From MN/PE3 to MN/PE6 ?

I'm doing the 3 per week foundation 1 program. In Week 3, the prescribed exercise fro MN was 5x8r of MN/PE3 (V-ups). 

Now, in Week 4, the prescribed workout says 4x4rx10s MN/PE6. 

PE3 to PE6 is quite the jump, no? 

An error? Is the rest of my programming going to be flawed now? Or am I actually supposed to completely skip MN/PE4 and PE 5 for some reason?

 

Kim

I'm not sure how your workout is saying that but it's definitely wrong. I think you should recheck all your settings.

 

The 5x8r on a MN/PE3 is for the deload week so this should be your 4th week.

 

You need to hit 5x15r to complete mastery for this (plus the iM) and then you would move on to PE4.

 

What rep range did you last manage to achieve for this?

I've literally just followed whatever "This week's workout" tells me to do. When I started, I wrote an email to support asking how "this week's workout" knew where to start me, and the support person said it uses my initial assessment to determine my starting point. So I've literally just done what it tells me each week for each day. 

I've never had to touch the settings before, so I'm not sure what I'll reset them to if I have to do that. But this is clearly a bug. To try and figure out if it was perhaps my error, I used the "Back one week" button to go back to the workouts I've already done... and none of those are even the same anymore. For example, on the 2nd day of my 3rd week, it told me to do:

 

3x12r SL/PE2 (Archbody rock) & iM

5x8r MN/PE3 (V-ups) & iM

4x6r SLS/PE1 (Decksquat) & iM

 

I thought it was weird that it was asking me to to 5x8r of MN/PE3 after not mastering MN/PE2 (it only asked me for 4x15 of MN/PE2 in the previous workout), but then I thought, "Hey, just follow the programming I guess - kinda getting used to not really understanding anything very clearly anyway."

 

So I should have known better than to move to MN/PE3 before mastering MN/PE2, but since the programming is what I signed up for, I guess I just hoped the tool worked right.

 

It doesn't help that the "this week's workout" tool doesn't tell you what week you are actually on, so you have to look really closely to make sure you're on the right week at all. To try and figure this mess out, I'm scrolling back through the week's and none of my workouts look the same anymore. For example, the above workout that I did? The closest thing I could find to that by going "Back one week" until seeing something similar, was:

 

3x12r SL/PE2 (Archbody rock) & iM

5x8r MN/PE3 (V-ups) & iM

4x4r SLS/PE1 (Decksquat) & iM <-- Weird change from 4x6r to 4x4r.

 

This is so ridiculously frustrating. Really wanted to get the right workout in this morning and ended up doing nothing because I'm waiting to find out if I've been doing the wrong freaking things all along (and diligently, at that). 

 

:-(

If the software is that crappy, I'd advise just reading the upper half of your Foundation book until you understand it's programming.

Thanks. 

By "Foundation Book", do you just mean the website? Because my program didn't come with a book (which kind of makes it web/software-dependant). 

I guess I can just guide myself through the blocks for each PE myself. Just kind of a bummer. 

The 'book' is the first half of the course, in your browser, consisting mainly of text. Reading it is definitely a requirement, as it enables an understanding of the methodology of the course. Once you've read it, it'll be much easier to understand, and you won't have to rely on the schedule generator after a while, it'll just be second nature.

You should do what Salivanth is saying (and by book it is the website course). Read through from the introduction to the training cycles and training examples. You should then have a better idea how to structure your workouts.

 

I just use this weeks workout as a guide. In my head I know if I've hit this weeks reps/set, if I have I move to the next week using either the templates in the first half of the course. If I didn't then I'll rework the current weeks volume until I hit it and advance or deload so half it.

 

At first you might think it's a lot to remember but you'll soon get used to it and like I said you can use the this weeks workout as a guide/reference

Oh okay, I figured that's what you were talking about. 

