I am assuming you have heard the story. Over a couple of weeks ago a girl in New Delhi was raped so brutally that she has now died from her injuries. She was raped by 6 people, with the driver driving the bus. I will not go into the details- this all is now common knowledge.
What shocks me in this whole affair is not the fact of rape (there is no shortage of rape in India), but the degree of violence with which the crime was perpetuated. It points towards something much deeper than just gender issues or respect for women. It seems to indicate a sense of frustration and anger. A degree of anger that permeates them completely to ignore the screams of another being, to just get lost in the sheer delight of taking out that violence. This is not just about respect to women, but about a frustrated and angry society. Make no mistake, in India there is minimal respect for women. But a lack of respect for women should not (and does not) manifest in the form of crime or violence. It manifests itself in society as a collective effort to prevent the rise of women- by dismissing and ignoring them.
Violence towards women is the product of a lack of respect COMBINED with an unnatural degree of anger and frustration. Respect towards women gets enough attention as it is- it is the deeper problem of anger and frustration in society that I want to talk about.
Look around you everywhere! Every segment of society in India is angry and frustrated- because nothing changes here. Generation after generation of people are powerless to do anything. Nobody in this country can seem to make decent headway against the creative inertia that exists here. The forces working to keep things as they are are almost insurmountable.
Think about it- in 100 years since the first British census, the percentage of people relatively poor, the number of people involved in agriculture has changed as little as it could have without moving backwards all the time.
Yes, there is a little more money overall now than then, but the distribution and the degree of relative poverty has remained unchanged. Coupled with a gutless and spineless middle class and the fact that while money is everything is this country- it achieves nothing. For all the money in the world, even the most well meaning people cannot change anything. And even the richest politician very frankly, has no real power. It is like a cage slowly getting smaller and smaller- and the people inside it getting bigger does not help.
When I talk to people, the first thing I notice is that it is an estrogenous society. What I mean is that men here look like women, gossip and are always complaining, always angry, never happy; trying to place blame on everything around them.
Do not misconstrue what I am saying as a statement against women. It is a statement against excess estrogen- and women are not supposed to have excess estrogen. Nobody is supposed to have excess estrogen. Very frankly if you look at female and male creatures in the wild, they are not that different- even in terms of physical powerless, but that is another debate. The point is that everybody here lacks the drive and ambition that is associated with the adogenous hormones- progesterone and testosterone are the big ones. Why does this happen? Because the drive and ambition has been crushed out of them.
It is a society that looks down upon every kind of ambition other than academic ambition and very frankly, even that is heavily tampered. It is bad to think big, it is bad to take risks, it is bad to be unemotional, it is bad to be emotional, it is a sin to be horny and it is a sin to be materialistic.
All because of the collective conviction that nothing can change- to the point that no one really wants to change anymore. And generation after generation people think they are changing, but they are really not.
The protests going on now are asking men to be men. But to be fair, what does it mean to be a man? It means ambition, drive and the ability to take responsibility. In a society where ambition is a sin and nothing you do is going to change anything for yourself or anyone else anyway, its easy to see it is impossible to be a man.
Imagine a fulfilled man- a man who is working towards his objectives with reasonable success, a man who is motivated and happy and can take responsibility for what he does. Will this man ever have the inclination to be violent or commit rape? No, because he is actually a man.
A lot of people try to blame the media with its degree of nudity for the lack of respect Indians have for women. I can't even count the number of holes in this theory.
First of all, if that is objectification, every man who tries to impress women with money or muscles or success is promoting the objectification of men. Just on different lines.
Then there are the facts- both men and women get (and should get) horny. The fact that society here does not talk about female libido is in fact highly disturbing. If you can accept that men get horny, so can women. Getting horny is not that same thing as getting the drive for rape. Ordinary sexual desire is always associated with the need for emotional proximity and company- stuff which you are most certainly not going to get from rape, these things are most certainly good things. It is when a person is frustrated and angry to begin with that sexual desire leads to violence and rape.
Even eve teasing for that matter is because of a degree of frustration. And cracking unsavory jokes should not be confused with eve teasing. That is just familiarity with the person, the way men express closeness. Again, not even in the same plane as rape.
And frankly, in ordinary circumstances where women were equals and everyone was happy, such jokes would be appreciated.
