STEFAN EROTEEV | Planche vs. Leg Workout? | Interview | The Athlete Insider Podcast #43

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i wanted to be everything balanced and not to rush   direct to everything i prefer to be  my progress to be slower but completed you gorillas welcome to the athlete insider  podcast by gornation my name is phil   and today's guest is the bulgarian planche beast  an inspiration for the workout scene i'm really   happy to welcome you to the show stefan irotef  from bulgaria hello guys my name is from bulgaria   i'm 20 years old awesome happy to have you  here happy that you take the time people always   requested you the bulgarian beasts you have this  legendary gym there where there are like a lot of   strong athletes and we already interviewed victor  coming off so i'm really happy to welcome you as   the second the second strong athlete from this  legendary gym and yeah let's kick off with your   presentation uh who are you what do you do in  a normal life in real life first thank you for   inviting me to this interview um so i'm studying  measuring equipment in technical university i finished my high school with  measuring equipment too so i want to   be on next level like to finish my university i'm training work academics uh eight years almost  about our gym actually i started to train there   in the end of the 2012 when i met first  victor there and uh for first two years   i wasn't so consistent in this sport but uh with  the time i just found that this is my way of life   so you're 20 now if i understand it right and  you started and in 2012 so you were like a child   how old were you i was almost 12 actually and  you started with calisthenics then yeah wow i   was doing older sports like hanbo swim and uh etc  wow so yeah like is it normal in bulgaria that   like gymnastics and calisthenics are they is  it like big big sports in bulgaria about the   gymnastics kind of uh we have a lot of uh actually  you know jordan yorkshire he is one of the   best um gymnastics in the world but um about  the questings no it's not something big okay   so when you started with almost 12 how how did  your workout go did you do the basics or did you   like start with advanced movements already   so at the beginning my first main goal and the  idea was to build a good body shape so i started   with basics first moment i was doing only pull ups  and dips and the second i started to do muscle ups   like for two months i did uh two of my  swords well with with 12 years old yeah   that's insane okay um so pull ups muscle  ups uh how did the evolution continue first year i was doing only basics  and like uh pull-ups dips muscle ups   and uh other basic elements uh the second  year i started to go to competitions   just to watching uh what are they doing and  how sports uh is changing no and uh in 2014   i started to do more elements i started to learn  plunge front levers and other static elements   okay so uh in your beginning you did a lot of  basics and um yes you started with with these   movements do you think it was important  for your uh for your progress afterwards   in in planche and front lever i think uh  everybody who started to do calisthenics   must have at least basic uh strength you  know just to build from pull-ups and push-ups   even dips you have to build one level to improve  it you can start uh without the instrument to do   elements okay actually you you can but uh  you're exposed to more uh injuries okay   did you have any injuries in your career yeah  in 2019 uh there is a competition in poland   and um actually on the competition i just fell  from her and i felt some pain in my knee then   i didn't take a care about the knee after this  competition but it was looking really bad i mean   it wasn't look so good so i went to  moscow for the second competition   with probably red connection and meniscus but i  didn't know that and after the second competition   i continued to work out and then this thing  happened for second time i felt from the bar and   then i understood that i read my cross  connection because the pain was really bad so then i went to the hospital and they checked and  they understand that uh i read the connection and   the meniscus so i was out of uh the workout  like almost one year not completely like nine   months because i had surgery so yeah wow that's  this meant you uh weren't able to do pull-ups   or some basic movements actually i was doing  statics i didn't have problem so i just do i   was doing only statics without any dynamics okay  okay i mean there is no excuse about that so okay that's the good thing about street  workout that you don't always need your legs   uh that you can you can work around that um so  uh yeah how how tall and heavy are you right now   uh my weight is 70 kilos  and i'm 1.76 meters 176 okay   that's cool um so um people are always interested  in the community how long did it take for you   from the first workout in 2012 the first street  workout street workout training session um   to your first full planche how many years  were in between or how many uh how much time my progress was uh