Weightlifting and Gymnastics

I have been weightlifting for a long time, by no means am I elite, but I think I have above average strength. I have also been performing my own version of gymnastics since I was a boy, I am now 34. I've played football since I was 7. I've always loved strength sports, but never had any coaching in gymnastics, just did some random jumps, flips and the usual push ups, dips and pull ups. Since I found this site and got the book and DVD's, I learned how to back off of the silliness I was doing and start from the beginning to develop my FSP's, and basic exercises with more quality. I have a long, long way to go. But I love my training so much more now that I have a better plan of action, and I feel so much better than before when I predominantly did only weightlifting. I do not want to do one or the other right now, but with the basic gymnastics training that I have incorporated into my weight training, I feel like a new man. This site is awesome for the information, support and so much more that is available. Just wanted to say thank you and look forward to learning and growing more. I'll try to post some of my progress as I grow, and of course if anyone has criticism, please share. I have already spoken with a few people like slizzardman via YouTube, but anyone else who has questions or comments, please ask or offer. Thanks. Here is some of my current training...

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I don't know why that didn't embed, sorry...

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You put in the first mixture of letters and numbers at the "watch" in the link. Should really be some instructions on that somewhere

Anyways, I really enjoyed watching your video. The scapular work with the rings during your warm up especially.

What you posted was the playlist url.

When you,

all you need to do is copy qbcXj0NCh6Y out of

So everything after "=" to the "&"

I edit quite a bit of posts just fixing these on the forum mainly so we can view the embedded videos and not have to load up youtube (as doing so is slow for those on dinosaur computers like me).

thanks, Blairbob and Philip, I wasn't trying to be a pest, I know you guys deal with a lot of the same recurring issues. Just saying thanks and looking forward to future progress.

You're a beast. Be careful with the straight arm progressions. Your muscular strength may be giving you a false sense of your readiness to handle the elbow stresses.

Matt,

Thanks for the kind words and for sharing your progress.

GB forum moderator Jeff @ CFST is also a serious weightlifter. Olympic weight lifting is something that I have been interested in for some time, but have not pursued with my athletes due to a lack of technical knowledge on my part. Jeff @ CFST was kind enough to spend some time with my elite group one evening prior to a GB Seminar and quickly got them up to 185lb jerks (at a bodyweight of 140lbs or less) their first time OL with what he assured me was the most atrocious form.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Great video. I'm also glad I watched it all the way to the end (c:

Beautiful blend of both styles. I have wanted to bring lifting back into the mix, but I want to keep the WODs priority.

To accomodate this goal, I would recommend integrating the OL into the GB WOD leg days.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Matt what position did you play in? I used to be a Defensive Back, then I played Running Back in my fifth season of football and retired from the sport nearly six months ago so I can commit to gymnastics properly. I did some Defensive End too though not my official position and made a name for myself mostly on the Defensive Line alone!

Before I left football it was a pain in the neck to write myself a gym plan to fit both football and gymnastics and at the same time cover compound muscles and specific muscle requirements used in each sport. Your video beats my gym plan hands down!

After I quit football I overhauled my gym plan and it became more simpler and tidier.

These parallettes in the video are made of PVC pipes? Are they really that strong, stable and safe? What should be the minimal diameter of the pipe and how big/tall/long it is wise to make them?

1.5" PVC for paralletes at minimum. That holds me just fine. Matt also made an awesome dip tower out of what I believe was 2" PVC.

Matt: Great video! If I may, a few small critiques. During planche work you let yourself have something of a forward head posture which you can see in your video. The neck cranes forward. Try to use your upper thoracic and cervical extensors to resist this. Ideally you want to have a nearly straight spine from top to bottom. You are very close.

Back lever: Take a few progressions back (just for safety) and start working palms down. This will compliment your planche work and set the stage for back lever curls and whatnot later on.

Muscle up: Nice and strong, but you use a bit of acceleration for the transition. That's a good thing to keep in, but try to practice super slow transitions as well. 5-10s on the way up and down through the transition from top of dip to bottom of pull up and also from top of pull up to bottom of dip. That will help solidify the stabilizing structures of the shoulder.

Other things I noticed: You are a beast!

Holy wowsies! Total bad@ss

slizzardman said:

1.5" PVC for paralletes at minimum. That holds me just fine. Matt also made an awesome dip tower out of what I believe was 2" PVC.

"dip tower" - You mean the paralletes in the video? Our local gyms do not have any gymnastics equipment. They do not have even proper gymnastics bars, let alone PB. I cannot afford to get such equipment for home. I wonder if PVC pipes are suitable to make something like PBs or they are only good for "paralletes"?

You can make Do-It-Yourself Dip bars with PVC or lumber and pipe. A google search should warrant some schematics for them.

Zingman the site Drillsandskills has some spec for biulding diy paralettes. Matt Welcome to the fourm got all kinds of respect for you brother, been following you for a while now.

Thank you guys. The thing I like most about this community is the respect and helpful advice offered to the other members. Lots of places only bash others without even offering solutions, but this is like getting an education here.

