A common question we often receive in our inbox is, “Can I combine GMB Programs?” This is often posed by someone very eager and excited about fitness, and by someone who often already has a favorite method of working out – be it kettlebell, crossfit, etc. We do love the enthusiasm!
However, there are a number of reasons why we recommend sticking with one program at a time…
Have you felt the same way? Which program did you end up focusing on first? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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I don’t mind admitting that I used to do this all the time. In fact, I probably wasted dozens of hours planning out intricate and impossible weekly schedules to accommodate programs that I thought would provide the optimum mix of every little think I thought could possibly be of any benefit.
And then I’d end up not being able to do ti.
I’d be tired, or something would come up to throw off my carefully crafted ideal workout. Most often, it just wouldn’t work because I’d be chasing after competing goals using competing methods.
So yeah – when we say to stick with one thing at a time, it’s not because we want to monopolize your training. It’s the benefit of our experience (and failures).
Learn from our mistakes and focus on just one thing at a time.
Smart advice, and yet oh so difficult for me to do sometimes.
Thank you very much!!! But, difficult to stick to that.
@YannisPar It’s definitely not easy, but with practice, you begin to enjoy the results you get from focusing intently on one think. There’s also a lot of freedom when you follow a solid program – you no longer have to wonder or worry, simply do the work.
hmmm, i’m doing p1 right now, but i’ve also been doing intuflow, prasara series A, flowfit, interval running, and walking.
1. i’m assuming that gmb is ok with the intuflow, prasara series A, and walking combined with p1.
2. i assume that i should NOT be doing flowfit or interval running?
3. if i just do the p1, then i will only work out my upper body pushing muscles. don’t i need more well-balanced exercises to exercise my upper body pulling muscles, legs, and my cardio? that’s why i do the flowfit, interval running, and walking – to exercise my upper body pulling muscles, legs, and cardio.
4. my understanding of this principle of not combining workouts (no cocktailing) was that you can do different workouts with different goals (endurance or strength), but just don’t do them at the same workout. for instance, you can do a monday muscular endurance workout with a wednesday strength (heavy weight lifting workout), but just don’t do both programs at the same workout. or is my understanding of cocktailing incorrect?
Hi,
1. Yes those are fine as long as they are not too taxing on your recovery.
2. You could do those activities, but only after your P1 workout, not before.
3. Yes, you can be balanced, but you would not improve as much in the pushing work.
4.. “Cocktailing” refers to the entire program, not just a workout in the program. You would reach the goals of a particular program much faster if you concentrate on it for those few weeks. You could do all those things you would like, but you would not improve in the specific area as much as if you just did that.
Feel free to do as much different things as you like, just realize that your training may be “balanced”, but it won’t be optimal for your particular goal. If you have a focus on one thing for several weeks, you will be amazed at what you can do. And remember you can always go back to the other activities.
Take care,
Jarlo
@submachine
@submachine Good questions. Just to add to what Jarlo wrote:
If you got the Deluxe version of P1, don’t forget that we included programming for the Leg Module as well. Adding that once or twice during the week will round out your training nicely (and test your endurance too).
Regarding “cocktailing,” that’s only a small part of why we suggest sticking with a plan. The bigger picture is that you’ll build your skills faster with focused practice.
Jarlo, andy, thanks for the responses.
Basically, you guys said that I should do p1 exactly as prescribed in order to get maximum benefits from the program. My issue was that if I only did p1 (with no leg module), I would be neglecting my cardio, pulling muscles, and leg muscles.
1. Is working on just p1 without doing pulling exercises/leg exercises/cardio a health-first method? or is it a performance-first method at the expense of health? (i am NOT trying to be sarcastic. i’m just trying to understand the motivation here)
2. Is this what people mean when they say proper workout “programming?”
3. How do you make sure that you don’t become imbalanced with a program such as this, since p1 is 6 months long?
4. Jarlo, you mentioned to “focus on one thing for several weeks.” Does this mean that you only do p1 for a weeks, do some cardio for a few weeks, then come back to p1?
5. If you only focus on strength training (and no cardio) for a training program for let’s say 3 months, are you then operating under the understanding that you must have a perfect diet in order to maintain cardiovascular health?
6. If you’re just training cardio for several weeks (and no strength training) and then just doing strength training (and no cardio) for the next several weeks, do you then have frequent body composition changes?
7. Andy, you mentioned that the main idea behind not cocktailing is just to have focused practice on a goal, but what if I do p1 exactly as prescribed three times a week and don’t do any other exercises, will there be a difference as opposed to if I do p1 3 times a week exactly as prescribed but mix in upper body pulling exercises, cardio, and leg exercises in addition to it?
8. After I finish p1, should I just stop using the paralletes completely and focus all my training on whatever new program I’m on? Would I then lose all my parallete skills?
9. am i overtraining by doing p1, prasara series a, intu-flow, interval running, walking, and salsa dancing (didn’t mention salsa in the last post)?
10. when people want to become cst instructors and are doing cb’s, flowfit, prasara series a, and intu-flow are they mixing too many programs together and getting less than optimal results?
I appreciate all your responses. I am just trying to understand this idea of just focusing on one goal per program in the context of health-first fitness. I feel that understanding this concept will be important to my overall future fitness development. thanks, submachine
Jarlo, andy, thanks for the responses.
Basically, you guys said that I should do p1 exactly as prescribed in order to get maximum benefits from the program. My issue was that if I only did p1 (with no leg module), I would be neglecting my cardio, pulling muscles, and leg muscles.