Last but not the least, there are places in the world where the degree of public nudity is far more than that present in India. Do those places have more rape? No, in fact they have much less. This is partly because people there are desensitized towards nudity. They have just seen so many half nude people it does not effect them any more. The deeper reason why there is lesser rape is because the society is not angry or frustrated.
A lot of people say Indian men are sick. Actually Indian men are angry, frustrated, violent and cynical. They are not any more horny than any other people. It is the combination that is alarming.
So what is to be done? I am not sure, but I will venture my opinion.
I remember reading the words of a great sportsman. He grew up in a place where he felt suffocated. He starting working out and here is what he said-
". . in 2-3 years I had realized I had managed to change my body completely. And this gave me confidence. If with dedicated systematic effort I could change my body completely, I could change anything. My outlook, my emotional palate, everything. I felt powerful. I knew I would get out of here and become great. And I did. . "
It is not just him, but throughout history physical development has been the method through which men have fulfilled themselves. It has been the method through which men have destroyed their frustrations and realized their potential for betterment for years. Even in prisons across the world, trouble is avoided by inculcating a degree of physical work.
Imagine if every good for nothing neighborhood bum you knew had started working out. In a few years they would have understood how much power they have. They would not get into trouble and find direction and motivation in their lives. More importantly, they will understand how to gradually and progressively work towards their goals. They will learn the art of systematically approaching all their problems in life. And they would not be frustrated anymore. And who knows, because of the better body they might just get girlfriends, cultivate maturity and develop responsible relationships.
I think the inclusion of compulsory physical development (Not Labor) in schools across the country will do wonders for Indian society. Fulfillment through academics is becoming very very hard, considering the sheer number of students and the lack of avenues for quality education, not to mention not everybody is gifted at getting marks. Maybe just if there where more avenues through which people could fulfill themselves, our country would be a much better place.
My plan B is compulsory military service.
Monday 31 December 2012
Sprinting
A lot of exercises are considered the basics, an a lot of them are probably invaluable. But one exercise- well its not an exercise per say but- one exercise that gets little to no attention is sprinting. I know there are a lot of guys out there (read crossfitters) who will jump for joy when I say sprints are basic and under rated. On the other hand there is an opposing group of 'heavy lifters' who will not agree sprinting is basic. They will say, do circuits, reduce your rest intervals between exercises etc etc. Well, to be fair those methods do work, but ultimately if all you do is lift weights, you will get good exactly at that- lifting weights.
Many people seem to think that somehow the strength (and endurance) you gain from lifting will magically transfer to all other activities. Well guys, its basic and its called the principle of specificity. You get good at what you practice. That being said, your musculature does get stronger. What your body really needs to learn is how to use all that strength. In essence, the principle of specificity is basically a neuro-muscular phenomenon, where the nervous system uses the strength of the muscles in order to do certain things. Thus, for any other activity, if the muscles involved are strong, you already have the strength to perform it- you just need to teach your body how.
Moving fast is one of things the body does not get enough of when you lift weights. Yes, there is rising awareness about this as systems like the dynamic effort method are taking root. The increased interest in the Olympic lifts and speed work in general is heartening. But once again, you are getting the body used to moving fast in the movements you are already used to. Not to mention that most people DO NOT consciously make an effort to move the concentric part of exercises as fast as they can. At any rate, even doing this all the time is a huge drain on the nervous system. And to be fair, even the dynamic effort lifts need quite a bit of setting up, like chains or resistance bands to counter the acceleration. And some, like jumping barbell squats, are just painful.
One of the simplest ways to get out of a training rut, or to make your strength more functional (we will get back to this), or to fire your nervous system or to stimulate the fast twitch muscle fibers or to lose fat or to improve cardiovascular fitness or to correct posture or to strengthen joints is to sprint FAST for SHORT (40-50m) distances. Even if you do 5 sprints its enough. Treat it like you treat the Olympic lifts- keep the volume low and keep the intensity high.
Sprinting increases the testosterone discharge and stimulates the nervous system. These two things by themselves lead to increased gains in size and strength.
Sprinting is SUPREMELY FUNCTIONAL. The core muscles have to stabilize the body like crazy, making it the best core workout around. Much better than standing on a Bosu Ball. The increased speed has a great deal of carryover to a whole load of movements. You learn to move yourself, you learn to stop, you learn to accelerate and your learn to be agile. These few characteristics pretty much carry forward to anything. The only thing that is left is changing direction and you can train that too by just running 20m one way and 20 m the other. The muscles involved in proper all out sprinting cover pretty much the entire body. Its a bang for your buck explosive movement. Even more than the jumping squat.
