RyanHurst

I think that this is a great idea. Do this for a session or two and I'm willing to bet that you'll get those 3 rounds no problem.

Waldo, thanks for taking time for such a thorough response! Sounds like you and I are totally on the same page. Glad you went into detail in your explanation. And yes, you've got great points there in which I fully agree. This is a big reason I have people work on mastering a series of what we call The Foundation 7 before starting work on anything else. This includes things like the full extended hollow body hold, hollow body push-ups, front scales, top position on rings, pull-ups, etc. It's all about creating a solid foundation so that you can build something beautiful on top of it. I also agree that a lot of the progressions out there are huge jumps from one to the next level. That is a BIG reason why we created GMB. Sorry for the selfish PR. But we were frustrated with the lack of gradually increasing progression and wanted to share our version of how we use progressions and how I learned them back in my gymnastics days. Looking forward to discussing more with you.

Waldo, this is something that I hear a lot! And as a matter of fact, I have trouble with my right wrist due to a martial art injury. You nailed it when you mentioned hand positioning. Just by turning my hands out slightly so that my thumbs are forming an open triangle, instead of pointing towards each other, helps tremendously. Also, depending on the follow up movement, like planche to double arm lever, I'll have my hands turned even more. Something else that might help is working your planches on a set of parallette bars. This will change things up and a lot of the people I work with say that it helps their wrists thanks to the new angle. Finally, Jarlo, my best buddy and awesome physical therapist, wrote this article along with videos for wrist flexibility and strengthening. Give it a read/look. It might help. http://www.goldmedalbodies.com/wrist-exercises/ Cheers.

Depending on your definition of beginner, new to exercise? 400 lber? New to gymnastic-type movements? The Batman Bodyweight Workout might not be for you. But that's why I created the Batman BW Workout to include a lot of progressions so that when you're ready to start you can keep progressing. Start off with some of the suggestions that Steve included in the article and then when you're ready, have fun with the Batman workout. Hey Waldo, just wondering why do you feel those bent arm movements prep you for the straight arm holds on the planche and lever? I agree that a person needs a solid base of pressing and pulling strength like higher level push-ups and pull-ups for working on tough bent arm moves. That will get you really strong! But not necessarily prepare you for the necessary components of the straight arm holds. For that I feel you need to be using straight arm training progressions starting from the very basics like Straight Arm Plank Leans on the ground, Top Position holds on rings and straight arm pulling preps on a bar or rings for levers. This will get you good and ready to start training the next progressions. Just my two cents. Cheers!

Hey guys. This was just one example of a workout that I did with 1 phase. I actually construct my workouts into 4 phases eventually combining all the moves into a flow. There are TONS of ways to workout and I've found bent arm/straight arm splits to help in the beginning.

Congrats! That's awesome man! Something that might help with your form (hollow body) is getting your hands closer to the wall.

Yeah, for negatives, jumping up and holding before you lower yourself works great. Loved those vids, btw. You'll have the dead hang pull-up in no time.

You could also work on the Reverse Row Sit Back. It's a fun exercise. Second vid on this page. http://www.goldmedalbodies.com/pull-up-rings-strength-tutorial/

Way to go! Really glad you posted a video. Keep following along with the video and you'll get it!

Really depends on what you want to be able to do. However, I am in total agreement that gymnastic rings allow for a broader range of exercise possibilites.

That's a pretty good video! But I like these. http://www.goldmedalbodies.com/category/how-to-handstand/ Of course, I'm biased. ; )

Ah! Good to hear that you are now following along with the training schedule. Keep me posted and let me know what I can do to help out. Cheers.

Great video! Thanks for sharing.

Sure. But just getting used to it can still be a bad thing if you don't focus on the three things I listed. Just saying.

Really great observations Sayre. And congrats on getting the muscle up! You've already covered a lot, but here's a movement that I use in order to help teach people the proper mechanics for the muscle up. I call it The Baby Muscle Up. You can gradually increase the height of rings working up to the full Muscle Up. http://youtu.be/WG289Gki1_A

Sometimes it just takes time. And BTW, sometimes more is not better. That's good! Keep working on those and the hollow body exercises. Yep, knocking over stuff in the house can be counter productive to cartwheel work. Ha! Speeding it up will definitely help if you keep proper form. My pleasure! It's not much but hopefully this will help you in getting these movements. Keep me posted!

Solid! Congrats!

Love the workout log. Where are you with the pull up and handstand?

You're sore from the GMB routine? If that's the case, you're doing too much. Scale back and make sure that you are getting plenty of recovery.

Thanks. We had some site trouble but it's up and running now. Thank you! Just trying to help out. Let me know if there is anything else I can do.

There are a few things that I see with people when I work with them on back levers, or any kind of hold for that matter. 1. They are trying to advance too quickly 2. Their form is off 3. They are holding their breath Since they advance too quickly, their form sucks, it causes them to tense up in places they shouldn't be, and it forces them to hold their breath and tense up. There are times when slightly holding your breath is OK but I'd work on trying to relax. Something else that might be happening is that you are shrugging your shoulders when performing the back lever and this is causing pressure on your neck. In turn, giving you a head ache. I've seen this before with people who shrug while in the Top Position support hold. Pull those shoulders down and focus on form and only progressing when you're ready.

That's a good call to take a break. I teach ring training for a living and the shoulders can really take a beating if your form is off. Keep proper form and aim for clean reps instead of just cranking them out.

I teach handstands almost every single day. And while it is good to go for it I suggest you at least have the proper form and control down first. Awhile back, Steve posted about a video that I did for Anthony Mychals blog on handstands. You can find that video here http://youtu.be/Y3FSeSecjKA You can also download the complete handstand tutorial for free here. http://www.goldmedalbodies.com/handstand/

You are correct in that it is harder to hold! This is because the L-stand forces you to hold it with a proper straight body. And you actually want to work on getting away from using the wall as your support. That's why as soon as you can get the proper line from butt to hands with feet on the wall in L-stand, it is time to take one leg off of the wall as straight up as possible. Once you get that you can then focus on just using the toes against the wall with one leg up in the air. Be sure to switch legs. In a handstand we are working on pushing away from the ground and almost squeezing our ears. So, yes, it would be similar to the Down Dog as long as you aren't "packing" the shoulders. Without trying to push anything on to you, I do explain everything about the handstand in our Ultimate Guide to Learning the Handstand vid/pdf. http://www.goldmedalbodies.com/handstand/ You'll have to sign up but everything you need is in that guide. Regarding entry by using the tuck up. Sit in a deep squat with your hands on the ground in front of you with arms locked. Focus on just trying to jump up and get your butt as high as you can over your hands WITHOUT letting your shoulders move forward. Keep your legs bent and slightly open. Think of a frog. This is really tough in the beginning but a sure fire way of learning the control and strengthening the shoulder and core for having the control to enter the handstand. Make sure that you don't try and go too high with your butt in the beginning. The focus should be on keeping your arms straight and not letting your shoulders move forward. The goal is to be able to get your butt over you shoulders/hands and "stall" while still in the frog position. Once you are able to hold this for a few seconds you can then extend your legs up into the handstand. Just be sure not to lose your form by arching your back. This is what I use with all of my students in the beginning to help them strengthen their shoulders and get over the fear factor of kicking into an upside down position. Hope this helps.