Question on Handstand One Pack

Hi guys

I'm a newb around here and I'm on my 5th week of Foundation One. I've been really really impressed to-date but that's a future post that I intend on writing within the next few weeks. Anyway, I did not buy the starter pack so I have only been working through Foundation One. 

I'd put it in the "not mandatory but very beneficial" category.

H1 can be done on rest days as "active rest". It doesn't take too long to get through either and some people have added additional stretching on to the end which makes for a great recovery day.

H1 is excellent and a perfect companion to F1.

Helgi said:

I'd put it in the "not mandatory but very beneficial" category.

Thanks. That will temporarily put my mind at ease. 

Murray Truelove said:

H1 can be done on rest days as "active rest". It doesn't take too long to get through either and some people have added additional stretching on to the end which makes for a great recovery day.

H1 is excellent and a perfect companion to F1.

Ok thanks. Can H1 be done in a home environment or would it be better to get into the gym?

H1 can definitely be done at home.  The only equipment you need is a weighted bar -- ie. a broomstick and small weight plates.

mr_tkmk said:

Ok thanks. Can H1 be done in a home environment or would it be better to get into the gym?

I do mine at home. The equipment necessary is minimal (a long stick like a broom handle and a few light weight plates).

@tex0413 and @Murray

Thanks. Being able to work out at home would be a massive help. If I were to do it on "rest days" as mentioned by Murray, what type of warm up would you recommend? On days that I do Foundation One I do a full 20 mins (treadmill or rower, active stretching, dynamic stretching and some rolling). 

H1 is complementary to F1 - you can probably finish F1 without touching H1, but you'll have difficulty completing the whole series without going through H1 at the same time. 

You shouldn't need much warmup for H1 - maybe ~5 minutes of cardio-ish activity to get your body warm, then another ~5 minutes of dynamic stretching/limbering to get your shoulders nice and loose. 

Personally I like to just do H1 after F1 so I don't have to warm up twice. 

I do joint rotations and simple limbering though you could easily do few salutations from yoga. There's a bit of a warm up in H1 as well.

Joshua Slocum said:

H1 is complementary to F1 - you can probably finish F1 without touching H1, but you'll have difficulty completing the whole series without going through H1 at the same time. 

 

You shouldn't need much warmup for H1 - maybe ~5 minutes of cardio-ish activity to get your body warm, then another ~5 minutes of dynamic stretching/limbering to get your shoulders nice and loose. 

 

Personally I like to just do H1 after F1 so I don't have to warm up twice. 

Thanks for the advice! I think it would make sense to F1 after H1, that would be ideal for me. Just a matter of time.

Murray Truelove said:

I do joint rotations and simple limbering though you could easily do few salutations from yoga. There's a bit of a warm up in H1 as well.

Ok thanks. I'm starting to think that I would be better to have it then not, as my shoulders, like many adults new to this, are not my strongest asset. Will probably purchase H1 this weekend 

It's worth it for the iMs alone.

Even if you don't incorporate it into your training right away, the psychological benefits of seeing what your body is capable of (and what you'll be able to do if you get around to working on it) is worth the price of admission.

Sven Ravnstag said:

It's worth it for the iMs alone.

 

And the wrist conditioning.

Sven Ravnstag said:

It's worth it for the iMs alone.

Even if you don't incorporate it into your training right away, the psychological benefits of seeing what your body is capable of (and what you'll be able to do if you get around to working on it) is worth the price of admission.

I've definitely found this with F1! I'm honestly astounded at the changes I feel within just 5 weeks.

mr_tkmk said:

Thanks for the advice! I think it would make sense to F1 after H1, that would be ideal for me. Just a matter of time.

To be clear, what I was saying is on days when I do F1 exercises, I do the H1 exercises as well. I was not suggesting that you try to complete F1 and then begin H1, or vice versa. 

Joshua Slocum said:

To be clear, what I was saying is on days when I do F1 exercises, I do the H1 exercises as well. I was not suggesting that you try to complete F1 and then begin H1, or vice versa. 

That's clear and it was clear the first time, I messed up the response (doh). So yeh, ideally I would do H1 exercises right after F1 and on the same day 

mr_tkmk said:

That's clear and it was clear the first time, I messed up the response (doh). So yeh, ideally I would do H1 exercises right after F1 and on the same day 

If you'd prefer to do H1 before F1, that's fine too. 

[Honestly, I lump all the exercises into the same pile and do whichever one I feel like doing at the moment; so long as I get them all done by the end of the workout I don't fret much about the order]

Joshua Slocum said:

If you'd prefer to do H1 before F1, that's fine too. 

 

[Honestly, I lump all the exercises into the same pile and do whichever one I feel like doing at the moment; so long as I get them all done by the end of the workout I don't fret much about the order]

Ok great, thanks for the advice. 

tex0413 said:

And the wrist conditioning.

It's not unusual for me to drop down in the midst of conversation and do a few reps of these.  

On second though maybe it is unusual, but I do it frequently.  

Sven Ravnstag said:

It's not unusual for me to drop down in the midst of conversation and do a few reps of these.  

 

On second though maybe it is unusual, but I do it frequently.  

What is worst, wrist conditioning or sitting in awkward straddle positions for no obvious reason when with other people?

... Zombies might soon enough find out that I am in fact not infected any longer.

I have used both F1 and H1 for a year now. I prefer to follow the 3 day F1, 2 day H1 template. This allows for some additional work, such as sprinting or a finisher type routine, following the completion of my H1 training. So far this has been working for me. Within each program I have made progress, although varied, on a number of elements. An additional bonus aside from how good my shoulders have started to feel and look is the enjoyment I have found being upside down. I would not have ever thought that I would make progress in that area.

The two programs are truly beneficial. I have enjoyed the journey, even with the accompanying humbling components of each one. Yet seeing the progress, no matter at what rate, makes the time and effort worth it. You can not go wrong with both.

fazool said:

I have used both F1 and H1 for a year now. I prefer to follow the 3 day F1, 2 day H1 template. This allows for some additional work, such as sprinting or a finisher type routine, following the completion of my H1 training. So far this has been working for me. Within each program I have made progress, although varied, on a number of elements. An additional bonus aside from how good my shoulders have started to feel and look is the enjoyment I have found being upside down. I would not have ever thought that I would make progress in that area.

The two programs are truly beneficial. I have enjoyed the journey, even with the accompanying humbling components of each one. Yet seeing the progress, no matter at what rate, makes the time and effort worth it. You can not go wrong with both.

You know what is funny, is that you've perfectly summed up the way I feel about the GB training so far. I'm getting enjoyment from this, which I never expected. Previously I used to dread the gym. Thank you for your response. It would be good to understand how you fit this all in? i.e. are you training 5 days a week or 3 days?

Thanks!

Currently, I am training five days a week.   I would prefer to train in the morning, unfortunately, that would involve getting up at 4 AM which I am not opposed to.  I have done that in the past, however, my wife is not a big fan.  As a result, most of my workouts are completed in the evening.  I like the mornings better, which I am able to do over the summer, because I feel fresher and then I am invigorated throughout the day.  I sometimes have to fight the gremlins talking in my head trying to give me an excuse to refrain from an evening workout because of being tired or whatever.  So far I have won those battles.

I do Foundation on a M, W, F or Tu, Th, Sat. split depending on what my upcoming week looks like.  I do Handstand on the "off" days in between the first and second Foundation days.

Hope this helps.