The posture book was excellent. Loved the neck exercises and the segmented rolls. Still building up to some of the lower body exercises because I'm 3 months post hip arthroscopy/labral reconstruction. I have a really irritable hip flexor tendonopathy situation due to some joint mechanical issues that have been corrected surgically but hip flexor is very sensitive and de-conditioned. I started reading overcoming tendinitis and see that the hip flexor isn't mentioned in the list of exercises. Do you have some suggestions for addressing hip flexor and glute medius? I'm assuming the same principles of loading would apply, but I just didn't see those areas included with the specific exercise section. Thanks.

I've been battling this for a couple months and have finally found some relief and strength.

There used to be a time where I could really push off my left foot.

I feel like I had been protecting that leg for so long I really stopped putting as much pressure on it. That's what my surgeon guessed at least.

I'm at a point where I can start playing basketball again and there is really minimal tenderness. My right leg gets sore as hell after though and I feel like I'm still compensating.

Is there anyway to make sure I'm using both legs? Is there a strength imbalance?

50 year old recreational hockey player here. Used to play 3 times a week year round for 25+ years. Got PHT 8 months ago but not diagnosed until 3 months ago. Although I stopped playing sports immediately, poor management while not knowing what I had made my condition worse ie stretching, testing out what excercises made it hurt, too much PT etc.

I’ve had ultrasound and there are no tears, “just” moderate tendinopathy but it is very debilitating. I’ve read many papers, watched video and podcasts on pht rehab.

After a failed round of PT (doing too much again), I am trying a more conservative approach and focusing on getting symptoms down rather than trying to increase function.

However, with this approach, all I can manage is a pathetic sloww 8-10k total steps per day and not doing any other targeted exercises (such as prone curls or Romanian deadlifts). Symptoms seem to be improving now but at the expense of function. Thinking of aiming for zero pain and then build up gradually from there. Feels like this could be a multi-year process at this pace!!

Any one fully healed from this and advice if what I’m doing is correct? Also, am I pretty much done in terms of playing hockey with this injury?

Hey everyone! I have a question about exercises suggestion for a specific situation.

5 months ago I almost dislocated my left shoulder while doing shoulder presses with dumbells.

It was always a bit unstable and this made the situation worse.

After that I did all the exams and checkups needed and turned out that I have an inflamed tendon (where the long head of the bicep connects with the shoulder), and an anterior + posterior labral tear.

I might get surgery, but before that the doctor suggested I work on stabilizing the shoulder and healing the tendon.

What exercises should I perform and with what frequency?

Any suggestions are highly appreciated, thanks!

Beginner in callisthenics, background in weightlifting, slim built but not strong (15pull ups, 70k bench, 25 dips) I find myself between the beginner and trained beginner stages (between level 2 and 4 depending on the skill). I lack core, overhead pushing strenght and harmstring flexibilty the most, but my objectives are HSPU, L dips and L pull up. I am amazed by how long you can do weightlifting without developping proper core strength…

Here is the routine I designed (PPL, no fixed days as I also run 1-2 times a week and swim once, on average, and my office workload is very random)

I do not seek to gain mass but strength, flexibility and unlock new skills (6’ /150 lbs)

I began with an upper/lower but the workout was too long

Every push and pull : handstand work, compression work and L-sit/harmstring flexibilty

PUSH

-Ring dips 3x 5-12 (i really like rings, its new to me and gives a sense of freedom)

• box pike push up 3x5-8 (then I hope going with wall hspu)
• rings push up 3x5-8 (then RTO)

I wonder if I can add frog stand to work towards the planche and have an isometric exercise, or it is spreading myself too thin -lareral raises with dumbells, 3x6k 15-20

• L-fly or LYTP

PULL

-Tuck L pull up 3x5-8 (until I get the core and flexibilty to unlock L pull up )

• tucked front lever (sweet spot 6x4’’)
• wide ring row 3x5-8 (then I hope archer)
• dumbells inclined curls 3x8k (prehabilitation)
• facepull with rings (found on fitness faq channel, love this one)

I wait 48h between a push and a pull , it does not feel right for my shoulders to workout the upper body two days in a row

LEGS (sensitives knees) -Weighted lunges -Pistol squat progression -Dumbell RDL (low weight, high reps) -calves

Stretching after every workout for ~10mn

the book says 3 mn rest between sets for strength, but it looks really long to me , and I used to take 1’30 to 2’ max in WL. Is it ok to have only 2’ rest ?

