It's Finally Time

Hello all.

Last night I finally picked up Foundation 1. I'm really excited to get started on it.

I'd picked up and gone through Fundamentals after the initial Tim Ferriss podcast with Coach Sommer. Once I hit the end of that, I kept repeating the last workout (it included the Daily Limber and some APT & PPT work). Knowing that wouldn't get me anywhere worth mentioning, I finally picked up F1 to start my GST journey.

A couple years ago, I'd finished a Precision Nutrition coaching program (Scrawny 2 Brawny, specifically). I really enjoyed that and had some decent results. What I found was that the forums were wiped out for the cohort I was in, after the program ended. So, many of us lost touch. Without that camaraderie, I lost interest. Needless to say, any gains I'd made are now long gone. I'll be starting from scratch.

I'm looking forward to making mobility such a huge focus of this program. Plus, having an active forum again is something that'll really help me, I believe.

Being a complete beginner (once again), my initial plan is to do one workout per day, per week. If time and my abilities permit, I'll do them an additional time each week.

For posterity: I'm now 36, 5'9", and 173lbs.

Here we go!

Best of luck Adam! Glad you are taking advantage of this giant support system. 

Woohoo. Just finshed the first Core and Lower sessions.

Not too bad, but I've definitely got some mobility and control to gain. It didn't take as long as I expected either, which is why I added the Lower sesion. So that's a good thing if I choose to do these twice a week as I get stronger and more flexible.

I ranked them all as Just Right, so I can give them another attempt next week.

Upper is tomorrow.

Let's do this!

Get amongst it!

My first Upper is in the books.

I used the back of my couch for the incline push-ups. That looks like the right height (right at hip-height, when standing).

I also realize now that I need some olympic rings. To substitute tonight, I draped a heavy exercise band over my doorway pull-up bar and used that. I know I didn't get the full effect, as the band was pulling me up as much as I was pulling myself up. I just ordered these NEXPro wooden rings on Amazon...and Prime will deliver them on Sunday? Sold!

Sure enough...it's Sunday and they're here!

We'll see how they do when I hit Upper on Tuesday.

Nice, man. I'm a former S2B graduate myself. I find I enjoy this style of training far more, though I'm unable to articulate quite why, yet.

Welcome aboard

On 10/3/2016 at 10:23 AM, Rory O'Keeffe said:

Nice, man. I'm a former S2B graduate myself. I find I enjoy this style of training far more, though I'm unable to articulate quite why, yet.

Welcome aboard

Thanks. I did enjoy the feeling of how complete S2B felt (diet + exercise + habits + lessons + community), but this does feel better. A slow, steady, completely individualized progression, focused on mobility instead of getting crushed under a bar right off the bat.

As for the new week, I did all the workouts today (Core, Lower, Upper). I think the cool kids call this an F7 (which I don't understand why, yet). All told, it felt really great. Surprisingly, this was only my second time through each of the exercises and they all felt easier (and having rings to use was great!). Still some loss of balance, but not near as much. Strength isn't the issue, this early on. It's form, balance, and ROM.

Onward!

F7 means all the 7 elements done in the same session (3 core, 3 upper, 1 lower). Previously (before the newer core/upper/lower subdivision) another common split was F4/F3, in which you did 4 elements in one session and the remaining 3 elements in the next session. F7 2 times per week is what I'm enjoying right now (plus 2 handstand session), even though I couldn't handle that when I started, so used split sessions for a while).

Thanks for clarifying @Giovanni Garcea. That helps a lot.

I just completed my 2nd F7. That's 2 for this week (Tuesday and Thursday). I think my goal would be to do this 3 times per week, but seeing as this is only my second week, I'll keep it at 2. Maybe next week I'll try and throw in a third session of F7.

All told, it feels good to be training somewhat regularly, again. My intensity and performance levels aren't high just yet, and I know I'll get there if I continue to work.

To keep me honest, I'll give a more accurate picture of my 'fitness' as of right now.

Age: 36.5

Weight: 169.2

@Adam Porter Based on my experience, I'd suggest to not switch schedule too frequently, but to stick with the same schedule for 4-6 weeks and re-assess. There's no deload week anymore and fatigue can sneak up on you, especially if you start having many elements at step 7 to 9, when the sets are many and long. I started too strong myself, with a schedule that I couldn't keep up with long term, so I fell of the wagon and lost regularity.

The solution was to re-start with lower volume and add more workouts only after I proved myself that I could keep the schedule for many weeks without missing. The rules of the game are: don't miss workouts, don't compromise your form, don't slow down during the workout, tempo must be brisk from the first minute to the last.

@Giovanni Garcea Awesome. Thanks for the insight. I think I'll stick with the 2 per week, and then reassess in mid-November.

Another F7 complete.

My current plan is to do an F7 on Tuesdays and Fridays. This week will have to be Tuesday and Thursday, given my schedule this Friday.

In any case, I'm bumping up against my strength limits on Step 2's and 3's for all PE1's. My arms start to shake by round 5 and that's a no-no. I'll keep plugging away at them.

This is fun!

Give it a steady, consistent effort for the next 12-18 months (and beyond of course), and you'll be amazed at the results.

