minimalist gym

Again with the thought experiments. These are just for fun, but i like to parse through in the case I move or have to give advice to a friend.

If I rebuilt my gym, what would I do?

3 sets of Olympic rings

- dips, rows

- pullups, hangs

- pushups 

1 rope for climbing, rows

Back extension or applicable rig

Nordic or applicable rig

Adjustable bench. Way more useful than what I bought it for.

A few maces and sandbags 

done 

Kratos dominoose- further in the Kratos hole

This has been going GREAT. Small tweaks have been made but otherwise we gucci.

METHOD

- daily calisthenics base.

- emphasize strength endurance.

- rest periods are mobility for the limbs that are not being used.

- EMOM 30min with progression via volume cycles.

Each upper day ends with juarez valley arms. Lower day ends with juarez valley back extension.

I want to build back to where afternoon kettlebell, mace, and sandbag work (same EMOM structure) is in the cards.

inefficiency is the goal

Are weighted dips better than bodyweight dips for size and strength? Absolutely. No contest. IF you are trying to take the fastest route to size and strength. What if efficiency is not the goal? What do you get by doing more work for less progress? Ill tell ya.

First off, endurance and cardio benefits. The ability to do more for longer. If you stack advanced calisthenics movements (note: or add basic intensity techniques) into this equation, this takes care of the strength aspect without ever having to add weight.

Second, fatigue doesn't slap the same way. Quite the opposite, I feel fucking great all the time. 

Third, tendon strength. Expanding on the 2nd benefit, less fatigue means i can hit the same muscle groups very often. Having mobile joints is great. Having mobile joints with extremely tough tendons? OP.

Kratos dominoose, moves plugged in

PULL FOCUS 

Rack pullup 

Ring row

Parallel pike pushup

Mace

Rope row climb

Rope row

Straight Pike pushup 

Mace

PRESS FOCUS

Ring Dip

Dip

Bar row

Mace

Psuedo pushup

Close pushup 

Rope row

Mace

ARMS

Close tri ext, tri ext

Ring pelican, ring hammer

Pike shorties top, pike shorties bottom

Every training day ends with one arm movement. Use juarez valley rep schemes and vary volume/intensity/control. Mace stands for ab dominant movements.

All normal rep schemes are 5/3/2 per cycle. Add intensity to the lighter movements (ex: 8/6/4) first before adding reps to harder movement. Intensity may also be injected using pause reps, 1.5 reps, etc.

I dont want to know the weights

When i know the weights, I get obsessed. What is too much or too little? What is the right rep and set scheme etc?

No thanks.

With a static weight you can get better at moving it faster, move it for more reps, or find a way to make it harder to move. Kind of a grand step loading.

I think this is why I gravitate towards implements where the weight is static or hard to change - bodyweight, sandbags. Am I bigger when I add weight? Absolutely. For a LITTLE WHILE. The tradeoff is i invariably get hurt or feel run down.

this feels fucking good

A few weeks in of calisthenics circuits and mobility. I. Feel. GREAT!

Joints feel fantastic because im never quite going to failure or repeating the same movement pattern too often. My cardio is in a place its never been before lol. Physique likewise is doing good. Injuries slowly healing. 

I like that there is no plan for weight, just difficulty. Can I do X progression today? If only for a few reps, I can pivot to something else easily. 

The easy secondary push or pull is a great lever for progression as I can increase the reps there first without burying myself.

All in all, stellar.

My personal trainer noticed how much improvement im making in basic mobility and my ability to not gas out. All this in a few weeks.

Kratos dominoose revisited

PILLARS

- Strength endurance

- Move yourself

- Move other things 

- Freedom of movement 

CALISTHENICS - AM DAILY 

- Press focus row+dip+abs

- Mobility+lower juarez+back ext

- Press focus pullup+pushup+abs

- Calves+tibs+lower juarez+back ext

- Pull focus row+dip+abs

- Mobility+lower juarez+back ext

- Pull focus pullup+pushup+abs

- Calves+tibs+lower juarez

CALISTHENICS NOTES

- ladders (5/3/2) for rep schemes.

- progression: 5 sets in 30min, increase reps of easy movement, increase main movement reps, change to harder variations.

- avoid failure.

- rest in full squat.

- sub in mace for ab work.

MOVE OTHER THINGS

- carries for time.

- get some sun.

GGBB revisited

I keep coming back to the general gains body building (GGBB) concept. Its a great progression model that takes autoregulation into account while respecting the need for both body building and conditioning as a base. What always rubbed me wrong were two aspects:

- t3 (light sets)

- t2 half sets

I had a lightbulb moment yesterday and needed to write it down.

T3 sets

How I've treated these in the past is their own individual exercise. I cant emphasize this enough, THAT ISNT HOW THE PROGRAM WAS WRITTEN LOL. T3 exercises were meant to be part of a super set with T2 - either the same or opposing muscle group is up to the user.

This can drive a set deeper into stimulation without feeling like i have to go to failure on these Tricep extensions and oh god what am I doing with my life.

Example

T2: Ring dips x11

T3: tricep extension x20 or planche lean x20s

Rest 60-90s

T2 secondary sets with T3 super set

T2 Half Sets

These are exactly what they sound like. After the initial T2 set, the following secondary sets use half volume until the overall volume has doubled. Using the example above:

Ring dips x 11

Ring dips x 5

Ring dips x 5

Ring dips x 5 

Ring dips x 5

If in subsequent sessions the primary set is still 11 reps, progression can be made through adding secondary volume. 

These secondary sets always felt too far from failure to be useful. Ideas:

- do nothing but how it is written. Adding the t3 into the mix could easily bridge the gap. do this first!

- go for 1 rep in reserve every set regardless of the rep count. The positive here is the increase in failure proximity. The negative is definitely the fatigue and blurry lines in progression. How many sets or volume does one add if the first set fails to move? By default this could be '1xhalf set reps'.

Example

Ring dips x 11 (failure to get 12)

Ring dips x 5

Ring dips x 5

Ring dips x 5 

Ring dips x 5

Ring dips x 3-5 (progression set)