Length of foundation

Hey guys

I did the foundation 1 a couple a yers back, but i got really demotivated when i saw that it would at least take me a year to finish, and what i would achieve was 5x5 in dips for example. It seems an awful lot of training for something pretty simple?
Furthermore, dont you lose your abilitys, for example 5x60 hollow rock when progres to other movement?

What are you thoughts, and what do you do to stay motivated. Share your experience regarding your results too

Hi Jakob,

Foundation 1 is the first of 4 Foundation volumes. Time for completion isn't really a thing; if your strength and mobility are in place, as in the course instructions you can test through F1 level in a few workouts, and go on to harder elements in F2. The 5x5 dips work through more difficult dips, handstand pushup variants, multi plane pressing culminating in hollow-back presses; definitely not maxing out pressing strength at dips!

We've discussed maintaining prior elements a few times in these course forums. As a rule of thumb I keep a single high-rep set of those thing I find most difficult in my warmup, and sometimes I like to play with previous/future movements

I'm sure others will share their experiences

Hey Jakob! Keep in mind that foundations is used to prepare you for more advanced work later on. The strength and integrity of your connective tissue is a huge component of the basic courses. I do the same thing as Jon with my warmup and have had great success maintaining strength in previously mastered movements. If you work hard and train foundations as programmed for 1 year, you will have earned far more than 5x5 dips.

To keep motivated I focus on all the positive changes I have made. I still look to the end goal but that as important as getting the most out of each exercise. I have been inspired by alot of other forum members who are achieving excellence in each exercise. 

As time goes on you will achieve far more than you expect. For example I thought I would never get past the hanging leg lifts. Now I do them as warm ups.

One have noticed is that many people that started Foundation are like shooting stars. They have alot of potential but lack the discipline and persistence to get the most out of this program. Those that stick at it may not be the best genetically but they keep improving and end up achieving a high level of physical performance.

I think you don't know what you're missing, and you stand to sell your future self short should you think Foundation is only about 5x5 dips.

Here are some of the benefits that you stand to miss.

1. I don't know of any exercise program that develops the core as completely as Foundation. (Not only the abs, but also the obliques, lower back, middle back, etc.)

I can tell you that I spend more time looking at my back in the mirror than my front. And I attribute the development of my back 100% to Foundation.

2. You might have a few trouble spots, or perhaps a few imbalances, and unless you do Foundation, or something that's quite similar to Foundation, you might never know what they are. I'm talking about connective tissue that's not as strong and supple as it should be, muscles not extending through their full range of motion, and so forth.

3. This should be considered a lifetime program, not a six-month quick fix or a two-year program. I started Foundation in late fall of 2013, and I'm about four months away from my 3 year anniversary. And that time has flown by really quickly and I can't thank myself enough for having made what at the time looked like a huge sacrifice (in terms of time) to take the plunge and stick with the program.

Well said. I don't get bored or think about changing programs; there is plenty of room to play built in and I can see myself improving week to week

I was demotivated too for a while, but then I realized that being the way I was, of course I wouldn't see any progress unless I changed my mindset. Now, I feel a lot better and I am always looking forward to the journey instead of the destination. 

In case you didn't know, F1 is the beginning of the beginning; anything that is out balance is worked on more so than the other foundations. You can't start on the more "direct" elements of planche/front lever, etc. until you address what it is that you need to work on. And that is very ambiguous depending on your lifestyle (rounded shoulders, poor hip mobility, whatever).

I'm still on F1, but I am only taking a hypothetical gander here: in F2, you start seeing more advanced variations of what you were working on in F1 (pull ups instead of rows, dips instead of pushups, body levers instead of hollow holds, advanced planche lean variations, etc,) and again, it will be difficult, but because you were doing F1 before, your progress wouldn't be as stalled as if you were starting flat-out as a beginner.  

