Feedback on my new program

Hello everybody, I'm just new here!

I'm very excited to be here - gymnastics has always been my favorite sport, from which I've been kept due to health reasons here and there throughout the years.

I just encountered this website and the BtGB book recently. Needless to say I devoured the book from cover to cover in just a day and then re-read most of it a few times to solidify ideas. I've been looking through these forums too, but I'm getting a bit confused with the information given in the book vs. the information in the forums, in order to make the best starting program possible. For example, my take from the book was that holds (FSPs) should be a max of 8 sec for several reps in order to make up to 60 secs for each position, and that with the FBEs sets should contain max 5 reps. I see people here doing differently, without really understanding to what effect, and what would be best for me. I have based the following program for me to begin with based solely on the book, since the advice there was easier to follow at this point. I picked the exercises considering that, for holds, I was able to hold them longer than 15s, and for FBEs, that I could do at least 10 reps - but both still presenting a challenge.

I would do the following holds everyday, plus the following daily FBE schedule, assuming 4 days of training a week (and sometimes maybe just the first 3):

FSPs

L-SIT

L-Sit - PB 8x8s

BACK LEVER

Back Lever - tuck 8x8s

FRONT LEVER

Front Lever - tuck 8x8s

PLANCHE

Planche - advanced frog stang 8x8s

FBEs

Day 1

Pushup Variations: Pushups - XR PPP

Row Variations: Rows - XR Bulgarian

V-up Variations: V-ups

SLS variations: SLS negative

Day 2

Dips: Dips - XR

Pull-ups: Pull-ups - L

Lower back variations: Archups

Hamstring Variations: Natural leg curls

Day 3

Handstand Pushups: HeSPU - negative

Curl Variations: Chin-ups - inverted

Obliques: Windshield wipers - supine

SLS variations: SLS negative

Day 4

CPP Variations: Muscle-ups - XR negative

Hanging leg lifts: HLL - half

Hamstring Variations: Natural leg curls

I'm not sure if or how I should be including WODs, but my guess is that if I ever included them, they'd replace my FBEs of the day, so I'd better do WODs for that entire particular week.

My plan is to use the FSPs as a warm-up. In the book it says that integrated training is best, but not sure I should start yet - and have some confusion on how exactly I would apply integrated training (alternating one set FSP with one set FBE vs. doing all sets of back lever for example then followed by all sets of the day's pulling exercise).

Thanks for any feedback/advice in advance!

Pau

*By the way, I was thinking of using this program for 8 to 12 weeks as advised, without changing exercises or number of reps.

I'm assuming from the lack of replies that my program doesn't have any major flaws

Just as an update, I hurt my wrist during the testing phase (old injury), especially during the frog stand on the floor. So I had to postpone starting my training until now, but I'm good to go and I've been training for a week and loving it! Now I'm using parallets instead of training directly on the floor, and my wrist is okay. I may have to look into some wrist strengthening exercises before training things like handstands.

I still have some confusion about the duration of my holds. What's the best for a beginner? I've seen many set ups in the forums. I usually do 6x10s, is that okay? I read in the forums that for the beginning FSPs, you need to be able to hold it for 60s before moving on to the next progression - but how does one structure the sets? I imagine the recommendations on the book of not going over 8s per rep refer to the more advanced progressions where you move on once you can hold it for 15s. Does that mean I should be doing longer reps at this stage, such as 3x20s or 2x30s, or even aim to 2min such as 3x40s which I've seen here somewhere? Quite confused about this, any advice greatly appreciated!

My apologies if the answer is already posted somewhere in the forums. I've been looking but I haven't been able to find it yet.

Thanks!

Nothing? Anyone?

What I'm doing is I downgraded a couple of the FSPs so that I can hold it for 3x20s. That's what I'm doing, having a feeling that might be better at this stage, but I don't really know. And I don't know if it would be better to do 2min total?

Sorry, gvstarlight. I didn't see your post.

I don't know enough about program design to really critique your routine, but I do highly recommend you take advantage of the WOD's. Coach Sommer knows what he's doing when he designs training routines.

Thanks for the reply

I've thought of the WODs, but I think I'll give my FBE program a good go first (and stay with exercises that don't overstress my wrist), maybe just for the first cycle. Perhaps WODs afterwards when I feel more confident.

Judging by the way you're scaling the rest of your exercises, you probably are not yet strong enough to properly perform XR PPPs. If you have some previous training that has prepared your biceps, shoulders and elbows for the strain, then I apologize for my assumption. However, review the proper technique and don't hesitate to back it up a progression or two if required.

That's because I'm scaling most of the exercises for my joints and tendons, not so much for the strength. In terms of strength, most of the progressions I've chosen are only mildly challenging, but I haven't done any serious training in a while and I've often in the past got carried away when beginning new training programs and have ALWAYS been injured rather quickly. I'll give myself a few cycles of less strenuous work before scaling things up

It's hard to say if I was doing the XR PPPs correctly without someone spotting me, I thought I was, but I've scaled it down to XR Bulgarian for now, for my joints, though strength-wise 3x5 of these is easy. The last thing I want is to get hurt again and have to postpone training several months.

As you know, PPP stands for pseudo planche pushup. The exercise is going to put significant stress on your bicep tendons (just like a planche) because your hands are going to be close to your hips when they're fully extended and locked. Now, the amount of stress will depend on how straight you keep the rest of your body, where your hands are relative to your hips and whether or not you're turning the rings so they face forward. I noticed for myself that when I first started doing it, my hands would subtlely change position - they would start off close to my hips, but as I did a few reps, the only time they would be at my hips was when my arms were bent. When my arms were locked at the top, they would shift somewhere between my hips and my shoulders. I only discovered this after I filmed myself doing some sets to make sure I had the correct form. I suggest you try the same so you can "self-spot." If you're trying to teach yourself how to do these exercises, the camera will be one of your most valuable tools.

If you're scaling your planche and backlever to avoid injury, I recommend you scale the PPP as well for the same reasons.

Thanks rmandawg1!

The tips on the PPP will come in very handy once I start doing it again. I do scale the planche for my shoulders (and the back lever too as it caused me back pain), so I'll be sticking to Bulgarian pushups for now.

I don't have a camera to film myself, but it looks like it will be useful later on, so I might get one.

I just use my cell phone...