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Hello! Long time since I've posted or even been on the forum. I've kept up my gb routine since starting about 4years ago and made significant progress particularly in regards to mobility, full body tension, core stability. Strength wise I'm still somewhat struggling due to RA issues and injuries, which were the actual reason I switched to gb. For some background: I used to lift in my 20ies picked up boxing at 30ish and after having had on n off shoulder issues forever I finally suffered a labrum tear in my right shoulder. I kept on training for a year until tendonitis and systemic inflammation were unbearable. After surgery 2016/17 I've been on a looooong and very slow path of recovery also inhibited by a herniated L5. GB helped a great deal setting up a reasonable and scalable exercise routine for recovery and to get better in the long run. Over the years my shoulder mobility and isometric strength has returned and even improved to a good level BUT with frequent set backs from time to time. Most recently about 4months ago. The shoulder pain returned (most likely triggered by gluten sensitivity) and mobility is way down. To get to the point of my post: Just yesterday I tried some myofascial release of the subscapularis for the first time - and it's like a revelation! Depending on which spots I was pressing my thumb in my armpit against the scapula it triggered insane pain all over my upper right thoracic. From the neck shoulder, pec, biceps tendon and posterior rotator cuff, triceps, serratus anterior etc. Most significantly a burning tear like sensation in the posterior capsule around the teres minor/ infraspinatus heads and the inner upper arm/triceps head leaving some superficial numbness in these areas. The release feeling is intense though! I feel like I finally found the root cause of all my shoulder pain and limited rom. Now I'd like to tap in and find out more how to release, mobilize the subscapularis. I've been doing deadhangs. That seemed to aggravate the impingement issue at times though. Switching to a supinated grip recently seemed to help with that and increased stretch on the serratus anterior. Scap shrugs also seem to hit the right area, while aggravating it at times. External rotation has been really painful recently. Also hanging leg raises have been a bad idea, because I engage the biceps, lats and obviously the subscapularis too much. Any suggestions on exercises to release, stretch, increase mibility?! Thanks in advance!!

I've been doing personal research on the subject of how mobility affects strength because I just like to learn more about stuff. I'm reading this article right now. https://jeb.biologists.org/content/213/5/707.long Just like to know if you guys had any interesting stories, insights, or more solid evidence about the topic because the article says the stuff is theoretical and "yet to be demonstrated experimentally" as of 2010. Restating that I'm trying to learn so if anyone could point me to some valid articles which are more up to date so I don't waste my time that would be great

Hi! I’ve been frequenting the gymnastic bodies forums for quite some time now and just recently decided to take the plunge and try the free trial. Im having some trouble deciding where to start. Part of me wants to start at the complete beginning and move through all of the progressions first 2 reasons. First of all I want to go back through and smooth out any weak points I might have and give my body the proper time to adjust. Secondly, I am a strength coach and I feel it would be extremely beneficial for me to go through the learning process from beginning to end as a student so I have a better understanding of how to implement gymnastics strength with my athletes/clients. A little bit about where I’m at right now: 1-2 one arm chin ups on rings and on a bar 15 freestanding HSPU 5-6 freestanding HSPU full ROM on bars 2 stalder presses in a row 6ish second straddle planche front lever is pretty weak, I can control a full eccentric but have no more than a 3 second hold can’t really hold a bent arm planche on the floor but I can do a few straddle hollow body presses full middle and front splits but they are not that comfortable yet. will include some videos and pictures for proof

Hello all, Thanks for having me at this community. I have been struggling for a few years with mobility. Hips and lower back are getting in place, but my shoulders are still pretty rounded. I have been "diagnosed" with asthma, but have found out it's very closely related to my scapular and thoracic mobility. After doing the banded series, shoulder, lats & rotator cuff I experienced a -sharp- pain in my chest, especially when breathing in deep. Does anybody have any idea what might going on? Thx a lot & stay healthy. Wouter

I am just starting out and incredibly inflexible. I can only make it about half way through the weekly middle split video! Should I try and get through the whole thing or just do what I can? I assume just do what I can, and try to add a little each week. What are your recommendations?