Thank you very much !

Hey everyone, as u can deduct from the title, my main question Is which Is easier between a straight bar HS and a handstand on Rings? I Guess Just the fact that a straight bar Is a stable surface compared to the Rings, therefore it's easier to execute, but I would like to know if some of u that are way more experienced in handstands in general can give me and answer. I practically "maxed out" the straight arm Press handstand from the OG2 book, so I can straddle/pike Press on ground, on parallettes and even starting from a L sit/Straddle-L. I would like to spend 1 or 2 months on these First in order to get some more neurological adaptations and then I would like to learn One of these 2 HS variations, I Wish u a good day and I'll wait for your answers!

Hi, I was reading through Steven’s article on programming for advanced isometrics, and saw this section:

Beginners can usually train effectively with only a primary or secondary exercise (your choice, though I usually recommend a dynamic exercise). One example for planche aside from PPPUs is Phil’s exercise here of moving in and out of the planche position.

But, I think the instagram link on the exercise appears to be dead now. I was just wondering for more specifics on what this exercise was. Thanks!

Hello, i've got a question relating the book overcoming gravity: at paige 93 the second rule of thumb says "try to do at least 15 entire repetitions per exercise". Then the books says you should do at least 25-50 entire repetitions per exercise for building-up strength und 40-75+ entire repetitions for building-up muscels. Im pretty sure that those numbers of repetitions are meant for 2 exercises and not for one but i'm not sure. Maybe there is an translation mistake because i am reading in german (This is also why my english is not the best). Can someone clear things up for me? Thanks in advance! Greetings from Germany

Goals:

Being able to run for one minute at 70% speed.
Becoming 180 pounds at 12% body fat.
2 minute handstand.
Having an agile body.

I am 6'0 in height, 148 pounds and 16 years old.

Routine:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hpuY_ycHiL5HhEP7P3rbBMjMN80BcRbSi__zGw4Ihfk/edit?usp=sharing
I don't have sets and reps for dumbbell squats since I am waiting for weights to arrive. Commenting is enabled for anyone who prefers that.

Questions:
What neck exercises could I do?
How do I avoid getting a bulky build?
Is there a more effective way of training cardio for sports (mainly soccer and basketball) than the one in my routine?
Would I need to adjust my schedule if I do this and MMA?
I have a flexibility issue where I'm unable to fully kneel or do other movements related to that. Would the stretching in my routine be able to fix this?
None of the shoulder stretches in the prehab resources are able to stretch my shoulders (I haven't tried any of the ones that use resistance bands but I don't have any resistance bands). Is there any other stretch that I could try for my shoulders?

Thank you for creating this book. I appreciate it.

Hi all, would love basic straight arm strength work for beginning straight arm press handstand, I feel I have good handbalancing and would like to progress but even doing negatives on the wall is a challenge, could this be due to compression strength in my hips or lack of scap/shoulder mobility? Would love tips/ basic straight arm strength. i do pike compressions and straddle compressions a couple times a week as well as scap mobilization prep. Thank you for your input!

My goals are a mix of skills and hypertrophy

For skill: I aim to achieve a one arm chin up, handstand push up, and increase my weighted pistol squat strength.

For hypertrophy: handstands and chin up’s would be my vertical push and pulls. So I would like to incorporate upper body horizontal exercises to not cause imbalance. I’d also include a hip hinge for my posterior chain. As for muscle groups I want to emphasize, I’d like some sort of tricep, core, and shoulder isolation.

The problem I’m running into is structuring my routine because both handstand push-ups and one arm chin ups need additional work such as balancing a handstand hold or one arm isometrics & eccentrics.

I feel like I have too many goals that I won’t be able to structure a routine I can consistently practice and progress.

If anyone has ideas on how I can fit my goals into an upper lower or full body routine. I would greatly appreciate it :)

-Séamus

Edit: Ok I just came up with this upper lower routine.

