Convict Conditioning Pre=Planning

So far, working a bit under the Integral Strength program has been fine, but I'd been pondering ways to make my exercise program more flexible when it comes to scheduling, so that when the weather and schedule allow it, I can bike to work again.  Integral Strength is about doing rounds of a circuit routine, which doesn't fit well with riding one's bicycle to/from work, and stopping at pullup bars, dip stations, that may be along the commute.

I recently got my copies of the Convict Conditioning and Convict Conditioning 2 books.  The first book focuses on strength training around the "Big 6" exercises and the 2nd covers "Bulletproof Joints" and other supplementary exercise info.

Switching to from Integral Strength  to Convict Conditioning should be seamless as the exercises are similar or even the same:

Shrimp Squat -> Squat

I've actually never done a full Shrimp Squat, because of the requirement to hold the back foot with one hand while squatting down with the other hand.  I've gotten as far as touching the knee to the floor with both hands extended forward.  Convict Conditioning has a 10-step progression for the Squat, working up to a full double-legged squat, then progressing to a full pistol squat.  I've done full pistol squats before, but I usually get soreness along my MCL sometime afterwards.  One possible cause of the soreness is a previous knee injury.  Another is a tendency for the hip on that side to turn out and forward a bit.  Thus, the plan is to rachet back in the difficulty level focus on the lower Steps of the squat progression for a while.  Interestingly, Convict Conditioning has for the first Step, a "squat" which is done while in a posture that Yoga folks would recognize as a shoulder stand.  I will probably do this move as part of my daily warmup, as it seems to warm up some muscle groups while loosening others.

Pushup

Integral Strength's "master" variation if the Hollow Body Pushup.  Convict Conditioning's is the One-Arm Pushup.  I'll work up to 20 regular pushups first, then consider where to go from there.  As with the Squat, I'm going to rachet down the difficulty level to give my shoulder tendons more time to build up.

Bridge Pressup

Integral Strength stops at making the arms and legs straight as possible.  Convict Conditioning continues to the Stand to Stand bridge.  Looking at the Convict Conditioning progression, the straight bridge step is practically effortless to do 20 reps, so I'll try the next level before getting back to the full Bridge pressup.

Pullup

Convict Conditioning's master version is the one-arm pullup.  The other program stops at the regular pullup.  For now though I'll just work up to 20 reps of the horizontal row variation.

Handstand Pushup

Integral Strength focuses more on the Inverted Press, with the idea that raising the feet higher and higher will increase the difficulty so that when the feet are on the chair or higher, the trainee will have gotten strong enough to work on Handstand Pushups.  Convict Conditioning advises achieving the handstand first.  GMB (authors of Integral Strength) advise working on the handstand as a separate practice.  I'll stick with Inverted Presses, but try to get to 20 reps on an easier variation (feet further away from the hands) first.

L-Sit -> Split of L-Hold and Leg Raise progression

GMB loves the L-Sit, and thus it's featured in Integral Strength and other GMB strength programs.  The Convict Conditioning way though, prefers the Leg Raise for strengthening the hip flexors and abs and the L-Hold (same as L-Sit) as an active stretch, with an emphasis on flexibility and "joint bulletproofing" (active stretch of the posterior chain).  GMB actually recommends the Hanging Leg Raise, among other exercises, for those struggling to achieve their first L-Sit.  Sticking with the theme on focusing more on tendon strengthening, I'll work on the easier Steps for the Leg Raise series first - the ones done from the prone position.

Hollow Body

There's no direct mapping of the Integral Strength Hollow Body series to Convict Conditoning.
The Front Hollow Body is a GMB staple for developing a nice vertical line in the free standing (no wall support) Handstand position.  The closes thing in Convict Conditioning would be  the Leg Raise series.  The Back Hollow Body is not a consideration in Convict Conditioning, though the back sould get plenty of work in the Bridge series.  For lateral strength of the spine, the Flag series is favored over the Side Hollow Body.

In summary, Integral Strength is a great bodyweight strength and conditioning program, with the Broad Jump thrown in for some power training; but doesn't integrate well with bike commuting, schedule-wise.  Also it's intended to siet between Elements and the specialized bodyweight training porgrams in the GMB hierarchy.  Convict Conditioning is a more open-ended program, scheduling wise.