Do I Need To Stop Doing Fl And Pl For 12 Weeks?

I only have a straddle front lever and a tuck planche but I don't want to lose them. Do I need to complete all the prep and mobility before practicing the actual holds?

I would think you'd actually get stronger and be able to better perform those moves if you did. I had a similar worry when I started doing GST when it came to my weight lifting. To my surprise, after 8 weeks of not touching weights at all, my strength was still there, in fact, I'd gotten stronger.

At the end of the day, if you can do a hold, then you can do the hold. You don't "need" to stop working those holds to do the foundation work. The foundation prescribes a workout routine for mastering a very deep and broad range of preparatory exercises. Its pace is slow and steady. Each day's workout is 20-40 minutes long. If you want to continue work static holds, there's no reason you can't do that in addition. But I would prioritize the foundation in your workout schedule.

If you think of strength training as building a skyscraper, the quality of the foundation determines how high the skyscraper can reach, and how sturdy it will be at a given height. The GB Foundation volumes are a manual for strengthening that foundation. There's no reason you can't be building up the building and reinforcing the foundation at the same time. But you should make sure the proper amount of work is being put into building the foundation, otherwise you will eventually plateau, or worse, get injured. 

Also, note that the reach of the Foundation series goes further than your current level. At the very least it goes up to a full lay front lever. This post by Cole Dano suggests that it goes further still. 

KingJR said:

I would think you'd actually get stronger and be able to better perform those moves if you did. I had a similar worry when I started doing GST when it came to my weight lifting. To my surprise, after 8 weeks of not touching weights at all, my strength was still there, in fact, I'd gotten stronger.

this is so true, i started doing gst in may 2012, since then, i didn't touch weights at all. what i want to say is next: before i moved to gym to work at november ( i couldn't work at park, bad weather etc ) and before my shoulder injury, i was curious how much i can lift bench press by doing only exercise with my bw. i was kinda shocked, i lifted 90kg ( 70kg bw ) with no problem at all ( btw, last time i lifted 90kg was before 6-7 years ago while i was at high school ). so do not worry, u can only get stronger.

what do you mean by it goes up to a full lay fl? Maybe I'm missing something but all the exercises I saw were stuff on the ground. Are you saying that if I just do these in 12 weeks I will have a full lay fl?

tonio145 said:

what do you mean by it goes up to a full lay fl? Maybe I'm missing something but all the exercises I saw were stuff on the ground. Are you saying that if I just do these in 12 weeks I will have a full lay fl?

No. The foundation series is four courses. Each course has exercise progressions. The final progression of Foundation four will likely be at least a full-lay front lever. More likely, it will be something even harder. So what I'm saying is that you are no so advanced that you are beyond the foundation. 

Also, you'll note that there are 6 exercises in F1, each with its own 12-week progression. So that's 72 weeks of training, not 12. 

jfslocum said:

No. The foundation series is four courses. Each course has exercise progressions. The final progression of Foundation four will likely be at least a full-lay front lever. More likely, it will be something even harder. So what I'm saying is that you are no so advanced that you are beyond the foundation. 

 

Also, you'll note that there are 6 exercises in F1, each with its own 12-week progression. So that's 72 weeks of training, not 12. 

ok now i'm very confused...  so before moving on to foundation 2 I need to do hollow body holds for a year and a half!? I don't mean to act too advanced, I just don't understand the course

tonio145 said:

ok now i'm very confused...  so before moving on to foundation 2 I need to do hollow body holds for a year and a half!? I don't mean to act too advanced, I just don't understand the course

Not at all.  You may move on as soon as you are able to demonstrate mastery of both that specific element and its integrated mobility.  Whether that achieving that mastery will take you 1 workout, 4 weeks of workouts, 8 weeks of workouts, 12 weeks of workouts or multiple 12 week cycles is impossible to say.

Nor is how long it takes important.  What is important, is that you master the elements with excellent quality.  All else is secondary.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

tonio145 said:

ok now i'm very confused...  so before moving on to foundation 2 I need to do hollow body holds for a year and a half!? I don't mean to act too advanced, I just don't understand the course

If you are able to perform an exercise at the number of reps and sets designated as 'mastery level' then you can and should continue to the next exercise. If your core is very strong, you may already be at a level where you should be working foundation 2's front lever exercises. Don't just say "oh I have a straddle front lever so I should be working that". Test yourself on the exercises and see if there are any places where you are deficient. The standards are very high. 

Also, there's no reason you can't train the holds concurrently with the mobility and preparatory work. As you advance through the preparatory work, you'll find that it confers great benefits to your other training. 

Coach Sommer said:

Not at all.  You may move on as soon as you are able to demonstrate mastery of both that specific element and its integrated mobility.  Whether that achieving that mastery will take you 1 workout, 4 weeks of workouts, 8 weeks of workouts, 12 weeks of workouts or multiple 12 week cycle is impossible to say.

 

Nor is how long it takes important.  What is important, is that you master the elements with excellent quality.  All else is secondary.

 

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

ok that makes more sense. thanks coach. i just sent you a message regarding my purchase. i just bought the foundation one but if its possible i would like to switch to the package of 4 so i can save some money in the long run.

I am not comfortable with the term "skip ahead". There should be no "skipping" of elements, mastery of each and every element should be demonstrated. Though it is not necessarily necessary to perform a full 12 week training cycle for each element.

- Probably the easiest way to accomplish this is to simply attempt mastery of the next element and integrated mobility each workout day.

- If you were nearly able to demonstrate mastery, you could perform a short three week training cycle by beginning at week 9 of the programming.

- If your attempt to demonstrate mastery was only moderately successful, you could perform an 8 week training cycle by beginning at week 5 of the programming.

- And of course if the mastery was completely beyond you, you should perform an entire 12 week cycle and begin at week 1.

- If you wish to perform other skill work that day in addition to your mastery work, that is fine.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

ok thanks for all the help. Monday I will start my new routine and figure out what my mastery levels are.

tonio145 said:

ok that makes more sense. thanks coach. i just sent you a message regarding my purchase. i just bought the foundation one but if its possible i would like to switch to the package of 4 so i can save some money in the long run.

i would like to do the same, did coach answered you?

vartik said:

i would like to do the same, did coach answered you?

yes my purchase was refunded and then I got the bundle package