A couple of questions

Hello!

So excited about this release of T1!

I have a couple of questions that I would like to ask in order to maximize my and others' understanding of the course:

1. Does the Quadrupedal Development exercises should be done as a warm up before the workout?

2. For how much reps/time/and sets should each exercise in the Quadrupedal Development to be done?

3. When said that each exercise in the progression is mastered by doing five repititions in a row, does it mean that the exercises need to be done for distance (for example, 5 forward rolls one after the other, starts in one side of the mat and ends in the other side)? because if so, one needs a lot of space in order to work on these progressions.

4. From my understanding, a workout structure will be like in foundation, first progression of one element followed by the first progressions of the next element and so on.. Am I right

5. Do we start to work on the Integrated Rolling exercise after we master all of the T1 progressions, or do we start it right away with the other T1 elements?

6. The Cartwheel Refinement progressions should be done after Cartwheel progressions mastered?

7. What do we do between sets (if rest, so how much time)?

8. How many days will be the ideal to work on T1 course (I know it depend on the person, but in general how many days)?

Thanks and good luck to everyone in your movement journey!

Itamar sha said:

Hello!

So excited about this release of T1!

I have a couple of questions that I would like to ask in order to maximize my and others' understanding of the course:

1. Does the Quadrupedal Development exercises should be done as a warm up before the workout?

2. For how much reps/time/and sets should each exercise in the Quadrupedal Development to be done?

3. When said that each exercise in the progression is mastered by doing five repititions in a row, does it mean that the exercises need to be done for distance (for example, 5 forward rolls one after the other, starts in one side of the mat and ends in the other side)? because if so, one needs a lot of space in order to work on these progressions.

4. From my understanding, a workout structure will be like in foundation, first progression of one element followed by the first progressions of the next element and so on.. Am I right

5. Do we start to work on the Integrated Rolling exercise after we master all of the T1 progressions, or do we start it right away with the other T1 elements?

6. The Cartwheel Refinement progressions should be done after Cartwheel progressions mastered?

7. What do we do between sets (if rest, so how much time)?

8. How many days will be the ideal to work on T1 course (I know it depend on the person, but in general how many days)?

Thanks and good luck to everyone in your movement journey!

1) Not necessarily.  These are intended as more of a diagnostic tool than anything else to highlight mobility basic and strength issues which may have previously gone unnoticed.  

2) There is no programming for the quadrupedal diagnostic elements.  They are intended as a pass or fail screening.  

3) Whether for distance or in performed in place is irrelevant.  What matters is that each of the repetitions in a row must be perfect.  

4) There is no issue with working on several movement elements at a time.  However in all likelihood the skills trained should be similar difficulty level; for example it would be completely natural to work both handstand forward roll and back extensions at the same time.

5) Of course afterwards.  How in the world could work on the integrated rolling series begin before the individual elements of the series had already been mastered separately?

6) Silly question.  How can you refine what does not yet exist?

7) Rest until you are ready to be productive on the next set.

8) I prefer for Saturdays to be the designated Movement training day.  If you would like to add additional days you may.  

Remember that Movement is in addition to your essential foundation, stretching and handstand work; not a replacement.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Coach Sommer said:

1) Not necessarily.  These are intended as more of a diagnostic tool than anything else to highlight mobility basic and strength issues which may have previously gone unnoticed.  

 

2) There is no programming for the quadrupedal diagnostic elements.  They are intended as a pass or fail screening.  

 

3) Whether for distance or in performed in place is irrelevant.  What matters is that each of the repetitions in a row must be perfect.  

 

4) There is no issue with working on several movement elements at a time.  However in all likelihood the skills trained should be similar difficulty level; for example it would be completely natural to work both handstand forward roll and back extensions at the same time.

 

5) Of course afterwards.  How in the world could work on the integrated rolling series begin before the individual elements of the series had already been mastered separately?

 

6) Silly question.  How can you refine what does not yet exist?

 

7) Rest until you are ready to be productive on the next set.

 

8) I prefer for Saturdays to be the designated Movement training day.  If you would like to add additional days you may.  

 

Remember that Movement is in addition to your essential foundation, stretching and handstand work; not a replacement.

 

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Thanks for taking the time to answer Coach!

Question 5 and 6 are silly indeed, I just wrote whatever crossed my mind so I won't miss any information.