I actually did read that material thoroughly before I started. Honestly, it's really not easy to follow for a total newb - the way it's written made everything feel super-complicated. I kind of scratched my head and tried to take notes in a way that gave me "steps" to follow, but ended up with a mess.

 

It was a major relief to see that the "app" actually tells you what you need to do (even though it's acronym city so you have to click back and forth from the site to the app constantly, which take just about as long as the workout itself lol), and once I started the workouts as programmed, things started making sense. Perhaps now that I've been at it for a bit, I'll understand the "book" better, since you're saying I'd be better off going back and rereading it to figure out the programming on my own. 

In reality, I'm less interested in a "work-around" than I am in "software" that actually functions the way it's supposed to and includes trackable, measurable, easy-to-follow step-by-step programming for beginners. While I've already expressed this, I'm feeling pretty disappointed that I thought I was starting my 4th week in a 12-week program, but really I'm just ditching the program I thought I was on because the software is glitchy and now I've got to fitgure things out on my own. I guess the step-by-step plan on a timeline with goals spelled out for me is my learning style. I wasn't paying 80-something dollars (or whatever it was) for a book... I was paying for the interactive programming. 

But, I guess I have to do what I can with what I've got! It will probably take me ages to achieve mastery in all areas in Foundation 1. Maybe by the time I'm finished, they'll have to glitches worked out. I guess if not, I could give GMB a try.

 

I appreciate the help. 

The truth is, GB kinda exaggerates the whole 'plug-and-play' aspect of the course. I actually started to program a non-tracking version for you, but realized part way through that it wouldn't really help you long term. You do have to think about the program. You need to constantly watch yourself for form. You need to check the videos every so often to make sure you're doing it right, and may need to video yourself for comparison. If your mobility is lacking, you may need to find extra ways of working on this. You're not just paying for the course, you're also paying for this forum, because you should be actively seeking out information when you need it. Compared to all this, learning how the mastery templates work really isn't a big deal, and it's worth just doing it.

On top of that, sometimes things will go wrong. Week 5 of my Hinge Rows tells me to do 4 sets of 6, and Week 6 tells me to do 4 sets of 9. This is too large a jump for me, so I decided to move to the 10r mastery template for a bit, doing 5x6, then 4x8. I could never have done this if I were just reliant on a web app to tell me how many sets and reps to do. They'd tell me to do 4x9, I wouldn't even get close, and I'd say 'Well now what do I do?'

Similarly, if you start at Week 1 of an element, and blast through it as if it's not even there, what do you do? How far up can you move? Week 5? Week 9? Depends on how you went, and what Week 5 and 9 are like.

It really is important to understand the programming in order to get the most out of Foundation. The interactive workout thing is nice and all, but I stopped using it after a week or so and just started using a spreadsheet, because I'd rather be able to customise it myself, even if it means going slightly outside the bounds of Foundation One's strict programming. (That said, the reps/times required for mastery are inviolate, even if you speed up / slow down the time your body needs to get there.)

I really appreciate your very thoughtful response. 

I had just decided it was time to stop whining and put my big-girl panties on. I took a look at where I'm at with each exercise to decide how to move forward based on the mastery templates. I'll just advance myself on each movement as I perfect what I've done before. 

(I previously had big jumps on hinge rows and deck squats that left me wondering if I should really reconsider the programming as well.)

Reading your reply really helped me get over my uncertainty and feel good about plowing ahead at a pace that makes sense for me. And - WELP! - I might have to use my brain a little! haha

Thanks everyone!

Kim

 

PS - I work in communications and social media marketing... so I think I'm hyper-sensitive when a company exaggerates their capabilities to sell more product. In a social world, brands become trusted friends and sources for reliable information... so over-selling might sell more product, but can really damage the relationship. At the end of the day, though, I still believe in the programming, and I really enjoy hearing from you all in the forums. I wonder if there is a way to simplify/stream-line the way all the information is organized ... ideally, beginners can get a good handle on things to get started without going to the forums for just the basics. In any case, I get it now!