Beginner gymnastics, conditioning and starting with barbell work

[Alfons Daskhare]

Alfons Daskhare's journey towards a body to be proud of

About me
Male
Age: 20-25
Location: Northern Europe

Starting stats
Weight: 78 kg
Height: 184 cm
Resting heart rate: around 65
VO2Max: 32ml

Goals
Short term (within 10-12 weeks):
- Getting comfortable with basic barbell technique
- Doing basic moves on the gymnastic rings
- Doing a handstand
- Improving my cardio
- Running 10k
Long term:
-1/2/3/4 plate press/bench/squat/deadlift
- Completing an endurance race of some sort with a respectable time
- A body capabable of doing most things

Programming
Monday - Gymnastics and barbell work
Tuesday - Running
Wednesday -Gymnastics and barbell work
Thursday - Running
Friday - Gymnastics and barbell work
Saturday - Running (usually longer distance)
Sunday -30-60 minutes of low intensity cardio

Diet: No macros except keeping the calorie intake over maintenance.

So for 10-12 weeks I'll focus on conditioning while strength takes the backseat. I did a health test and saw that my VO2Max could and should be better for my age. A problem I've sort of known of since I often feel tired and stairs are a bigger hassle than they should be. While I don't want to bust my ass doing intensive barbell work parallel to running every other day, I will still do one or two barbell movements on the days I don't run. I will also practice body control by doing gymnastic ring exercises, pistol squats and working up to be able to do a handstand with good form. After these 10-12 weeks I will transition to a pure strength program (most likely starting strength or some variety of the sort)

[Alfons Daskhare]

Bench press:
20 kg x 5 reps
25 x 5
30 x 5
30 x 5
30 x 5
Comment: some pain in the left shoulder, difficulty keeping upper back tight

Ring top position hold:
Set 1: 4 seconds
Set 2: 3 seconds
Set 3: 6 seconds
Comment: horrible, a long way to go

Ring dips:
Set 1: 3 reps
Set 2: 2 reps
Set 3: 1 rep

Ring reverse row sitback
Set 1: 3 reps
Set 2: 3 reps
Set 3: 3 reps

Ring tuck:
Set 1: 5 seconds
Set 2: 7 seconds
Set 3: 7 seconds

Ring chinups:
Set 1: 1 rep (done with negative grip in preparation for muscle up)
Set 2: 1 rep (neg. grip)
Set 3: 3 reps (neutral grip)

Wall walk ups to handstand:
6 sets, 10 second holds

Hollow body hold:
6 sets, 10 second holds

Barbell squat:
20 kg x 5 reps
30 x 5
40 x 5
40 x 5
40 x 5
Comment: No knee pain, knee travel felt nice and stable

I forgot to do pistol squats, was kind of stressed towards the end.

The gymnastic exercise setup I got from Goldmedalbodies' Youtube channel.

Diet:
118 cal shake
900 cal lunch
400 cal snack
750 cal dinner
760 cal snack before bed
Total: around 2900 cal
According to my sports watch I've burnt around 2431 calories so we are all good

Tomorrow: running

[hector_garza]

This is some ambitious programming!

Do you think there's much reason to bench if you're doing gymnastics work, especially ring work? Gymnasts off the street have crazy numbers the first time they bench, even with horrible form.

Steven Low wrote a book on gymnastic strength work. He advised that there wasn't a gymnastics substitute for barbell squatting, but that bench and press were redundant if you were doing lots of ring work. Just one perspective though.

[Alfons Daskhare]

This is some ambitious programming!

Do you think there's much reason to bench if you're doing gymnastics work, especially ring work? Gymnasts off the street have crazy numbers the first time they bench, even with horrible form.

Steven Low wrote a book on gymnastic strength work. He advised that there wasn't a gymnastics substitute for barbell squatting, but that bench and press were redundant if you were doing lots of ring work. Just one perspective though.

Thanks for recommending Low, I looked up his blog and it seems like a great source which I will have to look more into (I'll even see if I can get a copy of his book).

Since I intend to move on to a more pure barbell program after I'm done with my 10k running program I thought it would be good to practice technique. The weights I'm doing now are far from my maxes. I instead focus on moving the barbell steadily and really focusing on making each rep very clean. My technique on bench specifically have previously been pretty crappy (with a resulting shoulder injury).

Cheers!

[Alfons Daskhare]

I'm on a pretty basic beginner 10k program.

10 minute walking warmup
Run (jogging is recommended) for 3 minutes, walk for 2. Repeat 4 times
10 minute walking cooldown

Total 40 minutes

Distance: 5.62 km
Average heart rate 146 bpm

Time spent in heart rate zones
159-178 BPM: 35%
139-158 BPM: 22%
119-138 BPM: 33%
100-118 BPM: 10%

Comment: Intended to take it really easy on the jogging part of the interval, but I often get a bit carried away. No pain or discomfort.

Diet:
750 cal lunch
400 cal snack
900 cal dinner
700 cal before bed snack
Total: 2700 cal, didn't wear the sports watch for calories out estimation today but I considered today to be pretty lazy except for the run that burnt 449 cal.

Tomorrow: Ringwork, romanian deadlifts and some hip strengthening exercises.

[Alfons Daskhare]

Ring top position:
Set 1: 4 seconds
Set 2: 7 seconds
Set 3: 8 seconds

Ring dips
3 reps
3 reps
3 reps

Ring reverse row sitback:
3 reps
3 reps
3 reps

Ring tuck
5s
5s
5s
Comment: Can't seem to get my knees high enough for a tuck, floor l-sit progressions should hopefully help

Ring chinups
2 reps negative grip
1 reps neg.
3 reps neutral

Wall walk ups to handstand facing wall:
3 sets, 10 seconds vertical against wallbars
3 sets, 10 seconds incline angle against flat wall

Ring push ups
3x5 reps

Roll into bottom pistol squat position
10 reps/leg

Romanian deadlift
20 kg x 5
20 kg x 5
40 kg x 5
40 kg x 5

Hollow body hold
6 x 10 seconds

L-sit progression: heels on the floor, hold
6 x 10 seconds

Comment: Today felt alot better on the ring movements. I'm guessing it's mostly because I didn't tire myself out by benching first like last time.

Diet:
118 cal shake
900 cal lunch
1000 cal dinner
Felt pretty queasy throughout the day and didn't get much food in. Also I realized when looking back at the weekends meal prep I realized some of my lunches have been well over 1100 calories, so missing out a little today might not be a big deal.

[Alfons Daskhare]

10 minute walking warmup
Run (jogging is recommended) for 3 minutes, walk for 2. Repeat 4 times
10 minute walking cooldown

Total 40 minutes

Distance: 5.43 km
Average heart rate 140 bpm

Time spent in heart rate zones
159-178 BPM: 30%
139-158 BPM: 16%
119-138 BPM: 40%
100-118 BPM: 13%

Diet:
500 cal breakfast
900 cal lunch
150 cal snack
1000 cal dinner
Total 2450 cal