Upper: handstand push progression, one arm chin progression, horizontal push, horizontal pull, shoulder isolation. X2 times a week

Lower: pistol squat, hip hinge, core. X2 times a week

And finally a third upper body day where I only focus on vertical skills with shoulder and tricep isolation.

As for additional handstand push-up and one arm chin up work, I’ll start every morning with a handstand hold attempt and practice one arm isometrics and eccentrics.

Lol I guess all I needed was to write this out and vent what I was struggling with. As for sets and reps I’m still not sure what to aim for but I’ll keep looking into it :D

Hello All,

I am struggling with posterior tibial tendinitis x 1 mo now. Backstory is I am 18 months postpartum and had pubic symphysis dysfunction during pregnancy and postpartum. I later developed quad tendinitis and posterior tibial tendinitis which went away with orthotics and some PT (I had been able to run through all this with stretching and alternating with walking).

FF maybe 1 year postpartum and I developed hip flexor tendinitis worse on R and then came back my post tib tendinitis on L with a vengeance. I’ve been to ortho physician which proved to be unhelpful (just did an XR and said continue PT).

I’ve been going to PT once a week and getting dry needling and doing gentle strengthening + ice + NSAIDS. I’ve also stopped running and am only swimming/weight training.

At this point I’m scared because I work as an ER physician and I’m on my feet 10-12 hours a day 3 times a week. I am taking 2 weeks off to rest this but my concern is it’s not gotten much better. Also I really miss running and I just don’t see myself being able to resume that anytime soon. I guess I’m just looking for a timeline/seeing if anyone found anything else to be helpful?

Much thanks!

I feel brachialis tendon pain during both bodyweight and weighted +5/10/15/20kg ring muscle ups.

I have flexible shoulders-shoulders to bar/ring dips thus I dont have to pull that high to perform a ring muscle up.

I dont have pain if I pull super high to perform a ring muscle up - probably cuz I kind of skip the transition phase since I pulled so high. The less I pull the more elbow flexion I get myself into and since I have great and flexible shoulders I want to make use of it.

My maximum elbow flexion is around 170deg I think.

It hurts during a transition phase, also during a muscle up eccentric where I lower down from dip back to the pull up.

The deeper the dip the more elbow flexion I get myself into obviously. Brachialis isnt active in elbow extension but I guess it still hurts cuz of degrees of elbow flexion I find myself in.

My guess ”Excessive” elbow flexion seems to cause the pain during a transition phase.

So, is there such thing as too much of an elbow flexion or I just need to work on my elbow flexion in that very end range of motion and strengthen/hypertrophy the brachialis right around there?

Perhaps some connective tissue work ?

Brachialis shortens as elbow flexes so I dont understand why it hurts, its not like I overstretch it or do smth crazy.

Lot of people experience this pain during ring muscle ups but it just doesnt really go away in my case, I can do 20kg reps and even 1 bw rep gives me pain in that rom :(

I have ultrasound on my right wrist and here are the results

Indications:

Pain at the ulnar edge of the carpus in an athlete.

Results:

Increase in volume of the extensor carpi ulnaris tendon. This presents a regular fibrillar echostructure without signs of cracking. It has a nodular appearance.

There is fluid effusion in its synovial sheath, 2 mm thick and extending over 13 mm. Normal appearance of the other carpal extensor and flexor tendons.

No synovial cyst. No joint effusion.

Conclusion:

Tenosynovitis of the extensor carpi ulnaris.

I don't know if I also have tendonitis but the pain is not that painful now compared to the first week, I have the injury because a 25kg slide on my hand a sudden pressure.

i want to grow my biceps and strong tendons (for cross and PL in future) , i think supinated BL pull outs (i can 5 in row) are good enough for tendons but idk what to do for hypertrophy and strength (i cant yet tuck BL curls [i can pronated just])

A PT previously helped me treat golfers & tennis elbow, but they didn't focus on pronation much and now my main symptom left is pain during pronation, so I've been trying to incorporate pronation exercises such as loaded eccentrics on my own.

The muscles feel like they can handle the load just fine when I'm doing the actual eccentric, or even for the lengthened part of a concentric. But when I return my forearm to a neutral vertical wrist to set up the next rep, as my wrist approaches vertical I get a deep aching pain in the ulnar side of my forearm a couple inches below the elbow. It's weird, because the pain kicks in essentially right as the muscles stop being loaded when the motion becomes "easy".

