Jakaros journey

First an introduction. My real name is Jason and I am a beginner to gymnastics style training but have alot of experience training for alot of different sports and interests. I am 6'2" and 185 pounds. My first goals I guess are to get a free standing handstand >30 sec and an l-sit of the same duration. Would like to get a muscleup as well. I want to try to balance in yoga and running into my training to be able to be well rounded and able to compete in a variety of things, running, cycling, triathlon, highland games, and also I would like to maybe get into capoeira. I have a 5k coming up, and next year will be doing some longer runs as well as a couple triathlons as well as hopefully a highland games (heavy events).

I really dig the handbalancing and capoeira and think I would like to really focus on those things as my strength develops.

I don't have alot of starting numbers, like maxes or hold times. I can get into an l-sit on the floor on fingertips but can't hold it for any appreciable time. My last workout was sunday morning:

rollerbladed about a mile to the rings/bars

ring pullups x5 +2 kipped

ring dips x5

pullups (wide) x5 +2 kipped

dips w/tuck 10

german hangs (I think) x4

planch like pushups w/bench x6

immediately followed by pushup x6

amazing how little strength was left for pushups)

German hangs again

lsit hold/tuck hold on pbars x max (just touch parallel on the lsit the drop and go into my best tuck and hold)

then rollerbladed home

it's Monday night and my abs are very sore

I will probably do some handstand work tomorrow or the next day, maybe some pullups, then wait for my book and rings.

I am just starting to run and will try and run every other day or so a couple miles

I will increase speed and intensity but not distance except occasionaly

I ride my bike alot but it's mostly low intensity like the rollerblades

Wanted to work handstand but had zero hours sleep so ran 2.7 in the morning hard and took a fairly hard 10 mile bike ride later in the day. I will do handstand work tomorrow. There are some really strong folks on here, looking around I kinda feel out of place. I see alot of guys training static holds everyday, which sounds fun but I don't know if I'm ready to train that daily and still hit 4+ days of other accesory or dynamic strength training, plus flexibility, cardio, yikes. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out how I will fit it all in, gb book based training+running+yoga+trying to learn basic floor/capoeira skills, yikes. I think I may need to trim down my goals a bit. I am so excited to get that book and DVDs.

Handstand training looked like this:

wall hand stand holds 3x1 minute

this was my first time trying them belly to wall

this way is definately better

alternated with slow/strict pullups 3x5

(pause at bottom, pause at top)

wall bridges 3x1

first time trying these as well

alternated with headstands 3x max

would have done 5 sets of each, but I feel 3 is good for my level for now

next time I'll do 4 then 5, unless things change..

that will be Wednesday workout

then Thursday will be a leg and tabata day

then Saturday or Sunday will be rings and bars like last time

yoga and running mixed in but lightly

by the end of this I'll probably revise with some input from the book I hope to have soon, or any from anyone on here.

Tried capoeira, did an hour and a half and will do it again. Pretty solid workout.

Came home and did:

5 sets of 30 sec handstand holds against wall alternated with

5 sets of 5 knees up chins- did a few in l-sit but not strong enough yet to do more than one or 2.

That will be my workout for now, probably every other day and on off days do wrist/shoulder prehab and stretching

30 sec holds seem better as I can maintain alot better control and get quality while keeping my rest phase short.

I'll do yoga and/or run in the morning if I'm not too sore from capoeira.

Will be doing rotator cuff rehab exercises and rice bucket/wrist stretching after.

Any comments more than appreciated.

Having a hard time setting up my training program, even after reading the book I'm a bit lost on a few things:

frequency.

I have never trained same body part 2 days in a row and many of these movements are full body- here I'm referring more to the static holds. Im not sure which ones to focus on and how to train them along with the other strength training. A big problem is training opposing muscle groups together, as suggested.

I'm thinking these holds to start: back/front lever, l-sit, and handstand.

then add in pullups, a horizontal pressing movement like ring pushups, and some legs, maybe some additional ab work.

So it would look like this:

keep in mind I am a beginner and this stuff gets me sore!!

day 1: back lever progressions, front lever progressions, ring pushup, horizontal row

day 2: wall handstands, pullup progressions, l-sit, sls progressions,

would alterate exercises like handstand wall hold then pullup for example

if I just alternate these going one on/one off, or two/on one off as I get stronger

Day one: back lever/front lever progressions, pushup/horizontal row

Day two: handstands/pullup progressions, sls/l-sit progressions

I think that'd about cover it, and wouldn't be too much.

If I alternate these I can train daily, or afford to miss a day as needed.

