My workout and how to get started

Hello all!! I'm just excited to be even making a post on the forums here as I have been reading up on the forum for weeks now and waiting even longer to finish my previous weight training program and move on to my gymnastic program. I ordered both Building the Gymnastic Body along with a pair of rings, both of which I am very pleased with and have read BtGB more than my text books unfortunately. Haha. Alright, down to business.

I have looked though BtGB extensively and have decided to devise my own workout program from it. As of now, I have "heavy days" being Monday, Wednesday, Friday and my "lighter days" being Tuesday and Thursday... (well that's the way it appears on paper at least. I have yet to start this program) I have broken my workouts down into 4 supersets, each superset containing two contrasting movements, such as a pressing movement followed by a pulling movement. So M/W/F goes like this...

Superset 1: Pushup variation - - - - - - - - - - Row variation

1 minute rest

Superset 2: Dip variation - - - - - - - - - - - - Pull-up variation

1 minute rest

Superset 3: Handstand pushup variation - - Curl variation

1 minute rest

Superset 4: V-up variation - - - - - - - - - - - Lower back variation

3-5 reps per exercise for three sets.

I will be following the five rep guideline and when I have achieved a comfortable and consistent five reps in a certain variation, will then move on the next and more advanced variation of that movement. Tuesdays and Thursdays will go as follows:

Superset 1: L-sit variation static hold (for time) - - - - Leg variation

1 minute rest

Superset 2: Planche variation static hold (for time) - -Leg variation

1 minute rest

Superset 3: Straddle L variation (for time) - - - - - - - - Leg variation

1 minute rest

Superset 4: Hanging leg lift variation - - - - - - - - - - Obliques variation

3-5 reps (or a targeted time for the static holds) for three sets.

I believe that because the legs are comprised of bigger muscles that more work should be placed upon them to remain proportional throughout the body. As you may have noticed, I have left out some pretty big movements such as multi-plane pressing and multi-plane pulling, along with some others, and for a good reason. As it were, I once believed I was a "strong" being. That is until I started playing around on my rings. Those two small circles on a string have humbled me like nothing else, which brings me to my next point. I have read the Pre-requisite sticky and possibly through my inexperience and lack of attained knowledge in this area, it seems brief. So my thoughts and questions are...

Should I formulate a more "basic" program to build up to the one aforementioned?

I am pretty weak in pull-ups and "decent" with chin-ups, should I build those two movements up before starting the aforementioned program?

Is the program I have devised even worth doing?

If I should start more basic, what sort of exercises or movements? (I will be testing myself today on the big ones I have heard thus far being: German hangs and L-sits (which I can do but have yet to time them)). Any others???

I have come here to this think tank in hopes of getting much feedback and help me get started on the right path. PLEASE feel free to change and manipulate this program in ANY way you see fit. Even if it means scrapping the whole thing! This was my interpretation of building a program from BtGB and an inexperienced interpretation at that. So I "could" be on the right track or going about this in ALL the wrong ways. PLEASE feel free to tell me ALL my flaws so I can get this thing going!!! If you read this entire post, congratulations and thanks for your time and input.

May your turkey sandwiches be plentiful, and have a wonderful day.

Did I ask too much and it's too much to read? Sorry, I guess I was trying to clarify my position too well. Anyone though? It's not THAT long. Haha

Vanilla Gorilla said:

Did I ask too much and it's too much to read? Sorry, I guess I was trying to clarify my position too well. Anyone though? It's not THAT long. Haha

haha, sorry, sometimes it just takes a while for someone to see it. Hi, welcome to the forums (c:

Have you considered the WODs that Coach posts? Unless you have very specific goals, the WODs would serve as a well-put-together program that will cover all your bases for strength development.

(I ask this only because I'm not really sure about giving advice on your program. I don't know enough, which is why I use the WODs; I trust Coach's knowledge about this more than mine. )

thanners said:

Vanilla Gorilla said:

Did I ask too much and it's too much to read? Sorry, I guess I was trying to clarify my position too well. Anyone though? It's not THAT long. Haha

haha, sorry, sometimes it just takes a while for someone to see it. Hi, welcome to the forums (c:

Have you considered the WODs that Coach posts? Unless you have very specific goals, the WODs would serve as a well-put-together program that will cover all your bases for strength development.

(I ask this only because I'm not really sure about giving advice on your program. I don't know enough, which is why I use the WODs; I trust Coach's knowledge about this more than mine. )

Yeah I've checked out a few of the WOD but I don't think I am anywhere near being able to attempt one. Maybe I'm just underestimating myself but I was thinking I needed a real strong foundation before attempting one of the WODs. Thanks for the response though! You've been the most helpful so far! Haha

I found myself thinking the same thing, and eventually concluded that appropriately scaled WODs were achievable and probably better balanced than what I had been trying to figure out before. Not that there was probably anything hugely wrong with my plan before, or with yours, just that the WODs covered it all for me.

The more familiar you become with the WODs, the easier it will be for you to figure out appropriate scaling for your own level. Other members of the forum can help with this. Also, since most post their workout logs, you might be able to see how other people are in fact scaling it themselves. If you follow the WODs a week behind, it can give you more time to plan how you'll scale. In some cases you may need to scale waaay back--this is fine. A muscle-up can be scaled by separately working the pull up and dip movements, for example.

If you slowly, methodically proceed with exercises scaled to your level, I think that you will slowly build the foundational strength needed to move onto the next progressions.

Hopefully someone else can give you some better criticism regarding your own routine, though (c: As much as i'm advocating the WODs here, I still have to admit that I hadn't jumped directly into it myself either, so who knows if I actually would've been able to do so, or whether the few months of steady state cycle (SSC) work beforehand did indeed build some necessary strength for me...

The Killroy70 Workout would be another Option. Most People had really good results with it, so it has been tested and approved.

Good point! For reference, the Killroy70 template can be found here.

Hey thanks for the link! Yeah I can see some similarities between KillRoy's plan and my own. He uses antagonistic movements paired together so that seems like a good route to follow. I tried a little demo of my workout and I think I'll try it out for a while and see what happens. I do plan on taking some things from Killroy like using the FSPs as a "warm-up" to each workout rather than incorporating it in the actual workout. I hope to post back soon with good results and some progress, but from where I stand (a beginner) there's only one way to go from here I guess. Thanks guys. Please all others feel free to chime in and help in my movement. This adventure will never finish for me but can be better developed through my own experiences and learning through the experiences of others. So thanks for the help thus far and hope to hear from more of you.