Getting Started: Questions

Hey! Thanks for reading.

I came to these forums to find me a bit of information on how to train properly with mainly bodyweight. I ended up buying Coach Sommer's book (should arrive in a few weeks), registering and (obviously) posting here. I have a lot of questions I want to ask, but I'll start off with a few words up front regarding my previous training and what goals I intend to achieve.

I'm currently 22 years old, 6'4" (192cm), 83kg at 13-14% bodyfat. I've been working out for about three years now, at home. I have about 150lbs (75kg) of weights lying around. I've been training fairly consistently over the past three years (3-5 times per week, usually 30-60 minutes), mixing standard free-weight exercises with a few bodyweight exercises here and there. I did a little bit of cardio about once a week.

I wanted to try something new now though and bodyweight training seems like a very interesting way to go. I'd love to learn how to do side levers, front and back levers, planche push-ups, some ring exercises and a lot of those kinds of 'powermoves' if you will. I'm also interested in plyometric training and keeping some cardiovascular endurance up, so I have a few questions on how I can mix all of that up.

Below is my cardio routine, my plyometric exercises and my gymnastics exercises. I haven't really started hitting the gymnastics stuff hard, I'm just testing a few things out at the moment. I'd rather take it easy than dive in head-first.

Cardio

My cardio routine is a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), which is for instance 20 seconds of sprinting and then 40 seconds of rest for a total of 5-10 minutes. I do this about twice a week. It's not the standard type of steady-paced, 30-min endurance training, but it does improve your VO2max considerably (and I'm done faster! ).

Plyometrics

Since I'm already running my legs out from under me twice a week, I figured a bit of extra plyometric work would be enough exercise for my legs in one week. Apart from the HIIT and plyometric work, I do no other leg-specific exercises.

I do about 4-6 sets of leg plyometrics, twice a week. The plyometric leg exercises consist of vertical jumps, box jumps, etc.

For my upper body I try to do explosive push-ups (clap push-ups), burpees, sit-ups w/ toe touches and explosive chin-ups for example. I do just as much upper body plyometrics as I do leg plyometrics.

Gymnastics Training

I intend to divide my gymnastics training in four days (two pull-oriented workouts and two push-oriented workouts, all upper body).

As a warm-up, I'll do the 6-min warm-up suggested in one of the 'Getting Started'-stickies and two pre-hab sessions per workout (before and after the main workout). The skills I want to work on are:

Push: handstand, pseudo-planche push-ups, planche progessions (frog stand in my case), L-Sits

Pull: weighted pull-ups (overhand grip), horizontal pull-ups (overhand grip, part of front lever progression), side lever progressions (step 1 in my case, 1/2 negatives)

I want to do roughly 2-3 sets of every exercise. I'll try to aim my workout to a maximum duration of about 50-70 minutes.

Questions

- Too much volume/frequency? Is it okay? Is it too low?

- The exercises I picked are exercises I know I can do. Are there any exercises I should consider removing, adding or replacing?

- Any other suggestions, critiques and insights are very welcome.

I have a thread elsewhere on these forums regarding my intended pre-hab routine. I started this thread since my wrists are pretty weak and have been problematic in the past.

Looks ok.

I'd ditch pseudos for a dipping or multiplane progression

Okay, will do. Now here's a silly question: what exactly is a multiplane progression exercise?

I'm not too familiar with those fancy words, English is merely my second language.

Thanks for the advice. Good to hear I'm on the right track for the most part.

Re: Multiplane

(1) You buy the book yet? Go get it. Totally worth it.

(2) Most exercises work in one "plane" or direction. Rows work your back with your body horizontal. Pull-ups work your back with your body vertical. Multiplane exercises are design to exercise both planes and all the planes in between horizontal/vertical within the prescribed movement.

(3) If you're still building strength, it might be awhile before you can do the multiplane exercises. Just a heads up.

J

1) Yep, it's on its way

2/3) Ah, I get it. I'll try a few exercises and see how I do. I'm guessing I still have some work ahead of me before I can start multiplane exercises though.

Thanks for your informing words.

if i understand it correctly, you have 2 training session for legs (explosive work, and hiit) and 4 strength sessions for upper body in one week ? I hope that your physical status is at least near elite so you can gain from that volume, unless you drop intensity. Your two training sessions for legs are very demanding, but if your add strength training 4 days in between, your body will have a problem to recover. Every gymnastics exercises you listed are tough and require patience and hard work. I think that WODs are optimal for your goals and incorporate all work you listed.

You almost understood it correctly then.

I'm doing four training sessions a week. During two of those, a part of the training session is the explosive leg work. The HIIT is detached from these trainings and are basicly just done whenever my legs and body feel up for it. My aim for the HIIT is twice a week, though if my legs feel like they are struggling to recover I'll give 'm the time they need to do so.

But as I mentioned, these are my plans. I've been doing the HIIT, but not the gymnastics training yet. I'm swamped in deadlines right now for both study and work. I'll get around to trying it all out next week for the first time. With some luck BtGB will be delivered somewhere in the next few days so I can start reading a bit already.

In the past I've done a fair amount of high intensity training several times a week, so that's what I based my preliminary workout schedule on.

I think I'll try the WOD's instead of the actual gymnastics exercises I listed, while sticking to my intended warm-up and pre-hab work.

Cheers for your input.

My main recommendation would be to introduce handstand work if you are not currently, at the very least doing wall handstands as part of one of your pressing days, the benefits of handstands can never be overstated for gymnastics ability and strength as well as just general strength and looking awesome

I should've mentioned it, but I've got handstand work set it for one or two workouts per week (roughly 10 minutes of working on the handstand, included in the pressing workouts).

Cheers