routine questions

I'm starting a new routine this week, and I was wondering which of these would be better. My goal is static holds for planche, front lever, back lever, and L-sit.

I was thinking about doing a 4 day split as follows:

Day 1 (M) - Tuck BL holds (8 sec x 8 ) plus 3 sets of 3-5 reps of 3 pulling exercises (i.e. pullups, body rows, etc.)

Day 2 (T) - Frogstand holds (15 sec x 5) plus 3 sets of 3-5 reps of 3 different pushing exercises (i.e. dips, pushups, HSPU)

Day 3 ® - Tuck FL holds (8 sec x 8 ) plus leg exercises (deck squats, SLS, GHR)

Day 4 (F) - L sit PB low holds (8 sec x 8 ) plus core exercises (v ups, HLL, archups)

The plan is to keep everything the same for 8 weeks, then reassess.

However, looking through this forum, I see a lot of mention of this "Killroy70" routine. Would I be better off going with a routine like this where I would do all 4 static holds each paired with 1 FBE each workout day (BL with 1 pulling exercise, frogstand with 1 pushing, FL with 1 leg, and L sit with 1 core), and just alternate the FBE's that get paired with the static holds? Also, given that I'm pretty much a beginner with all this, should just go with a 3 day split (MWF) instead of a 4 day split? Thanks.

Sometimes, the only way you learn things is by tinkering.

Your proposed FBE format sounds like a body part split. Sure, try it. At first I thought wow, but given that you are doing the split, it might be doable.

You should do all of them in one day with paired.

You'll get more benefit from training the entire spectrum of skills more frequently than each just once a week.

YOu are newer so you'll adapt pretty quickly. Start with 3 days a week. If you need to you can add another day..

so I decided to go with the following routine:

Monday (workout 1)

BL tuck - 8 sec x 8

Bulgarian pullups - 3 x 5 reps

Frogstand - 15 sec x 5

Bulgarian dips - 3 x 5 reps

L sit low - 8 sec x 8

HLL - half - 3 x 5 reps

FL tuck - 6 sec x 10

Wednesday (workout 2)

BL tuck - 8 sec x 8

Bulgarian body rows - 3 x 5 reps

Frogstand - 15 sec x 5

Bulgarian pushups - 3 x 5 reps

L sit low - 8 sec x 8

archups - 3 x 5 reps

FL tuck - 6 sec x 10

Friday is same as Monday. Week 2 is alternated, workout 2 done M/F, workout 1 done W. This will be done SSC style for 8 weeks. On off days, I'm going to mix in a little handstand work (mostly just holds for now) and leg work (deck squats, hill sprints). I have a few questions.

1) I feel pretty good with the frogstand, but I'm concerned about being able to straighten my arms for the advanced frog stand. Should I add some planche leans into my training? If so, should I do these right after the frogstands, or mix those in on my off days?

2) For the FL tuck, the book says to start from a hang, and lift up to the FL tuck position, but on the DVD, the kid starts from an inverted hang and drops into the FL tuck. My preference would be to drop into it from an inverted hang as I can't even come close to pulling up into it from a hang. Should I add something like a tucked ice cream maker to help develop the strength to pull up to a FL tuck?

3) For handstand work, I can hold about a minute (using wall for balance). Should I use the same SSC concept, and do a bunch of 30 sec holds? Or should I start to go into some HeSPU progressions?

Any other suggestions are more than welcome. Thanks.

jshaw said:

2) For the FL tuck, the book says to start from a hang, and lift up to the FL tuck position, but on the DVD, the kid starts from an inverted hang and drops into the FL tuck. My preference would be to drop into it from an inverted hang as I can't even come close to pulling up into it from a hang. Should I add something like a tucked ice cream maker to help develop the strength to pull up to a FL tuck?

Do negatives starting in a hang descending through the full range of motion and the strength to pull to inverted will come, probably faster then working the FL statically.

Once you've got a 30-40s tuck front lever you should be able to curl up into it from a hang pretty easily. The only thing I see missing is handstand work.

Edit: I know, you're doing it on off days. Start slow and build up your work capacity! If you find you're feeling tired on your workout days you can always move your HS work into a separate session on your workout day or directly into your workout.

Don't worry about advanced frog. Once you have a solid 45+s frog stand, which should happen pretty quickly, just start straightening your elbows. Get them as straight as you can, but don't be upset if you can't go all the way. Just stick with what you can get for a few weeks to a month, and then straighten a little more, keeping the same set times of 15-20s for 5+ sets. You shouldn't need much rest, so it should go quickly. After a while you'll have a perfect advanced frog, and from there once you build up your volume you should have little trouble with the tuck, and so on.

slizzardman said:

Once you've got a 30-40s tuck front lever you should be able to curl up into it from a hang pretty easily. The only thing I see missing is handstand work.

Edit: I know, you're doing it on off days. Start slow and build up your work capacity! If you find you're feeling tired on your workout days you can always move your HS work into a separate session on your workout day or directly into your workout.

Don't worry about advanced frog. Once you have a solid 45+s frog stand, which should happen pretty quickly, just start straightening your elbows. Get them as straight as you can, but don't be upset if you can't go all the way. Just stick with what you can get for a few weeks to a month, and then straighten a little more, keeping the same set times of 15-20s for 5+ sets. You shouldn't need much rest, so it should go quickly. After a while you'll have a perfect advanced frog, and from there once you build up your volume you should have little trouble with the tuck, and so on.

Are saying a single hold of 40/45s here or total of the multiple holds?

A single hold. Consistently, not just by luck. Until it can be done 10 out of 10 times it doesn't count.