Topic: Improving My Current Workout

[Sam Zytka]

Ok so I have posted here before and yes i have gotten help but i feel as if i am not working as beneficially as possible.  Just a little background I love doing bodyweight exercises because of the mental strength they require. I have been doiing strength gain exercises and then after that do strength endurance exercises, and as of now i alternate upper body/ lower body days

Goals- I want to increase strength all around without putting on much weight (I am 6 foot to 6 1 and about 185 pounds) i have considerable strength and have been conditioning and lifting for 2 years.  I carry my weight well in everything except flat out sprinting. I have good endurance (6 minute mile) but my sprinting ability is completely horrible.  I have increased in jumping ability since i started working out but my sprinting hasn't really increased at all.  I want to increase my strength in things particular to parkour and i want to increase my speed all around.

Current Workout- Upperbody

Strength Gains- (I do all the strength exercises outside because that is where my bench is and it allows me to do the wall dips and overhang pullups
Bench- 10 reps - I can't push my limits due to absence of spotter
Wall Dips-9 reps
Pullups (On an overhang making them much harder because it has the grip of a wall but there is no wall to kick off of) 6 reps

Repeat 3 times
Between each rotation i throw a ball of a wall to work my arm because i am a baseball pitcher

Endurance Gains-

Pushups- 45 reps- I can usually get about 35 in one set and then i will rest and try to get to 45 as quick as possible
Pullups- Weighted 10 pounds- 5 reps (I do weighted pull ups in the endurance section because i have a pull up bar in my room and its too much of a pain in the ass to do 2 exercises outside then come inside and upstairs to do pullups)
Bar Dips/ Muscle Up Negatives
5 reps
Dips- They are different then the wall dips- 15 reps
L dips- 40 Reps The only real reason i do these is because they stretch my arm and makes itfeel better pre or post pitching for baseball

Repeat 3 times
So for upperbody i go outside and do three sets of each exercise and then go inside and do three sets of each exercise

I do random core exercises like L hang on the pull up bar along with situps and planks and such

Lower Body- Outside- I Keep my bench outside and the problem is i have a crappy little bench and there is absolutelty no way to do squats cause i don't have a rack

Hang Cleans 10 reps, 8 reps, 8 reps, - In between each set i go and do 10 precisions

Pistols- Right/ Left I shoot for 8 each set even if i have to assist my body
I do pistols and Plant Plyos back to back to equal 1 set
Plant Plyos Burpee- Exercise from APK's massive list 10 open hand 10 closed hand
Repeat 3 times

Go inside
10 jumping squats silent landing                       
10 half jumping squats silent landing
Repeat 3 times to equal 1 set
Do 3 Sets
in between each set of jumping squats/1/2 jumping squats i go and do calf raises (I do these exclusively for ankle strengthening not for calf strengthening cause i know they are basically useless and that is why i do these in between the strength workouts

Burpees without pushup 10 reps 3 sets

Deep Squats so the bottom of the thigh is worked
30 Reps 3 Sets

2 Minute Squat Hold

Again Random Core work

After Each workout i take a protein shake

I have a really shitty diet and i am trying to stop drinking soda and eating candy and once i accomplish those i am going to completely revise what i eat

I want to add some type of sprint intervals into my leg workout i am surrounded by hills so could do uphill sprinting very easily.  I want to add sprinting because i am very slow and really need to increase speed.

THE ENTIRE PURPOSE OF THIS THREAD IS SO THAT THE PEOPLE WHO CAN GIVE ADVICE DO SO AND HELP REVISE MY WORKOUT

Thank you, i think i covered everything one might need to know to help but if not i will edit the post

[Grayson]

First up with your goals, it will help to have a goal with numbers. You say you want to gain strength without putting on alot of weight, but what strength do you want to increase? Deadlift, Squat, Bench, Dips, Pull-ups, Planche? Do you want to gain a certain weight of muscle? Also I see you incorporate muscle up negatives in your workout, you want to do 1 muscle up also, and for your sprinting you want to build up your posterior chain and explosive power (plyo).

So plan out your goals and then I can help you alot more.

[FastGuppy]

First, your goals need to be more specific. If you want help that will be beneficial to your improvement be specific. To clarify being specific isn't increase strength or lose weight. That's great but we can't really see a goal in sight. Say I wanted to lose 15 pounds in a month. That would be a great goal. So time your sprints (or measure them in power if you can) and come back to us.

