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Bodyweight is the FPP good for my goals?

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Hello everyone.

I have never run the FPP, but I would like to run the 3RM The Fighter Pull-up Program Revisited | StrongFirst

This is so that I can have a lot of energy when I practice my tai chi / qigong.

Basically planning on running the FPP by itself, with some stretching and breathing exercises thrown in. Might also do some jump rope or really relaxed running. The rest of my daily practice will be tai chi practice and push hands practice with my buddy. I get a lot of work in my legs (and whole body for that matter) from stance practice and working on drills with my buddy.

I know push hands is a pretty controversial subject. I do not mean for this thread to turn into a debate on its usefulness.

more traditional strength training seems to interfere with the practice of tai chi, leaving the trainee "too tight" or "too tired" in most cases.

I thought the FPP may be a good option, as it will improve my absolute strength with minimal time and energy invested. Pull ups also seem to decompress my spine and stretch me out, a big plus.

Any thoughts/ tips/ insight on the FPP or tai chi push hands would be appreciated.
 
The FPP program's purpose is to increase your rep count on pullups. Why have you selected that, as opposed to another movement or program?

-S-
 
The FPP program's purpose is to increase your rep count on pullups. Why have you selected that, as opposed to another movement or program?

-S-

That's a really good question Steve.

Well, for one, I do want to increase my pull up reps, as I have always taken that as a sign that my strength has increased. You can't really fool pull ups. You either got lighter, stronger, fatter, or weaker, depending on how you progress / regress.

I am still concerned about strength, you see, I just do not want to invest a whole lot of time or energy into strength training right now. I want to see what it does to my body, to have a very minimal strength program of just one movement.

The pull up is a natural choice for me as I have very little equipment available. Pull ups are also very easy on my body, compared to other exercises I like. Furthermore, they allow me to move a lot of weight around relatively easily.

I suppose I am searching for "just enough" strength right now.

The FPP seems to be a relatively low investment of energy and time for what it offers.

Hope this clarifies my intentions a bit more.
 
FPP is a program that I look at for peaking. I think it’s too intense for most people to do for long.

I’d consider a lower body exercise as well, or maybe do HLR instead of some of those pull-ups to get a different version of things.

-S-
 
FPP is a program that I look at for peaking. I think it’s too intense for most people to do for long.

I’d consider a lower body exercise as well, or maybe do HLR instead of some of those pull-ups to get a different version of things.

-S-

I understand a little more now Steve, thank you.

Do you have any advice on strength training in the context of someone focusing on a "softer" practice, such as tai chi?
 
I understand a little more now Steve, thank you.

Do you have any advice on strength training in the context of someone focusing on a "softer" practice, such as tai chi?

@Jak Nieuwenhuis
I practice qigong and tai-chi almost daily. (Have for years) (That and some other 'soft' MA)
From my perspective there is really no strength training required to enhance tai-chi practice. The people I learned from most certainly did no other strength training, and they are phenomenal practitioners. I would be content if I was a tenth as good as these people.
Now... that being said... if I did want to focus on a strength element for tai-chi, it would not be pull-ups. I would do things like Cossack Squats and Pistols.

Nothing against pull-ups. I like them a lot. FPP is great (especially weighted), but like @Steve Freides noted, it's good for peaking. You might consider alternating FPP, GTG pull-ups, and more difficult pull-up variations.

And, yes discussions around push-hands sometimes gets controversial

(My tai-chi teachers were very adept at push-hands... again, with no additional strength training required...)
 
@Jak Nieuwenhuis
I practice qigong and tai-chi almost daily. (Have for years) (That and some other 'soft' MA)
From my perspective there is really no strength training required to enhance tai-chi practice. The people I learned from most certainly did no other strength training, and they are phenomenal practitioners. I would be content if I was a tenth as good as these people.
Now... that being said... if I did want to focus on a strength element for tai-chi, it would not be pull-ups. I would do things like Cossack Squats and Pistols.

Nothing against pull-ups. I like them a lot. FPP is great (especially weighted), but like @Steve Freides noted, it's good for peaking. You might consider alternating FPP, GTG pull-ups, and more difficult pull-up variations.

And, yes discussions around push-hands sometimes gets controversial

(My tai-chi teachers were very adept at push-hands... again, with no additional strength training required...)

I wish we could push hands sometime, @offwidth ;)

thank you for the advice
 
Not sure about tai-chi and qigong but from what I know (from a highly decorated instructor but I have no experience to judge his actual practice) it is based a lot on selective tension, relaxation, balance, tightness and meditative flow while under load?

From my very limited point of view I’d say the TGU sounds like exactly that, and it can be focused on different elements each time you do one... not much equipment needed, won’t take much time, and teaches a form of movement integrity that very little elsecomes close to... that would be my choice!

Pullups making you feel decompressed can be achieved even better by hanging from a pullup bar (not much other mobility work needed), and increasing your pullup numbers easily without struggle you could GTG them

So, my choice for a one exercise program for a softer strength practice would be the TGU, and hang from a pullup bar!

You could also alternate snatches a few weeks and long presses (thrusters?) for a few weeks each
 
BTW, the FPP sounds easy and like a great idea until you actually do it... the later weeks are quite challenging and anything else but “soft”

I appreciate this and your other suggestion!

get ups would not take much time or energy out of my day and neither would hanging from a bar.

I do wall squats in my practice as well.

maybe I will add some crawling too.

sounds like a good direction to go in.
 
If you are looking to decompress you could easily just do deadhangs or scapular pull ups. The FPP does get pretty intense as thdxweeks go by. It’s purose, as others have said is to increase the max effort set.
 
Sounds like a plan coming together!

Others will have very good suggestion also that will be worth a try.

One thing to remember is that strength practice is not a race! If you think in years and decades rather than weeks and days there will be plenty of time to experiment and see what works for you!
If things work well still after 6-12 weeks, excellent! If not, change! You won’t have lost much time (what is 6 weeks compared to 10 years) but gained a lot of knowledge about yourself

The short point is, be open to experimentation and enjoy the experience!
So if you want to do the FPP, by all means go for it!
 
FPP is a program that I look at for peaking. I think it’s too intense for most people to do for long.

I’d consider a lower body exercise as well, or maybe do HLR instead of some of those pull-ups to get a different version of things.

-S-
if you like the simplicity of the FPP, you can spread it out over a longer phase of time... for example, 2 days on, one off, 2 on, two off, etc. this is more sustainable and less of a "peaking" program as @Steve Freides mentioned earlier
 
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