Andy's Log - Raw Beginner

Hi

I am going to log all my workouts on here, to give myself a little extra motivation and hopefully help others just starting.

Any constructive criticism is very welcome !!!

Stats:

Age: 30 Gender: Male

Weight: 72 kg Height: 5' 10"

I am from Newcastle Upon Tyne in the UK and I train first thing in the morning, usually 6am.

As stated in the title i am a raw beginner with no previous gymnastics training whatsoever. I have done a few years weight training so i am very tight in various places ie, chest and shoulders.

I preliminarily did nothing but FSP's and stretching for the first 4 weeks. FSP's were:

L-Sit (tuck) L-Straddle (tuck)

Hollow holds Superman holds

Plank (feet on a chair) Reverse Plank (feet on a chair)

Handstand (against wall) Headstand (freestanding)

Frogstand

I worked up to 60 seconds or more for each hold, except the hollow hold, which i can only manage 50 seconds on (so far).

Wall extensions and dislocates are amazing!!! They have opened up my shoulders very quickly with regular use. I am getting a little bit of the lost range of movement back in my shoulders every time i do these

After the 4 weeks of FSP's + stretches i started the WOD's:

Mon 21/2/11 WOD 090105

6 min warm up (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 20 squats - 10 push ups - repeat with no rest in between each till times up)

Complete 4 rounds of:

30 metre sprints - i used a 12.5kg dumbell in each hand

30 seconds of jumps squats

40 feet of senders - i used various planks of wood, the bin and other garden bits and bobs to jump over (I got some really funny looks from people passing by )

Finished with 2x30 seconds weighted pike stretch

I had to lie down for 10 mins after this - feeling sick lol. How unfit am i !?!

Tue 22/2/11 WOD 090106

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 20 squats - 10 push ups - repeat till times up)

Hollow hold 50 secs

Superman hold 60 secs

Handstand (tall) 60 secs

Wrist/elbow prehab

Perform 3 sets of general ring strength- scaled for me as follows:

2 dips, to negative MU, to 2 PU's, to tucked BL 5 secs, to tucked FL 5 secs

Rested 2 mins between sets

3x10 tucked 360 pulls ( i managed 1x4, 1x4 and 1x3. very hard)

Finished with 10 wall extensions

I felt great after this workout!!

Wed 23/2/11 15 min jog then 1 hour of stretcing.

Thu 24/2/11 WOD 090108

6 min warm up (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 20 squats - 10 push ups - repeat with no rest until time is up)

L-sit tuck 40 secs

Short bridges 1x10

I Performed 3 sets of each couplet:

embedded PL, tucked (2 reps) + Negative MU's (3 reps)

embedded FL, tucked (2 reps) + RLL's (3 reps) using only bodyweight as i was unfamilar with this move

embedded BL, tucked (2 reps) + L-sit lifts, tucked (3 reps)

I rested 20-30 secs between each couplet, and 2 mins between each giant set.

5x bridge wall walks - im as stiff as a board, these are tough. My back felt mint afterwards though!

10 mins of stretching

Fri 25/2/11 WOD 090109

6 min warm up (the usual)

Plank 60 secs - feet on a high chair

Reverse plank 60 secs - feet on a high chair

Completed 4 rounds of:

30 secs of swinging dips on rings

20 feet of L-sit walks - i did L-sit bottom slides, basically i tried to lift myself up into a l-sit, pushed myself as far forward as poss, then down. Repeat until all 20 ft had been covered.

I went directly from the dips to the L-walks and had 2 mins rest between rounds.

Finished with 10 wrist PU's on knee's (cant do them yet in full PU as my wrist buckles. ouch!!)

10 mins of stretching

A few hours after this workout the outsides of my shoulders had some amazing DOMS which i didnt think was possible. I have hit my shoulders hard with various weight exercises in the past and never felt it AT ALL in my shoulders. Awesome

Mon 28/2/11 WOD 090112

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 20 squats - 10 push ups - repeat with no rest until time is up)

L-sit, low 2x15 secs

Reverse plank 60 secs with feet on a high chair

3x5 weighted deck squats using 5kg plate

3x5 single leg arch ups- no extra weight

It took 20 mins to figure out the deck squats. I tried to do them without any weight at first to no avail. I dont have the hip flexability yet and i couldnt get back up to my feet.

So i used the weight out in front of me to pull myself back up with the momentum.

3x10 hip extensions - 1st set forward, 2nd set sideward, 3rd set circular. These are mega hard!! hello to my first ever quad cramps.

