Nathan
Level 4 Valued Member
Hello and Welcome!
I'm somewhat new to this forum also but not to the community (been on dragondoor also). I'm going to offer advice that does not come from this or the dragondoor website but from a former Navy SEAL. You will do yourself a lot of good by building your base prior to doing any of the fancy moves. I've been going this route for some time and found that my strength and body composition has seen far better results than anything I have done before. This route takes a bit of intestinal fortitude but will yield great results.
The first style is Pyramids. I alternate between Pull-Ups and Handstand Push-Ups as my main movement (more on this later), and perform a pyramid of 1 - 10 - 1 (1 rep to 10 reps and back down to 1 rep). I will go as far as I can by myself and then add some bands for assistance as I start to reach failure. Additionally, I do a pressing or rowing movement for 2 - 20 - 2 (2 rep increments) and an abs/core movement for 3 - 30 - 3 (3 rep increments). You can also add in some form of legs for 4 - 40 - 4 (4 rep increments) if you feel ambitious. After the main movement, I usually alternate two different pressing, core, and leg exercises for variety's sake. If that makes sense, my set-up is somewhat like this.
Pull-Ups OR Handstand Push-Ups 1 - 10 - 1
Push-Up & Dips OR Rowing 2 - 20 -2
Leg Raises & Planks OR Obliques & Lower Back 3 - 30 - 3
Squats, Lunges, Archer Squat, Leg Curls...etc 4 - 40 - 4
*Substitute any movement you wish, this is just an example.*
The second style is Rep Goal. I'm sure most have heard of this, but if not here is an explanation. I pick a movement, say Pull-Ups and choose to do 50 total reps (or any other rep goal) before I end my session. Allow assistance if you are unable to do even 1 pull-up (or other chosen movement). You then rest between pull-up sets by doing a pressing movement for 2 times the previous pull-up set (so pull-ups = 6 pressing reps), a core movement for 3 times the pull-up numbers (so 3 pull-ups = 9 reps for core), and a leg movement for 4 times the pull-up numbers (so 3 pull-ups = 12 leg reps). The set-up all rolled up looks like this...
Pull-Ups OR Handstand Push-Ups x 50
Push-Up & Dips OR Rowing x 2
Leg Raises & Planks OR Obliques & Lower Back x 3
Squats, Lunges, Archer Squat, Leg Curls...etc x 4
Alternate the Pyramid and Rep Goal for a Heavy / Light cycle. It sounds complex but isn't. And the Pyramid workouts have the warm-up and cool-down already built in. If you want more information go to military.com and search "physical progressions".
The goal is to eventually complete the entire pyramid without assisting pull-ups or handstand push-ups (or whatever else you choose). If you do not have bands, they're not too expensive to pick up at your local sports supply store.
I'm somewhat new to this forum also but not to the community (been on dragondoor also). I'm going to offer advice that does not come from this or the dragondoor website but from a former Navy SEAL. You will do yourself a lot of good by building your base prior to doing any of the fancy moves. I've been going this route for some time and found that my strength and body composition has seen far better results than anything I have done before. This route takes a bit of intestinal fortitude but will yield great results.
The first style is Pyramids. I alternate between Pull-Ups and Handstand Push-Ups as my main movement (more on this later), and perform a pyramid of 1 - 10 - 1 (1 rep to 10 reps and back down to 1 rep). I will go as far as I can by myself and then add some bands for assistance as I start to reach failure. Additionally, I do a pressing or rowing movement for 2 - 20 - 2 (2 rep increments) and an abs/core movement for 3 - 30 - 3 (3 rep increments). You can also add in some form of legs for 4 - 40 - 4 (4 rep increments) if you feel ambitious. After the main movement, I usually alternate two different pressing, core, and leg exercises for variety's sake. If that makes sense, my set-up is somewhat like this.
Pull-Ups OR Handstand Push-Ups 1 - 10 - 1
Push-Up & Dips OR Rowing 2 - 20 -2
Leg Raises & Planks OR Obliques & Lower Back 3 - 30 - 3
Squats, Lunges, Archer Squat, Leg Curls...etc 4 - 40 - 4
*Substitute any movement you wish, this is just an example.*
The second style is Rep Goal. I'm sure most have heard of this, but if not here is an explanation. I pick a movement, say Pull-Ups and choose to do 50 total reps (or any other rep goal) before I end my session. Allow assistance if you are unable to do even 1 pull-up (or other chosen movement). You then rest between pull-up sets by doing a pressing movement for 2 times the previous pull-up set (so pull-ups = 6 pressing reps), a core movement for 3 times the pull-up numbers (so 3 pull-ups = 9 reps for core), and a leg movement for 4 times the pull-up numbers (so 3 pull-ups = 12 leg reps). The set-up all rolled up looks like this...
Pull-Ups OR Handstand Push-Ups x 50
Push-Up & Dips OR Rowing x 2
Leg Raises & Planks OR Obliques & Lower Back x 3
Squats, Lunges, Archer Squat, Leg Curls...etc x 4
Alternate the Pyramid and Rep Goal for a Heavy / Light cycle. It sounds complex but isn't. And the Pyramid workouts have the warm-up and cool-down already built in. If you want more information go to military.com and search "physical progressions".
The goal is to eventually complete the entire pyramid without assisting pull-ups or handstand push-ups (or whatever else you choose). If you do not have bands, they're not too expensive to pick up at your local sports supply store.
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