As your weight goes down and your strength goes up, the basics will become easier. However, around the corner awaits more challenging stuff to make sure it never gets easy.

Just about putting days in the books and watching the changes happen

Thanks for the input and insight fellas. I love it!

I'm with you Adam.  Started about the same time.  I started doing F7 a few times a week but have decided in the long run a split will work best for me.  I'm now doing core and lower on M-th and upper and handstand on tu-fri.  So far I love it.  I'm excited for and dreading those 1 min hollow holds in our future though.  Good luck

On 10/11/2016 at 2:57 PM, Adam Porter said:

Another F7 complete.

My current plan is to do an F7 on Tuesdays and Fridays. This week will have to be Tuesday and Thursday, given my schedule this Friday.

In any case, I'm bumping up against my strength limits on Step 2's and 3's for all PE1's. My arms start to shake by round 5 and that's a no-no. I'll keep plugging away at them.

This is fun!

I used to schedule F7 2x/week, and always ended up splitting one of the days into two days. It's just too much at the beginning, especially because learning new movements takes focus and mindfulness. Plus almost everyone I've seen wants/needs to add in some stretching, and handstand is highly recommended by coaches alongside foundation. It gets to be a lot, even if GB is your only modality of training.

I just finished the 1st F7 of the week. A couple new progressions to conquer. I toughed out the final rounds, but I'll be staying there for a while!

Anyone else struggle to keep their arms straight as they come down into retraction for Scap Shrugs? I'm so used to doing a pushup, my brain goes on autopilot and screws me up. haha. Today was actually pretty good, in that regard. Of course, now that my arms are straight throughout the shrug, my upper arms and shoulders start to burn toward the very end...not to mention my back muscles right between my scaps (lats?) from squeezing down into retraction, then pushing up out of it.

My intent is to still do 2 F7's per week. One on Tuesdays and the other on Thursday or Friday. However, we'll see how a second F7 goes, with these harder progressions. I might be going the way of @Patrick Rentz and splitting the 2nd F7 across two days. We shall see!

Regardless, I'm really enjoying this.

3 hours ago, Adam Porter said:

I just finished the 1st F7 of the week. A couple new progressions to conquer. I toughed out the final rounds, but I'll be staying there for a while!

Anyone else struggle to keep their arms straight as they come down into retraction for Scap Shrugs? I'm so used to doing a pushup, my brain goes on autopilot and screws me up. haha. Today was actually pretty good, in that regard. Of course, now that my arms are straight throughout the shrug, my upper arms and shoulders start to burn toward the very end...not to mention my back muscles right between my scaps (lats?) from squeezing down into retraction, then pushing up out of it.

My intent is to still do 2 F7's per week. One on Tuesdays and the other on Thursday or Friday. However, we'll see how a second F7 goes, with these harder progressions. I might be going the way of @Patrick Rentz and splitting the 2nd F7 across two days. We shall see!

Regardless, I'm really enjoying this.

 

The back muscles between the scaps would your traps...and they come in very handy for press handstands and planche so I hear. Have you tried screwing your hands into the floor? That has helped me with things like pushups and scap shrugs. Takes time to build up the strength to maintain a locked elbow and to simultaneously push and pull through protraction. Just stay at it. I took forever to get past PE1. Foreeeeeeeevvvvvvvveeeeeerrrrrrrr [that's a movie quote, sorry].

52 minutes ago, Daniel Taylor-Shaut said:

The back muscles between the scaps would your traps...and they come in very handy for press handstands and planche so I hear. Have you tried screwing your hands into the floor? That has helped me with things like pushups and scap shrugs. Takes time to build up the strength to maintain a locked elbow and to simultaneously push and pull through protraction. Just stay at it. I took forever to get past PE1. Foreeeeeeeevvvvvvvveeeeeerrrrrrrr [that's a movie quote, sorry].

Ah, yes, the traps. I can never remember where traps end and lats begin. As for screwing my hands into the floor, that's actually how I started keeping my elbows locked during the shrug. S2B taught me that trick a couple years ago and it's working here too. Thanks for the feedback!

+F7

Feels good man.

On Wednesday, October 19, 2016 at 0:14 PM, Adam Porter said:

Ah, yes, the traps. I can never remember where traps end and lats begin. As for screwing my hands into the floor, that's actually how I started keeping my elbows locked during the shrug. S2B taught me that trick a couple years ago and it's working here too. Thanks for the feedback!

You'll discover fast when you get into handstands

Things sound pretty on track. There's a surprising amount to gain from scap shrugs and I recommend you keep them in your planche warmup for high reps even after hitting your mastery numbers

@Adam Porter are you on 5 set rounds now?   Most of my sets are 5 rounds of 9 reps.  I've gone from thinking I wasn't gaining much to haveing a pretty dang good workout with the f7 and actually not that excited about next weeks core work lol

2 hours ago, Malcolm Watters said:

@Adam Porter are you on 5 set rounds now?   Most of my sets are 5 rounds of 9 reps.  I've gone from thinking I wasn't gaining much to haveing a pretty dang good workout with the f7 and actually not that excited about next weeks core work lol

Lol, welcome to your new life. It's pretty much a mix of anticipation and anxiety from here on.