• If I just move my forearm through full pronation/supination unloaded, I get no pain.
• If I load my wrist in the neutral vertical position isometrically, I get no pain.
• If I eccentrically load pronation, then remove the weight from my hand completely and return to neutral with no load, it does hurt approaching the neutral position. This is the part that seems weird to me - its only *after* loaded pronation that the vertical position hurts, like it aches while returning to a normal position for a second before it settles.

Does anyone have any insight as to why returning to neutral would be the only part that hurts? Seems like it should be the easiest part of the motion.

Hello!

I had bankart surgery on December 14th 2023. I got cleared to lift weights exactly 13 weeks post op so 3 months after surgery.

At first it was going smoothly, started from the lowest weights and gradually got up in weight. At the start I just had minor discomfort with overhead tricep extensions. All the others exercises were pain free.

About 1 month ago I started to get aching in my shoulder/collarbone/trap. In that general area. Mainly doing chest press and pec deck. Then progressed to ache on the shoulder press machine. Then started to ache on lateral raises.

Now all exercises causes my shoulder to ache. Even when I grip the handles on a leg extension machine.

If I do a lateral raise motion my shoulder will hurt. Same if I do shoulder flexion as far as I can. What is weird is if I do it fast, I doesn’t hurt, but flexion slow and controlled causes ache and discomfort.

Shoulder taps causes ache when my operated shoulder takes the full load.

I don’t feel any instability at all. Before surgery I was super unstable and my shoulder felt loose. It didn’t hurt though. Now it’s stable, but hurts.

Anyone ever experienced a pain set back when recovering from labrum surgery?

It looks amazingly difficult and I'm interested to start training for it.

Has anyone had any experience with the training or achieved the move any training tips would be welcome.

Hi, I do full body 2x (Thur,Sun) and would like to implement some front lever training.

I do the concurrent periodization (one intensity workout, one volume workout) and I rotate the variations of my exercises every 2 weeks.

An example of one of my full body workouts:

• Weighted Pull-Ups (3x)

Superset

• Weighted Dips (3x)
• Seal Rows (3x)

Superset

• OHP (3x)

After this I do some isolation movements, leg exercises and dragon flags.

I was thinking to remove the rows for some front lever exercise. Would that work and how many sets would be enough? I've never done any strength skills in the past other than the dragon flags. Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I have made some awesome progress in my front lever and planche.

But for now I think the breathing is restricting my hold time. I have noticed, that I need to hold my breath and can not breathe during the hold. This is holding me back from longer hold times. Is there any way to train this in specific? I tried to breathe during dragon flag holds but this is awkward, cause my arms overhead are hindering me to breathe in any way .

Im thankful for any help!

Hi, first and foremost I'd like to state surgery isn't an option, I don't have the money for that. I've been lifting for around 5 years now and for the last 2 I've been experiencing what I believe to be my ulnar nerve jump from the outer to inner part of my medial epicondyle at the very bottom of the humerus. It always happens around a 90° bend, it snaps inside whenever flexion is happening and outside when there's extension (that is under load of course). I very rarely experience pain or any sort of sensation alongside it besides feeling and hearing the nerve(?) move around. I usually could've substituted the biggest triggers (overhead tricep extension (db) and 1 arm cable tricep extensions) however I'm currently stuck working out at home and I found I can't effeciently do a session without having the problem flare up. 2 things that are worth mentioning are: firstly no exercise is really safe from it aside from leg work, I've had days where it was snapping on bench press, ohp, sometimes even on bicep curls (although preachers proved to be consistently safe), some days only my right elbow pops some days it's the left one sometimes it's both and sometimes (very rarely) it's none. Secondly, skull crushers used to be a big trigger however with enough warm up sets and a few bizzare tricep stretches it seemed to go away, which is why I think that I can neutralise it for other excersises too. I'd greatly appreciate if anybody who suffered with similar problems shared their method of stretching or strengthening the tendon or nerve

I'm good on pull ups and now I decide to Work on my one arm pull up . Using weight pull ups can help to build the strength for that? Or my isolation work is the way to go.

