overwhelmed

I am a middle age women who has been fairly active my whole life.  When I was in my 20's I had a boyfriend who was an elite (olympic level) gymnast.  He taught me to do round off backhand springs and he made me lift very heavy weights- 3 times my bodyweight (I am tiny 5"8 at 115 pounds) and I also did pullps and L-sits.  I look back at the things I was able to do then and I can't believe I was able to do them .....I started crossfit last year and I love it..... but I did not like being unable to do  the basic moves for multiple reps (pull ups, push ups, handstand pushups, leg pistol, toes to bars, handstand walking).  I stopped doing crossfit to focus on these and I bought another program...Gold Medal Bodies (I did not like this program ) so I started looking for something else and found this.....I find that my muscle endurance is terrible...I may be able to do something 1 time or 2 times but not multiple times and it is very hard for me to develop muscle endurance (I am a ectomorph)

 I bought foundations and handstands and I have been trying to look at it all and it is overwhelming...then I discover there is also this 80 page book.  Do I need the book also or can I simply use these two programs to develop the 6 skills I noted above?

I am assuming that I can use the progressions for the more advanced things to develop these basic things?

I really don't care to do the advanced things.  I will be happy to do the moves above and be able to walk on my hands.....Also, does anyone know where and how I can get a rope climb on my backyard tree and do I need to take the rope down out of the weather everyday or in the winter....and can I use strap rings on my pull up bar...is that safe?

I know these are preschool questions but I just need help.

Welcome!

That's a lot of questions, I'll chip in by attempting to answer some of them.

You don't need the book (Building the Gymnastic Body, right?), in fact it's been superseded by the online courses, and is no longer up to date.

Foundation and Handstand series is probably your best bet to get your strength skills back. The only things required are patience and perseverance. Just follow the courses to the letter, and you will get there. To the extent possible, you shouldn't tamper with the layout of the program, as the exercises complement each other to give you a well rounded development, and to keep you injury free.

I understand your sense of overwhelmedness (is that a word?) but take it easy, and give yourself a couple of weeks to get acquainted with the terminology and routines, and things will be clearer. Nobody expects you to be completely in the know right off the bat. Make sure you read all the introductory material on the courses, that should answer 95% of your questions.

Welcome to the forums

Ravn answered your question well, but i just wanted to add that there's no sense in getting overwhelmed by looking at the course.  To start, just get out there and do your first workout.  Start easy with the first week of the first exercises.  It should only take you about 30 minutes or less if you're starting at week 1 of all 4 exercises.  Once you have done a few workouts, if it is seeming easy, then see about testing mastery or advancing to the next block, but to get over the sense of it being complicated just jump in and do it.  It's very easy once you are doing it and you will see and understand.  

Don't worry about the rope at this point, you won't need it until a fair bit later in the course.  It is ok to attach rings to pull up bar as long as the bar is firmly anchored.  It won't be holding any more weight with you on the rings than it will with you hanging from it.  

Most of all, enjoy the exercises!  Once you start making progress you will see how fun it is, and if you once had the ability to do those things you will probably get it back quicker than the rest of us who never had it!  Just for the record, I'm a middle aged guy, over 40, so don't worry about your age.

Hey sup.

Cedar Mcdaniels said:

I am assuming that I can use the progressions for the more advanced things to develop these basic things?

That's kinda backwards. 

You need to develop at the basics in order to get any productive training done on the advanced things.  But yeah, one you've got a manna, and L sit will be a piece of cake.  Once you've got a front lever, normal pullups should be a joke.  And do you really think you'll find normal pushups hard once you have planche pushups?

Try not to leave your rings out in the rain.  They have metal buckles on them, and those can rust.  A good rope should hold up alright for a couple years, but really decent rope needs a lot of maintenance, so I wouldn't just leave it hanging around...

Anyway welcome to the forum.  I hope you have a lot of fun with it.

MT Nordic said:

Welcome to the forums

 

Ravn answered your question well, but i just wanted to add that there's no sense in getting overwhelmed by looking at the course.  To start, just get out there and do your first workout.  Start easy with the first week of the first exercises.  It should only take you about 30 minutes or less if you're starting at week 1 of all 4 exercises.  Once you have done a few workouts, if it is seeming easy, then see about testing mastery or advancing to the next block, but to get over the sense of it being complicated just jump in and do it.  It's very easy once you are doing it and you will see and understand.  

 

Don't worry about the rope at this point, you won't need it until a fair bit later in the course.  It is ok to attach rings to pull up bar as long as the bar is firmly anchored.  It won't be holding any more weight with you on the rings than it will with you hanging from it.  

 

Most of all, enjoy the exercises!  Once you start making progress you will see how fun it is, and if you once had the ability to do those things you will probably get it back quicker than the rest of us who never had it!  Just for the record, I'm a middle aged guy, over 40, so don't worry about your age.

That's good to hear.  I was a bit worried being a 33 y/o has been football player and weightlifter with a bad lumbar spine.  Gymnastics is very new to me so I'm excited to learn and progress.