Again, comments appreciated.

9/9

Did 10 sets of 30 second wall stands alternated with 10x3 tuck chins.

Then 50 burpess

9/10 lsit holds turned into tuck holds, really felt it today, still can't hold a legit lsit, but it's coming.

After the lsit did some kneeling back raises 3x20 alternated with leg raises on the floor and some 25 rep speed squats

9/11 next workout will be some ring lever attemps, dips, rows, accesory type stuff

I'm still not settled on a program, I'm too beginner to try and follow the workout recommend on here

i think getting a solid free standing handstand (30+ sec), and a solid l-sit (30+ sec) will be my first goal. A prep phase, I mean I can't even do a muscleup and I bet the average dude on here's grandma can do several .

Ok a plan that fits my level and schedule, opinions appreciated:

Thursday: handstands 10x30 seconds, pullups/chins 10x3

Friday: l-Sit, legs, abs/low back 3-4 sets each

sunday: frog stands, pullups/chins

monday: l-Sit, legs, abs/low back

runs on wednesday and Saturday minimum, and will run more depending on what's coming up.

I did 10 sets of chins to match up with the 10 sets of holds but will change it up to match up with the frogstands, I don't think I want to do 10 sets of those, so if I do say 5 sets, I'd go higher reps on chins, like 5x5.

This morning I tried some tucked planche holds and remarkably enough actually pulled some off, then did some frogstands, and then did 65 sec worth of lsit using l and tuck (1-3 sec L then fail and switch to tuck). Ridiculous, really am I supposed to train that daily? Statics daily? All of em? Dang, I'm so stinkin sore right now. Well I sure hope for a bit of advice but I don't really know what I'm asking and feel I'm just rambling to myself. I need to re read or something- handstands sound so important but I don't see where they fit into the schedule in the book. Daily? Daily like the other static holds? I gotta reread and study this forum, I wish I had more time, I don't wanna just keep winging it forever, I am very busy, have 4 kids and work nights, I need a practical routine I cAn stick to that won't kill me.

Since that last workout I've done these daily:

l-sit hold 60 sec (6 sets of 10 sec holds)

wall handstands 3x30 sec these are getting alot easier

pullups 3x5 deadhang at bottom, pause at top

arch support, hollow support 3x10 sec each

wall bridge- I've been doing 3x1 but got 1x3 today!

Wall extensions 3x10

rotator prehab/rehab

I haven't gotten my rings mounted up yet so haven't added German hangs, I may alternate those with l-sit.

that's my plan for a while, 4 days in and I'm extremely sore but feeling stronger daily, which is real strange

Changed it up. Here's where I'm at now:

day 1:

handstand holds (belly to wall) 3x30 sec

alternate with:

pullups 3x5 (deadhang at bottom, pause at top)

L-sit 60 sec (6x10 sec)

deck squats or single leg squats

v-ups (tuck

Day 2:

ring strength for chumps:

a pullup, then pull the legs up and thru to a pike fl, then a tuck fl, then to a inverted hang, to a tuck German hang, back and forth, I'm not sure reps- last time I did about 5 sets of 2 or 3.

Fx pushups 3x5 hands nice and low

EX row 3x5-10

then whatever accesory work I feel up for, probably just stretching and core, 50-100 burpees at the end of all my workouts if I'm not getting in the miles running.

Suggestions welcome. Damn Im sore from yesterdays day 2 workout- did it outside and pushed it hard, also 3 sets of 10 dips yesterday. One more run before a lil 5k and may hang up the running kicks for a little while.

I should add:

these will be done like this:

day one, rest day, day 2, rest day, day 1.. Etc.

See no reason to add planche, or any specific fl or bl yet.

hope someone better than myself at gymnastic will help you out soon, still I played competitive sport most of my life and what I see it's basically a lack of direction. Don't mix things up too much, set one or 2 goals (challenging but achieavable from where you are at right now) to be reached in 12 weeks (set a dead line as well). Define a plan accordingly to what your focus is. This is call mesocycle periodization. Quality before Quantity. Take it easy on other fitness domain like running for example, once a week should be fine as rest is part of the training plan and you only need to mantain it if your focus is on strenght at the moment. Working out every other day may not be the shortest way to your goals.

These are just general sport training theories which usually do apply to every context. And don't be miscouraged from those little steps, by the time you get to your goals, many other achievements will come along.

hope it helps.

Thank you very much and I certainly will take your advice. I just finished my statics and my strength excercises. I will stick to this basic plan for the next 12 weeks barring death or dismemberment.