And I think it's only until when you reach F3-F4 that you start seeing tuck planches, tuck front levers rope climbs and other elements that are direct progressions of the final products that we are striving for, but that is my guess. And as the strength elements become more challenging, so do the mobility elements. As you become more patient, your gains increase. But you won't know until you work on F1. It sounds cliche, but you can't go anywhere until you start from the beginning. Sorry if this was wordy and if it did not make sense.

1 hour ago, Jesse Kim said:

As you become more patient, your gains increase.

Brilliant!

Never a dull moment in your journey, if you can appreciate every step and let your imagination fly.

On 12/7/2016 at 7:13 AM, Jakob Lykkestrup said:

Hey guys

I did the foundation 1 a couple a yers back, but i got really demotivated when i saw that it would at least take me a year to finish, and what i would achieve was 5x5 in dips for example. It seems an awful lot of training for something pretty simple?
Furthermore, dont you lose your abilitys, for example 5x60 hollow rock when progres to other movement?

What are you thoughts, and what do you do to stay motivated. Share your experience regarding your results too

Hi Jakob, are you there? 

Some pretty knowledgable people made a serious effort to answer your question - at least acknowledge it with a like.

Regarding your question, it seems you never got past the impatience phase most of us experience when we start. 

I guess we only encounter this ridiculous emotion in fitness. Suppose you wanted to make a career for yourself, eg. in business. Would you also abandon your plan if you hadn't made your first million after the first year? Not having achieved that goal within the first year doesn't mean that you or the plan is necessarily flawed. It just means that the goal is so ambitious that it would be foolish to expect it to be reachable so soon. Like anything worth achieving, it is going to take A LOT of time. The sooner you realise this, the better you will do in life. 

On 7/11/2016 at 10:13 PM, Jakob Lykkestrup said:

Hey guys

I did the foundation 1 a couple a yers back, but i got really demotivated when i saw that it would at least take me a year to finish, and what i would achieve was 5x5 in dips for example. It seems an awful lot of training for something pretty simple?
Furthermore, dont you lose your abilitys, for example 5x60 hollow rock when progres to other movement?

What are you thoughts, and what do you do to stay motivated. Share your experience regarding your results too

If you don't want to do Foundation anymore, you're free to do so. If you need another "program" that'll better suit your needs, well there aren't a lot out there that address mobility, which is the biggest selling point of Foundation (for me, the biggest pro was that it shows progressions for the manna, which are hard to find on the internet, at least good ones! ^^) And furthermore, it might be biased, but the majority if not everyone here will tell you the Foundations series is the way to go. If you wanted to create your own program and needed help on doing, there's a problem with that. It was discussed somewhere here in the forums, but tutorials on creating individual routines are no longer accepted since the GymnasticBodies programs are close to, if not, is the IDEAL GST program. But everyone will also agree that a close second place would the Killroy70 Routine, which in itself is pretty flawed. If you don't know what it is, you have to look it up in the search bar. Either way, whichever you choose, you're gonna have to be patient and consistent.

The Killroy70 template is not close to the sophistication of the newer courses; it is an implementation of programming from Coachs first book which has since been massively refined after years of working with adults, and does not contain any mobility or joint preparation to go along with the strength programming  this is what we were all doing before Foundation was released and that lack was oneof the driving reasons for that. 

49 minutes ago, Jon Douglas said:

The Killroy70 template is not close to the sophistication of the newer courses; it is an implementation of programming from Coachs first book which has since been massively refined after years of working with adults, and does not contain any mobility or joint preparation to go along with the strength programming  this is what we were all doing before Foundation was released and that lack was oneof the driving reasons for that. 

Which is why said it is flawed. It's cool, but needs a lot of improvement to be a better program. Even if it were improved, Foundation is already available ^^

Hey guys.

First of, thank you for the impressive response. I been on vacation so sorry for the late reply.
I think my way of thinking about the program is influenced by how I approach fitness and strength training, where it will be like a stair, and the things at the top will be more difficult. That’s why I had trouble, with accepting that 5x5 was the end in F1, because I can easily do it.
However, I guess this is wrong way of approaching F1? And there will be benefits from doing the steps in between?