About question #4, I didn't quite understand.. Did I get it right that the programming is like foundations (for example, in the first workout, doing the 2.1 exercise sets and reps and then 3.1 exercise and then 4.1 and so on..) or it is different?

Edit: I'll ask this differently:

Now I'm going for my first movement session, what exercises do I need to do in this session? the first progression of every element (2.1 , 3.1 , 4.1 ...) or just 2.1 and if I master this so next workout will be 2.2?

Someone? I want to start working on it so much, I just need to understand how my workout should look like..

Thanks!

Breathe, man. It ain't life or death. You'll likely do it wrong at first, but how else are you going to know to do it right? Do the Quadruped movements to see where you have issues, if any. Do it for however long you want. Then start on the first progression of each movement up to the integrated stuff--don't do the integrated stuff, yet. Test for mastery on those first progressions just like in Foundation. If you master them or think you have...likely post a form check, no? If you don't master them then, well, you know where to start.

Have fun, man. You're rolling around on the ground. This shouldn't be soo serious -- it should be focused and concentrated work, yes, but enjoy it. Think of it as organized/structured play--as Coach has mentioned we're free to do after we get out main work done. I'm going to have a go at this later on in my "back yard" (what constitutes a backyard in NYC, may vary from others' perceptions of a yard). 

Itamar,

Here is what I plan to do:

Sat- F4  TB

Sun- F3 FS

Mon- off 

Tues- Tumbling 1

Wed- F4

Thurs - F3

Friday- MS

I'm super excited to start on the Tumbling!!!  Hope this helps.

Kevin PC said:

Itamar,

Here is what I plan to do:

Sat- F4  TB

Sun- F3 FS

Mon- off 

Tues- Tumbling 1

Wed- F4

Thurs - F3

Friday- MS

 

I'm super excited to start on the Tumbling!!!  Hope this helps.

Sorry about the misunderstanding. I am no expert, but I am going to approach it like this (until Coach Sommer disapproves -hopefully I am on the right track though  ) :

Warm up - quadrupedal movements 1.1-1.7 (not mandatory, but a good way to warm up)

Shoulder roll 2.1 - attempt to master on day one. If not mastered, find appropriate position within 5rep template and do that for the next workout. Continue once weekly until mastered, then move on to the next exercise in the progression.

Forward roll 3.1  - attempt to master on day one. If not mastered, find appropriate position within 5rep template and do that for the next workout.  Continue once weekly until mastered, then move on to the next exercise in the progression.

Backward roll 4.1 - as above

HS forward roll 5.1- as above

Back extension 6.1 - as above

Cartwheel 7.1 - as above

*Once my movement has advanced I will begin adding in Cartwheel refinement (8.1-8.3) and integrated roll series (9.1-9.6). 

If anyone has a better way of approaching this, I would love to hear it.  

I would recommend progressing training thru the following focused training blocks:

Diagnositic - section 1

Training block - section 2, 3 and perhaps 4 if you have sufficient arm strength.  

If you have not perfected forward and backward rolls how can advanced variations of these (e.g. handstand forward roll and back extensions) be trained?  More advanced sections may be experimented with at the end of the day's scheduled work; but they should not constitute a significant portion of the workout.

Training block - section 5 and section 6

Training block - section 7 and later include section 8 when advanced enough

Training block - section 9

It is important to understand that this is movement training which is a combination of both conditioning and skill development.  As such for developing technical excellence it is far more beneficial to slow down.

Rushing thru the program, attempting to do all the sections at the same time will substantially slow progress.  On the other hand, approaching the movment courses with the same eye to detail used in the other GB courses and not moving on until a section or pair of sections has been mastered will greatly accelerate future progress.

High quality of movement and the ensuing physical mastery earned in one section will transfer when beginning the next section.   Half assed however is forever.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

And that is exactly how I will proceed.  Thanks for the explanation Coach!  Thank you also for committing to producing only excellent programs and students.

Kevin Chaussee

Having done the workout yesterday I would agree that the first three rolls are a good starting point, T5, T6, T8, and T9 should likely be held off on until Handstand work and upper body work have progressed. Just my two cents.

Coach Sommer said:

I would recommend progressing training thru the following focused training blocks:

 

Diagnositic - section 1

 

Training block - section 2, 3 and perhaps 4 if you have sufficient arm strength.  

 

If you have not perfected forward and backward rolls how can advanced variations these (e.g. handstand forward roll and back extensions) be trained?  More advanced sections may be experimented with at the end of the day's scheduled work; but they should not constitute a significant portion of the workout.

