beginning from ground zero

hey guys!

first off, let me say that I am so grateful to have such knowledge accompanied by a good attitude and humility. so I appreciate the time you guys take to help us newbies think and push us in the right direction, which im in need of one desperately. I currently live in PR and don't have access to a gymnastics facility and looking to start a Gymnastic training program to replace my investigations into weight lifting and opted for bodyweight excercises for the obvious results. my goals are realistic and im looking for a paradigm shift to elevate my kung fu and my body to the next level.

I had a previous shoulder separation when I was 15, I started Kung fu for rehabilitation and stumbled upon the Gymnastic Bodies book and it is amazing!

but I don't know where to start. upper body strength and velocity, core strength, back strength and leg strength and velocity with overall body flexiblity with strength in the ROM are my goals.

I currently am working with Thomaz Kurz "Stretching scientifically" until Coaches "Liquid Steel™" comes out

the reason for this post though, is to ask where to begin. I don't know anything about gymnastics and need to be schooled. so what can I do as a warm up, routine and cool down, so i can then move on to my own stretching regime.

I appreciate greatly the help and the guidance and look forward to contributing where I can!

Warmup? Well do something to get the body warmed up. Animal walks, basic tumbling, lunges, deck squats, yoga pushups, cartwheels, handwalking, shuttle sprints, jumprope, KB swings, etc.

You could either do a scaled down version of the GB WOD or the Killroy70 program. The 2nd edition is supposed to have some linear beginner program. Or you could the basic program laid out in the book ( I can't remember the page no., like 154 or 173 or something).

Some people insert the pre FSP stuff right after warmup, then move on to L work, HS and press HS or skills then WOD or daily programming.

Blairbob said:

Warmup? Well do something to get the body warmed up. Animal walks, basic tumbling, lunges, deck squats, yoga pushups, cartwheels, handwalking, shuttle sprints, jumprope, KB swings, etc.

You could either do a scaled down version of the GB WOD or the Killroy70 program. The 2nd edition is supposed to have some linear beginner program. Or you could the basic program laid out in the book ( I can't remember the page no., like 154 or 173 or something).

Some people insert the pre FSP stuff right after warmup, then move on to L work, HS and press HS or skills then WOD or daily programming.

hahah I probably wasn't as specific as I wanted to be, I mean to say that currently, I'm following a fundamental training scheme(personal excercise routine that I designed to help my kung fu movements) and supplement that with kung fu. what my current goal is to completely change my workout to a more gymnastic approach (pushing, pulling, in all ranges of motion be it, overhead pull or push, forward push or pull and finally lift push and pull because my kung fu program is limited in these areas.) like I said, im looking for a paradigm shift, so I want to start from as fundamental as it can get. warming up is no exact science but if I remember reading correctly in the forum, there was a warm up that started with planks, reverse planks, etc etc for 60S holds.

I already know that I'm gonna be working in a ladder system, so i can get more volume. what I haven't worked on is how to begin. what are the basic static positions i should start with? what excercise should i focus on in each range of motion? what should be my marker to know when to move on to the next one? how should I structure my workout on a 6 day training cycle?

this is what I need help with and I appreciate the input you've given so far!

The basic statics position are some of what you referred to in the first paragraph:

Hollow hold

Arch hold

Planks

Reverse planks

Chin up dead hang

PB support

These positions are what you should begin with for static training. The goal is 3x60 seconds for each hold. You might have just been confused because sometimes people refer to them as "FSP warm up" and some other people are strong enough to use these moves as a warm up for the advanced statics (levers, etc..) But generally there is a warm up before this FSP warm up, which includes things like joint rotations, running, joint series, and what Blairbob already said - cartwheels, jump rope, and so on.

When you achieve 3x60 seconds, you can put them into maintenance and just do 1x60 of each hold as a warm up. Then you can move onto things like L-sits, handstands, planche leans and german hangs.

A 6 day training cycle sounds like a bit much to me. Like Blairbob already said, there is a good, basic GST program outlined in the book. It works nicely with 4 days a week. Or you can look up the Killroy70 program in the getting started stickies. There is also the WOD, but I'm not sure if you could do that since it contains the static levers.

Shakyamuni said:

The basic statics position are some of what you referred to in the first paragraph:

Hollow hold

Arch hold

Planks

Reverse planks

Chin up dead hang

PB support

These positions are what you should begin with for static training. The goal is 3x60 seconds for each hold. You might have just been confused because sometimes people refer to them as "FSP warm up" and some other people are strong enough to use these moves as a warm up for the advanced statics (levers, etc..) But generally there is a warm up before this FSP warm up, which includes things like joint rotations, running, joint series, and what Blairbob already said - cartwheels, jump rope, and so on.

When you achieve 3x60 seconds, you can put them into maintenance and just do 1x60 of each hold as a warm up. Then you can move onto things like L-sits, handstands, planche leans and german hangs.

A 6 day training cycle sounds like a bit much to me. Like Blairbob already said, there is a good, basic GST program outlined in the book. It works nicely with 4 days a week. Or you can look up the Killroy70 program in the getting started stickies. There is also the WOD, but I'm not sure if you could do that since it contains the static levers.

perfect, so what i want then is to do this warm up followed by inverted push/pull on mondays, horizontal push/pull on wednesday and dips/downward curls on fridays. how many sets and reps should I look for to develop strength in these planes? 3/3? 3/5? pyramid-start with 1 work my way up to 3-5? then work my way up to the WOD?

I was thinking of following this with the static training for Planches, V-sits, Front Levers, Back Levers, Press handstands, Manna. I know this is all advanced, but im aiming it as my goal, so I'll need the community's help with it be it advice or pointing me towards the data that I should be looking for(considering i've never done gymnastics and am completely new to the terminology and structure.)

thanks again, I appreciate the help, you have no idea

I'll be making videos to post my progress and be corrected by you guys