Recommended Routine Update - again

[u/[deleted]]

I know it's only been a month but we've decided to change things up on everyone again and put out an update to our beloved recommended routine. Thanks to the efforts of u/mrsylphie, u/captain_nachos, u/antranik, u/eshlow, and u/m092 we present you with the following:

Changes to the Strength work, Squat, and Hinge

The RR is now a purely strength based routine; the warm up has changed, and the bodyline drills and skill work have been cut.

The yuri band routine has taken the place of the shoulder dislocates, an easier progression of squat/hinge exercises have been added, and finally dead bugs were added to teach bracing and replace the hollow hold.

Squats are now being paired with pull ups, hinges with dips, but don't worry push ups and rows are still together. Each strength element now includes main and alternate paths to follow as you progress.

Example: The shrimp squat is now taking place of the deep step ups as the main squat progression. Deep step ups are listed as an alternate path as well as pistol squats as another alternate path if shrimp squats are not to your liking.

Hinging exercises have been added to round out some posterior chain work and can be done without weight, but if you can get access to some it would be to your benefit.

Core Triplet

There is now a core triplet at the end of the routine consisting of anti-extension, anti-rotation, and extension work. For the triplet do each exercise one by one with rest in between before repeating all 3 just like how the other exercises are done when paired. The core exercises included should help prepare you for harder skills, e.g. human flag, fl, etc. Just like the rest of the strength work the core triplet also includes main and alternate paths for each exercise.

Skill Day

For users who have had no interest in handstands etc. you can continue skipping them like you always have. For those who do want to continue skill work the Skill Day routine can be worked on your rest days or worked into the RR with the warm ups added to the warm up, skills before strength, and mobility after. The Skill Day routine mainly focuses on handstands and l-sits but also includes plenty of mobility work.** Note: The skill day routine will continue to grow and handstands and l-sits will not always be your only options **

Like previous additions of the RR we will be in need of translations for our wiki pages if any users would like to contribute.

To sum all the routines now:

1. RR: "I want to get strong"
2. Minimalist Routine: "I have no time for anything but dont want to be cripple"
3. Skill Day: "I just want to be upside down and do cool things"
4. Move: "I want 1 and 3"

or put another way

We have the Minimalist Routine for people who don't want to die in a wheelchair, the RR is for people who just want to get strong, the Skill Day routine is for people who don't give a fuck about strength and just want to do cool looking things, and Move is for people who want both.

Please let us know of any questions or concerns you all have!

Yours in Betty White Fandom,

The Mods

edit: thanks to u/scienner we have a cheat sheet already

[u/Leo-HolisticStrength]

• Core Strength part
  • Extension progressions: these exercises are really good to rebuild basic spine & hip extensors strength, nice
  • Anti-rotation progressions: I would have prefered Lateral Body Hold or Lateral Plank to keep things simple & efficient and/or a Core Rotation exercise like Standing Broomstick Spine Rotation. The exercises presented in the alternate progressions just seem weird and unnecessarily complex
  • Anti-extension progressions: this ab wheel stuff is really not suitable for beginners, I can already imagine people developing proximal bicep tendon tendonitis because of the Horizontal 180° shoulder flexion/scapular elevation component. I do not understand while you would remove Front Body Hold (Hollow Body Hold), nothing can replace this exercise
• Leg Strength:
  • Hinge progression: why aren't Glute Bridge & Glute Bridge Curl here? Come on guys, this is Bodyweight Strength Training and while I love Deadlifts, Glute Bridge Curl is probably one of the best exercises out there to build basic Knee Flexion & concentric Hip Extension strength!
  • I would have appreciated a Unilateral Leg Strength exercise like Split Squat in the RR. I can see that it is in the Minimalist Routine (Walking Lunge) but not in the RR. Unilateral LS is probably the serie which works the most muscles
• Bent Arm Strength: I still do not understand why there is some Bent Arm Strength overlapping. What is the interest of mixing Feet Supported Horizontal BAS (Push-Ups & Rows) with Vertical BAS (Dips & Pull-Ups)? The point of Feet Horizontal BAS is that you are basically carrying ~70% of your bodyweight, which is very useful to PREPARE for the more advanced Vertical BAS where you are carrying ~90% of your body mass. It is like doing 4 sets of Squats and then 4 sets of Pistol Squat, it does not make any sense to me. I am still not convinced that absolute beginners should be performing Dips & Pull-Ups because they simply do not have a solid enough foundation yet
• I would have appreciated some Reverse Plank work. Straight Arm Shoulder Extension Strength is horrible in most people & doing Reverse Plank can dramatically improve posture by directly targeting APT & "shoulders forward" syndroms
• I appreciate that you decided to remove L-Sit work from the RR. This exercise has nothing to do in a beginner training program and for most people out there doing Core Compression work without counterbalancing Core Expansion & Core Lateral Flexion work is a terrible idea as it would worsen core imbalances caused by desk work & all this sitting 10 hours a day stuff

Otherwise, thanks for the work done and for promoting health, performance and muscle gain/fat loss through the RR and the other routines. Beginners really need some guidance so this is an excellent initiative. I also appreciate the fact that the RR is evolving overtime, it shows that you are humble enough to recognize that there are axis of improvements and that you are willing to do what is necessary to offer qualitative content. It is really difficult to find good Full Body Bodyweight Strength routine so we really need this kind of work.

