A Few Questions!

Hey all, I've been browsing this forum and thinking about starting Foundation One for a while now but I've always had some questions that I could never find the right information for - so time for my first post I think (you guys seem like a helpful and knowledgeable bunch!)

I have been doing bodyweight exercises combined with a few supplementary free weight lifts for quite a while now and I am very happy with my gains.  I've had no injury issues, I train carefully, make sure that I don't increase weight too quickly etc.  I mainly focus on weighted chins, pullups, dips, bodyweight extensions, ab exercises, pistols and curls for finishing of the biceps.  I enjoy this training.

But, I have always been aware of Coach's stance on how important it is to train the connective tissues in conjunction with muscle tissue to ensure that the two are both in sync.  This really hits home and makes me feel like I should be taking my tendons and ligaments more seriously than I do (even though I have had no injury's etc, I am sure that my limited knowledge regarding the biology of these things leaves me susceptible to flaws in my training)  I totally get how improved connective tissue would lead to greater strength gains. This is definitely something that I want to start looking at.

So this is where I am today.  I want to start Foundation One to improve my all-around ability and tap into that connective tissue strength, BUT I feel like if I stop my other training I run the risk of losing the mass that I have worked hard to gain. (As far as I am aware Coach advocates Gymnastic training alone or not at all)

Questions:

1) Would it be possible to continue my current exercises on top of Foundation One?  If so would there be any drawbacks?  I just don't want to go back to being a scrawny looking wimp (even if I do in fact get stronger)

2) How is it that Gymnastic training supposedly yields superior connective tissue strength versus the kind of training that I do?  I mean after all the progressions in gymnastics are all about changing leverage in order to increase resistance, is this not basically the same as simply adding a bit more weight to my weighted pullups?  Both would be compound movements using the body in unity and provided you don't increase resistance too quickly are either particularly different and more efficient in terms of developing connective tissue?  If so why? Any help here appreciated!

3) A slightly unrelated question but one that I am interested in.  Let's say I master all the foundation programmes and all advanced gymnastic movements, how would I go about maintaining the muscle mass and body that I would have acquired?  Is there some sort of gymnastic training routine that I could find somewhere after completing all foundation series?  How do the top gymnasts maintain their figure and ensure that they adequately train different parts of their body in a balanced fashion?  I understand how practitioners get stronger and gain muscle, they advance progressions.  But what happens when you can do the top progressions easily?

Long post I know, but any help would be really appreciated!!!  Thanks guys.

1. It'd be possible, but there would be no point. You would progress more slowly than if you'd simply focused on your Foundation work. Your fears of going back to looking like a scrawny wimp are unfounded. Many forum members have experienced fantastic improvements in body composition and muscle mass after taking up Foundation. 

2. This is an excellent question! In theory you can develop connective tissue strength just as well with weighted bodyweight movements (or free-weights, or any kind of resistance training) as you can with bodyweight progressions. The issue is that connective tissue strengthens at slower rate than muscles do. You can avoid connective tissue issues by progressing slowly - instead of adding weight as soon as your muscles are capable of handling a greater load, you allow yourself some time to acclimate to the current load, and then add on slightly more, stay at that level for a while, and repeat.

The advantage to using bodyweight progressions rather than adding weights to the same movement are threefold:

a. Develop better body awareness and skill by mastering a wide variety of movements. 

b. Develop a more well rounded physique - different movements that target the same muscle groups will often emphasize different parts. 

c. Much less monotonous than doing the same handful of exercises for years on end

3. Progressions never end. You can always make them harder. Or, if you have finished Foundation, and you don't want to progress but just want to maintain your physique, then you can simply keep doing the final movements in Foundation. 

Joshua Slocum said:

1. It'd be possible, but there would be no point. You would progress more slowly than if you'd simply focused on your Foundation work. Your fears of going back to looking like a scrawny wimp are unfounded. Many forum members have experienced fantastic improvements in body composition and muscle mass after taking up Foundation. 

 

2. This is an excellent question! In theory you can develop connective tissue strength just as well with weighted bodyweight movements (or free-weights, or any kind of resistance training) as you can with bodyweight progressions. The issue is that connective tissue strengthens at slower rate than muscles do. You can avoid connective tissue issues by progressing slowly - instead of adding weight as soon as your muscles are capable of handling a greater load, you allow yourself some time to acclimate to the current load, and then add on slightly more, stay at that level for a while, and repeat.

 

The advantage to using bodyweight progressions rather than adding weights to the same movement are threefold:

a. Develop better body awareness and skill by mastering a wide variety of movements. 

b. Develop a more well rounded physique - different movements that target the same muscle groups will often emphasize different parts. 

c. Much less monotonous than doing the same handful of exercises for years on end

 

3. Progressions never end. You can always make them harder. Or, if you have finished Foundation, and you don't want to progress but just want to maintain your physique, then you can simply keep doing the final movements in Foundation. 

Thanks Josh, appreciate that.

Regarding starting Foundation One ontop of other types of training it was always my feeling that it would probably be better to do Foundation by itself in order to progress properly and ensure that everything is in balance.  I guess I will just have to take the plunge and forfeit my other types of training.  I will have to think about that.  I am still not entirely convinced that by taking this route I won't lose some amount of mass however.  Most of the exercises in Foundation One seem to be geared to developing a base through high repetitions mainly core related.  I do fear for my arms and chest!

I'll have to sleep on it!  Thanks though.

If you are that worried about your figure, you can probably throw in some curls, etc at the end of your F workouts. That might help you maintain the mass, though it would also slow down your progress in Foundation, which is already pretty slowly progressing.

Jakethesnake said:

Thanks Josh, appreciate that.

 

Regarding starting Foundation One ontop of other types of training it was always my feeling that it would probably be better to do Foundation by itself in order to progress properly and ensure that everything is in balance.  I guess I will just have to take the plunge and forfeit my other types of training.  I will have to think about that.  I am still not entirely convinced that by taking this route I won't lose some amount of mass however.  Most of the exercises in Foundation One seem to be geared to developing a base through high repetitions mainly core related.  I do fear for my arms and chest!

 

I'll have to sleep on it!  Thanks though.

Look up Adriano Augusto on the forum. He's been doing just H1/F1 and has seen great development. I have also been using Handstand/Foundation as my primary strength training for 1-2 years now, and I haven't noticed any significant loss of muscle mass. 

The hollow-back press, rope-climb and straddle planche progressions in F1 will be more than sufficient to maintain [and probably even grow] your arms and chest. In F2, the manna and front-lever progressions start hitting the arms as well (though they're still focused on the core). By F4, pretty much every exercise requires heavy use of the arms and shoulders.