GB stretch with Fundamentals?

I saw a similar question to this but just wanted to confirm before purchasing prematurely. I'm on day two of Fundamentals and know that GB is what I want for my body. I just finished a season of intense weight lifting and am sitting here now proud and accomplished with what I've achieved but also achy and have several minor nagging injuries. I'm ready to treat my body properly rather than stress it improperly. 

Anyway, what do you all think about doing the GB stretch course while also doing fundamentals? I imagine it'd be beneficial more than anything? If so, would I just pair day 1 of fundamentals with day 1 of stretch and so on? 

Thanks so much! 

Hi Rachel,

Thank you for reaching out and welcome to the GymnasticBodies community. 

I think it's a great idea to start doing the Stretch series while completing the Fundamentals course. It's better sooner rather than later. And it's a good idea to start getting familiar with the exercises as soon as possible. 

There are three Stretch courses and they are all meant to be done once a week. These are quite intense so you will need some days to recover in between. 

For the Fundamentals there are no established sets and reps. You are only required to do the follow along for a given day but are welcome to 'play' with some of the other movements you are having trouble with.

Click the links below to learn more about how the Fundamentals course works. 

https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/fundamentals/introduction/
 

Awesome thanks so much for the quick response Pauline! 

So in theory I would do Middle splits, take a day or two to recover, thoracic bridge, day or two or three, front splits and then repeat? Plus each day incorporate fundamentals even if I'm "resting" from the stretch courses? And obviously listen to my body if I truly do need a full rest day or minimal work one day? 

Would you do fundamental work then stretch work on a "double up" day or vice versa? 

Thanks again! 

Hi Rachel,

Good questions. The Fundamentals are supposed to be done daily. An example ple of how to schedule the Stretch series is:

Monday: Middle Split 

Wednesday: Thoracic Bridge

Friday: Front Split

The Stretch series should always be performed at the end of your workout. I recommend using the Fundamentals lessons as a warmup before stretching. 

Plese let us know how you go! Feel free to submit form checks, this is the best way to get help if you are having difficulties with any exercises. I also recommend to take some photos to begin with. It's always fun to look back at your progress  

Great thanks so much, Pauline! That middle splits yesterday was somethin else haha! I'm very much enjoying GST already. Just something completely different from what I'm used to and a good challenge. 

I appreciate your diligence in responding quickly!

Rachel, please let us know if any other questions come to mind.

Haha well since you offered, Luke

Off topic to the original thread, so definitely let me know if you'd prefer I find a more appropriate thread in the future. I want to respect how you guys go about this forum.

So middle splits yesterday then just day 5 of going through fundamentals today. Behind my right knee, medial side, feels "stretched" but sort of more like it's hurt vs a good feeling stretch? I know semimem and semiten and gracilis have their tendons connecting in there and im assuming stretching the tendons yesterday just leaves a different feeling than the actual muscle belly stretching? It was a bit painful in a not good way during yesterday's middle splits. If I rotated my knee outward, that seemed to help but not sure I'm supposed to?

Should I be alarmed and stretch more conservatively for a few weeks or is it ok to push that area? Maybe it's just that I've literally NEVER stretched 45 straight min in my life lol :/. 

Anyway, thanks for the help, coaches. 

Hey Rachel , usually a pain in this area it is concerned with gracilis, it tends to injury with more frequency compared to semimem so be careful on it. I would not adjust the knee position during the stretch position.

Gotcha. I'll keep an eye on it thanks, Coach!

Hope no one minds I jump in here, but one of the things I learned early on is that you do not have to do exactly what the video participants are doing right from the start in the Stretch series. I learned that the hard way in my first few tries. The embedded scaling/techniques videos are really helpful in that regard and you actually progress faster with a lot less pain, if you take it slowly and not overdo it from the start.

Rachel when it comes to passive flexibility I always prefer a no pain approach. Now this will be relative to many people since everyone has a different pain tolerance and understanding or way they define "pain". By pain, I mean actual muscle/joint pain, not slight discomfort. If you are slightly uncomfortable as opposed to the feeling like something is about to snap you should tone it down. I also really agree with Laurie's above post about following the video as it is from the beginning and taking full advantage of the very well thought out embedded scaling/techniques videos in the Stretch Series.

Awesome thank you Luke and Laurie! I've definitely been using the imbedded videos as there are LOTS of positions each series that I'm unable to get close to haha. And yes, thanks for the thoughts on pain. I'll try to listen very carefully to my body :).

Thanks!