Hi everybody.

Hi everyone,

My name is Gabriel, I'm 25 years old, and I currently reside in England.

My current body weight is 163lb/74kg and my height 1.73m/5 ft 6".

My main goals would be strength and lean muscle. For the last year or so I have been training with free weights with just an olympic barbell, a bench and a squat rack. I started with Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength program, and I also used the Stronglifts 5x5 template for a while.

Originally, before I started lifting, my body weight was 121lbs/55Kg, which for my height and age is badly underweight. I had also been exercising without a set routine, using bodyweight exercises and dumbbells. I overtrained and I simply didn't eat enough.

Last year I decided to take things seriously and I picked up a barbell, started training, eating tons of clean food and drinking milk like a mad man. I gained over 25lb of mass in just a matter of months. However, I also gained quite a big of fat in the process!

Now, I will soon be relocating to China with my girlfriend, so I had to sell my weights set. I purchased a pair of 16Kg kettlebells and a set of gymnastic rings, and decided to start a combination of bodyweight exercises, with and without the rings, and kettlebells since it will save me time and space.

My current routine looks something like this:

Workout A:

• 
  [*:3ijezrzl]Legs: Pistols, jumping squats, kettlebell front squats - 5x5
  [*:3ijezrzl]Horizontal press: Press ups - 3xF (Adding weight if more than 15), or kettlebell floor/bench press.
  [*:3ijezrzl]Horizontall pulls: Ring rows 3xF (Adding weight if more than 15).
  [*:3ijezrzl]Kettlebell swings (12 minutes).
  [*:3ijezrzl]Abs: Reverse crunches, bicycle crunches, or hanging leg raises - 3xF.

Workout B:

• 
  [*:3ijezrzl]Legs: Pistols, jumping squats, kettlebell front squats - 5x5
  [*:3ijezrzl]Vertical press: Handstand press ups - 3xF, or kettlebell military presses 5x5 each arm.
  [*:3ijezrzl]Vertical pulls: Ring pull ups - 3xF (Add weight if more than 15)
  [*:3ijezrzl]Kettlebell Turkish get-ups - 5 minutes.
  [*:3ijezrzl]Prone bridges - 3x30 seconds.

I add some moderate cardio to the end of each workout. I work out 3 times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri) and I rotate the workouts: A-B-A, B-A-B.

Additionally I am doing progressions towards a planche and front lever on the gymnastic rings, as well as practicing the ring support position. So far I can hold a frog stand for 25 seconds and a tuck lever for about 15 seconds, 20 seconds in a support position on the rings, and I'm also practicing progressions for the L-seat using push up bars. One problem I have is that my legs are too heavy due to the muscle gained with squats and deadlifts.

I've got Coach Sommer's book and the DVD's and I'm studying everything within.

Anyway, I've been looking around the forum and there is so much great information.

I look forward to learning more and making friends here!!

Yours,

G.

welcome aboard!

1) you won't need to add weight to any of your upper body exercises. Once it gets to easy move to the next progression. Sometimes it can be beneficial to weight certain exercises but the general idea is to move on to harder exdercises.

2) I assume F means failure. Probably not what you want if you are looking to improve your maximal strength. If you are looking to get more mass then higher reps is necessary. With this type of training you will find that you can not always push yourself to the maximum of your ability. This is fine for 'easy' exercises like push ups but when you move onto more taxing ones you will find you need a more conservative approach to develop the necessary joint strength.

3) consider replacing the planche with the back lever. The back lever is an easier leverage exercise and the shoulder girdle and elbow strength gained will directly carry over to the planche.

4) if you want to work handstands, begin that from day 1. You will need a lot of practise to make improvement.

happy training.

Thanks for welcoming me and the superb advise.

Basically I have used the template of 3 sets to failure before, only with bodyweight assistance exercises, when I was lifting weights.

However, I have read somewhere that the same principles of barbell strength training apply to gymnastics and bodyweight training - 3 to 5 reps to build strength.

Let's suppose I change the leverage on the pull and press exercises I'm doing. Would it be more beneficial if I limit the repetition range to five per set?