Too many power lifters and bodybuilders just are not used to moving their own bodies at that pace. All of them could use a little body movement, but they are too attached to moving weight to do that. That is why stuff like prowlers and the Turkish get up have become so popular in recent years. People just need the ego boost of moving a certain weight. I am not saying prowlers or Turkish get ups are bad- on the contrary they are fantastic exercises. All I am saying is, why don't you just Sprint instead- IT IS FREE, NEEDS NO EQUIPMENT and frankly is a BETTER EXPLOSIVE MOVEMENT for the lower body. Yes, the prowler and the Turkish get up work the upper body too, but frankly they don't work the upper body dynamically- which is kind of the whole point anyway. If you want to talk about the best dynamic upper body exercise I would say it is the muscle up done with minimal leg assistance- provided it does not hurt your elbows. But this will be the subject of a different post.
Probably nothing stimulates the Fast Twitch muscle fibers like sprinting does. It is just about as fast as your body can move. Plus the stretch reflex is trained powerfully by sprinting. The shock of the impact trains the ligaments and the joints.
I don't think I have to explain how sprinting develops the cardiovascular system, burns fat and conditions the entire body. The amount of fat the body burns through intense exercise is much greater than traditional cardio. The high intensity pumps the cardiovascular system and develops the lungs.
Sprinting properly stretches the front of the thigh (the hip flexors) due to the high degree of hip extension. Due to the same reasons the glutes fully contract during sprinting. Both these factors combined to together correct posture, fixing problems like lumbar lordosis and anterior pelvic tilt. Also it is the best exercise around for both the glutes and the calves. The glutes because they are predominantly fast twitch and are the prime movers in running. The calves because their prime function is to sustain eccentric impact. There is probably no better exercise for the calves than sprinting.
So how do you sprint and how much to sprint?
The 5 keys to sprinting are-
1. Contract the glutes and relax the body
2. Sit back with your torso upright when you run
3. Don't waste energy by unnecessary movement
4. Run toes first
5. Concentrate on pushing backwards with your hips. In order to do this you will have to pull your knees up high.
Just like power movements, you don't need to train the sprint with high volumes. Train twice a week with 5-10 sprints with 2-3 mins between sprints. You can reduce the rest intervals if you want to focus on conditioning. Just start sprinting, and see how your body responds. Adjust the volume to suit your body type.
Just start sprinting. It will do wonders for your body! And will fresh you up like nothing else.
Many people seem to think that somehow the strength (and endurance) you gain from lifting will magically transfer to all other activities. Well guys, its basic and its called the principle of specificity. You get good at what you practice. That being said, your musculature does get stronger. What your body really needs to learn is how to use all that strength. In essence, the principle of specificity is basically a neuro-muscular phenomenon, where the nervous system uses the strength of the muscles in order to do certain things. Thus, for any other activity, if the muscles involved are strong, you already have the strength to perform it- you just need to teach your body how.
Moving fast is one of things the body does not get enough of when you lift weights. Yes, there is rising awareness about this as systems like the dynamic effort method are taking root. The increased interest in the Olympic lifts and speed work in general is heartening. But once again, you are getting the body used to moving fast in the movements you are already used to. Not to mention that most people DO NOT consciously make an effort to move the concentric part of exercises as fast as they can. At any rate, even doing this all the time is a huge drain on the nervous system. And to be fair, even the dynamic effort lifts need quite a bit of setting up, like chains or resistance bands to counter the acceleration. And some, like jumping barbell squats, are just painful.
One of the simplest ways to get out of a training rut, or to make your strength more functional (we will get back to this), or to fire your nervous system or to stimulate the fast twitch muscle fibers or to lose fat or to improve cardiovascular fitness or to correct posture or to strengthen joints is to sprint FAST for SHORT (40-50m) distances. Even if you do 5 sprints its enough. Treat it like you treat the Olympic lifts- keep the volume low and keep the intensity high.
Sprinting increases the testosterone discharge and stimulates the nervous system. These two things by themselves lead to increased gains in size and strength.
Sprinting is SUPREMELY FUNCTIONAL. The core muscles have to stabilize the body like crazy, making it the best core workout around. Much better than standing on a Bosu Ball. The increased speed has a great deal of carryover to a whole load of movements. You learn to move yourself, you learn to stop, you learn to accelerate and your learn to be agile. These few characteristics pretty much carry forward to anything. The only thing that is left is changing direction and you can train that too by just running 20m one way and 20 m the other. The muscles involved in proper all out sprinting cover pretty much the entire body. Its a bang for your buck explosive movement. Even more than the jumping squat.