Today's looked like this:

1. Handstands facing wall: 10 sets of 30 seconds

-is ok for me to love these so much?

2. L-sit 60 seconds (5/5, 5/5, 5/5, 3/7, 3/7, 3/7)

*first # is in "L" second tucked

**putting this here kinda as a reference, doubt I'll keep records daily..

3. FL did 3 max holds of something I hope resembled a tuck front lever (used bar)

4. BL did same.. Ugly. Pure ugly. I will try and get a solid minute in but I didn't count em today, definately not 60 sec worth.

5. One set of 3 times rolling from German hang of sorts to hang from bar.

These feel good and I tried them on eagle loops, since no rings handy.

6. V-ups alt with deck squats 3x10 each

I think I need to work them v-ups, it's like finding a very weak link in my chain (abs).

Ok next times statics then the press/pull accesory stuff, I think I will alternate pullups after handstands.

Then some pushups and rows for 3 sets of 3-5.

Then a day without extras, just statics and daily prehab, stretching. Then back to the beginning.

I need to find a good wrist strengthening plan cuz they won't hold up to this for long.

happy to be of help.

a quick reading just to get the big picture and put some theory at work. I know none of us is going to compete, still is difficult to find what you want if you're not specific and know what you exactly want. One step at time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_periodization

about wrists, here something probably useful.

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=13&p=110&hilit=wrist+push+up#p110

Hey I see what your saying about having goals, and I read that article on periodization and I immediately thought of this list I've seen, and here it is:

(sorry if I'm not linking this right but I'm on a cell I don't have a computer.)

http://www.eatmoveimprove.com/2009/12/s ... -athletes/

I want to run through the list, and get to at least a level 2 in all of the skills.

Just would like to use this list as my template, and the gb training should be perfect for developing the overall conditioning needed.

That list is pretty complete and level 2 is an attainable semi short term goal.

Wrist pushups look sick, I'm not even close in terms of flexibility.

I'm thinking that doing the "piked skin the cat" is a better start and more efficient way of training fl/bl at this point, especially with a definate pause at both ends.

10 sets of 30 sec hs every minute on the minute is too much.

I have to scale that back. I think I will try 20 sec on every minute for 12 = 4 minutes, and add a set or time as I get stronger. I was shaking and crashing down after set 6 or 7 and I was needing extra rest after 7 as well.

Everything else is solid. I am on track now. I will run this program until x-mas. Then a week off then start another cycle Jan.1.

yeah, I know that, it was linked on my first post, I found it useful and inspirational as well, I scored pretty well on running tests (4 -3-2 in order) but I didn't even attempt the oly lifts as trying overhead with 50kg would be a guarantee to injury. So power and strenght tests are off limits at the moment, I'm not even close to level 1 on those, beside offcourse a level 1 on dips and pull ups. So it was clear that flexibility and strength were holding me back. I scored 1 on all bodyweight skills. Though it was a bit of a shock to discover that my fitness level is not even considered of an healthy beginner after 20 years of competitive sport...

I wouldn't call a couple of years of committed training (the transition from level 1 to level 2) as semi short term goals.

yep, I started with FL and BL hold to only realize that I had to step back to german hang and skinning the cat.

The difference between skin the cat and German hang- is it just that with the gh you are focusing on the deep stretched back lever like hold, and with the stc it's more of a back and forth. So if I'm correct, a gh would be done as timed holds, and stc would be reps?

I've stayed up with my program so far, done running, will throw in burpees 1-2 times a week for some cardio upkeep but now I'm really gonna focus on strength.

I think level 2 by the end of 2011 is a decent/attainable goal.

I'd like to think I can do all of level one, but need to get to the track to see where I'm at on the 100/400.

Handstand against wall 10x20 seconds

l-sit 60 sec (got a 10 sec L!)

German hangs 3x15 sec. The 15 sec were 3x5 sec, I went up to neutral in between 5 sec holds. I actually got fully stretched out at the bottom for the first time. These make my chest feel incredible- great pec stimulation!!

Headstand pushup 3x2 alternated w/

widest grip pullups (48" bar) 3x2

ring pushup 2x6 alternated w/

ring horizontal row 2x6

hanging leg raise -knees to elbows, bent legs/straight bar 2x6 alt with

arch hold 2x10sec

Not even level one in legs it seems.

Gotta real tear at some deck squats cuz I tried pistols today but shot blanks.

My right leg couldn't come out of the hole, even off a chair, knees are kinda crappy so I hope easier variations will help improve them and not make them worse. Posting it here so I can't hide from it.

