Really excited for the new forum features!

Just got Coach's email and it reminded me how close the end of the year is and the new forum features. I'm super excited!

Patrick Smith said:

Just got Coach's email and it reminded me how close the end of the year is and how soon the new forum features. I'm super excited!

My favorite new feature is the auto-ban anyone named Patrick feature. Kidding.

Since Coach let the cat out of the bag, I will give some more details of what's coming for the website. The new products, you will just have to wait and be surprised on.

1) Completely new website, forum, and store look. There's been some serious graphic design involved with doing this, and Gymnasticbodies will be a much more visually-pleasing place. The new homepage in particular is jaw-dropping.

2) Universal account for the website whether you're on the store, forums, or blog. Also Facebook and twitter are fully integrated.

3) More socially oriented. In addition to tying GB to your social media, you will have some of the better features from social sites such as the ability to post a status update, better personal profile, adding friends, and following and liking others' content. There is also the ability to keep a personal workout blog; however, whether I enable this depends on whether or not status updates remain appropriate before giving a bit more freedom.

4) Levels. If you have something to show, we will recognize you for it. Coming shortly will be the ability to test GymnasticBodies levels 1-8 and have that level display under your name. This will be offered as a video review of your progress across the board. More to come on this once it's released.

5) Digital purchases will show up as a link "My Library" and be accessible from most anywhere on the site. This includes the digital edition and forthcoming products (hint, hint).

6) Fully integrated Coach's Corner blog. Since many members are not aware that the homepage is the blog, it will be integrated with the forums as a subsection.

That sounds great!

Haha, Cory.

Sounds fantastic, and I can't wait! I'll be level 0 for quite a while.

"This includes the digital edition and forthcoming products (hint, hint)"

Patrick Smith said:

Haha, Cory.

Sounds fantastic, and I can't wait! I'll be level 0 for quite a while.

"This includes the digital edition and forthcoming products (hint, hint)"

Level 0 will effectively be titled "Newbie." But don't worry, there will be more resources to progress.

Cool, what will level 8 be? What skills do we need for that?

B1214N said:

Cool, what will level 8 be? What skills do we need for that?

Front Lever, Side Lever, SLS, Manna, Hollowback (Bower), Cirques. You also have to pass off the associated Liquid Steel™ portion for each element. The levels will require solid performance and will certainly mean something. There will likely be some other perks to the levels in terms of discounts or advanced content.

But the most important part about the levels is for you all to know who has sound advice and can actually walk the walk. With Gymnasticbodies it isn't simply enough to take a test based off a textbook or regurgitate what a professor said or pay a bunch of money and be declared certified/licensed. There's plenty of room at the top and we intend to give you every chance to get there if you have the desire and put in the work.

ewethestuff said:

Super-psyched about all the new info and resources becoming available to those of us who can't make the seminars but are really into GB

That's one thing that's become a bigger priority. The seminars are awesome (every time I take away something new), but not everyone can or wants to go. For those who don't make it we have made sure that you have other alternatives that will help you succeed.

I also forgot to mention that everyone will have the option of a personal photo gallery for up to their best five pictures. And I may have an announcement soon regarding GB T-Shirts.

Can't wait! Only problem is that the next few weeks are probably going to be expensive, between the new edition of BtGB and Dishonored (a video game) coming out. Then I also have to keep up with studying, work and training. Last thing I should be doing is posting here, really.

But, anyway, looks good. I suppose this will be a gradual process over the next few weeks, or is there going to be a day that we wake up and all of a sudden GB has been completely renewed and we can order the book and all that?

Rik de Kort said:

Can't wait! Only problem is that the next few weeks are probably going to be expensive, between the new edition of BtGB and Dishonored (a video game) coming out. Then I also have to keep up with studying, work and training. Last thing I should be doing is posting here, really.

But, anyway, looks good. I suppose this will be a gradual process over the next few weeks, or is there going to be a day that we wake up and all of a sudden GB has been completely renewed and we can order the book and all that?

It will all happen at once. There will be some downtime but provided the data moves smoothly it'll be minimal. Unfortunately the second edition is not going to be in the first round of product releases. We're almost there though (for real). But the other products should be equally exciting while the second edition is in final production. Once you see it, you will understand why it has been such a massive and lengthy project. But one we hope you all will be pleased with for a long time.

Oh man, this is so exciting!

I feel like a child the night before his birthday!

Cory Fair said:

It will all happen at once.

Do you have a date, or is it dependent on whatever needs fixing, testing, etcetera?

Will the level thing hinge on having all of the skills of a particular level? For example, in my case using gymnastic strength

for GPP, I am not working on certain progressions like planche. So I may be at a 0 level in planche, but much higher

in other skills. So I wouldn't want to be labeled as a newbie ... is some consideration given to this?