really slow uh i  started to do straddle in 2014 but uh july i think i started to do straddle uh  january and july i was doing style brunch   with not good form and then it took me like  almost one and a half year to unlock full   plunge and to do some full planche like  uh five or six seconds with no good form   okay so the really the transition from straddle  planche to full planche was quite hard for you   yeah do you know why is it because of your  height or no it does because i wanted to be   more completed like my progress to be  completed i focused on lunch and levers   and the method to which i used it wasn't the good  one for me okay so do you think like working on   planche and front lever at the same time um  is it working or do you need to work only on   planche or and only on front lever to make  progress it depends of the person because   you know there is a people who it's easier  to learn front levers and do more uh things   on levers and uh the same on the plunge so  the branch was for me but not the lever so   okay are you in general um more a push person are  you stronger and push movements than you are in   pulling movement yeah i think for pushing for  me personally okay but this doesn't mean that   i'm not doing any pull-ups i'm trying to improve  my weak points but you just know that you have   to work harder to uh progress and and front  lever or like in levers in general i guess   yes but if you want to have good uh good level  you work on it yeah even if you if you don't yeah   that's it um so how long did you did you take  for the front lever from your first workout like   included all the basics and the the year of basics  only almost the same thing like the struggle punch   wow and that already shows your strength  in the pushing movements because   for a lot of people that's at least  what i see with the front lever is   easier to learn than a straddle planche but there  are these uh these few athletes who are like uh   have like a straddle planche before the front  lever so it really depends from person to person   it's just my feeling that there are more people  who are stronger and pulling movements than   pushing movements or what do you think i think  personally it depends on the people you know   so if you take for example netko his polling  power is much much better than his uh pushing   and you can see how easier for him to do pull-ups  and other stuff for example so if if i work on   his program for a level for the front lever uh i  won't be able to do the same pull-ups as like him   and is it a reason of it's a it's a reason of  genetics right yeah it's all about genetics   okay um do you have some advice that you would  um give to somebody who has the also the same   height as you and wants to progress and planche  like um in general uh advice for somebody who is   like also taller like you're not the tallest guy  like uh in planche but uh in general like uh the   advice that you would give to somebody  who is like one 6 176 to 180 approximately so yeah you just have to uh to work on his  elements and personally for me i prefer to be more   balanced you know uh i focused on plunge and  flavor but uh this mean that your progress won't   be so fast because you're separating your power on  two things not one so if you focused only on one   thing like plunge or liver you're gonna progress  it more faster okay makes sense what are the your   favorite exercise that you recommend for the  planche uh progressions if you want to learn   lunch you have to do more progressions and  again depends of the person because on some   people rubber bands help more in others attempts  dirt progress so you can combine third of the   basics or other exercises to progress it what  is your opinion on on leg workouts in general um   is it a focus or is it just something  that you do for health or is it um   something that's uh counterproductive for statics  what do you think about it so before the injury i   wasn't so consistent workout on legs so my  only workouts for lex was swimming and hanbo   and uh after the injury i took a lot of care  about my legs like uh now i have three days   three workouts for my legs in a  week wow and it's only body weight like um running body weight calisthenics like  squats and other other exercises for legs   and the third one i started to do free run like  flips nice and yeah that's it and you feel that   your legs are feeling stronger so also the  injury is less probable to come back right   i'm not sure about that i mean  sometimes i feel the place unstable   but i think uh it needs more time because uh from  the injury to now uh it's maybe year and a half okay so i think there is uh time to heal do you think your injury  would still have happened if you would   have trained legs before before it like um  do you think now or i should have trained   legs the whole time or is it something that yeah  what do you think about that so i think uh if uh   if i were training flex it could be no problem  for my leg to you know it won't this injury so   i think everyone has to take care about that  and to train legs a lot of people think that   if