In addition, I would lose worthless exercises. If it has nothing to do with your goals lose the workout. If it is just redundant lose the exercise. These extraneous exercises will be detrimental in the sense they will just produce excess waste (cytoplasm, etc.) Bench is great but if there's no inherit use for it. Don't do it. In short, don't have a large workout. Keep it simple.

[Grayson]

First, your goals need to be more specific. If you want help that will be beneficial to your improvement be specific. To clarify being specific isn't increase strength or lose weight. That's great but we can't really see a goal in sight. Say I wanted to lose 15 pounds in a month. That would be a great goal. So time your sprints (or measure them in power if you can) and come back to us.

In addition, I would lose worthless exercises. If it has nothing to do with your goals lose the workout. If it is just redundant lose the exercise. These extraneous exercises will be detrimental in the sense they will just produce excess waste (cytoplasm, etc.) Bench is great but if there's no inherit use for it. Don't do it. In short, don't have a large workout. Keep it simple.

Bench has inherit use for planche.

[FastGuppy]

Really?  I thought planche was core and forearms and bench is pectorials, delts, triceps, and forearms. Sure it's a great workout but it's still overused in weight rooms.

Regardless, it was an example. It really depends on his goals.

[Grayson]

Planche is Pecs, delts, biceps, triceps, and abs. You are right though, it depends what his goals are

[Corey Cedeno]

Planche is Pecs, delts, biceps, triceps, and abs. You are right though, it depends what his goals are

Planche = Pecs, Delts, biceps, triceps, lumbar, traps, obliques (not so much abs), glutes, hams and quads.  It's bloody near everything.




Bench has some carryover for your Planche, but working your Planche will further help your bench more so.

[Sam Zytka]

Goals- Clean Muscle Up, Handstand, Front Flip Ground, Side Flip Ground, Back Flip Ground, greater precision distance(i dont know my exact precision but i know there are places i go that i can't reach but get very close and i would like to reach them)  I will try to time a sprint or something
Basically i know very accurately the strength of my body (from parkour) and i would like to increase my precisions, climbups, muscle ups, sprints, power on kong, distance on precision, and my vertical.
I never really keep stats because i like to just work towards something that would be an increase in strength and technique
basically instead of saying id like to increase my vertical by 4 inches, i think that id like to be able to jump onto the wall at the library
you know what i mean?
if i should definitely change this just tell me but this has always been the way i have worked out because i want to accomplish certain things rather then higher statistics

[Grayson]

Goals- Clean Muscle Up, Handstand, Front Flip Ground, Side Flip Ground, Back Flip Ground, greater precision distance(i dont know my exact precision but i know there are places i go that i can't reach but get very close and i would like to reach them)  I will try to time a sprint or something
Basically i know very accurately the strength of my body (from parkour) and i would like to increase my precisions, climbups, muscle ups, sprints, power on kong, distance on precision, and my vertical.
I never really keep stats because i like to just work towards something that would be an increase in strength and technique
basically instead of saying id like to increase my vertical by 4 inches, i think that id like to be able to jump onto the wall at the library
you know what i mean?
if i should definitely change this just tell me but this has always been the way i have worked out because i want to accomplish certain things rather then higher statistics

Now we're talkin'. Ok so I want you to read this thread http://www.americanparkour.com/smf/index.php?topic=15354.0  and then pick two pulling, two pushing, two handstand, two core, and two leg workouts to match your goals (i.e muscle up would be pull ups, dips and muscle up negatives.) If you have access to a squat rack you can do strength exercises to increase your broad jump and verticle and sprint by strengthining your posterior chain like the deadlift and squat but make sure your form is correct.

[FastGuppy]

Kipping, Pull-ups and Dips are great for muscle-ups. Do weighted.

Do handstands facing away from the wall around twice a day.

For flips try to do squats, clean, snatch and plyo squats. If you don't have access to a gym keep doing em pistols.

Sprinting is typical. Do intervals 10 or 15 seconds with two minutes between. This will help you with your jumping as well.

Your program needs a little bit more organization to be frank. Your motivation seems good but if you don't have order in your workout you won't manipulate fatigue correctly. If you can't do that then you're at risk of overtraining or under training. I would highly suggest reading Steve's sticky (constructing routines) and/or getting practical programming by Mark Rippetoe

[Sam Zytka]

I don't have access to a squat rack so what i am wondering is if i do hang cleans, is it to much to do a snatch or a jerk, in addition since they are very similar movements (I don't want to overdue it) and my other question is should i merge my workouts to 1 day and just work the 2 from each category you mentioned?