I am having trouble with the mobility in Foundation 1. How do i rate the workout when the strength is to easy, but the mobility is To hard? Varm Regards Christian Gundersen

Hello, I've noticed that my right foot likes to be a little externally rotated, especially while walking. I've also had problems doing lifts like the deadlift, clean, etc where I get pain in the right side of my low back along the spine. During this I feel like my right inner hip is not offering any support, but it gets a bit better if I make a conscious effort to flex my right adductor and force my right hip back. I think it might be slightly impinged, because my hips also click if I lay down and contract/extend my knee. To fix this i've tried strengthening and stretching my hamstrings, glutes, and hip flexors with various exercises like pike compressions, glute bridges, and weighted stretching by holding essentially a half way roman deadlift with very low weight. These have all been pretty effective at getting some hip mobility and strength back, but nothing has fixed the external rotation issue. Is this something any of you have seen before, or do you have any ideas of exercises that I should do to fix this? Thanks in advance, Clay

I noticed when I was doing a set of seizas on a day where I had some tightness in my posterior knee that when I came to the last 20-30 degrees of flexion that my knee would pop. There was no pain from the pop but it seemed to make my knee tighten up. I saw an ortho who checked the integrity of my ligaments and had me do some meniscus tests of which all seemed attached and I could perform the tests with no pain. I was traveling this past week so I decided to see if some down time would help. Am back now in my full routine and the popping is still there. It is not a normal crack or pop that one can produce by purposely cracking their knuckles or neck. It is a big pop that almost feels like my tibia and femur are rubbing up against one another until the pop which feels almost like my tibia is popping into place as a result. The only thing that I can think of is that I did overextend my right leg a bit a few days before the popping began. Anyone have any ideas, similar experience or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Hi GymnasticBodies, Ive been following and watching for a long time and im finally looking forward to starting Foundation 1, Bridge and Mobility programs soon! All around im a healthy and strong male, no worries there. However, i kind of want to get my wife in on this too and she wants to try herself. She has scoliosis with a good 37 degree curve if i remember correctly. 9/10 people with scoliosis do not experience pain from their cronic disease - unfortunately, she does. Also, since the curve is in her lower lumbar, close to the hip, it was deemed un-fixable and no operation could be made. Being athletic and keeping your body healthy is very important and also reliefs quite a lot of pain from her spine. She does a lot of yoga which is fine, but there is no progression and she is not really getting stronger or more flexible. I think GymnasticBodies would be a great combination of what she knows from yoga, but with a little extra challenge / spice for her. Of course the goals wouldnt be to do muscle-ups, levers, etc. since she has aspiration for it. I just want her to get a strong foundation so she has less pain from her scoliosis. Anyways, my point / question is: Does anyone have any experience with scoliosis in the connection with gymnastics? Is it do-able? Is there certain excersis you should stay away from? Very new about training with scoliosis so ANY tips, tricks, experiences, etc. will be a great help From Philip

Hi i am writing this because i want to hear. Any of your guys here who successfully fixed their snapping popping elbow kinda thing without having surgery. Its my medial tricep tendon that pushes my inner elbow nerve out of the groove and onto the bony part. I have tried every doctor physical therapist chiropractor. And they say you just have to live with it. It mostly happens in pronation the hands pointing. And i am wondering does any gymnasticbodies programs have a fix for this. Yeah because the tracking positioning in my elbows is not kinda correct. It mostly bothers me in the left. Than in the right. When the nerve is kinda tight. I have dealt with this little kind of injury for 3-4 years. Now. And no way i am getting allowed for surgery which they say isnt neceassary.

Good afternoon. I'm currently a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps at The Basic School in Quantico, VA. I'm training for the Infantry Officer Course in July 2018 (pending selection). This is an extremely challenging course (supposed to be the hardest general school the Marine Corps offers) with loads well in excess of 100 lb required to be carried for long distances. I've done a huge amount of mobility work on my knees and ankles over the past several years which has prevented me from having any knee/ankle issues despite lots of hard training. I still have a lot of progress to make though, which I was reminded of 2 weeks ago when I twisted my ankle (which never happens but did this time) by stepping in a hole covered with leaves while walking on a trail wearing boots and a bunch of gear. I don't have any pain in walking/running/squatting etc but still don't have 100% full range when I roll my foot towards its outer edge. Doc said it was just a mild sprain, but it was a bit of a wake-up call on how quickly this stuff can happen. I have to take it easy on movements like twisting squats which place a good deal of sideways stress on ankles for a bit until it's 100% but am otherwise unrestricted. I'm looking to bombproof my knees/ankles especially in preparation for IOC, so here's my question: If you had your professional reputation on the line and had 10-15 min/day and 1 hr per weekend for the next 6 months to train me to prevent knee/ankle injuries, how would you structure the training? I'm very disciplined and already do a bare minimum of 10-15 min of stretching/mobility work every day and have for well over a year unbroken unless I'm in the field. I have a good working knowledge of stretching and mobility. For reference, when I'm loose I can knock out multiple rock bottom pistol squats per leg and can do 5x15 deck squats with a short break between. However I still have a long way to go in terms of knee stability, and twisting squats are challenging although I can do several when I'm loose. Also pistols are very difficult when I do get tight which is seemingly my normal state. I'm definitely not anything exceptional in terms of physical ability, but I have a strong work ethic and my hips are a good deal looser than average because of a lot of work. I'm still generally not very flexible and would probably be categorized as brutally stiff by GB standards ... especially in hamstrings and t-spine. Running and training barefoot or in minimalist shoes exclusively for many years plus daily mobility work has been wonderfully helpful, but I have a long way to go, especially since wearing boots/being forced to sit in class a lot during training tends to have me playing catch-up instead of improving. So to summarize, if you had your reputation on the line, how would you train me to bombproof my knees/ankles ? Unfortunately with the training I have to do for the military I can't dive deeply into GST as my primary programming, but I really value the perspective y'all have on building connective tissue strength and want to do daily supplementary work. For reference, I'm currently doing the first 4 movements from the Thoracic stretch course daily for my shoulders and want a similar recommendation for my knees/ankles. Again - no holds barred - if your coaching ability was going to be evaluated by where you could get me in 6 months, how would you organize the training without interfering with my physical training routine for the military? The primary potential for injury is ankle sprains/ACL tears due to my leg going the wrong way while carrying a very heavy pack. I would also be interested in any advice you may have on speeding recovery for my ankle. Right after I sprained it, I Voodoo flossed it a bunch of times and slowly worked through plantar and dorsiflexion movements for several days, but it still isn't as stable as it used to be even though it wasn't a serious sprain and didn't swell very much. I appreciate your time and for reading my very long message. Trying to provide some context for you. Merry Christmas! P.S. I'd be willing to do a before/after piece if you're interested based on what you recommend for the next 6 months. I currently own Foundation 1 and Thoracic Stretch by the way.

