Is This Article Enough?

Hey, as you can see I'm new. I'm 21, 178cm, 74kg. I haven't seriously consistently worked out before, just messed around with dumbells sometimes. Since last week I decided to get serious, and my primary aim is to develop a good physique, and bodyweight just motivates me more than iron, so I found myself here.

I read this article by the coach: http://www.dragondoor.com/articles/building-an-olympic-body-through-bodyweight-conditioning/

My question is; is it enough for me, a total beginner with low strength, to solely concentrate on those 2 progressions, 4 days a week, with nothing else added, and make good progress? So that would only be 2 minutes a day. Since I couldn't find a rough general beginners program that lays out what to do, progressions etc, I thought I'd start with this and see where it goes.

Any advice?

Check out the stickies in the Getting Started forum for a better base.

Do you have the book?

Rik de Kort said:

Check out the stickies in the Getting Started forum for a better base.

Do you have the book?

No I don't have the book, though I will most likely get it. I've checked out the stickies, I think for a beginner it would require to put all the parts together, being new to this. I'm looking for something like a "getting started program" that lays out the fundamental basics to start off with that you should master, sets reps etc that will give any beginner a good grounding to move on from. Though I realize everyones situation is different, hence it's impossible to give a "one size fits all" prescription, but something that details what you need to do for a newcomer would greatly help.

I've never heard of anyone starting from scratch (say, a frog stand for 10-20s max) and progressing beyond tuck or maybe advanced-tuck variations of each position with that kind of simple "step 1, step 2, step 3..." progression model. I would predict that your progress will come to a grinding halt within 4-6 weeks, as nearly always happens.

Periodisation and programming really are everything, and all the more important if you're not naturally suited to this sort of thing, and/or are starting as an adult instead of a young child, and your body and brain are simply less inclined to adapt. I'd be fascinated to hear of any examples of adults or late teens starting from a low strength level and coming to hold a planche, say. I do know a handful who learnt it at that age, actually, but it took them about two weeks and they "just did it, man, it's easy," so their experiences may not be particularly relevant to the rest of us.

Get started, if you like, but also be reading around a bit more and come up with a plan to keep progressing when you first hit the wall. Whatever you do, when you reach that point - and you will - don't just keep pushing and pushing at your limits, because months and years will pass and you'll go nowhere.

Well, here's what works:

Warmup: easy calisthenics, joint mobility stuff. To prepare for handstand: this PDF contains a lot of good info.

FSP's (static positions): First do the Pre-FSP's from the "Prerequisites?"-sticky. Once you get those solid, start working on Handstand, L-sit and Support hold (on the rings). Maybe foot assisted german hang.

FBE's (movements): Horizontal pulling, horizontal pushing and something for legs at first. Keep it simple. You can also program it like the Killroy template, but at a low basis of strength you don't have to do multiplane or combined push-pull stuff.

Rik de Kort said:

Well, here's what works:

Warmup: easy calisthenics, joint mobility stuff. To prepare for handstand: this PDF contains a lot of good info.

FSP's (static positions): First do the Pre-FSP's from the "Prerequisites?"-sticky. Once you get those solid, start working on Handstand, L-sit and Support hold (on the rings). Maybe foot assisted german hang.

FBE's (movements): Horizontal pulling, horizontal pushing and something for legs at first. Keep it simple. You can also program it like the Killroy template, but at a low basis of strength you don't have to do multiplane or combined push-pull stuff.

Thanks. To make sure I'm correct, are these the prerequisites:

Hollow Hold

Arch Hold

Plank

Rev Plank

Dead Hang

Rings Support

And if they are, I'd start a workout with them, then do FBE's like you said?

Yes, but I'd start off with a PB (Parallel bar) support first instead of ring support. Other than that it's okay.

start slow. 2-3 days, shake off any soreness. when it's easy add another day. like rik said, prereq's and basic fbe

+1 to the suggestion for doing PB support first. I am essentially starting back from scratch and I have gone through this. Once my PB support got to 45-60s on all sets with perfect form and didn't feel like I was working super hard to maintain form (especially with pressing down into the bars) I started with ring supports and I still do PB support as a warm up for 45-60s.

After about 4 weeks of ring support work I'm back to ~20s with straight elbows and rings almost parallel. I built up to 30s with straight arms and the rings turned in quite a bit, and then slowly turned them out.

Going through all the steps is very important, I tried going straight to rings first and it didn't feel good at all. Now it's not a big deal and it feels great, and the PB supports are what made the difference.

Don't skip steps

OK thanks. So for the FBE's, horizontal pushing, pulling, legs etc, does the coach's book help me with that. Would I be able to read it, and pick a suitable movement to put into a template like killroys from its most basic level, and progress it suitably (Progressions are shown in the book?)

Yes.