Got 80,70 sec hs agAinst wall, 13cm wrists from wall.

Did 6,5 skin the cats, just as nice as I can on form I guess, I suppose the end goal of these is straight body so just try and stretch it out best ya can, right? Bent arms get straighter, bent legs and hips get straighter as you get stronger? It's really hard to know if I'm doing this right but it feels so natural.

That was about the end of it today.

Deck squats don't hurt my knees and neither do prisoner squats, so my thinking is knee pain gets better when my wheels get stronger. Didn't break 24:00 in the 5k, wow I'm out of shape, I was a 16-18 min 5k guy, but I only went running 5 times before the race and let stupidity get my confidence up. You mean I gotta train for those and not just quit smoking for a few month?

I can't believe I was a smoker. A fat smoker. Not a fat smoker anymore at least, just a slow one!

I've lost about 40 pounds and quit smoking and drinking all

since about march. It's been a fun 6 or 7 months. Began training a week after the cortisone injections into my spine. Nothing like a good reality check that you're fat and out of shape, and doctors are idiots unless you need a surgeon, or a dentist.

I'm impressed, 40 pounds in 6 month it's a lot, a lot more than people around says it's advisable.

well, I hate smokers, nice that you quitted, I've been trying all my life to figure it out why people get addicted to it, it seems just so dumb.

I think the problem with pistols it's the same of full bottom squats (oly lift). Hip and ankle flexibility. Just as much of shoulders for freestand handstand and overhead squats (oly lift again).

Yeah my goal is even more ambitious, to score 3 in all test and to stay there as long as I can for the rest of my life and I'm pretty sure at the moment that gymnastic training is going to be the fundamental building block for that.

Yeah smoking is a very dumb way to go, it's dumb not to take care of our bodies, I wanna keep mine as long as I can, somehow I feel like I'm gonna be hanging from rings and doing handstands the rest of my life as well as hopefully a condensed version of level 3, I want a list I can remember of like 10 or less, I'll say 5k/400/pistols/broad jump/burpees for distance and time, like the 400 meter broad jump burpee for time would kinda cover alot of the jumping, running, rowing, parkour well, and I'm not going to pursue the oly lifts other than a novelty maybe- not interested in weights, other than maybe a squat. I think 10 or less is good for "lifetime standards", I don't wanna be vaulting walls and rolling on concrete at 62 and prob not doing full snatches either. But running, jumping, rings, bodyweight stuff. Wow I'm always buzzin on this stuff, I feel great so far, keep wondering if there's a catch, are my joints supposed to pop alot more as well as get stronger?

I wanna time my 400 meter burpee broad jump/track stuff soon, the snows coming and it'll stay for 6 months.

Keep up the training man good to see someone in similar training, though alot ahead of me, doing a similar workout program.

I'm going 6 days a week since I never really sleep much and I'm spent by Tuesday night. Need to try for broad jump measure/burpee broad jump time soon, like tonight. Posting it here so I can't hide from it.

Today was just statics, got another solid 10 sec (timed today) l-sit, I notice as my time goes up my feet also start alot higher and better at pushing my hips forward.

Can't do German hang with the palm down grip, way toO hard on biceps so I did 2 sets of bicep flexing/false grip inverted tuck thing to hit the weak little guys. Tommorow gonna be push pull after statics, yipee I like that alot. Oh and I'm gonna add a little grip work at the end, blockweights or thick bar on occasion, not daily.

Your joints popping is fine, as long as it doesn't hurt

Got 3 handstand (down to head) pushups doing my 3x2 the other day, like the improvements.

Also got a third wide grip (48") pullup and I think my best was 2 there as well.

4x15 sec l-sit felt great, and that's what I'll stick to. Handstands 10x20 sec in 9 minutes is getting easier.

I am doing sat/sun/mon/wed/thu for daily statics (hs, lsit, gh)

2 days each of push/pull and core/legs for the strength training.

Gonna try and keep eating more and more lean protien and pack on some muscle this winter.

No longer a vegetarian, I am trying to incorporate the paleolithic diet a bit.

Fish ain't too bad. Still gotta get over feeling guilty every time I eat it though..

My push pull strength days usually look about like: Hspu/pullup, ring pushup/ring row

legs/core: squats/v-ups/superman holds.

I suck at v-ups, feel very top heavy. Anything better for low back? I'd like to add stiff leg deadlift but don't wanna build my hams since they are so much stronger than my quads, and want to avoid using weights. Also concidered doing weighted squats to get ready for sls but haven't due to trying to stay pure bodyweight.