Slizzardman, I realized some of my mistakes this past weekend during the course in Miami with Jeff. Lots of little things pointed out to me that I was doing wrong that are probably common errors from newbies like myself who just want to barrel through without paying dues. I'll regress and tighten up to ensure safety and future progress. My bits and pieces are pretty tight, and it is quite humbling to regress when you feel like you can do more, but I know its a dead end trap to continue with improper technique.I always appreciate helpful criticism, Its uncommon today with so many negative critics who have nothing positive to offer.

I made that PVC dip station a long time ago for personal use, but when I started getting more people in my place to train, I gave it to a friend. It still works fine, but I use either rings or 2 steel pipes or bars in the squat rack on the safety pins for dips now.

Matt, what are your measurements? What is the weight when you do power cleans? It looks pretty huge!

marquito76r said:

Zingman the site Drillsandskills has some spec for biulding diy paralettes. Matt Welcome to the fourm got all kinds of respect for you brother, been following you for a while now.

Thanks! Sorry everybody! I should have written that I have seen those schematics. What they show there is relatively small in size. What I wonder is whether PVC pipes are used to make much larger dip bar if they would be save still. Well, never mind...

MattWichlinski said:

Thank you guys. The thing I like most about this community is the respect and helpful advice offered to the other members. Lots of places only bash others without even offering solutions, but this is like getting an education here.

Slizzardman, I realized some of my mistakes this past weekend during the course in Miami with Jeff. Lots of little things pointed out to me that I was doing wrong that are probably common errors from newbies like myself who just want to barrel through without paying dues. I'll regress and tighten up to ensure safety and future progress. My bits and pieces are pretty tight, and it is quite humbling to regress when you feel like you can do more, but I know its a dead end trap to continue with improper technique.I always appreciate helpful criticism, Its uncommon today with so many negative critics who have nothing positive to offer.

I made that PVC dip station a long time ago for personal use, but when I started getting more people in my place to train, I gave it to a friend. It still works fine, but I use either rings or 2 steel pipes or bars in the squat rack on the safety pins for dips now.

HAHA! I use the same setup now. I bought some 1.5" steel RMC, cut 5 foot sections, and laid them inside the power rack... perfect fit for me, it is my exact width on PB. I use about 3 foot strips of velcro to tichtly secure it to the rack and there is no rotation or anything. One of these days I am going to cut notches into the pipes but right now this works perfectly for me.

Glad you enjoyed the seminar, you are really going to move forward now! Looking forward to seeing your progress!

What's the definition of Stupendous?

Matt Wichlinski.

So much inspiration in a single video. Thank you, Matt.

Patrick Smith said:

What's the definition of Stupendous?

Matt Wichlinski.

So much inspiration in a single video. Thank you, Matt.

We need to add this to urbandictionary.com

http://www.beastskills.com/faq/

Here explains a do it yourself parallette in pvc pipes under the 'what equipment do you use' question.

One of the things I emphasize is attention to optimal positioning when weightlifting to develop maximal power during the exercise. I think too many people try to speed through the movements before they understand proper positioning and what is required of their body to harness and develop peak power. Just as what Coach Sommer teaches with the importance of FSP's to develop basic strength before the implementation of dynamic strength in gymnastics, the same is true with weightlifting. You must get strong in the proper positions first, with basic strength exercises performed relatively slowly such as deadlifts and squats, if you expect to have any success with explosive training. I know deadlifts and squats are not static exercises, but performed very heavy and controlled, they are as close to static as you're going to get. You could also do an actual pause to enhance your strength in a specific position, such as a snatch segment deadlift, where you would pause for a moment in any position that you feel a weakness, which will strengthen your position with training. In this example you would put your body in an optimal pulling position with your hips low and your chest high, pull the bar an inch off the floor and pause, pull to about knee height and pause, pull to low thigh, then high thigh, then stand. Video=

http://www.catalystathletics.com/exerci ... ciseID=329

Also, simply warming up with the bar trying to really emphasize proper bar position in relation to your body while moving slowly, pausing in certain positions if you want to, and gradually adding velocity, weight and intensity as you increase awareness proper mechanics. But do not add velocity to movements that are being performed incorrectly. Practice holding the proper positions first, then moving dynamically and efficiently from one position to the next will be more natural as you gain strength and spatial awareness with the bar in your hand. So, what I am saying for people trying to develop a stronger snatch, or other weightlifting skill, enhance your strength in specific positions relevant to the chosen exercise, then adding dynamic movement over time will ensure success. I believe this is very similar to Coach's training philosophy for Gymnastic Strength Training™ and a great combination of elements in your training.

FSP's for the snatch

- snatch deadlift hold 1 inch off floor

- at knee

- mid thigh

- full extension

- snatch grip overhead hold while standing

- snatch grip overhead hold while squatting

I am not saying you should hold these positions for 5x60s, but establishing strong positions will increase your lifting success.

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Matt that video was inspiring! You are crazy strong! What sort of weight were you lifting on the big squats, power cleans and snatches? Awesome work! And if you don't mind me asking, what is your height and weight?

Oh and that gym looks fantastic!

StevenF, I assume you're talking about the first video. I'm not sure the exact weights in that particular video, I would have to go back and look. But I regularly squat over 400, clean around 325, and snatch about 250, maybe a little more on my best days and constant practice, but training has been a little irregular lately. I am currently 5'7" and 198 pounds, should hit my growth spurt anytime now, turning 35 this month.