you train next uh the elements uh gonna be more  harder yeah there is something uh right in that   you're gonna be heavier but for  sure you you have more power like um your body will have more power okay i i think this is one natural boost  for the body because you stimulate a   bigger part of the body okay so today how does your workout schedule  look like you already said three times per week   legs but let's show the people how does your  complete work a week of workouts look like   so okay today after the interview  i'm gonna have a workout so   i'm when i'm in the gym i'll first stretch and  warm up then i'll start to do statics combos on parallel bars and floor like for one  hour then i will switch to dynamics some   combos for dynamics and dynamic elements  then i'll do a little bit basics like pull-ups push-ups dips and then i'll  switch to workout for legs a little bit   front lips back flips and then again with  basics for legs like squats jumps and room   wow how long is this training session sounds  like like a whole week for for many people   yeah but uh if you have a good plan you  can make it okay so how long is one session   uh it depends uh if it's uh the weekend  uh there is a four or five hours   but if it's the workdays uh it's  taking me like three hours workout okay   and uh the rest of the week uh like um if you  how do you split your workouts for the week   so one day i'm training and one day one day  i rest okay every day like one day training   rest yeah and your training days always look  kind of the same uh not kind of the same   one of the days i have i'm more focused on pulling  like at the end of the workout i'm doing more   festools or uh muscle ups uh the other day i'm  focused more on pushing push-ups and presses   and the third workout could be with combined three  of them like pushing and pulling but more balanced okay but it's always statics before dynamics  right yes i prefer to do this because you need   the strength for uh statics and like for the  dynamics it's not that bad if you already are a   little bit exhausted from aesthetics yes and also  i'm trying to save some power from the statics to   dynamics because if i want to do combos i have  to do statics on the bar too true makes sense   um you already said in the beginning of a  session you stretch yourself you do some   mobility work uh your your opinion on mobility  overall is it important for planche or like   for sorry for for aesthetics workout in general  in general for the whole workout it's not only   the planche or statics it's about dynamics too  and uh even for the legs workout it's good just   because uh you know you can feel more your body  when you're stretched and warm up good so i think   this is important for sure okay and you always  do it before the session not not after all both   actually both before and after because uh  before here in bulgaria winter is really cold so   it's good to have a good warm up because you know  in the cold weather you can get uh more injuries   so you have to protect yourself with  warming up and after that stretching so   like what was the coldest temperature that  you had this uh this winter minus 15 wow okay   it's not like russia but it's a similarity true  like in germany this winter it was crazy like   uh one week ago we had minus 19 degrees uh here  and like snow snow chaos with 40 45 centimeters   of snow um so yeah but i can totally relate it's  really um the body doesn't feel good like if it's   so cold and you go to a training i can imagine  that uh stretching and doing some mobility work   uh prepares the body to to uh definitely have  to do warming up good before the session um   do you what do you think is the main reason that  people get injured um because i see a lot of   people injuring themselves in calisthenics and  then some other people saying yeah calisthenics   is not good for the joints it's too uh like  to pressure too much pressure on the joints   uh what do you think are the main  reasons that people get injured i think it depends it could be  because they didn't warm up good uh or   they don't doesn't have enough strength for  some elements and they are doing trey hart   and the other third thing i think it's uh  just a bad luck sometimes it just happens okay one question that we received a lot of times  and a lot of athletes ask that is when do i know   that i'm ready to start with straddle planche for  example because as you said a common reason is   really to to be injured is to start too early with  an element that your body isn't ready for that   your tendons your joints are not ready for so when  do you know that you're ready to to start with a   straddle planche for example i think everybody  has to feel his body so if you feel your body   in good shape for learning the planche or liver  like you feel that you have enough power you can   try to learn first basic stuffs like handstand and  other basic elements and then to start to learn   lunch because you you can't uh throw yourself  direct to the plunge true and people have to know   that you started so early like uh kids are still  like uh the the joints and