Hello, this summer I not trained a lot but stretched and relaxed instead because I found out I have scapular winging. I watched a lot of videos to inform myself but can't really find a way why my shoulders hurt a bit and my rhomboids always feel tight. Is it because of Planche training, I recognized instantly that I clearly don't have enough shoulder mobility because when I tried to elevate my arms the scapula came up, but my main problem I think is the rhomboids and every time I breathe heavy my spine crackles around the upper back area (it feels good tho).

There's quite a bit of criticism of "stretching" in certain fitness circles, particularly endurance. I have my own ideas to distinguish what they call "stretching" from active, strength-based mobility, I'd be curious to have the response of this community to these critiques: https://philmaffetone.com/dangers-of-stretching/ http://www.drgangemi.com/natural-fitness/stop-stretching/ Thanks!

Hello all, first time back here in a long time. I know it might be heresy on here but I prefer weights most of the time to gymnastic training. Now that that's out of the way, I also know lifters do a bad job of mobility most of the time. I know I do. Case in point my shoulders are killing me lately. I know I have nobody to blame but myself for being lazy and not working on shoulder mobility, and now I want to a) fix the problem and b) bulletproof my shoulders and other joints moving forward. BUT I still want to lift So my question for y'all is what is the best way to incorporate the mobility from gymnastics for lifting? And specifically for injury prevention?

Hi I have done very little mobility work, silly I know. I was wondering, can you go straight into mobility work 'cold' , do I have to warm up briefly before I start? Thanks Lee

Are there genetic/anatomical/age limits on how flexible a person can become? I've poked around on the Internet and PubMed.gov about this topic and can't find anything compelling. I've been doing the 3 stretch series videos for 9 months now and have become significantly more flexible. I'm very happy with my results. However, I wonder whether if an inflexible, older person devoted themselves to a well-thought out flexibility training program for, say, 2 to 5 years could they become as flexible as someone like Kira Nguyen (in the videos)? Or, is there something about her make-up that permits her to attain an extreme (in a good sense) level of flexibility?

Hello! I am requesting a bit of help. About a month and a half ago, I started having wrist and elbow pain after doing bar muscle ups. I believe it stemmed from using too much momentum and a lack of wrist mobility. For example, I can't even bring my wrists to a 90 degree angle (I'm almost there but not quite) without using an external object such as a wall. So far, I've rested my arms for a month while using ice and occasionally heat. For about three weeks now I've been using heat only. I've also been doing eccentric wrist curls for about two weeks with very low weight. I do not feel random pain anymore. The only time I feel pain or discomfort is occasionally when driving, lifting or carrying objects, and sometimes when drawing (I'm an artist). It occurs on the insides of my elbows. This pain, out of 10, is probably a 2 or 3. I would more so call it a brief discomfort at this point. Do you all believe that I can begin using Handstand One to rehab/strengthen my wrists and elbows? If not yet, when can I use Handstand One to start strengthening my wrists? Would it be beneficial to begin Foundations One? If you have any advice pertaining to my questions, please help me out! I also welcome any advice that you can offer that does not deal with F1 or H1. Thank you!

