Gymnastic Bodies — Day Zero

This day is special for two reasons. Firstly, it’s the day I started this blog. And, more importantly, it’s the day I purchased Foundation One from GymnasticBodies.com.

Foundation One is the first module of a training program designed to teach the basic strength and skills of gymnastics. It’s not a substitute for training in-person with actual coaches but, by following this course, I hope to:

• Become stronger.
• Learn interesting skills.
• Control my body.

I’m inspired by people like Ido Portal and forms of movement like Parkour, but I’m as far as you can possibly be from either of these. Ido might as well be an alien and I can’t do a single Parkour move. I do have the motivation to change that though.

Over the coming weeks and months, I plan to regularly report on the progress I make to give people an idea of what the course is like and to see what’s possible without the in-person instruction of another human being. (Or at least, what’s possible for me.)

After making my way through all four modules of the Foundation course, which could take a couple of years, I then hope to offer my final recommendation along with tips and tricks for folks like me who are just getting started.

My Background

There’s not much to say about where I’ve come from since I haven’t really come from anywhere. I’m twenty years old, Australian, and almost as far from athletic as can be. I grew up as the classic skinny kid with no muscle mass and very little sport skill, but for the past year I have been doing barbell training – squats, deadlift, etc.

A few years ago, all I wanted to be was big and bulky but now I care mostly about functional strength. I do plan to bulk up further but, having survived GOMAD in the past, I know that I can gain weight easily enough if I really want to.

Why Gymnastics?

I can see how it creates a strong foundation for everything else I want to do — Parkour, breakdancing, etc. It’ll allow me to be strong and, most importantly, capable. I suppose that’s the most important word to me – capable. I want to be prepared for any activity that peaks my interest.

At the moment, it’s sort of the opposite. Even basic interests of mine are a struggle because I still have the many trappings of being a computer nerd.

First Impressions of Foundation One

Earlier today, I signed up for the Foundation One module.This costs $80, although it’s not exactly a standalone course. You are expected to eventually purchase three other modules. If the training provides the results it promises though, then it’s an easy decision to make. I’ve blown $80 on worthless junk plenty of times. (It’s good that there’s a 30-day refund period, too.)

The course itself is presented via an online portal. This means you can’t download any of the content, which is sort of a shame, but:

• You can access it from anywhere.
• I can understand why they want to avoid piracy.
• They can update the course easily.

What’s more frustrating is that the online portal isn’t designed very well. I’m assuming the more I progress through the program, the less I’ll be looking at the portal since I’ve already been browsing through every exercise to get a sense of what’s to come, but even so, the user interface could be much better.

Here’s two things in particular that annoy me:

• There’s a large header graphic that serves no purpose. When I browse the course on a smaller screen, this makes for a lot more scrolling.
• The menu is “collapsed” by default. And the menu just isn’t designed that well, either. Browsing exercises could be a lot more fluid.

But of course, these are fairly minor complaints. They annoy me but they’re not a motivation for a refund.

A nice feature of the portal is the “Workout Creator” that, as the name implies, allows you to create a schedule for the upcoming week’s worth of workouts. This feature is very simply designed but appreciated either way.

Then, in terms of the course itself, I can’t start judging it until I’ve spent a few days training, but I do like how it’s organised. There’s jargon to learn like “mastery” and abbreviations like “FL/PE1” but you’ll pick all that up fairly quickly. What was most important to me is that the strength and skills have easy progressions for beginners — so, people like me. Again, I can’t really judge that quite yet, but the progressions do seem like something I can handle. I’ll know for sure in a month or two.

I also like that:

• Strength and mobility are trained together. I’m familiar with the former but have never paid much attention to the latter. I imagine it’ll be useful.
• There’s both video and photos for every movement. I’m confident that I’ll be able to mimic them without a coach.
• To improve my form, I can post videos on the member’s only forum and have people critique what I’m doing. (So it’s almost like I have a real coach.)

Hesitation-wise, I’m mostly worried about the need for equipment. I have rings, floor space, and a gym membership, but there are pieces of equipment — stall bars, parallel bars, rope — that I don’t have access to. At the moment, this is my plan:

1. Do as much as I can until the lack of equipment becomes a problem.
2. If possible, improvise equipment. Two stools can be used for parallel bars, etc.
3. Buy or build the equipment that I still need at the last possible moment.

I suppose my hesitation comes from the fact that I’ve never done this sort of training before. It’s hard to commit to something that’s so foreign to me and, as a result, equipment costs more time and money than I want to spend.

In the words of Mark Twain though:

“I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”

I’m fairly sure my hesitations and practical concerns aren’t as troublesome as my brain would have me believe. Best to get started as soon as possible and figure it all out along the way. I can come up with solutions when they’re needed.

And So It Begins…

There’s a long road ahead and I have no idea what I’m doing. I feel like this could be the start of something wonderful though and I feel that writing about it will help me remain both present and analytical of the process that’s about to unfold.

Day one of training begins tomorrow.