Confused newcomer

After lurking around and reading a lot for quite a while I'm a bit perplexed.

As it occurs to me, there is much new under the sun since the book arrived.

There is a lot of information around here, but most of it scattered around and probably will stay so until the second revision.

First, some details:

age: 24, 175, about 73 kg. some prior weightlifting(SS and some Olympic style) but inactive for the last few months.

Currently the only gear available to me are the rings and the floor. even my chairs are light and fragile.

Tested my max FSP holds :

L-sit FX(tucked but closer to straight than chest) - about 32s.

Straddle L on bench(uncomfortable) - ~38s

Frog stand FX - over a minute, yet can't figure advanced yet - maybe due to technique.

FL tuck - ~48s. not sure knees were held tight to the chest.

German hang - hard 35s.

Reverse PU - ~minute

Warmup includes Coach wrist WU(various push-ups and leans), dislocates, wall bridge walks,

attempts at Wall extensions(can't do those yet).

As for FSP's - I was thinking of adjusting work set times as prescribed in the book, but I became aware of the new progressions and pre-req's.

FBE - I was going to use the book method but I noticed that people around here recommend jumping into scaled wod's asap.

So, my questions:

- Should I add/remove anything from the warmup?

- Should I introduce the new fsp progressions/pre-req's?(planks, arch/hollow, dead hangs, PB supports...) if so, how much and when? instead of the book starting variations or in addition?

- It's stated in the book that the only essential gear required are the rings. How should I progress dips for example? I can do about 3-5 XR dips currently, should I use that as my dip FBE or is it wrong considering the last time I tried I couldn't handle the russian variation and I'm in serious doubt about the korean one. But then again, the XR should be the hard one of the lot?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Anyone? :roll:

I think we are all waiting for slizzardman to reply

You should definitely do Arch holds, planks, hollows, bridges and some kind of handstand work each training day you do as part of your warmup. Do them each for at least 30 seconds per hold and do them before you do your other statics.

For your warmup you should do a program similar to slizzardmans video

in addition to ring supports and easier variations on whichever movements your are doing that day as your actual work, for example bar dips before ring dips, or pushups before tucked planche pushups.

If you would like to do a muscle up at some point you should probably work Russian dips, but other than that I don't see why you shouldn't do ring dips assuming they dont hurt you to do them and they are good form(good depth, proper shoulder retraction at the bottom and depression at the top).

Don't skip GB progressions. At all. Ever. Coach recently had an amusing quote from the seminar that one of the attendees remembered on their FB page.

The progressions are not like items at a buffet.

Thanks for the replies guys.

So basically before the FSP work I do some easier variations like the hollow, arch etc... + handstand work?

The warmup portion takes much more time than the workout one.

But as far as I can see it's a common theme around here.

As for dips - is the recommendation for avoiding the XR before the Russian is from an injury prevention standpoint or sabotaging future progress? I was under the impression that skipping the FSP's progression was dangerous because of the ligament and tendon conditioning required for straight arm work, which isn't a problem for FBE's.

I would like to keep the workout rings + floor only, but I'm beginning to think it might not be possible...

You CAN keep the workout rings and floor only, but it would really help you to have access to dip bars, at the very least. Some kind of parallel bar set up would be even better, since that will allow you to do swinging dips. I just came up with an idea for door mounted ddip bars that can handle swinging dips, but it won't be overly pretty. O_o

It goes like this: Mount 2x6 on each side of the door frame both inside and outside. Strap pipe to wood. Do swinging dips. It'll hold just fine, but it won't be beautiful and height may be an issue. A small set of homemade modular parallel bars may be a better idea for you, I don't know.

Regardless, to give you an idea of what a warm up can be, mine is about 45 minutes now. That includes just about everything from FSP work to joint prehab, general conditioning and stretching. I have specific work in there for improving planche, FL, maltese, BL, and press handstand through correct scapular activation and greasing the groove. I have some low-level bounding, Coach's entire warm up, and specific joint rehab stuff I am doing for my elbows. I do this 4 days a week. This is being done with the intent of being as ultimate as I can be, and surprisingly I am feeling better now than ever before, even with the extra work. Keep in mind that this work is very easy, it's not like I'm getting worn out during it.

For someone who just wants general conditioning and as close to a guarantee of no injury and good progress as is possible, I would suggest the following:

Start off with a short jog, maybe 2-3 minutes, and then do 2-3 sprints for 6-10s each at 60%, 80% and then 90% of your perceived maximum output. Jog for 20-30s in between each sprint. At this point your blood will be pumping pretty fast and you will probably feel like you will start sweating soon, which you very well may. I would do some short bounding within your ability, just 10 feet at first and add five feet per month. Just toe hops, continuously, for good but not maximum height. Next I would do some short push up hops, maybe 5-10 if you can. This stuff just wakes your nervous system up, it's not supposed to be all out. Next do your dynamic stretching and then do your FSP warm up. I'd do the wrist series after that and some elbow prehab like one set of high rep curls at a slow tempo followed by one set of tricep extensions or tricep push ups. This can all be done in 30 min or less without killing yourself. I HIGHLY suggest doing a similar set of scapular retractions at the very least, but preferably you will do shrugs in all 4 cardinal directions. Elevation, depression, protraction, retraction. If nothing else, do retraction. Now take a short breather, 2-3 minutes, and kick some butt in the WOD! Even though you may feel slightly tired, you will perform better. For the first 2-3 weeks this may cause you to be tired before the end of the WOD, which is ok, just scale appropriately as you get tired. In short order your work capacity will be built to where you will not even get tired really. That's a really good thing. It means your vascular system has become much more efficient due to increased capillary density and mitochondrial count, and to some degree CNS efficiency. Those first two adaptations are important for minimizing soreness and maximizing healing.

Do your static stretching after the workout.

I am also doing a second session that targets one body part at a very low intensity with very high volume and I am doing this to rehab my joints and increase my healing rate. It should also massively increase my muscular endurance without sacrificing strength. I do not suggest that you do this until you have a good amount of training under your belt, and certainly not until I have done this myself for at least 6 months so that I know how well it does or does not work. This is, as far as I am aware, a pilot program.

I have been doing this for a week now and I feel great. No problems. The main reason for that is what I have recommended as your arm up. I can't really be more specific without stepping on toes, but that is really about as good as it gets. I would highly recommend that your warm up include single sets of easy versions of the exercises that are in the WOD for the day near the end.