edit ok so i went through and picked 2 but i am still a little confused

Pulling
Pullups/ Chinups
Front Lever

Pushing
Pushups
Dips

Core
L sit
V sit

Handstand
Basic Handstand?
Handstand Press

Muscle Up

legs
Pistols
Sprints

lifting stength
bench
deadlift

lifting power
Clean
Snatch

The thing i am wondering about is do i do them all on one day, if not how do you suggest i combine them, after each listed exercise or skill on the right there are suggested ways to get there, should i do all of those when working for that skill or pick one and stay consistent
Pulling-Pullups/Chinups -Front Lever Progression, L-sit, Strict, Kipping, Weighted, Unweighted, Partial Finger, single/double/triple finger, Archer, Clapping
should i pick a few of these and train them each time i train pullups/chinups, should i pick maybe 2 or 3 and switch them everytime i train it

For some of them i know what to do but for others like handstand front lever v sit and l sit, i have no idea where to even start
finally is what format should i follow for most of the exercises
5 reps 5 sets
10 reps 3 sets

[Grayson]

I don't have access to a squat rack so what i am wondering is if i do hang cleans, is it to much to do a snatch or a jerk, in addition since they are very similar movements (I don't want to overdue it) and my other question is should i merge my workouts to 1 day and just work the 2 from each category you mentioned?

edit ok so i went through and picked 2 but i am still a little confused

Pulling
Pullups/ Chinups
Front Lever

Pushing
Pushups
Dips

Core
L sit
V sit

Handstand
Basic Handstand?
Handstand Press

Muscle Up

legs
Pistols
Sprints

lifting stength
bench
deadlift

lifting power
Clean
Snatch

The thing i am wondering about is do i do them all on one day, if not how do you suggest i combine them, after each listed exercise or skill on the right there are suggested ways to get there, should i do all of those when working for that skill or pick one and stay consistent
Pulling-Pullups/Chinups -Front Lever Progression, L-sit, Strict, Kipping, Weighted, Unweighted, Partial Finger, single/double/triple finger, Archer, Clapping
should i pick a few of these and train them each time i train pullups/chinups, should i pick maybe 2 or 3 and switch them everytime i train it

For some of them i know what to do but for others like handstand front lever v sit and l sit, i have no idea where to even start
finally is what format should i follow for most of the exercises
5 reps 5 sets
10 reps 3 sets

I would suggest you do them all in one day, but in a certain schedule like sprints after strength work so your muscles are fresh when you do strength work. Just pick one skill to match your goals (i.e if your goal is 12 strict pull ups then work strict pull ups) and stay consistent. I would not suggest picking v-sit for core rather than have it as a goal considering it is a very tough workout, rather pick L-sit (or a progression to L sit like tucked L sit) and work into v-sit. Look at the tutorials here for handstand and front lever and L sit  http://www.beastskills.com/tutorials.htm

[Sam Zytka]

thanks so much for your help i really appreciate it

so here is how i will structure it

Workout

Bench- 5 reps 4 sets
Hang Clean- 5 reps 4 sets
Deadlift 5 reps 4 sets
Snatch- 5 reps 4 sets
Weighted Dips- 10 pounds- Hopefully 5 reps for 4 sets
Pistols- 5 reps 4 sets
Muscle Up Negatives and Muscle Up Attempts- 10 reps 4 sets for negatives
Pushups- To start the planche progression should i do pushups with hands at the waist to help forward the progression?
Weighted PullUps/Chinups
Back Lever progression- according to beast skills you should master this first before front lever
L Sit Progression
Handstand Practice- Should I just kick up against the wall and practice getting used to it?
Uphill Sprints (I don't know the distance but they are hard) How long should I rest in between each set and how many sets should I do

[Grayson]

thanks so much for your help i really appreciate it

so here is how i will structure it

Workout

Bench- 5 reps 4 sets
Hang Clean- 5 reps 4 sets
Deadlift 5 reps 4 sets
Snatch- 5 reps 4 sets
Weighted Dips- 10 pounds- Hopefully 5 reps for 4 sets
Pistols- 5 reps 4 sets
Muscle Up Negatives and Muscle Up Attempts- 10 reps 4 sets for negatives
Pushups- To start the planche progression should i do pushups with hands at the waist to help forward the progression?
Weighted PullUps/Chinups
Front Lever progression
L Sit Progression
Handstand Practice- Should I just kick up against the wall and practice getting used to it?
Uphill Sprints (I don't know the distance but they are hard) How long should I rest in between each set and how many sets should I do

I would advise putting it in order instead of skipping around from pulling to strength to pushing etc. because you want to have the muscles your using continually working. So it could look something like this

Psuedo push ups (hands near waist)
Dips
Bench
Weighted pull ups
Front lever progression
L-sit progression
Handstand against wall
Hand stand push up negatives against a wall
Deadlift
Clean
Snatch
Pistols
Sprints

With the handstands you can do them up against a wall (facing the wall) until you get the balance to do freestanding (try not to rely on the wall to much.