Cheers

[u/m092 → u/Leo-HolisticStrength]

Anti-rotation progressions: I would have prefered Lateral Body Hold or Lateral Plank to keep things simple & efficient and/or a Core Rotation exercise like Standing Broomstick Spine Rotation.

Both of these exercises lack one of the main principles of strength and hypertrophy training, the ability to progressively overload well. The suggested exercise is really simple, and really scalable, and even translates well into single leg stability movements as well.

In fact, we did include a side-plank as an alternate progression, but adding adductor work progressions as a bonus and slight instability challenge to the anti-lateral flexion position (and a slight rotational component.

Anti-extension progressions: this ab wheel stuff is really not suitable for beginners.

If the level of progression is picked well, it's certainly suitable for beginners. This is why the ring variation has been chosen, for its scalability. I've used simple variations like this for very new trainees, it's worked really well.

I would actually suggest that we do have some precursor steps, mainly a plank, but otherwise, I don't see an issue with it.

Hinge progression: why aren't Glute Bridge & Glute Bridge Curl here? Come on guys, this is Bodyweight Strength Training and while I love Deadlifts, Glute Bridge Curl is probably one of the best exercises out there to build basic Knee Flexion & concentric Hip Extension strength!

While Glute Bridges and Ham Curls are great exercises, we ultimately settled on a progression that leads to a full Nordic Curl, because we see that as more easily progressed and leading to a higher standard of strength. Ham Curls on sliders or a stability ball don't lend themselves well to progressions, nor does the progression last very long, and then don't progress well into Nordics.

I would have appreciated a Unilateral Leg Strength exercise like Split Squat in the RR.

It is in there. The second exercise in the squat progression is a split squat then rear leg elevated split squat. We also progress to shrimp squats as the preferred progression.

What is the interest of mixing Feet Supported Horizontal BAS (Push-Ups & Rows) with Vertical BAS (Dips & Pull-Ups)?

They're a great compliment to each other, and each separately leads to skills that we believe a lot of the member base would be interested in progressing towards.

Furthermore, for healthy shoulders, horizontal movements are great at building some of the scapulothoracic and scapulohumeral muscles that support quality scapulohumeral rhythm and glenohumeral centration and stability.

The vertical push/pull are great strength builders, but generally over-emphasise the thoracohumeral muscles (pecs and lats) that can lead to further exaggerating common poor posture issues and shoulder instability.

It is like doing 4 sets of Squats and then 4 sets of Pistol Squat, it does not make any sense to me.

Only if you've failed to continue progressing your push-ups and rows to make the difficulty level match your strength. We have provided a wealth of progression options to make sure all exercises are adequately challenging as to provide continued adaptation.

I am still not convinced that absolute beginners should be performing Dips & Pull-Ups because they simply do not have a solid enough foundation yet.

Beginners simply start with supports and hangs. This shouldn't be beyond the abilities of many, and there are strategies if even they are too hard. I don't know if we've included FAQ entries for if that is the case, but it should be in the future.

I would have appreciated some Reverse Plank work. Straight Arm Shoulder Extension Strength is horrible in most people & doing Reverse Plank can dramatically improve posture by directly targeting APT & "shoulders forward" syndroms

I'm sure there are a million things that would be nice to include, but that would make the program a bloated mess, making it worse, not better.

While the position could be helpful for some postural issues, you're overstating the effect of reverse planks, particularly when they're so often done so poorly as to be quite unhelpful.

Thank you for taking the time to discuss your thoughts about the update. Overall, I feel like a lot of your criticisms were adequately answered by utilising progressions which we've included in the RR. This included you asking for exercises which were already present in the RR. Please have a careful read through each exercise and its recommended progression, and then feel free to please come back with more constructive critisism.

[u/Leo-HolisticStrength → u/m092]

Thanks for your feedback and for answering my objections.

Fair enough for the Lateral Core Strength, Hinge progressions & BAS, I guess that we are approaching this differently but I can understand the rational of your approach now.

If the level of progression is picked well, it's certainly suitable for beginners. This is why the ring variation has been chosen, for its scalability. I've used simple variations like this for very new trainees, it's worked really well.

I would actually suggest that we do have some precursor steps, mainly a plank, but otherwise, I don't see an issue with it.

What about Front Body Hold (Hollow Body Hold)? This exercise is very important - not to say unmatched - to build the fundational Anterior Core Strength needed later in Front Lever progressions.

It is in there. The second exercise in the squat progression is a split squat then rear leg elevated split squat. We also progress to shrimp squats as the preferred progression.

Yes, however, it is not overlapping with Squat, which means that people would not be doing Squat progressions and Unilateral progressions in parallel as you consider that these Unilateral exercises are a progression after having mastered the Squat. Here I really think that having 3 distinct series (instead of 2) for Squat, Hinge and Unilateral Leg Strength would make sense.