And a big thanks and hats off to Cory for doing tons of work on this behind the scenes!

Regarding not being able to make it to seminars, As part of GB's expanded services, Coach Sommer is looking into offering more seminars, particularly the two day seminars. if you want a seminar in your area and know of a place to do it, contact me and we can try to get it going.

FutureisNow said:

Will the level thing hinge on having all of the skills of a particular level? For example, in my case using gymnastic strength

for GPP, I am not working on certain progressions like planche. So I may be at a 0 level in planche, but much higher

in other skills. So I wouldn't want to be labeled as a newbie ... is some consideration given to this?

We have given some consideration to this, and the requirement that you pass off both the strength and mobility aspect of all the elements will be absolute. The level system isn't about flooring it to Level 8 and sitting comfortably at the top. It's going to require that one be brutally honest with oneself: for some that will be spending some sweat developing strength, and for others maintaining strength while working to catch up mobility. For most people, this is going to be a journey; and one we aim to make enjoyable. A healthy body has the right balance of strength-mobility and that is why it is reflected in the system. Building a gymnastic body requires balance between movements and levels are simply a quantification of the concept.

That said, the Newbie rank isn't meant to be a permanent penalty or to rub your nose in the mud forever. If someone genuinely has no desire to train all the elements for a legitimate reason, we'll find some way to compromise so you aren't stuck at Newbie forever. Likely, it would be that we'd require you to pass off a single element at a high level and give you a title such as "Planche Master." It gives you some recognition for your work, but it would be a specialization without getting a level rank. It would be as an either-or to the level system: we wouldn't allow someone to bounce back and forth just because they are imbalanced in their training and don't want to fix it. And we aren't going to spit on the hard work of someone who is training all the elements. But give me your thoughts, does that seem a fair compromise to your question?

Cory, it's obvious that you and Coach and others have been doing tons of work behind the scenes. I think your compromise is fair and reasonable. And given the "culture" of other online exercise/bodybuilding forums, I think erring on the side of conservatism, objective criteria, and strict guidelines is a good place to start with this.

I am still but a newbie into this process. It took me over a year of training/overtraining cycles to learn where my body's pace is. And now into my 3rd full SSC, I'm seeing very gradual and real results. I'm thrilled to see what beginner/intermediate programming you guys have come up with to help keep me going until I can make it to a seminar.

Keep us posted!

JM

It's an interesting problem. It seems to be turning the website or a portion of it into an interactive training faciliity, similar

in some respects to what the Gracie's have done with their BJJ site. I'm not sure if they use video tests or have centers

to meet in person. In any event, It sounds like a much more formalized approach than it is now, which could have the advantage of making those people who are into it now even more serious about their training. It also seems like it could be time intensive to administer, and that it could involve a charge to particpate. Am I incorrect about this?

If one is going to be labled with ones "level" i feel it is also fair to indicate their personal goal, whether it is to become a serious gymnast, or just gain above average strength. There's a huge gap between the two but it's possible to desire to become

either and anything in between. I would rather be listed as a "strength trainee" than a "newbie" that's all...it's less dismissive.

I personally train for internal satisfaction and growth, not the mastery of external elements. The external elements allow me to master myself, if that makes sense

In any event something like:

Goal (strength trainee, selected ring work, ring expert, complete gymnast) and % accomplished is personally more to my liking. IBut I know you have to do what you have to do, and I may be an exception. Thank you for asking though.

To be perfectly fair, "newbie" is a designation used widely on forums and communities and is not by itself a putdown. In many forums, one progresses past this by number of posts. With GB it will be by putting time into your training. Simply following the program in the Second Edition is more than sufficient to gain a few levels for anyone without extenuating injuries; and additional help will be available to those who need it. We won't be taking away from anyone's current forums experience, but adding more layers to it. The only required fee for levels will be small; and only exists to be fair to the time of the coach who dedicates their time to reviewing it.

I am looking forward to following this experiment in attributing some sort of rank to such a wide spectrum of individuals, ages, goals and starting points; in a sense, it is very similar to the belt rankings in Martial Arts, with the added twist of being done online.

Will it change the dynamics of the forum, and alter the relationships between participants?

Certainly...

What will it become?

I don't know, but I'll hang around to observe and find out...

Cory, I appreciate your idea of in assigning custom levels. It might also be useful to have an opt-in approach where there is no

level assigned unless one is particpating in the ranking program. Unless you are assessed you are "Unranked". To me that is fair. Matt Hughes was an unranked martial artist but was pretty damn good nonetheless. Why assume someone sucks unless they

have been scrutinzed to (although I admit that I suck in comparison to the experienced male gynmastic population but am amazing compared to the general population!).

As Fred said from China, age, injuries, weight, height, body type, time available, training focus have a lot to do with it and

a label can't sum that all up. Anyway I wish you well ...