Too many power lifters and bodybuilders just are not used to moving their own bodies at that pace. All of them could use a little body movement, but they are too attached to moving weight to do that. That is why stuff like prowlers and the Turkish get up have become so popular in recent years. People just need the ego boost of moving a certain weight. I am not saying prowlers or Turkish get ups are bad- on the contrary they are fantastic exercises. All I am saying is, why don't you just Sprint instead- IT IS FREE, NEEDS NO EQUIPMENT and frankly is a BETTER EXPLOSIVE MOVEMENT for the lower body. Yes, the prowler and the Turkish get up work the upper body too, but frankly they don't work the upper body dynamically- which is kind of the whole point anyway. If you want to talk about the best dynamic upper body exercise I would say it is the muscle up done with minimal leg assistance- provided it does not hurt your elbows. But this will be the subject of a different post.
Probably nothing stimulates the Fast Twitch muscle fibers like sprinting does. It is just about as fast as your body can move. Plus the stretch reflex is trained powerfully by sprinting. The shock of the impact trains the ligaments and the joints.
I don't think I have to explain how sprinting develops the cardiovascular system, burns fat and conditions the entire body. The amount of fat the body burns through intense exercise is much greater than traditional cardio. The high intensity pumps the cardiovascular system and develops the lungs.
Sprinting properly stretches the front of the thigh (the hip flexors) due to the high degree of hip extension. Due to the same reasons the glutes fully contract during sprinting. Both these factors combined to together correct posture, fixing problems like lumbar lordosis and anterior pelvic tilt. Also it is the best exercise around for both the glutes and the calves. The glutes because they are predominantly fast twitch and are the prime movers in running. The calves because their prime function is to sustain eccentric impact. There is probably no better exercise for the calves than sprinting.
So how do you sprint and how much to sprint?
The 5 keys to sprinting are-
1. Contract the glutes and relax the body
2. Sit back with your torso upright when you run
3. Don't waste energy by unnecessary movement
4. Run toes first
5. Concentrate on pushing backwards with your hips. In order to do this you will have to pull your knees up high.
Just like power movements, you don't need to train the sprint with high volumes. Train twice a week with 5-10 sprints with 2-3 mins between sprints. You can reduce the rest intervals if you want to focus on conditioning. Just start sprinting, and see how your body responds. Adjust the volume to suit your body type.
Just start sprinting. It will do wonders for your body! And will fresh you up like nothing else.
Tuesday 25 December 2012
Beauty and Strength- Calisthenics
In my post about why bodyweight guys are not big, I spoke a lot about how, if properly used, calisthenic training is as good as barbell training. In this post I want to talk about how calisthenics can be better than weight training.
In a word- the perfect body! If you train strictly with calisthenics, using progressive principles, your proportions, your size, your muscularity, the quality of your muscle, your symmetry, your strength (at that bodyweight), your control and your body fat levels and endurance- everything will be perfect! This is entirely due to the nature of training with fixed weights, be it your own body or a fixed barbell.
Let us understand what happens when you have fixed weights. Let us assume you have a barbell that weighs 135 pounds (45 pound bar + two 45 pound plates). You just have 4 more 45 pound plates. This is all the equipment you have, plus a bench. Let us assume you are a 150 pound guy just beginning weight training. You cant do too many fancy movements, cause you don't have any equipment. Lets see what happens.
You decide to make a basic routine comprising of barbell squats, deadlifts, barbell hip thrusts, bench press, military press, bent over rows, barbell bicep curl and sit ups. You can bench press the 135lb bar for 3-4 reps, and push press the same for 2-3 reps. You can't possibly bicep curl it.
Now you are going to have to use your imagination. Lets take the bench press. You will use a GTG (Grease the groove) approach initially to increase your strength. You will bench press the weight for 2 reps every time you cross the bench. This way you work up to 5 repetitions. In ordinary circumstances, once you can do 4-5 sets of 5, you would increase the weight by 5 pounds (maybe). You can't do that here, so you are gonna have to do more reps. After you work up to 20 you have worked both strength (initially) and endurance (in the final stages) and size (in between). While trying to achieve this you will hit a lot of stagnation points- so you will have to improvise. For example, if the lactic acid build up is too much- do pyramids (1, 10sec break, 2, 10sec break, so on until you can't complete the set, then work backwards). This will acclimatize you to the burn. If you can't maintain tension that long, do a set almost to failure, than have a partner assist you in the remaining reps. This will teach you how to extend the time under tension. Doing all this you will develop a lot of things.
