Stuck on infinite loop

[bastrix]

Hi there everyone,

I've been doing a variation of the master class program for a while, I'm trying to build up strength to go on to the next class. The thing is, it's real tough to build that much strength and I'm stuck doing the same exercises. My question is... should I be doing something similar to the undulating block maybe modifying exercises to make them easier/harder in order to gain enough strength?

Since the undulating block is so varied I guess it shouldn't be a problem right? I'm not sure what to do, should I be modifying sliglhty all my exercises to make them harder?

The thing is most of the workouts I do, do not need to be modified to make harder, because they are so tough, so I'm not sure what to do next...

Thankks in advance....

[bastrix]

I just want to clarify, doesn't sound very clear now that I read my first post... I'm doing something similar to the master class, but I'm not doing an undulating block, I'm doing interval sets and super sets, but they are extremely tough. So basically my question is, should i keep on doing this as long as I'm progressing, or should I switch to something similar to the undulating block thats in the book for the master class?

Thanks

[senorchupacabra]

It depends. What does "for a while" mean. You said you've been doing Master-class-type of workouts for awhile. Does that mean 6 months, a year, 18 months? This is important because the Elite Class is no joke, and as you get stronger, it gets more and more difficult to make those big jumps of performance. For example, someone should make it out of the Basic Program after two or three cycles. My guess is it would take someone 6-12 months to jump from 1st class to Master Class (in general). I'm thinking it should take 12-18 months to make the jump from Master to Elite. If you've been doing Master Class for less than 18 months, I'd have a little more patience.

As for program design, the programs as Mark lays them out in the book are simply the best calisthenics programming I've ever come across. The reason for this is because the programming is so well-rounded. If you follow the program you work your endurance, strength and power. And from my experience, it's difficult to make those jumps in performance without working on all three elements. In short, they are not mutually exclusive. As your endurance improves, so does, to a lesser extant, your strength and power. As your strength improves, so does, to a lesser extant, your endurance and power. As your power improves, so does, to a lesser extant, your endurance and strength. They're all interconnected and so if you neglect any one of the three, the other two suffer.

[PatrickM]

senorchupacabra, thanks for this. I am a few weeks from completing the Masters Class but there is no way I am ready for the Chief class.
I was beginning to wonder how many times I would need to repeat the masters class before being ready. It is nice to have a ball park figure to keep in mind.

[bastrix]

senorchupacabra great post. It was real helpful. I'm not even close to 18 months.

Many thanks!!!!

[senorchupacabra]

It's something I have to constantly remind myself of as well. I've been on Master Class for about 6 months, and I keep thinking, "I should try the elite class" then I look at what that entails and I still have one or two more cycles to complete before I'm ready. It's that "I want it now" mentality that gets a lot of us in trouble. The good news is that once you get to that point where you can complete the Elite class, you're on a whole other level of strength and fitness from most men.

[Human_Bean]

Thanks Bastrix and Senorchupcabra. This was very encouraging. With an all-out effort it took me less than 6 months from starting as a very weak beginner to finishing Master. But since then I am stuck and the elite program appears out of reach currently and I started to doubt myself. Like Bastrix I am also focusing on Interval and Supersets.

But if I think of doing Master over and over for the next 12 months until I might be able to reach Elite this appears quite annoying.
Senor and all others, would you elaborate a little on your program to prepare yourself for Elite?

[senorchupacabra]

I apologize in advance for what is probably going to turn out to be a novel-length response.

Bean-- Of course, my timeframes were general estimates bound not to cover all variables, but working your way from beginner to Master Class in 6 months is quite impressive. I would've said it should take most people starting as beginners AT LEAST a year to get to master class. So great job!