I am going to start F1 again, so this week will be testing week. I am thinking of incorporating F1 with a strength training routine. Can i post it and get critique or does the forum recommend not doing that?

It is fine to post your whole program.

Yes please post all videos for us Jakob

12 hours ago, Jakob Lykkestrup said:

Hey guys.

 

First of, thank you for the impressive response. I been on vacation so sorry for the late reply.
I think my way of thinking about the program is influenced by how I approach fitness and strength training, where it will be like a stair, and the things at the top will be more difficult. That’s why I had trouble, with accepting that 5x5 was the end in F1, because I can easily do it.
However, I guess this is wrong way of approaching F1? And there will be benefits from doing the steps in between?

I am going to start F1 again, so this week will be testing week. I am thinking of incorporating F1 with a strength training routine. Can i post it and get critique or does the forum recommend not doing that?

 

It's cool. What routine did you had in mind?

7 hours ago, Luke Searra said:

Yes please post all videos for us Jakob

I've seen you on youtube with Dan Jeong. You both displayed incredible skills! ^^

Thank you Jesse, Dan is an awesome guy and training buddy!

Jakob post your dip video

Hey Luke. I dont have any videos but i can try to film something the next couple of week, but its gonna be some weeks before i am at the dips

programming wise i was thinking to incorporate it with my strength training. I would have it as my second exercise, after my strength, because the first F exercise is more about endurance than strength. So something like:

Day 1: Upper body.
DB press og DB row
incline push-ups 5 x 15 (hollow back progression)
Hinge row 5 x 15 (rope climb)

Cuban press
Seated russian twist (side lever)

Day 2: lower body
Front squat
RDL

Legpress & calf raises
Leg curl

Back extension
Tuck-up (mana)

Day 3: Cardio & rest
HIIT or ss
scapula shrugs (Straddle plance)
Bent hollow body hold (front lever)

Day 4: off
Day 5: repeat

I would move the foundation elements up and down on the different days, depending on the type and how challenging they are. They are of course done in pair with the mobility

PS: This is an awesome forum. Its been a long time since i been on a forum where people actually responded and did so in a good manner!

I would droo the back extensions as the SL series will cover the back extensors soon enough. I would also add in the Single leg squat series before your front squats. I have used similar schedules with my Crossfit friends that have Foundation. They still want to keep in there regular schedule so they add 1-2 GST exercises per session somthey are covered once a week. Alternatively you can have one day that you devote to GST and do all seven exercises in one session.

Your program really depends on your goals. If you want to be good a GST then drop everything else. Whatever you do you need to test and refine to match your goals.

2 hours ago, Jakob Lykkestrup said:

Hey Luke. I dont have any videos but i can try to film something the next couple of week, but its gonna be some weeks before i am at the dips

programming wise i was thinking to incorporate it with my strength training. I would have it as my second exercise, after my strength, because the first F exercise is more about endurance than strength. So something like:

Day 1: Upper body.
DB press og DB row
incline push-ups 5 x 15 (hollow back progression)
Hinge row 5 x 15 (rope climb)

Cuban press
Seated russian twist (side lever)

Day 2: lower body
Front squat
RDL

Legpress & calf raises
Leg curl

Back extension
Tuck-up (mana)

Day 3: Cardio & rest
HIIT or ss
scapula shrugs (Straddle plance)
Bent hollow body hold (front lever)

Day 4: off
Day 5: repeat

I would move the foundation elements up and down on the different days, depending on the type and how challenging they are. They are of course done in pair with the mobility

PS: This is an awesome forum. Its been a long time since i been on a forum where people actually responded and did so in a good manner!

