Skill Work- Volume and Inclusion

I have been asked by coach to post our correspondence for the benefit of you guys:

I have been following the new plan since the september seminar and have seen some pretty good gains. The new layout is very well done and addresses all the weaknesses that I had before. After the 12 weeks are over Ill will definitely write a testimonial with all the accomplishments that I made during just one cycle.

With that said I still have a question about the effects of leaving out skill work. I have been training for NAIGC competitions with our local club team and Josh Natterman and am actually one of the strongest guys. This is especially amazing to me since I have only been practicing seriously for about 10 months. My question is two-fold. The first is I have noticed that including skill work makes a pretty dramatic difference in the amount of muscle I put on, and adds greatly to joint conditioning. One example is the use of P-bar swings. I had a difficult time with supports on the rings when I first started and even though I would practice them and got up to an eventual 60 seconds on rings they never felt completely solid. But when I started the swings, my support strength went through the roof. There are also other examples such as ring swings really preparing my shoulders for the more advanced strength. I was wondering if you feel the new prerequisite exercises adequately address the in-abililty for most to do these types of things? And how you feel that the huge amount of volume amassed by skill work is accounted for in the GB program or if it even needs to be.

The second question that I have is more for me than a question about the new program. I was wondering how you would actually include the skill work with the new program. Currently I am trying to do skill work first and then follow up with the conditioning program you provided during the 2.5 hour time I have in the gym. Do you think that some of the prep exercises can be omitted for those doing more volume from skill work? Josh has recommended that I do the strength conditioning in the morning then do the skill work for the entire time at the gym.

Reply from Coach

Daniel,

- Glad to hear that you are experiencing solid gains.

- It is only for beginner's building basic strength that I do not recommend "skill work". Although what you refer to as skill work, I refer to as dynamic strength.

Personally, I follow a schedule where I alternate days of fundamental strength work with days of dynamic strength work. However this is a more advanced template that I have not shared during the seminars. To my mind, it is more a matter of first things first and I do not want to distract students from what should be their primary focus.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

The alternating between dynamic and FB strength is the exact protocol that I followed before moving to the one you gave at the seminar. At what strength level would you recommend that someone switch from the basics to giving dedicated time to dynamic work?

I am including dynamic in a limited amount now by including swings and mushroom circles in my workout before the FBEs.

Coach's Reply

Daniel,

- Including the dynamic work prior to the basic strength work should work fine.

- Dynamic strength work should not become a primary focus until basic strength has been mastered (e.g. rope climbs, hollow back presses etc).

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

I thought I would chime in here since, after Daniel mentioned this Wednesday at practice I hopped up on the P-bars and tried some PB swings.

Now, when I first started this program they felt like nothing. However, because of my long layoff I am starting from a much lower level in many areas I used to be much stronger in (which is giving me some excellent perspective, by the way, that I did not have before) and I noticed right away that the lower traps engage repeatedly in a way that I just can't duplicate with anything else.

Same kind of thing goes with basic tap swing on HB... I think the value of this very basic thing on overall shoulder girdle development is really under-rated.

I'm a long way from doing Giants (mostly because my back is injured currently due to personal stupidity with biking and immediately doing front squats) and I don't plan on going there any time soon but just the tap swings, even gentle ones like I am forced to do right now, feel extremely beneficial and they can be done on almost anything.

I also noticed that simply doing a regular 10 minute warm up of repeatedly kicking up into handstands, doing the forward and backward roll progressions, doing cartwheels, and doing a few round-offs at the end has dramatically enhanced how I feel. I sometimes do the locked knee toe hops as well, a few times per week (though I am backing off those right now with the back injury), and they help as well.

Just my observation that they help a LOT. I don't have specific days dedicated to them, but just like Coach said I have been doing them before the workout and man they are a GREAT idea if you can do these things correctly.

In the GB WOD, they'll show up on dynamic push or pull days.

But seriously, if you are going to compete NAIGC and want to have something called a routine to do...you will need to do skill work.

Warmup. Could be basic tumbling stuff. I like doing this for efficiency. This includes pre FSP stuff. Unless you are weak, this shouldn't be difficult and a breeze.

L work

HS press HS work

Maybe FSP work.

Time to hit some events.

FBE work or GB WOD.

stretch, go home, drink beer with buds, woo girls at bar. partner yoga. repeat on fridays or saturdays or as often as you like/get/have time/. sleep in on saturday or sunday.