Hey all!
So I did GMB’s Parallettes One course. I wanted to start my journey on the Parallettes so I can one day do a planche. It seemed like a great place to start in terms of learning the basics and I’ve heard a lot of good things about it both online and from people I know. The main guy, Ryan Hurst, also seems and looks like a genuinely nice guy. I gotta say, having a clean, relatable look is great for sales and certainly worked on me!
In terms of stats, I am 27M. 170lbs. 6’0.
Nutrition wise, I ate around my maintenance (2400 calories) during the entire period since I wasn’t too focused on changing my physique. Around 150g of protein per day. Generally, lower on the carbs (150g or less) because I’ve found that I feel best when carbs are low-ish.
The cost of the course was $95.
I recorded all of my workouts on video so you can see a compilation/montage here:
It covers everything in the post as well.
Here is a quick breakdown of what I felt were the more obvious pros and cons:
PRO: P1 is a great value for the money.
It's a $95 program. It consists of two levels. A and B. Basically, A is easier and more beginner friendly and B is harder. I did the B level program so everything in this post is going to be based on the level B program. But the fact that there are two levels is a pretty strong positive. It’s basically like getting two programs for one. And there’s a Leg day min-program included that you can do if you also want to do legs as a supplement.
PRO: P1 is highly customizable to you.
For each exercise, GMB provides a range for sets and reps. You can do more if you’re feeling gung-ho. If you’re maybe just having an off day, you can do less. They also have alternative exercises in case you can’t do the more difficult ones they prescribe. No program is ever going to fit everyone, but this wiggle room is going to give everyone the ability to tailor the program to where they are without feeling like they are incapable of doing the program. Because feeling incapable or not good enough is a shitty feeling and, I imagine, a big reason why people quit workout programs.
PRO: There is no guesswork required.
They tell you exactly what to do. There’s a warm up, cool down, and even instructions on how to incorporate pull-ups and weights into the program.
CON: P1 is not a balanced program.
The exercises in this program are almost entirely pushing movements. So if you’re already someone who is front heavy, this program isn’t going to make that any better.
CON: P1 is not for true beginners
If you can’t do a single push up, this might not be for you. Fortunately, GMB has other programs that are more noob friendly so you should probably check those out instead.
CON: Limited Advanced Movements
Sorry, no planche work in Parallettes one. No frog stands. So if you’re already comfortable with fairly advanced stuff, you might be better of jumping into Parallettes Two.
Here is my experience with the program:
Before starting the program, I did a max L-Sit hold as a baseline for my strength level. I got 16 seconds. I wanted to use this as a metric for progress and I would revisit this at the end of the program.
(3:42 in the video)
Both the A and B versions of the program are broken into four phases, with the first two phases lasting a month and the last 2 phases being just 2 weeks. I did the B program.
The first phase is the strength phase, where you build strength.
The exercises are simpler and more straightforward. I’m not a beginner to working out so I felt that it was a little bit on the easier side. The good thing is that the program has a range of sets and reps for each exercise so I would usually go for the higher rep and set range to make it more challenging.
The second phase is skill focused so the moves get a bit more technically challenging.
This is also where things get more interesting. I admit that I would sometimes let ego get in the way and not always have the cleanest reps. Oh well. It happens to the best of us. The L-Sit drive, in particular, was really hard and I don’t think I had a single pretty rep in there.
The third and fourth phases introduce flows, which are basically chaining moves together.
Overall, the third phase was a significant jump up in difficulty from the second phase. It was in this phase that I started to find myself unable to do certain moves at the prescribed level. Thankfully, the program offers scaled-down alternatives.
The flows in the fourth phase are a lot more difficult and longer than the ones in the third phase. I was unfortunately not able to do the entire flow due to getting fatigued and had to do each part separately. The fatigue also made it hard to do certain moves full on during the flow. For example, I couldn’t hold a full shoulder stand during the flow, and could only have one leg up at a time. I guess I’m not quite there just yet. But what I was able to do at the end of the fourth phase still looked pretty good so I don’t feel bad about it!
By the end of the program, I was able to do a 30s L-sit. Up from 16s at the beginning.
(5:30 in the video)
And while I may not have been able to do a full shoulder stand during the flow, I could easily do one by itself. (5:40 in the video) So I’d say that’s a pretty big win.
Even though aesthetics wasn’t really the main focus on the program, I still turned out looking pretty good at the end. I’m just as lean as before but my muscles look “prettier”.
https://i.imgur.com/CtD4CCf.jpg
Overall, I’m very happy with the program. But I do have some final for you to consider when you’re making your decision:
GMB’s Parallettes One is all about quality of movement so it’s better to do fewer, slower quality reps than a bunch of shitty ones. So it’s important to have a good temperament when you go about it and trust the process.
Its also a very skill focused program, so you’re not going to feel as sore or as tired as you would in say, P90x. Personally, I’m all for it. I hate being tired and if I can get results without being exhausted all the time, heck yeah. But if you’re something who enjoys being out of breath, this is probably not for you.
And now for my verdict:
I would give GMB’s Parallettes One Program a 9/10.
Mostly because it does exactly what it says it’s going to do, which is teaching you basic parallettes moves. Just make sure you know what you’re looking for and what this program offers. Then you can decide if it’s a fit.
Alright everyone! Those are my thoughts. If you have experience with Parallettes One or GMB in general, I would love to hear about it!