For a long time I benched and pressed (relative to me) heavy bench press and Overhead press.

Wrong form and/or high volume caused me to get a wrist injury in both wrists which stopped me from going gym. I got bad pain in both wrists and at one point could not do simple tasks then involved wrist extension like typing without some pain.

Eventually I saw a physio who told me to do wrist curls, this worked for my pain almost instantly and I returned to the gym.

Having now scaled back the weights and correcting my form using trainers and professional powerlifting coaches, the injury keeps returning when I get back to anything remotely challenging. E.g. I cannot bench 50kg now without putting my wrists at risk of injury.

So what gives? I am more than happy to use wrist wraps if necessary to be able to lift even reasonably heavy weights (but even sometimes this can cause pain) but this doesn't make sense, before I was benching heavy weights with awful form for quite some time before I got injured (wrist cocked back rather than neutral, bar high in palm, not squeezing bar etc) but now I cannot even bench 50kg without the pain/injury returning. Am I destined to never be able to bench/press heavy weights without wrist pain?

Is anyone here diagnosed with ecu tenosynovitis and a thickened ecu tendon? I have it for like 7weeks and the pain is gradually lowering, at first i have pain when doing pronation but it's gone now (I only now have pain when doing ulnar deviation and I am putting my other hand to put force on it) . I've been to a PT but they are just letting me hold a stick while they exert force on it and a 1lb dumbbell reverse wrist curls. The wrist is a little achy in the morning but when I stretch it it will subside, I wanna ask if this will heal up or is it now chronic because it's been 7weeks. But the pain now is rating 0.5-1 of 10 only

Hi all, I have a question, will this routine help me achieve planche, front lever, and maintaining my supinated back lever?

SA - Monday (10-15 Min HS Balance, 4x10s Straddle Planche Holds w/band, 4x10 Zanetti Press, 3x10s Straddle FL Holds,

BA - Tuesday (3x5 Bar Muscle Ups, 3x6 Weighted Pull Ups, 3x8 Weighted Dips, 3x5 Tuck Rows, 4x10 PPPU)

Leg Day and Core - Wednesday

SA - Thursday (10-15min HS Balance, 4x10s Straddle Planche Holds w/band, 3 x 10-15s supinated Full Back lever, 4x10 Zanetti Press, Press to handstand)

BA - Friday (4x10 Weighted Straight Bar Dips, 3x6 Weighted Chin Up, 3x6 Wall HSPU, 4x10 PPPU, 3x5 Tuck Rows)

I usually can't train on saturdays. Does this split affect my muscle recovery? I don't know if there are too much excercises. I can workout for 1-1:30hr a day. I've been working out for almost 2 years working a different group muscle everyday M-F but I know this way of training is not the best for recovery and efficiency. Any tips are appreciated! Thanks!

I have chronic tendonitis in both wrists and it has a complete grip over my life. It is all I think about, it has been stopping me from doing all the activities I enjoy (grappling, guitar, video games) and it is pretty much putting my life on hold. I would kill to get over it.

My left (non-dominant) hand started occasionally hurting about five years ago but the pain wasn't so bad so I didn't have it checked out. Two years ago I eventually went and got a diagnosis for tendonitis. The orthopedic prescribed splinting and NSAIDS, which of course did nothing. Went back and got sent to occupational therapy. They did mostly massages and shock wave therapy but also encouraged me to do some exercise. It didn't really fix the issue. Six months ago, my right wrist started hurting and got diagnosed with tendonitis (although I think it might be RSI). Having no good hand got me so worried that I completely took a break from everything I enjoy doing that involves the wrists (still ongoing).

I started using a flexbar for isometric wrist/forearm training which subjectively has been the most helpful thing for my wrists so far. It immediately relieves pain and over the course of the last few months I pretty much got my right hand pain-free (though I still have some discomfort and it cracks when I bend it after using a mouse for a bit, It is also still a bit swollen on the ulnar side when I extend my fingers). For my left hand, I've had an MRI done recently that revealed onsetting degeneration of the triangular fibrocartilage as well as a thickened thumb tendon and inflammatory fluid in the tendon sheath (which can be seen from the outside as a swelling that protrudes when I bend my fingers).

