Intro and Questions

Hello, GB Crew et al

I've been a long-time lurker on the public forums after discovering gb about a year ago. I've finally taken the plunge and am going to attempt to embark on what looks to be a long, knock down, drag out process of GST. With this entrance I have a handful of questions:

1. I have been training with weights since I was a teenager and have some strength behind me. I've also been dabbling in calisthenics for about a year now. I'm worried that I will lose some of what I have gained in training myself using knowledge gathered from a multitude of resources. How can I approach the foundation series in a way that I either do not regress or consistently progress? An example is that I have been steadily working on handstands, planche progressions, ring muscle-up's, pull-up variations, etc. I'm worried about losing all that I have worked for by solely focusing in on the F1 from the very beginning.

2. I want to learn as much as I possibly can with this company and its programs, how will working through these programs help equip me and teach me to maybe program this type of training going forward for myself and potentially others?

3. Something that I am concerned about (I guess you could say I am a "fire eater") is intensity. At what point will I/should I feel very challenged by these workouts? Is progression really based on "I felt that was 'easy' therefore I should progress"?

My apologies if these types of questions have been answered before, over 8k posts is sure a lot to sift through and I haven't quite found the answers I'm searching for.

Hi Lorenzo,

Welcome to GB and the F1 forum! If you train the Foundation series as it is prescribed, you will not lose anything! In fact, you will gain confidence from the fact that you are progressing your physical strength and mobility in the best manner possible. I have only seen people get stronger from this course when trained properly.

As long as you are completing the workouts and logging how they felt with the smiley faces, it will only be a handful of workouts before you are thoroughly challenged. This time is important for mastering basic form, execution, and mobility. These basic exercises are the key to it all!

The best way to increase your depth of knowledge and get on track to possible instruct this material is to attend a GB seminar. We have one schedule for 2017 already and more to come. We post seminar information on the main webpage. 

Please let us know if you have any other questions. 

19 hours ago, Everett Carroll said:

Hi Lorenzo,

Welcome to GB and the F1 forum! If you train the Foundation series as it is prescribed, you will not lose anything! In fact, you will gain confidence from the fact that you are progressing your physical strength and mobility in the best manner possible. I have only seen people get stronger from this course when trained properly.

As long as you are completing the workouts and logging how they felt with the smiley faces, it will only be a handful of workouts before you are thoroughly challenged. This time is important for mastering basic form, execution, and mobility. These basic exercises are the key to it all!

The best way to increase your depth of knowledge and get on track to possible instruct this material is to attend a GB seminar. We have one schedule for 2017 already and more to come. We post seminar information on the main webpage. 

Please let us know if you have any other questions. 

I have gotten so used to the volume with which I was training before. What would you suggest I do until this feels adequate? Ride the wave? Ride a bike?

Hey Lorenzo,

Use this time to perfect your form. Do this by submitting form checks/video reviews. Also take this time to study your course in detail. If you have extra time, do some extra mobility, stretch, go for a run, etc. It won't be long before the workouts get harder so don't worry too much. 

I figured I should update this thread just that if anyone is like me and has had similar questions. Here are some experiences thus far:

1. I gave it time, the courses certainly have gotten harder/voluminous as I was used to

2. Focusing on the basics is vastly much more important than cranking away at things I was KIND OF able to do (front lever/planche work for example).

3. The form check system is great, and I really appreciate the feedback (speaking of, @Everett Carroll, if I use the system, do I just reply to the emails?)

In case anyone was curious, I've been chipping away since I entered the course and I have really enjoyed learning through them. The stretch series have been incredibly humbling, but I really feel that I have gained so much in the short time that I have been doing them...it's almost surreal.

I won't be able to attend the 2017 seminar (nor do I feel I am ready for it) due to financial reasons, but the more that I work through the courses, the more that I really want attend as soon as I can. I firmly believe that this type of strength training is the absolute best in order to build a firm platform to express ourselves through other forms of sport/fitness.

Thanks for sharing your experience Lorenzo  great to hear about your progress!!

Hey Lorenzo,

If you're asking about the video review emails, then yes, you can reply to those emails and the thread will continue. 

Came across another question (I tried searching through the forum and found 1/2 the answer I was looking for). 

For the iM drills/exercises, I understand that the number of reps does not change for that particular exercise, but rather the number of sets does. However, I can look through all of the strength elements/preparatory elements and note their mastery templates in the SETTINGS of my course, but I do not see an entry for the mobility drills. Is that located somewhere else?

Hey Lorenzo,

The mobility drills are always performed for the same number of reps or for the same amount of time after each strength set. The specifics for how many reps or seconds are shown in the follow along videos and in the workout details section.

6 hours ago, Everett Carroll said:

Hey Lorenzo,

The mobility drills are always performed for the same number of reps or for the same amount of time after each strength set. The specifics for how many reps or seconds are shown in the follow along videos and in the workout details section.

That's the general rule, yes. In some cases though, the iM can be equally as hard as the actual PE. In those cases I think it's ok to take the conservative route and deload the iM as well. This is of course the exception rather than the rule, and probably also more relevant for F2/3/4.

Dear Knowledgeable Forum,

I am new to the GST training and have recently bought the popular bundle with a purpose of completing the whole program over numerous years. I do have an athletic/martial art background and have recently turned nineteen as well. My query is that coach sommer's recommended schedule includes handstand and movement, but I don't have those packages. Is it worth buying these packages now or waiting until I've experienced F1, bearing in mind that I am a money short university student.

Hi Benjamin, for your current level as beginner, I suggest Foundations 1 and a stretch course first. since You are an ex martialist I expect a decent legs flexibility and for this reason I suggest the TB series.

Welcome Benjamin!

When you can afford to start them, the skill courses will make your GST training more complete. For now, what you have is fantastic. When you can, add Free Handstand, Press Handstand, and Tumbling One to your schedule. If necessary, adding them one at a time will be just fine. The order I've listed them in is my suggested priority order since you already have the popular package. 

If you have any other questions please let us know!