I don't think I have any authority on critiquing your program, but in my opinion, I think it would better to drop the weighted upper body stuff if you wanted to progress faster. For legs, add single leg squats. They will help. If youre only using the dumbells as acessory excerises for your upperbody work then that should be okau as long as you dont lift too heavy. That's just my two cents though.

Jakob,

i wanna share my experience regarding about foundation one. i used to do weight training before and i would say i am pretty decent with it. then my brother and i found gymnasticbodies website and start doing bodyweight training. during the first few months i was very hesitant on going pure bodyweight for i do not want to lose my strength in lifting weights. so i did both at the same time and then eventually went to full GST. back then there was no foundation courses so everything was trial and error. that time i checked if i lost any strength, to my surprise i did not lose any (got the same numbers of what i was lifting prior to GST)

this is the main reason that when they released Foundation One, i completely dropped everything else and focused on it. (once in awhile i try to lift weights and its just easy and the ROM keeps on getting better)

the thing with doing your foundations is that as you get better form, the harder the exercise will be. therefore making you a whole lot stronger. my favorite course is foundation one. i lost count on how many times i have repeated it. the more i go back to the basics the more i get stronger. (currently in PE4 of F1 right now) 

the thing is, if you do it right you'll gain more than what you think (you wont lose much volume of what you have mastered too). i bought the Foundation Series when they pre-selling it. when i saw foundation two/three/four, i said to myself i need to listen to Coach and to all the Senior GB Athletes here so i will eventually reach those progressions.

with Mastery of Foundation One, you'll sweep through the other courses in no time. im really not bored going through it all over again. it is put there for a reason. its because we need it. 

btw, i just don't go back to F1. (i go back when i get astray of my programming, if i took a long vacation off training, if i plateau on a certain element for a week, if i think i am overtraining my body, if i lose focus on training, etc.) 

again i am just sharing my experience and everything else will solely depend on what your goals and priorities are.

3 hours ago, Leo Trinidad said:

Jakob,

i wanna share my experience regarding about foundation one. i used to do weight training before and i would say i am pretty decent with it. then my brother and i found gymnasticbodies website and start doing bodyweight training. during the first few months i was very hesitant on going pure bodyweight for i do not want to lose my strength in lifting weights. so i did both at the same time and then eventually went to full GST. back then there was no foundation courses so everything was trial and error. that time i checked if i lost any strength, to my surprise i did not lose any (got the same numbers of what i was lifting prior to GST)

this is the main reason that when they released Foundation One, i completely dropped everything else and focused on it. (once in awhile i try to lift weights and its just easy and the ROM keeps on getting better)

the thing with doing your foundations is that as you get better form, the harder the exercise will be. therefore making you a whole lot stronger. my favorite course is foundation one. i lost count on how many times i have repeated it. the more i go back to the basics the more i get stronger. (currently in PE4 of F1 right now) 

the thing is, if you do it right you'll gain more than what you think (you wont lose much volume of what you have mastered too). i bought the Foundation Series when they pre-selling it. when i saw foundation two/three/four, i said to myself i need to listen to Coach and to all the Senior GB Athletes here so i will eventually reach those progressions.

with Mastery of Foundation One, you'll sweep through the other courses in no time. im really not bored going through it all over again. it is put there for a reason. its because we need it. 

btw, i just don't go back to F1. (i go back when i get astray of my programming, if i took a long vacation off training, if i plateau on a certain element for a week, if i think i am overtraining my body, if i lose focus on training, etc.) 

again i am just sharing my experience and everything else will solely depend on what your goals and priorities are.

Very interesting, Leo.

Would you mind sharing a few details as to how exactly your re-visiting of F1 works, if you plateau?

Do you just work through F1 again, or do you work through all the progressions up to the point where you hit the plateau?

Also, when working through F1 again, do you test for mastery and skip the progressions that you can just sail through?

yes i revisit from the start and test week 11 right away(i work with all the progressions PE and im) *i do not skip*

if i pass, i move on to the next progression on my next training day