everything is still   growing and uh still quite flexible etc you did  a lot of basics you do a lot of mobility and then   you start with your aesthetics you with your plans  etc um this is important for the people to know i   think because a lot of people want to learn the  planche in three months or like uh the the full   planche in six months and it's like really rushing  and uh wanting to be fast and when i see your   story you took time you you took your time  but you're like really uh um on a good level   now and on a healthy level yes i think it's  because i wanted to be everything balanced and   not to rush direct to everything i prefer  to be my progress to be slower but completed i can understand do you think are you in  general uh a patient person or are you   like unpatient uh your in your  personality i'm definitely patient okay   okay that's a good thing for for calisthenics  i think or like overall a good thing um nutrition how does your nutrition  look like how do you eat   uh how is it possible to have a physique like  you uh what are the the the meals that you eat   so two years before two years i was  doing uh some debts like low carbs and um   yeah low carbs mainly and uh it helps it  helped me to be more cleaned in good shape but sometimes it's not a good option  because uh it's just for um short period   it's not for a tournament you you can't  throw away all carbs and eating only meats and vegetables so now i don't have  that but i have built something like a normal   normal way of eating so i ate  everything but in in norms and everything enormous okay so  um do you have like some stuff   that you take care of do you like  do you uh eat a lot of protein or   is a lot of fat or another not a lot of fats like  are do you look on some nutrition right now no but   uh for sure i'm watching to take good protein  from my food especially before competitions   uh no uh okay because you can't you can't to  work out and treat only bad food no and to want   some progress like um if you eat good food and  uh clean i think this is going to be a little   bit boost for your body and for you and just  feel better if you if you want to have progress   and you eat clean food it's  going to be boost for your body makes sense uh do you take supplements no only  only vitamin c and sometimes uh protein sometimes   okay cool um yeah we're closely coming  to an end um one thing that i would like   like to know what are your goals for the  next time do you plan on competing again   definitely for sure actually i'm burning for  competitions because uh one year i was out of   the sport so i want to compete more cool so  we can see cepheum back on on the stage that's   that's cool um yeah at the end of each interview  we always have some quick questions quick answers   so first question pizza or burger pizza okay  uh are you a dog or a cat person a dog but okay yeah same same here um do you  have a favorite location for holidays um home okay so when you when you are  on like when you have some some free   days you like to spend them at home yes or  with friends uh in the mountains sometimes   cool um what are the athletes that inspire you uh  victor for sure victor kamal uh netko eric cortese   and then there is uh other  outlets dimitri kuznetsov okay nice good ones um do you have a favorite  book um not at all okay uh yeah if um what was   the best calisthenics event you've ever been at  there is uh three competitions which i like uh   worldwide heroes for sure yeah also we have  the hoodie there first uh battle of the verse   and uh there was a one competition  which i was judge in slovakia   i can't remember the name of the  organization but it was really good cool if you would have to decide between   only statics and only dynamics for the  rest of your life what would you take   definitely statics okay expected that and then  the last question do you have a message for   the calisthenics community something that you  want to tell the people listening they have to chase their dreams and their goals and not to give  up on them nice awesome thanks for the interview   um yeah where do people find you how can they  get in touch with you they can write me a message   in instagram or at me in facebook awesome so  instagram and facebook are down below uh for the   people who want to contact you like the your links  your social media channels are in the description   thanks for your time stefan it was a it was our  honor uh and uh it's really nice to see you again   i mean we met each other uh i think yeah two  years ago now uh like approximately on the   world of buy heroes event in cologne and um  yeah i'm hoping that uh this summer we can   see each other again on a competition so all  the best for you thanks a lot for your time   and before you can say goodbye to everyone and  i want to say thank you to everyone listening   to this till the end to uh yeah support this  series and thanks for sharing it uh giving it   a thumbs up this helps a lot and stefan you have  the last words thanks again that you were here   thank you and uh appreciate it for the  inviting me and yeah that's all thank you.