10 mins of stretches - these are so theraputic after hip extensions ahhhhhhhhhhhh

Tue 1/3/11 WOD 090113

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 20 squats - 10 push ups - repeat with no rest until time is up)

Advanced frog stand 15 sec

Superman hold 45 sec

Wrist/Elbow warm up and prehab works

11 mins of HS wall runs (this was my first ever attempt at these!!) within the 11 mins i did 4x30 secs constant wall runs, and a static HS for 30 secs

Finished with 10 wrist PU's

Wed 2/3/11 1 hour of stretches

Thu 3/3/11 WOD 090115

6 min warm up

Hollow hold 50 sec

Superman 60 sec

Wrist and elbow warm up

I completed 4 rounds of:

10 FL pulls (tucked) - I performed these fairly rapidly as coach suggested

5 Negative back pulls (tucked) - taking at least 5 sec for each of these

FL pulls were hard as nails the first few rounds until i got the technique right

10 min stretches

Fri 4/3/11

I started the WOD which was general ring strength, but i was as weak as a kitten and aching so much from the previous days workout (FL pulls were brutal) i decided to miss it and have a extra days rest.

Mon 7/3/11 WOD 090119

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 15 full squats - 10 close hand PU's - repeated with no rest until time is up)

Frog stand 60 sec

L-sit low 20 sec

I completed 3 sets of the following:

embedded BL (2 reps) + yewkis (3 reps)

embedded PL (2 reps) + chest roll headstand (3 reps) - awkward but really fun, my back is so unflexible and it shows doing these

embedded FL (2 reps) + HLL tuck, half (3 reps)

Finished with 10 bridge wall walks

Tue 8/3/11 WOD 090120

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 15 full squats - 10 close hand PU's - repeated with no rest until time is up)

Complete as many rounds as possible in 15 mins:

10 Depth Jumps

15 Squat Jumps

30 RLL's - in headstand, against a wall

I completed 2 rounds in 21 mins. The RLL's i found hard, so took alot of time to reach the target reps

Finished with 2x60 sec Seated toe point stretch

Wed 9/3/11

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 15 full squats - 10 close hand PU's - repeated with no rest until time is up)

1 hour of intense stretching

Thu 10/3/11 WOD 090122

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 15 full squats - 10 close hand PU's - repeated with no rest until time is up)

3x5 Negative SLS - Done as slow as poss. 1st set 6 secs each, 2nd 6 secs, 3rd 5 secs.

3x5 Natural Leg Curls - I used my finger tips to spot myself considerably and made sure to keep hips fully open/ridged

Finished with 2x30 sec Straddle L tucked and some stretches

Fri 11/3/11 WOD 090123

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 15 full squats - 10 close hand PU's - repeated with no rest until time is up)

Wrists/Elbows prehab

I was intending on doing 10 mins of XR Strap HS but i fell in every direction trying to get into HS :oops:

I did manage to do a XR HeSPU though woohoo. Admittedly it was a bit skewed lol

So I did 10 mins of Wall HS instead

The overall time I spent working to achieve the 10 min Wall HS was 30 mins

Sets: (stomach to wall) 35, 45, 40, 45, 35, 45, 35, 35, 45 (back to wall) 35, 35, 60, 60, 60.

My lower back was aching a little bit near the end, because I struggled to keep my hips pulled in. Low back and abs not strong enough yet i think !!

Mon 14/3/11 WOD 090126

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 15 full squats - 10 close hand PU's - repeated with no rest until time is up)

Arch hold 30 sec

Hollow hold 30 sec

HS - stomach against wall 30 sec

I completed 4 rounds of:

5 Cast wall walks

10 Wheels (Had to do these from my knee's, I just didnt have the explosive power needed . On hindsight i probably should of done clapping PU's)

30 sec of Wallaby's

I rested for 2 mins max between each round

2x10 Wrist PU's

Tue 15/3/11 WOD 090127

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 15 full squats - 10 close hand PU's - repeated with no rest until time is up)

Arch hold 30 sec

L-Sit, low 15 sec

Wall HS 30 sec

I completed 3 sets of the following:

2 negative MU's to, XR L-sit (low) 5 sec to, 2 Dips to, Straddle L tucked 5 sec to, FL 5 sec to, BL 5 sec

I had 1 min rest between each set

3x5 360's tucked

10 Wall extensions

Wed 16/3/11

45 min of intense stretching

Thu 17/3/11 WOD 090129

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 15 full squats - 10 close hand PU's - repeated with no rest until time is up)

Wrist/Elbow prehab

I completed 3 giant sets of:

Embedded BL (adv. tuck 5 sec) 2 reps + Reverse yewki's 5 reps

Embedded PL (adv. frog 5 sec) + XR dips 5 reps

Embedded FL (tuck 5 sec) + V lifts (tucked) 5 reps

Finished with 10 Bridge wall walks

Sat 19/3/11 WOD 090130

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 15 full squats - 10 close hand PU's - repeated with no rest until time is up)

Wrist/Elbow prehab

I was supposed to do 4 rounds of the following, but only just managed 3:

10 kipping pull ups

15 towel pull ups (using a slight jump)

10 german hang pulls (I could'nt do a third set of these because my grip was completely gone. My forearms were like bricks!!)