With sprints I like to do 100m x20 with a 10-20 sec. rest in between each 100 m, I don't know much about uphill sprints so maybe Chris or Steve can help me out here.

[Sam Zytka]

Alright will do thanks so much for the help grayson it has been amazing

[Grayson]

No problem, and make sure your form is correct on all of the exercises Good luck!

[Spencer B]

Grayson, I have seen you progress into a great wealth of knowledge in a short amount of time, and it is truly impressive. Your advise is helpful and accurate... 90% of the time...

I believe you are mistaken in a few key areas...

First of all you are suggesting doing every exercise in his repertóire in one workout. This is a dire fallacy. For one is provides no variation from day to day, secondly the time spent doing such would be massive and more detrimental than helpful, and lastly, it sets one up for for many overtraining/overuse injuries, especially in the upper body.

Secondly, and compared to the first problem it is minuscule indeed, but I believe your recommendation here:

two pulling, two pushing, two handstand, two core, and two leg workouts to match your goals (i.e muscle up would be pull ups, dips and muscle up negatives.)

Is a little overboard on amount... Two pulling and two pushing is something I will not argue (And by 'two legs' I assume you meant Posterior Chain exercises), but handstands fall under balance and there is no reason to limit yourself to two balancing skills. and they are that; A skill. In reality they don't even have a reason for being on this list.

And onto the final, slightly iffy suggestion of core exercises... If you have a solid program with squats, deadlifts, overhead press, etc. There is no need whatsoever for core exercises, as they are already taxed enough by the loads lifted. However barring the access of weights, it is perfectly acceptable, one might argue even necessary, to have core exercises in one's program. Just something to keep in mind.

[Grayson]

Thankyou for the corrections Spencer, I will take them to mind if I give advice again.

[Sam Zytka]

So......should i structure my workout like this and do upperbody specific one day and lowerbody the next day

Workout A
Psuedo Push Ups
Weighted Dips
Bench
Weighted Pullups/Chinups
Handstand Practice
L sit Progression

Rest Day

Workout B
Deadlift
Clean
Snatch
Pistols
Sprints
L Sit Progression
Handstand Practice

and repeat?

or should i structure it as a few lowerbody and a few upperbody each exercise day, or if i break it into upperbody lowerbody days then should i do each day after each other so that it is monday-upper tueday-lower wednesday- upper

it seems that if i break it up to upperbody and lowerbody days and have a rest day inbetween then it will be to long between workouts because it would be monday-upper wednesday-lower friday-upper sunday- lower
should i not break it upper and lower at all?

[Spencer B]

So......should i structure my workout like this and do upperbody specific one day and lowerbody the next day

Workout A
Psuedo Push Ups
Weighted Dips
Bench
Weighted Pullups/Chinups
Handstand Practice
L sit Progression

Rest Day

Workout B
Deadlift
Clean
Snatch
Pistols
Sprints
L Sit Progression
Handstand Practice

and repeat
or should i structure it as a few lowerbody and a few upperbody each exercise

Splitting your workouts between upper body and lower body would be pointless at this stage in your training. You have access to weights right? Then squat. Get a gym membership and squat. If you can't do that, then build yourself a rack and squat, whatever you do squat. If you try everything and you still can't find suitable conditions (ie. a rack), then add as much weight as you can without one.

Also I just noticed something... You have too much push and not enough pull in these. I would suggest looking into the front lever and replacing bench and weighted dips with overhead press. (OHP) Coming onto the topic of cleans and snatches, it would be best to focu mainly on form at the moment. as such they can go into your warmup or as skills.

And finally, with squats and other weight specific exercises in your regimen, there is not a need for core exercises, so these will be entirely up to your discretion.

Anyways, here is what I would suggest...

SKILL WORK, done every workout day before any strength work.

Handstand work
Any other balancing work
Any flips or vaults so long as it isn't too intense.
Clean and snatch form work at low weight.

Then two different workouts with HIIT (Interval sprints) at least once a week.


WORKOUT A

Squats
OHP
Weighted pullups


WORKOUT B


Pseudo Pushups
Other pulling (This is where my suggestion of front lever exercises would be, if want to do them.)
Deadlifts

And again, once a week, sprints.