  So you might make more progress than you think if you put the time in.  I'm also 45 and have joint issues and arthritis. 

Hi guys,

Thank you for the input and feedback. It's great to be a part of such a helpful community. It sounds like the strength and mobility gains come along the way at different points of the program depending on the individual. Glad to hear that you guys are finding success with it.

Regarding working mobility on off-days. So if I'm on a 5 day M-F program for FS1 + HS1, I could still work some of the associated mobility exercises on Saturday and Sunday or should I be taking a break from all of it on those days?

I've phasing out my current strength training program to focus on this material, but I will continue to do about 4-5 of martial arts and yoga during the week. That shouldn't be a problem, right?

Coach Sommer's talk at Paleo Fx was about 45min long and was more or less an introduction to gymnastic strength and how it's different from more common strength and conditioning. He spoke about his background and what he's discovered through decades of work with top level athletes, resulting in this program. It covered some of the same material as in he Paleo Solution podcast with Robb Wolf.

The workshop with Orench was a 2 hour long session focused on giving the participants an introduction to this approach and getting us to a point where we could all do an assisted handstand by the end. It contained a lot of warm up and mobility exercises and was quite an eye opener in terms of my own mobility issues. By the end of the two hours I was pretty sweaty and felt like I had been worked hard. Although I suspect it could be considered a light workout by some.

Yes, I have also had some slow progress. Straddle up has taken a lot of time to build up mobility, but it is getting close now. Push-ups and arch body rocks have been slow to progress on strength. I think I have been working ABR for a year or so now. The progress is quite linear, but it's just that I am able to increase the reps by only about 3 per week, not the 12 as in the template.

Others, like sPL, SLS and FL progression has been pretty much on the schedule.

There are reports that things usually become more consistent in F2 and beyond.

I think of F1 as having the purpose to put myself on the right track. There are these weaknesses which I have to work through. Once I am on track I expect things to get better.