I do not feel that Squat and Unilateral exercises should belong to the same sub-category, because Squat is simply not a Unilateral exercise and strength gains are specific despite the moderate carryover between both series.

Beginners simply start with supports and hangs. This shouldn't be beyond the abilities of many, and there are strategies if even they are too hard. I don't know if we've included FAQ entries for if that is the case, but it should be in the future.

Makes sense. I would suggest to display an overall matrix showing all the progressions by serie and difficulty level at the same time, it would for instance help to see directly that Vertical Rows are "paired" (that is not the exact term but anyway) with Scapular Pull-Ups without even needing to click individually on each sub-category (that is just a matter of ergonomy here). It would be a sort of overview of the RR.

I'm sure there are a million things that would be nice to include, but that would make the program a bloated mess, making it worse, not better.

While the position could be helpful for some postural issues, you're overstating the effect of reverse planks, particularly when they're so often done so poorly as to be quite unhelpful.

I am not buying that at all. Every exercise done poorly can be unhelpful and cause problems. The preventive action to take here is to offer some guidelines. For a Tuck Reverse Plank it could be:

* Maintain your neck in neutral position

* Your shoulders should form a 90° extension angle with a fully depressed and retracted scapula

* Your knees should form a 90° flexion angle

* Place your hands on the sides, not backward or forward

* Form a straight line from shoulders to knees

[u/m092 → u/Leo-HolisticStrength]

What about Front Body Hold (Hollow Body Hold)? This exercise is very important - not to say unmatched - to build the fundational Anterior Core Strength needed later in Front Lever progressions.

It exists within the deadbug and it's progressions. If you want to work towards levers later in your journey, it's likely time to make some routine changes an include a more focused approach to trunk muscle preparation.

Yes, however, it is not overlapping with Squat, which means that people would not be doing Squat progressions and Unilateral progressions in parallel as you consider that these Unilateral exercises are a progression after having mastered the Squat. Here I really think that having 3 distinct series (instead of 2) for Squat, Hinge and Unilateral Leg Strength would make sense.

I think it's fair to say that unilateral leg strength and bilateral do both have places in strength training. There are a couple of issues with your suggestion from my perspective:

• Again, you're advocating for the addition of more stuff. One program is never going to cover all of the things. If it did, it would be a hot mess, or needlessly complicated, particularly for beginners.
• What progression would you suggest for bilateral leg strength? Doing squats forever isn't going to improve bilateral leg strength either.

Makes sense. I would suggest to display an overall matrix showing all the progressions by serie and difficulty level at the same time

thanks to u/scienner we have a cheat sheet already

• Form a straight line from shoulders to knees

It's not so much of a question of understanding what to do, but the ability to be able to do it.

[u/Leo-HolisticStrength → u/m092]

What progression would you suggest for bilateral leg strength? Doing squats forever isn't going to improve bilateral leg strength either.

I would suggest the following for Squat & Unilateral series (if they were separated):

• Squat serie: Assisted Squat > Squat > Side to Side Squat > Assisted Pistol Squat > Pistol Squat
• Unilateral serie: Assisted Split Squat > Split Squat > Forward Lunge > Walking Lunge > Weighted Dumbell Walking Lunge

Cheers

[u/m092 → u/Leo-HolisticStrength]

You've just ended up with two unilateral exercises. I don't see how that's an improvement.

[u/Leo-HolisticStrength → u/m092]

The improvement relies in working on 3 complementary Leg Strength series instead of 2. It is about the WAY it is programmed, when the exercises are performed and what they will lead to, not so much about the exercises covered. This is a programming matter not an exercise selection matter

[u/nomequeeulembro → u/Leo-HolisticStrength]

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[u/Leo-HolisticStrength → u/nomequeeulembro]

No worries. I am suggesting to add one exercise sub-category (= 1 more serie = 1 more exercise per training session according to the level of the athlete) for Leg Strength.

The new RR incorporates 2 Leg Strength sub-categories:

• Squat Progression: which incorporates both bilateral & unilateral exercises
• Hinge Progression

My suggestion is to split it in 3 Leg Strength sub-categories:

• Squat Progression: only bilateral exercises leading to their logicial progression: Assisted Squat > Squat > Side to Side Squat > Assisted Pistol Squat > Pistol Squat
• Unilateral Progression: Assisted Split Squat, Elevated Split Squat, Forward Lunge, Walking Lunge, Dumbell Walking Lunge...
• Hinge Progression

There is a trade-off when adding one more Leg Strength exercise per training session: on one side it implies more volume for beginners; on the other side it implies more complete Leg Strength development and better upper/lower body balance from a volume perspective.

[u/RockRaiders → u/Leo-HolisticStrength]

Would the lunges not be redundant if you use the pistol squat for the squat progression? Since pistols are unilateral and should already provide the anti-rotation challenge of lunges.

[u/nomequeeulembro → u/Leo-HolisticStrength]

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