Thanks

... As Fred said from China, age, injuries, weight, height, body type, time available, training focus have a lot to do with it and a label can't sum that all up ...

Yes and no. While there are indeed differences between individuals, this will have no bearing on the performance evaluation.

- The rankings will be black and white. You are either capable of performing at a certain strength/mobility level or you are not.

- The rankings will be assigned via video review by my staff. There will be no self rankings.

- The "unranked" idea has merit for those who are either visiting the forum or choose not to participate.

- There will be additional costs involved for those who participate. As someone requested in this thread earlier, this is an educational tool for those unable to attend a GB Seminar.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Future, Fred. You seem to be convinced that the labels have a certain connotation:

FutureisNow said:

Why assume someone sucks

The fact that someone is a 'newbie' or doesn't have certain elements does not mean they suck. The GB program is not like that. It's very friendly towards newcomers.

The label will be an indicator of what strength elements you can perform. This correlates well with experience and amount of knowledge and thus can be used as a rough indicator of who to take advice from. However, there is room for exceptions. For example if there's a physical therapist with lots of experience rehabbing chronic shoulder injuries, he may not have a manna and a planche and whatnot, but he would have some very useful things to say on shoulder injuries.

What I'm trying to say is that you won't be judged by your label. If you have something useful to say, people will pick up on it.

FutureisNow said:

Cory, I appreciate your idea of in assigning custom levels. It might also be useful to have an opt-in approach where there is no

level assigned unless one is particpating in the ranking program. Unless you are assessed you are "Unranked". To me that is fair. Matt Hughes was an unranked martial artist but was pretty damn good nonetheless. Why assume someone sucks unless they

have been scrutinzed to (although I admit that I suck in comparison to the experienced male gynmastic population but am amazing compared to the general population!).

As Fred said from China, age, injuries, weight, height, body type, time available, training focus have a lot to do with it and

a label can't sum that all up. Anyway I wish you well ...

Thanks

Again, the term newbie does not mean "this person sucks." Coach and I will discuss the unranked possibility, but there is a lot of potential value in placing accountability in the community. And simply following the program as outlined in the Second Edition will be more than sufficient for obtaining some levels regardless of injury/age/etc limitations or not. I don't foresee anyone being locked into the Newbie rank for any other reason than they don't care about levels.

All the content that is already here will still remain: nothing is being taken away, we are simply adding layers to help trainees succeed.

Cory Fair said:

FutureisNow said:

Cory, I appreciate your idea of in assigning custom levels. It might also be useful to have an opt-in approach where there is no

level assigned unless one is particpating in the ranking program. Unless you are assessed you are "Unranked". To me that is fair. Matt Hughes was an unranked martial artist but was pretty damn good nonetheless. Why assume someone sucks unless they

have been scrutinzed to (although I admit that I suck in comparison to the experienced male gynmastic population but am amazing compared to the general population!).

As Fred said from China, age, injuries, weight, height, body type, time available, training focus have a lot to do with it and

a label can't sum that all up. Anyway I wish you well ...

Thanks

Again, the term newbie does not mean "this person sucks." Coach and I will discuss the unranked possibility, but there is a lot of potential value in placing accountability in the community. And simply following the program as outlined in the Second Edition will be more than sufficient for obtaining some levels regardless of injur. y/age/etc limitations or not. I don't foresee anyone being locked into the Newbie rank for any other reason than they don't care about levels.

All the content that is already here will still remain: nothing is being taken away, we are simply adding layers to help trainees succeed.

Sounds good. Thanks for bringing it up with Coach. Having an opt-in method is worth consideration. I understand the layers concept, however without an opt-in method everyone appears to be thrown into the new layer. I hear what you say about the second edition program and how it can help elevate one's ranking. That's excellent, but until I buy the book and determine if I can accomodate the program in my lfe (and opt-in to it) I would rather not be considered to be at any level, therefore just "unranked".

The overall impetus for the program sounds great, and I'm looking forward to determining if it's for me.

Coach Sommer said:

... As Fred said from China, age, injuries, weight, height, body type, time available, training focus have a lot to do with it and a label can't sum that all up ...

Yes and no. While there are indeed differences between individuals, this will have no bearing on the performance evaluation.

- The rankings will be black and white. You are either capable of performing at a certain strength/mobility level or you are not.

- The rankings will be assigned via video review by my staff. There will be no self rankings.

- The "unranked" idea has merit for those who are either visiting the forum or choose not to participate.

- There will be additional costs involved for those who participate. As someone requested in this thread earlier, this is an educational tool for those unable to attend a GB Seminar.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Thanks ... missed your comments Coach, or would not have pressed Cory further. It sounds like you are allowing people to opt-in to the ranking system. Appreciate your considering the unranked postion for those who aren't able to participate for whatever reason. Looking forward to learning more in due time