 

Training block - section 5 and section 6

 

Training block - section 7 and later include section 8 when advanced enough

 

Training block - section 9

 

 

It is important to understand that this is movement training which is a combination of both conditioning and skill development.  As such for developing technical excellence it is far more beneficial to slow down.

 

Rushing thru the program, attempting to do all the sections at the same time will substantially slow progress.  On the other hand, approaching the movment courses with the same eye to detail used in the other GB courses and not moving on until a section or pair of sections has been mastered will greatly accelerate future progress.

 

High quality of movement and the ensuing physical mastery earned in one section will transfer when beginning the next section.   Half assed however is forever.

 

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

So according to your saying, I need to work on blocks 2, 3 and 4 now, starting from doing the first progression of each one , and when I master progression 2.1 for example I'm moving on to progression 2.2 ( One progression of each block at a workout, or if one is easy and been mastered in this workout perfectly, can I work on the next progression for this block in the same workout?)

Once I mastered the three blocks 2, 3 and 4, I then add blocks 5, 6 and 7 ( 7-If I'll be ready for cartwheels work) and in the end after all of this has been mastered, I'm adding the cartwheel refinement and the integrated rolling. That's how I understand it, am I right?

Thank you for answering Coach!

So this is a good thread. I was thinking I should start 7.1 right away to work on my flexibility, but looking through the other progressions it seems clear that anyone who has mastered 3.6 and 4.6 (pike rolls) will be able to comfortably begin 7.1.

In terms of expectations: I've been doing F1 and H1 for over a year (with 2 gaps), and some stretching (not every week). I can barely put my fingers on the ground until I've warmed up a bit. Those pike rolls look to require a lot more hamstring flexibility than I have.

So - is it reasonable to expect elements 2-4 to require about a year, assuming I also follow S1 (and F1 and H1)?

I did my first pass, trying all the exercises at least once to see where I was. I could actually do some reps on 5 and 6, but I'll just focus on 2-4 (and the painful diagnostics!) for the next while.

Thanks!

DAMIEN DEL RUSSO said:

... I was thinking I should start 7.1 right away to work on my flexibility, but looking through the other progressions it seems clear that anyone who has mastered 3.6 and 4.6 (pike rolls) will be able to comfortably begin 7.1 ...

Completely wrong.  

Reread what I wrote much more carefully.  There is far more involved in the integrated roll series than mere pike rolls.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Master T5 and T6 too, got it. No rush to get to cartwheels.

Does a 1 year timeframe for T2-T4 mastery seem reasonable?

Thanks,

Damien

DAMIEN DEL RUSSO said:

... Does a 1 year timeframe for T2-T4 mastery seem reasonable? ...

Doesn't matter in the slightest how 'reasonable' a proposed timeline feels.  

No deadlines should ever be placed on the pursuit of excellence.  It will take as long as it takes.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Coach Sommer said:

Doesn't matter in the slightest how 'reasonable' a proposed timeline feels.  

 

No deadlines should ever be placed on the pursuit of excellence.  It will take as long as it takes.

 

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

So. True. Seeing others progress faster has sometimes been frustrating (then I remember I've still got time on my side and don't fret as much), and as I correct issues the strength and mobility just comes in leaps and bounds.

Coach,

Just to be sure I have it right...

In each block, we should master the point 1 (.1) of each section before moving on to point 2 (.2) and so on and not moving to the next block until all elements in all sections of the previous block have been mastered?

Example: we would have to master 2.2 in a section before moving to 2.3 AND we would not move on to, say, block 3 (sections 5 and 6) until we had mastered 2.1-2.6, 3.1-3.6 and 4.1-4.6?

Thanks for the knowledge!

Yes, you have that right. There are four sections to tumbling. The first section, the diagnostic, is just that and is more so a warm-up or stand-alone preempt to the actual training. Then there is section 2, 3, and 4. Once those three progressions have been mastered, then said athlete could move on to work sections 5 and 6; then section 7; then, later, section 8; and lastly, section 9. Of course, this is for training, if one wanted to play they could look into these movements, but it wouldn't count towards the workout nor one's progress (as the athlete isn't actually ready or advanced enough for those progressions -- the athlete could also likely hurt themselves if not careful). You got it right, Michael, if I've understood it well enough myself.