So I did GMB’s Parallettes One course. I wanted to start my journey on the Parallettes so I can one day do a planche. It seemed like a great place to start in terms of learning the basics and I’ve heard a lot of good things about it both online and from people I know. The main guy, Ryan Hurst, also seems and looks like a genuinely nice guy. I gotta say, having a clean, relatable look is great for sales and certainly worked on me!
In terms of stats, I am 27M. 170lbs. 6’0.
Nutrition wise, I ate around my maintenance (2400 calories) during the entire period since I wasn’t too focused on changing my physique. Around 150g of protein per day. Generally, lower on the carbs (150g or less) because I’ve found that I feel best when carbs are low-ish.
The cost of the course was $95.
I recorded all of my workouts on video so you can see a compilation/montage here:
It covers everything in the post as well.
Here is a quick breakdown of what I felt were the more obvious pros and cons:
PRO: P1 is a great value for the money.
It's a $95 program. It consists of two levels. A and B. Basically, A is easier and more beginner friendly and B is harder. I did the B level program so everything in this post is going to be based on the level B program. But the fact that there are two levels is a pretty strong positive. It’s basically like getting two programs for one. And there’s a Leg day min-program included that you can do if you also want to do legs as a supplement.
PRO: P1 is highly customizable to you.
For each exercise, GMB provides a range for sets and reps. You can do more if you’re feeling gung-ho. If you’re maybe just having an off day, you can do less. They also have alternative exercises in case you can’t do the more difficult ones they prescribe. No program is ever going to fit everyone, but this wiggle room is going to give everyone the ability to tailor the program to where they are without feeling like they are incapable of doing the program. Because feeling incapable or not good enough is a shitty feeling and, I imagine, a big reason why people quit workout programs.
PRO: There is no guesswork required.
They tell you exactly what to do. There’s a warm up, cool down, and even instructions on how to incorporate pull-ups and weights into the program.
CON: P1 is not a balanced program.
The exercises in this program are almost entirely pushing movements. So if you’re already someone who is front heavy, this program isn’t going to make that any better.
CON: P1 is not for true beginners
If you can’t do a single push up, this might not be for you. Fortunately, GMB has other programs that are more noob friendly so you should probably check those out instead.
CON: Limited Advanced Movements
Sorry, no planche work in Parallettes one. No frog stands. So if you’re already comfortable with fairly advanced stuff, you might be better of jumping into Parallettes Two.
Here is my experience with the program:
Before starting the program, I did a max L-Sit hold as a baseline for my strength level. I got 16 seconds. I wanted to use this as a metric for progress and I would revisit this at the end of the program.
(3:42 in the video)
Both the A and B versions of the program are broken into four phases, with the first two phases lasting a month and the last 2 phases being just 2 weeks. I did the B program.
The first phase is the strength phase, where you build strength.
The exercises are simpler and more straightforward. I’m not a beginner to working out so I felt that it was a little bit on the easier side. The good thing is that the program has a range of sets and reps for each exercise so I would usually go for the higher rep and set range to make it more challenging.
The second phase is skill focused so the moves get a bit more technically challenging.
This is also where things get more interesting. I admit that I would sometimes let ego get in the way and not always have the cleanest reps. Oh well. It happens to the best of us. The L-Sit drive, in particular, was really hard and I don’t think I had a single pretty rep in there.
The third and fourth phases introduce flows, which are basically chaining moves together.
Overall, the third phase was a significant jump up in difficulty from the second phase. It was in this phase that I started to find myself unable to do certain moves at the prescribed level. Thankfully, the program offers scaled-down alternatives.
The flows in the fourth phase are a lot more difficult and longer than the ones in the third phase. I was unfortunately not able to do the entire flow due to getting fatigued and had to do each part separately. The fatigue also made it hard to do certain moves full on during the flow. For example, I couldn’t hold a full shoulder stand during the flow, and could only have one leg up at a time. I guess I’m not quite there just yet. But what I was able to do at the end of the fourth phase still looked pretty good so I don’t feel bad about it!
By the end of the program, I was able to do a 30s L-sit. Up from 16s at the beginning.
(5:30 in the video)
And while I may not have been able to do a full shoulder stand during the flow, I could easily do one by itself. (5:40 in the video) So I’d say that’s a pretty big win.
Even though aesthetics wasn’t really the main focus on the program, I still turned out looking pretty good at the end. I’m just as lean as before but my muscles look “prettier”.
https://i.imgur.com/CtD4CCf.jpg
Overall, I’m very happy with the program. But I do have some final for you to consider when you’re making your decision:
GMB’s Parallettes One is all about quality of movement so it’s better to do fewer, slower quality reps than a bunch of shitty ones. So it’s important to have a good temperament when you go about it and trust the process.
Its also a very skill focused program, so you’re not going to feel as sore or as tired as you would in say, P90x. Personally, I’m all for it. I hate being tired and if I can get results without being exhausted all the time, heck yeah. But if you’re something who enjoys being out of breath, this is probably not for you.
And now for my verdict:
I would give GMB’s Parallettes One Program a 9/10.
Mostly because it does exactly what it says it’s going to do, which is teaching you basic parallettes moves. Just make sure you know what you’re looking for and what this program offers. Then you can decide if it’s a fit.
Alright everyone! Those are my thoughts. If you have experience with Parallettes One or GMB in general, I would love to hear about it!