Training Advice for up and coming stuntman-Coach please help

Hello everybody,

First of all, thanks to Coach and all of the admins for the wealth of info on the site-i really can wait until the book comes out-i read on IDO's blog he already has a copy-lucky!

I am starting out in my career as a stuntman- and I have about a year to train for a large independent film in Austing. I've started training in gymnastics- I could already do various tricks-check out this video

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... d=40811670

- but I really dont know how to set up a program-I've learned how to one

circle, I can do straddle planche germans on the pommel horse, muscle ups and rudimentary swings on the ring tower, and swinging dips-one one they way forward and one on the way back, however when i go to practice-i'm all over the place since i really have no idea how to set up a program-i really want to make the most of time to do the best possible job in my first film-i'm the double for the lead-and i cant think of any better way to increase my conditioning than full out gymnastics-thanks guy for anyhelp you'll give me

i need to fix my signature-here it is

"anything is possible- i can do anything as long as i train correctly for it"

Interesting. Well, first off make some goals of what you think might be impressive as a stuntguy. Stuff like a handstand, free standing handstand pushup, flag lever, etc. Learn the gymnastics circle to flair route or breaker flair route. It would probably be a good skill to have in your bank.

I would say work on tightening up your back tumbling, but it's fair enough for most stunt work I'd say. Make sure you can do a front handspring of course and it would be good to be able to have a really high back tuck, especially if you can start flipping and land on something higher.

Write out how much time you have to workout per week and how many days. From there, break it down to warmup and cool down/stretch time and how many events/rotations you would do ( let's say tumbling/rings or pommel/floor/rings ) for how long besides any specific strength or conditioning time.

Thanks for your advice Blairbob,

I was thinking about fine-tuning everything-

As far as technique goals here they are by apparatus:

Mushroom-multiple circles and flares-So far I can do one full circle-took about a month to learn-from what I hear they are among the hardest to learn

Pommel Horse-hopefully build up to at least perform level 7 or higher routine- currently working basic conditioning-around the worlds and leg cuts along with mushroom work

Rings- Iron Cross, Maltese, Planche and enough to skill to perform optional level routines- currently able to muscle up to support and l sits on ring tower and basic swings-back swing needs a lot of work- and can do straddle front and back levers- i use an iron cross trainer for iron cross build up conditioning

P bars- Swinging dips to 45 and then to handstands after i master the 45 degree variation

As for floor tumbling- I just need to clean up tumbling first, then I'll start working on double fulls, handspring to front, and then work on new martial arts tricks-double butterfly twists, double corkscrews

The film-Templar Honor Among Thieves won't begin filming until summer 09-there will also be a trailer shoot in about 6-8 months to help generate interest (independant films are shot differently than mainstream in some instances-having the trailer shot way before the actual film to generate interest from investors)

I usually go to the gymnastics gym for 4 hrs+ on mon&wed and 3 hrs Tues& Thurs,

Fri Sat Sun-the gyms not open but I can still tumble at another gym and use the xtreme rings for conditioning

I've changed my training from focusing on weight training with a little of rings-to focusing on training more like a competitive gymnast with little or no weight training-my strength and physique have improve in this last month-

I am 24-old to start gymnastics-but I always wanted to do it and its either i do what i can now with the time i have or never do it at all. I am already in good shape for stuntwork in the film- but I want to see how much I can learn in gymnastics as a personal goal-I plan on going hard until by body cant take it anymore-looking at some of the Olympians of today-Jordan Jovtchev in particular-I got another decade at least- Plus the gymnastics training will make me stronger over the next year than weight training and other classical work ever could

Now all I need to get the most of the time I have is some advice on how to split up my training so that I can improve as much as humanly possible in about 10-12 months- i'm sure coach's book will help a lot-but it may still be a little while so any help in the meantime will be much appreciated-thanks again for any help you'll give me