Intro with a few questions sprinkled in

Hey all.  Complete noob here in terms of gymnastics movements, but I'm super intrigued and begin to lean towards taking the plunge and buying the big $500 package as a means of starting over with my fitness journey.  

Background:  Way back in the day, I wrestled and did cross country in High School.  Was never good at either and the only reason I did cross country was for conditioning for wrestling.  Got pretty sloppy with my fitness in college with stretches were I hit the gym (mainly weights and running) for a few months, then would spend months away.  Weight progressively climbed as I continued to never care about diet, and my stretches away from the gym got longer and longer.  Eventually I found NerdFitness.com, which got me into powerlifting.  I've been doing that for the better portion of 7 years now.  Not a super human by any stretch (PRs are a 385lb Squat, 255lb Bench, and a 445lb Deadlift at a bodyweight of around 220lbs).  The amazing part about it was that as I continued to lift, I saw my mobility improving as well.  I was stronger and moving better.  But lately, my low back has been a huge pain (literally and figuratively).  I haven't been able to deadlift without experiencing shooting pain for going on 6 months now.  I happened upon Coach Somner's podcast with Tim Ferriss and was super intrigued as I've had "Planche push-up" as lifetime goal for awhile and, frankly, powerlifting alone won't get me there.  I picked up the Fundamentals course and have slowly been trying it out.  

One thing I've been very confused with was how to apply the Fundamentals course.  Do we literally only do each day for 2-3 minutes as the videos suggest?  Do we do more?  I know Coach Somner put a note at the end of Week 1, Day 1 that said he purposely didn't add sets and reps, but at the same time, doing a stretch or hold 3 times and calling it a day doesn't seem like a way to improve or change anything.  Am I just seeing things wrong? 

Another question.  Regarding the full courses, are they intense?  This may sound incredibly stupid, but I've grown to really like the intensity in powerlifting workouts.  Having to psych yourself up and pushing your body.  Seeing a weight you know will be a struggle, turning up the music, and just crushing the set.  I'm not trying to insinuate that gymnastics work is easy, I know that to be false since so few people can do the upper tiers of the movements, but I'm worried that I'll get bored with constantly working on stretches and not feeling like I'm pushing myself.  For those on the program, do you ever feel that way?  Maybe it's just a mental hurdle I'll need to overcome, but I figured I'd ask the question before jumping in.   Or, more than likely, I'm just way off base on how hard a true gymnastics workout actually is.  

Thanks for any input.  

Hi Matt the introductory course it is intense proportionally to your level of confidence with GST. a beginner could feel a 5x15reps of pushup very hard, while a intermediate athlete feels challenging 25+ headstandpush up. Once a fundamental course is purchased you will have access to the private subforum where all your question about "how much? how often?etc" are already answered. nobody here could tell you how you could feel the program because we have never trained you or with you, knowing your weak points etc. if you are completely new then look for fundamentals for sure.

The lack of sets/reps in fundamentals does not carry over into the other courses. Once fundamentals is complete, and you've moved into the programming of all the other courses, you will be training based on your physical strength, mobility, and recovery abilities, within assigned reps and sets.

Have you had your back checked out by a physician? Keep in mind that a major component of the GB courses is geared towards avoiding injury and not training through "bad" pain, like your lower back pain. It's good to push yourself, and the GB course structure certainly allows for that, but at the same time, it's worth keeping a long term mindset towards your training.

Overall, I think you'll find plenty of challenge in the foundations and handstand courses. Keep in mind that although some of the strength elements may not be as physically demanding as you'd initially like, the mobility likely will be, based on your weightlifting history. Feel free to spend extra time on the fundamentals mobility work since it feels like it's not enough right now, and take careful note of things that need work. Avoid things that cause lower back pain and strongly consider getting a professional opinion. I hope this answered your questions.

Hi Matt, welcome. 

+1 to the above comments.

My two cents:

Some of the high rep work will feel ridiculously intense, to the point where you dread it. The mobility work can be frustrating, but very rewarding. Later on, the lower rep work will be tough but manageable, with a big focus on correct execution. Since you're always progressing, you will often have DOMS, but to a modest degree - That satisfying DOMS, you know. And always, we show that little bit of restraint that allows you to come back and train tomorrow.