I had 2-3 mins rest between rounds

Mon 21/3/11 WOD 090202

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 15 full squats - 10 close hand PU's - repeated with no rest until time is up)

3x5 Jumping SLS (I used both legs only for the positive portion/jump)

3x5 Natural leg curls + Arch ups (I did this because im not strong enough to do GHR's yet)

Rested 2 mins between sets

6x10 sec of Straddle L, Low

Tue 22/3/11 WOD 090203

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 15 full squats - 10 close hand PU's - repeated with no rest until time is up)

Wrist/Elbow prehab

15 mins of HS Walking ladders

No. of HS steps: 2, 5, 4, 2, 2, 4, 4, 7, 3, 5, 3, 4, 5, 3, 4, 4, 5, 3, 16(woohoo i stayed in a HS for 15 secs), 4, 5, 3, 5, 5, 6.

2x6 Wall pike press HS (I ended up doing HeS)

2x10 Wrist push ups

Thu 24/3/11 WOD 090205

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 15 full squats - 10 close hand PU's - repeated with no rest until time is up)

I completed 4 rounds of the following:

20 Jumping deck squats - I held a 5kg plate in my hands throughout this exercise to help get me back to my feet.

30 sec shuttle run

40 ft of senders

I had 2 min rest max between each round

Thu 31/3/11 WOD 090212

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 15 full squats - 10 close hand PU's - repeated with no rest until time is up)

Hollow hold 2x30 sec

Arch hold 2x30 sec

3x5 Heavy weighted deck squats - I used a 10kg plate in my hands, i could use 15kg next time as it was a little easy.

2x5 Negative GHR's - these were tough

1x10 Arch up's - I did these to make up for doing only 2 sets of the GHR's

I took 2 min rest or less

3x10 Hip extensions

Fri 1/4/11 WOD 090213

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 15 full squats - 10 close hand PU's - repeated with no rest until time is up)

Wrist/Elbow Prehab

12 Cycles of wrist HS

This basically consisted of (30 sec work + 45 sec rest)x12

I kept my wrists as close as poss. to the wall i.e 1-2" but as i got more fatigued my wrists got farther and farther away.

It took me 18 min 15 sec to complete all 12 sets.

Mon 4/4/11 WOD 090216

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 15 full squats - 10 close hand PU's - repeated with no rest until time is up)

Adv. frog 2x15 sec

L-sit, low 2x15 sec

I completed 3 rounds of:

5 XR Pull up's

5 Front lever pull's

5 XR Negative back pull's

2 min rest between rounds

This is harder than it looks!! My grip was destroyed.

Tue 5/4/11 WOD 090217

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 15 full squats - 10 close hand PU's - repeated with no rest until time is up)

Performed 3 sets of:

Front Lever Pull -> Yewki -> XR Neg. MU -> Wall HeSPU -> XR L-sit (5 sec) -> XR Bulgarian Dip -> XR Dip -> BL (5 sec) -> FL (5 sec)

3x5 XR L-sit lifts (low)

2x10 Wall Extensions

Thu 7/4/11 WOD 090219

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 15 full squats - 10 close hand PU's - repeated with no rest until time is up)

Completed 3 sets of each:

Embedded BL (flat tuck) 2 reps + Front Lever (tucked) 3 reps

Embedded PL (adv. frog) 2x 10 sec + XR Push Up's 5 reps

Embedded FL (tucked) 2 reps + HLL (V to L) 3 reps + HLL (open to L) 3 reps

10 Bridge Wall Walks

Fri 8/4/11 WOD 090220

Warm up 6 mins (consists of jogging on the spot 100 steps - 15 full squats - 10 close hand PU's - repeated with no rest until time is up)

Completed 4 rounds of:

10 Depth Jumps

5 graduated SLS (5 each leg)

30 Metres of weighted sprints using two, 12.5kg dumbells. This was a killer

L-sit (low) 6x10 sec