wish i started this years ago

My Name is Martyn and i have recently started the foundation series.

I weigh 103k Kilograms, 6ft 2in and come from a strength training background. At age of 18 i was able to perform full splits both ways, when i was 25 and 85k i was able to do pullups with 70k attached as well as 1 arm pullups, front lever and mnay other basic gymnastic strength exercises. I felt strong, energetic and felt like i could take on any physical challenge....then i decided to start using kettlebells and weights to make myselkf bigger!..this was a mistake!  I feel like i have caused damage to my skeleton, tendons in the last 9 years from lifting weights. even though my reps were all done below 5 for strength gains i feel that the limited range of motion has stuck my body into stiffness. I am now 31 years old and have found this foudation series..its now or never! i need to now fix my body if i wish to life a happy healthy life. 

who wants to be able to deadlift 300k but struggle to climb a hill? why would i want to be able to bend steel bars in 1/2 when i struggle to tie my shoe lace. great i can strict press 100k..but i can't balance a hand stand.

I have been doing this series for couple of weeks now and my hip mobility, leg monilty has increased a lot!  today i done 5 sets of 7 squat rolls with good form..i could barely do one 2 weeks ago...my body feels opened up, relaxed and i feel better than i did when lifting. I also done a 10 second frog lever hold.

I have 3 goals -

Planche

front lever

perfect pistol.

Side lever.

perfect Pike stretch

acheive great flexibility - this will be tougher than the strength goals for me

MON & THUR -

20 MINS DYNAMIC MOBILITY - LOWER BODY AND HIPS

FOUNDATION EXERCISE & MOBILITY FOR SLS

FOUNDATION EXERCISE & MOBILITY FOR PLANCHE

BODY HOLLOWS

RELAX INTO STRETCH. - MOSTLY FOUCING ON ACHIEVING PIKE AT PRESENT

TUE & FRI -

20 MINS DYMNAMIC MOBILTY - UPPER BODY - THORADIC MOBILITY / SHOULDERS.

FOUNDATION EXERCISE & MOBILITY FOR FRONT LEVER

FOUNDATION EXERCISE & MOBILTY FOR SIDE LEVER

BODY LEVERS.

RELAX INTO STRETCH. - MOSTLY FOUCING ON ACHIEVING PIKE AT PRESENT

I will sometimes do high intensity kettlebell swings and snatches on days i am not training so i can lose some weight, I do foam rolling on these days also as well as light stretch.

thanks for reading.

any tips much appreciated.

if you really want to get your body as health as possible, then honestly, take out the extra stuff and don't deviate from Foundation 1 at all.  If you feel like you're making progress now, think about the progress you'll make if you do the program correctly.  In the long term, it's going to save you so much more time.

I agree that the focus should be mostly foundation, but I disagree about taking "everything else" out. OP really should be doing some form of cardio 2-3x/week, whether that is running/swimming/martial arts or whatever, but additional movement besides foundation is very beneficial, just not additional strength training in my opinion, until you have progressed quite a ways through foundation and built up the work capacity to do so.

There are some integrated options coming in the near future, but for now keep the focus to Foundation + Cardio or you Sport. Also OP, you'll find much more benefit from following the whole foundation course, instead of the elements you pick and choose, because they really are very helpful in tandem with each other. 

Hope that helps,

Chris.

ChrisUK said:

I agree that the focus should be mostly foundation, but I disagree about taking "everything else" out. OP really should be doing some form of cardio 2-3x/week, whether that is running/swimming/martial arts or whatever, but additional movement besides foundation is very beneficial, just not additional strength training in my opinion, until you have progressed quite a ways through foundation and built up the work capacity to do so.

 

There are some integrated options coming in the near future, but for now keep the focus to Foundation + Cardio or you Sport. Also OP, you'll find much more benefit from following the whole foundation course, instead of the elements you pick and choose, because they really are very helpful in tandem with each other. 

 

Hope that helps,

 

Chris.

By taking everything out, I meant everything he listed.  Though the recommendations for cardio is 1-2x a week rather than 2-3x.

I really do not think he should be doing any of the mobility stuff he listed because he's not even doing the complete Foundation/Handstand program, rather just a portion of it (I don't even see any H1 work).  He can get the mobility stuff from doing the complete program.  Adding anything else is distracting him from making progress.

However, a supplementary stretch session once a week to fix mobility deficits after you found out what mobility you lack from doing the program is recommended to speed up the progress of the program.