My left wrist has never hurt very badly but it always feels sore after activities and never gets any better in the long run. It's just so persistent and impossible to get rid of.

I am scheduled to see a hand expert in June but I am worried that he will just say the same thing that hasn't really solved the issue so far (rest and exercise) and my ability to go back to living my life normally hangs in the balance.

I used to workout consistently doing a powerlifting style of strength training but then stopped working out consistently about 6 months ago. Since then I gained fat and now weigh 180lbs. I’m trying to get back into training again however I want to know if I’m considered a trained beginner because of my prior strength training regime 6 months ago or if considered untrained since I’m about 30lbs overweight. In addition to that, is it recommended that I do a full body workout 3x per day or can I do a push/pull split 4x per day? I’m combing either of those routines with a few barbell exercises i.e. squats and deadlifts. I tend to gravitate towards to the push/pull split due to it being shorter and time constraints. That said, I’ll do whatever what is recommended. Thanks

Please delete this post if I've made a mistake by posting here. I will not be taking direct medical advice but rather what medical professionals I should consult first, and anything related to consulting medical professionals.

Hi, read title. I've been suffering from numerous areas of chronic pain for 4+ years (I will give general areas, and not specific areas because I'm not an expert on anatomy) which are as follows: the area above the knee joint connecting to the quads, left ankle on both sides, both elbows, wrists, fingers, right shoulder joint and left.

The pain tends to worsen after exercises. My routines are embarrassing and ill admit it's no wonder why I'm suffering so much. I'll post it if Steven needs my input on this lol.

I suffer from high levels anxiety and stress from traumatic occurrences on a near daily basis, which likely exacerbates the pain. I am currently using relaxation skills and training myself using non-specific methods to cope. I will be seeing a mental health provider in the near future for more specific CBT/DBT/what the hell ever exercises to learn how to cope better.

My medical history has been fraught with inconsistent doctor appointments due to the chaos of my personal life, some of whom prescribed me physical therapy (I have made the fatal mistake of scheduling, going to, but never completing these PT rounds for few of having to sacrifice my exercise routines or lessen their intensity), I have been tested for rheumatoid arthritis once and that had come back as a negative, negative for other metabolic disorders as well.

All of this, to me, suggests a chronic pain pattern and also possibly numerous chronic injuries as well, but im not the professional, and I'd appreciate the input, but again, keep advice only related to how I should go ahead with doctors.

Delete this post if it is stupid. Thank you

Hey Steven, I've been working up the BL progressions, would appreciate a form check on my straddle back lever: https://photos.app.goo.gl/vjSHzJLrbYQ6Xve69

I reached here using tuck GH pullouts-> adv tuck GH pullouts-> straddle lower to German hang negatives, currently at 3x3 5s negatives, I wonder if I can just work these up, or if I should just work on the isometrics? My goal is the full BL for about 10 seconds or so, mainly since I want to start crossing off some of the pre reqs for the iron cross.

I've also transitioned out of a full body into in upper lower split, even though I'm not at the intermediate stages in the chart yet, Ive noticed you mentioned your general recommendations are for someone who's 5'9 or so, and 150-160 lbs? There's also a section in Og2 where you mentioned that a full body 3x a week was too intense for one of the athletes that was 215 lbs and was running a push/pull split.

I'm 6 feet and 182lbs, and I've definitely started noticing that my elbows and biceps just feel beat up on 3 days a week of back lever work, so there was a lot of backing off on BL and doing prehab, it's been much better since I've moved to an upper lower split where I'm only doing BL work 2x a week

Hey everyone!

Just searching for some exercises suggestion on a specific issue that I now had for a while.

After I started training kick-boxing for the first time in my life, I started having some issues with my left ankle.

I mention the sport because I think that the reason why the issue started is due to the rotation you perform when kicking, that I was not used to.

Having the left ankle as the foot that stays on the ground when I spin to kick, I started developing some pain in the front right side of the joint (Tibialis anterioris perhaps? I don't really know much about it, just guessing based on the anatomy of the ankle that I could find by searching on google).

My guess is that I need to strengthen that tendon, so I was wondering if anyone had suggestions of exercises I could perform for my specific case.

Thanks!