1. Is working on just p1 without doing pulling exercises/leg exercises/cardio a health-first method? or is it a performance-first method at the expense of health? (i am NOT trying to be sarcastic. i’m just trying to understand the motivation here)
2. Is this what people mean when they say proper workout “programming?”
3. How do you make sure that you don’t become imbalanced (strong pushing muscles, but weak at everything else) with a program such as this, since p1 is 6 months long?
4. Jarlo, you mentioned to “focus on one thing for several weeks.” Does this mean that you only do p1 for a weeks, do some cardio for a few weeks, then come back to p1?
5. If you only focus on strength training (and no cardio) for a training program for let’s say 3 months, are you then operating under the understanding that you must have a perfect diet in order to maintain cardiovascular health?
6. If you’re just training cardio for several weeks (and no strength training) and then just doing strength training (and no cardio) for the next several weeks, do you then have frequent body composition changes?
7. Andy, you mentioned that the main idea behind not cocktailing is just to have focused practice on a goal, but what if I do p1 exactly as prescribed three times a week and don’t do any other exercises, will there be a difference as opposed to if I do p1 3 times a week exactly as prescribed but mix in upper body pulling exercises, cardio, and leg exercises in addition to it?
8. After I finish p1, should I just stop using the paralletes completely and focus all my training on whatever new program I’m on? Would I then lose all my parallete skills?
9. am i overtraining by doing p1, prasara series a, intu-flow, interval running, flowfit, walking, and salsa dancing (didn’t mention salsa in the last post)?
10. when people want to become cst instructors and are doing cb’s, flowfit, prasara series a, and intu-flow are they mixing too many programs together and getting less than optimal results?
I appreciate all your responses. I am just trying to understand this idea of just focusing on one goal per program in the context of health-first fitness. I feel that understanding this concept will be important to my overall future fitness development. thanks, submachine
@submachine
All right, most of these Qs are answered in the P1 manual. I understand that you’re trying to make sense of what seems like conflicting information, but a lot of what you’re asking is different phrasings for the same concern.
I understand your questions, but the answer is still that P1 — as written — is fine on its own. You don’t need to add anything else.
For the sake of brevity, I’ll take your Qs one-by-one:
1 Everything that comes from GMB is focused on both health and performance. It’s a continuüm, not an either/or choice. The motivation behind all of our programs is discussed in the training manuals.
2 Yes.
3 You cycle from one style to a different style. Specialize in one thing for a while then move onto something else. Doing P1 will not make you weak at anything that doesn’t use parallettes. It might not make you stronger at pulling, but it won’t weaken your pulling anymore than riding a bike makes you bad at walking. Also, P1 is three months at each level. You should do something else between the two levels. We recommend R1 for three months. Then come back to P1 or work with F1.
4 One thing for several weeks refers to cycling between programs. Do P1, then something else. Then come back to P1 if it meets your goals at that time.
5 I haven’t done cardio in several years and my cardiovascular health is just fine. Three months won’t hurt you.
6 That really depends on a LOT of factors.
7 Yes there will. If you do P1 plus other stuff, you’re not doing P1. It’s a different program then, and your results will be different.
8 Do you forget how to ride a bike? No. You just maybe loose your balance for a few second when you pick it up again. Same thing here.
9 Overtraining is a totally individual phenomenon. I can’t tell you. We tell you how to monitor your training and avoid overtraining in the training manuals and Recovery Guide.
10 If they do it wrong, yes. Intu-Flow, Prasara, and CBs, are not programs — they’re tools. If you use a solid program like the I-Pack, you will be combining these tools into a proper program. If you just do a bunch of all of them every day, you will be combining them into a bad program.
“Health-first fitness” is a meaningless term unless you define what your actual goal is — the thing you need to be fit for.
The number one concept that will be important to your development is to follow a program, log your results, then follow another program. Nothing else will teach you nearly as much as just finding a great program like P1 and doing exactly what it tells you.
Over thinking it and trying to make changes to something you don’t understand is probably the best way to get mediocre results.
@duffmcduffee Most things that you really want are difficult to obtain, it makes it better when you finally reach the goal though
andy, thanks for such a detailed response.
i will stop doing flowfit and interval running.
i will just do p1 3 days a week with the leg module 1 day a week. i will follow the workout schedules exactly as per the p1 leg module manual.
i will give your recommendation a legitimate shot.
i will do intuflow and prasara series a (for stretching purposes, not for a workout) and walking. jarlo seemed to indicate that these were ok to do in his response.
although i will still do salsa dance classes (yes, i know it’s extra training, but it’s not very physically hard and it’s been a hobby of mine for a while).
thanks again. i appreciate your responses.
@submachine Sounds great. I really think you’ll notice much faster improvements this way.
The added stretching and Intu-Flow can’t hurt a bit, and salsa sounds like a lot of fun. Enjoy it!
Hi Guys,
I’m currently finishing up on R1 Novice and was going to move onto intermediate next month, From your reply to submachine it sounds like you would recommend that to do P1 for a cycle would be a better plan and after 3 months come back to R1 Intermediate. Is that correct, also would it not be beneficial to do at least a few pull ups each week while on the P1 as the Rings are my favourite discipline. Do you have any ideas when R2 will be released?
Regards,
GT
@Gilestro I would take a break from Rings and just focus on P1 for a cycle. Then come back to the Intermediate level of R1. And while I understand that you love the rings, back off of the pull ups. Yeah, it might seem like you’ll be losing what you’ve been working on with R1. But you’ll actually do better when coming back to rings after having given yourself a break. And if you just can’t keep yourself away from the rings, a quick run through of the R1 Beginner Flow a couple times during your P1 training would be OK. That means once or twice during those 3 months! Not per week.
While not in stone, we are looking at releasing R2 Spring of 2012.