What I'm wondering immediately, however, is how hard you pushed yourself. Did you move up to the 1st Class and Master Class before you met the requirements for those programs? I only ask because your stalled progress might be a result of "maxing out" your gains. This is hard to explain, but essentially there is this idea in bw calisthenic circles of "banking" strength. This means that you don't move on the next most difficult movement until you've "milked" your present movement for all it's worth. For example, moving from military presses to handstand pushups. There comes a point where, technically, you are strong enough to start doing handstand pushups instead of military presses. The question is, should you? In theory, the answer is: not until you are no longer getting any stronger from the military press. I apologize for not being a better writer, but basically, I'm wondering (and I can definitely be wrong) whether you moved up in programs without "milking" the earlier programs. The idea is that you stay on, say, 1st class until you are no longer showing any improvement from that program, because it's the earlier, easier programs that lays the foundation for the later, more advanced programs. Strength, like just about anything else that is being built, needs a solid foundation. And if you didn't put in the proper amount of time in the beginning, and you rushed through those earlier steps, down the road, that lack of foundation begins to show, and your gains stall. If this is the case, you're just going to have to bide your time in Master Class until that foundation builds itself back up.

My own programming is pure YAYOG. Two weeks of ladders, two weeks of intervals, two weeks of supersets, four weeks of undulation. What I do differently is which exercises I choose. I've added bridges, various pullup variations (archer, triangle, uneven, towel etc), uneven pushups, rope climbing and L-sits. On my off days, I "grease the groove" with various static holds I'm working on, such as the tuck planche, front and back levers, elbow lever and handstand.

As for your concerns about doing the Master Class for the next year and getting bored, I find that statement interesting. You said you started off as a beginner, so I'm assuming you haven't done many other programs in the past, because, for me, YAYOG is my preferred program precisely because it is so adaptable. Every week I add in a different movement to each muscle group. Getting bored isn't a problem for me. Either way, the cold, hard truth is that this is strength training. You do something over and over again until you want to puke. And then, one day, suddenly, you're very, very good at it. The Great Gama, arguably the greatest wrestler of the past 100 years, spent 20 years trying to pull a tree out of the ground. This was his primary method of building strength. He'd tie himself to the tree and for 10-20 minutes every day he'd try to rip it from the ground. Joseph Greenstein once asked him if he ever managed to pull it out and he said, "Are you kidding. It's a tree. Of course I didn't pull it out of the ground. But when you spend 20 years trying to throw a tree, throwing a man seems quite easy." I'm sure some days he was bored and tired of wrestling with that damned tree, but it paid dividends in ways that were quite amazing.

One thing you can do is cherry pick from the elite class. If there's a particular workout you think you can do, do it. I, myself, have cherry picked the Elite Class for all my pulling exercies with the exception of Tabatas. For example, I do ladders of regular pullups instead of assisted pullups. Or you can just cherry pick certain movements. Start doing some of your pullups with a weighted backpack, if you can (the power block is particularly good time to incorporate difficult movements, since you'll only have to do it twice for 1-5 reps).

[mbarnes]

That was quite a post. You've obviously spent a lot of time thinking this program over and developing this strategy. Thanks for sharing you experiences.

[Human_Bean]

Senor, thanks for another really excellent post! You are of course 100% right. Yes, I forced myself through the Beginner, 1st and Master despite not meeting the entry requirements.
And I think I need to listen to your advise, develop a more relaxed attitude and move away from focusing on progress to higher levels or more prestigious exercises such as handstand PUs and should concentrate more on maximizing the gains from the level on which I am now. Actually I am sure that I could still gain plenty from exercises such as military press, dive bombers, Chin ups or Let Me Ins.
Again, thanks for the helpful advice.

But while I think that the upper body part of YAYOG is perfect for me, the leg part is much less suited for me. First I noticed that the standard YAYOG program includes a significantly lower proportion of leg work than other programs I was reading in the last weeks. Second, there are only a few exercises left that I could still milk for gains (Pistols and all jumping exercises).
Therefore I will continue with a hybrid program, YAYOG Push, Pull and 2-3 mixed leg/full body days with Pistols, Iron Mikes, Box jumps, weighted Lunges and Squats, Deadlifts, and Sandbag Shouldering and Cleans plus TGUs.
But I am quite curious about your leg program, apparently you are really strong and I would like to know if and how you are doing the legs purely bodyweight or do you use weights to make the leg exercises more interesting?