I used to have this really bad neck paint from staring at my phone, and stumbled on this app a few weeks ago for Android phone users called "Posture". http://www.guidingtech.com/65025/text-neck-android/ Basically it runs in the background of your phone and let's you know if your holding your phone in a neck straining position. Honestly it's helped me be more mindful of my posture through the day - just thinking about it more often. Figured I'd share it with everyone who might have similar neck pain

What is the difference between flexibility and mobility? To me they seem the same so wondering if anyone can explain the difference?

I got all the way to minute three of workout one of fundamentals program before I ran in to a slight problem, "Locking out elbows". I can't straighten my elbows to 180 degrees. I'd say that I'm at 150 degrees or something like that. I don't know if that has always been the case but I know my mother has the same limitation. There is NO pain, NO noticeable stretch in the bicep just a plain stop. I would very much like to be able to lock out but I don't want to risk surgery since I have no problems outside of training. Has anyone had anything similar that they could work away with mobility drills or am I stuck in Neverlockingout land forever?

Hello all, I'm currently a few months into Foundation One and loving it. Is there a consensus on a 'good' multi purpose warmup/limber for non GST activities? Not to prepare for big workouts but for example: Stretch after biking to work for 30 mins Leisurely soccer game in a lunch break Getting out of a 2 hour stationary meeting Etc. A search of the forums didn't give in any results. Thank you!

Hi guys, simple question here. I do 531 at the moment at a Powerlifting / Strong man Gym down the road. I started recently using the stretch series three times a week from GB. That is all i currently use GB for - the stretch series. My strength training focuses on squat, deadlift, bench and Press (though i did buy the other basic courses as it is something i will no doubt try later). One thing i liked in the foundation course is the integration of mobility with the exercises. i.e you do an exercise than do a paired mobility exercise straight after like a super set. I was curious if anyone could recommend a mobility exercise to pair with the four core lifts in 531 that i could do in between sets. i.e: Squat - Mobility Pair X Deadlift - Mobility Pair X Bench Press - Mobility Pair X Overhead Press - Mobility Pair X If it makes any difference i squat and deadlift Sumo style with a very wide stance. In order to improve my mobility i currently warm up with Defrancos simple 6 and Limber 11 and then have just started doing three of the GB stretch sessions per week which kicked my ass.

Hello. I've been pursuing the foundation series for a few months. Since I have started, I have refined my goals and wanted suggestions on which series to follow and how to work it into my current routine. Goal #1 - Injury Prevention. I have serious overuse injuries to my adductors from a decade of marathon training. I am doing the middle splits stretch course once a week. Should I increase or stay at once a week? Any other suggestion to guard against injury? Goal #2 - Achieve advanced crossfit movements. I still do not have muscle ups. I would like to master these movements. Goal #3 - Solidify handstands and pistols. I can do a handstand walk, but it's not pretty. Same with pistols. Looking to sharpen these skills. Finally, how should I pepper these courses into my routine. Right now, I do crossfit programming Mon, Tue, Wed & Fri. Thurs, I do skill work, usually snatches. Sat is a medium run, about 7 miles. Sun has become my middle split stretch day. How much GST can I pepper in without over-training? I am a masters athlete and not getting any younger. Thanks for any advice. I find these courses valuable, I just need to dial in the details. PS - Is there anyone in the Bay Area who knows the courses well enough to judge my mastery? I was thinking of seeing a coach once a month to make sure I am on track.

Hi all, I got into amateur gymnastics training ~4 years ago, dove in headlong without building a solid foundation and using too much volume, and have been out of the game with a bunch of muscle pain issues as a consequence. I'm hoping to start over from scratch with regular video coaching (if not in person) and focusing exclusively on restoring proper movement, no strength until my body is ready for it. The Fundamentals course seems like a possible option. I still have some predictable aches and pains - in particular, certain t-spine movements will set off my costochondritis. My question: what threshold should I reach before trying to start Fundamentals? I know that rest is key, but too much inactivity will lead to problems as well. Thanks! (For anyone else dealing with pain, I found http://painscience.com to be a nice resource. I'm a nerd and love that he cites all his primary research sources.)

I started with Fundamentals after the first Tim Ferriss podcast and then added Foundation1/Pro at the end of June. I added H1 and the stretch series at the beginning of August. I love all the information about the "old folks" who have had success as I am 52. I started with reasonable basic fitness, but almost no mobility. Not surprising, the push up and plank type progressions have been pretty easy, but shoulders, hips, ankles, calves.... well let's just say I have a long way to go. I love the progressions and I am remembering to take the long term perspective. My question: are there any long term issues with stretching like this? An acquaintance of mine just had hip replacement surgery at about 58. He blamed it on many years of excessive stretching for his martial arts competitions.