Now maybe you can pull off a couple of singles with the 185, but it is still quite un-manageable. You realize this is because your triceps and shoulders are weak. So you decide to master the 135 bar with a close grip (hands 3 inches apart) and pressing from the hip (for the shoulders). Once you do this, you can manage a tripe with the 185 for quite a few sets. Now once again you have to train for strength. Maybe you will decide to bench several times a week but keep your volume low, until you can comfortably do 5 in a set. And so on, you will progress.
The point f the matter is that fixed weight training will expose your weaknesses and lay them bare. You will be unable to move forward until you have eliminated that weakness completely and have mastered every weight thoroughly. At some point your endurance will hold you back, at some point your cardiovascular fitness will hod you back, at some point a particular muscle group will hold you back, at some point a certain portion of the range of motion will hold you back. Ultimately, by the time you get to the point where you are handling double bodyweight on all your lifts, you will have no weaknesses.
In the case of bodyweight training, this is more pronounced. This is because i involves additional factors like body fat levels and control over your bodyweight. There are more weaknesses that will show up as you try to make progress. And you are never gonna make it to uneven push ups if you don't make even versions of push ups your bitch first. And you are never going to master the 1 arm chin up at 20% body fat. And the handstand push up will continue to elude you if you can't control yourself.
Thus a person who uses a fixed weight system and even one movement per muscle group, will develop the perfect body. Very simply, you are never going to master the one arm chin up, if your rowing power is weak. And you can forget the front lever if your abs are not up to snuff. Even if you pick just one exercise per muscle group, you will sooner or later have to master the movement from every conceivable angle and variation. You are not going to get to the one arm push up without mastering full ROM handstand push ups. The exercise categories practically write themselves.
And you are going to have to get bigger and stronger and faster and fitter. You will be balanced. You will be perfect.
And you know what the best part is? Its a thinking man's game! You are going to have to treat your workouts like art. Every plateau will have a unique solution. This has one more great advantage- it keeps you entertained. The most successful athlete is the athlete who knows how to keep life interesting and fun. He will always make progress.
That is the beauty of calisthenics. Combined with its supreme convenience, its pobbly the most practical form of exercise. Remember- Keep your eyes on the prize! Aim always to move up a step, to move to a harder (i.e heavier) technique. Everything else will fall in place.
Good luck and train hard.
In a word- the perfect body! If you train strictly with calisthenics, using progressive principles, your proportions, your size, your muscularity, the quality of your muscle, your symmetry, your strength (at that bodyweight), your control and your body fat levels and endurance- everything will be perfect! This is entirely due to the nature of training with fixed weights, be it your own body or a fixed barbell.
Let us understand what happens when you have fixed weights. Let us assume you have a barbell that weighs 135 pounds (45 pound bar + two 45 pound plates). You just have 4 more 45 pound plates. This is all the equipment you have, plus a bench. Let us assume you are a 150 pound guy just beginning weight training. You cant do too many fancy movements, cause you don't have any equipment. Lets see what happens.
You decide to make a basic routine comprising of barbell squats, deadlifts, barbell hip thrusts, bench press, military press, bent over rows, barbell bicep curl and sit ups. You can bench press the 135lb bar for 3-4 reps, and push press the same for 2-3 reps. You can't possibly bicep curl it.
Now you are going to have to use your imagination. Lets take the bench press. You will use a GTG (Grease the groove) approach initially to increase your strength. You will bench press the weight for 2 reps every time you cross the bench. This way you work up to 5 repetitions. In ordinary circumstances, once you can do 4-5 sets of 5, you would increase the weight by 5 pounds (maybe). You can't do that here, so you are gonna have to do more reps. After you work up to 20 you have worked both strength (initially) and endurance (in the final stages) and size (in between). While trying to achieve this you will hit a lot of stagnation points- so you will have to improvise. For example, if the lactic acid build up is too much- do pyramids (1, 10sec break, 2, 10sec break, so on until you can't complete the set, then work backwards). This will acclimatize you to the burn. If you can't maintain tension that long, do a set almost to failure, than have a partner assist you in the remaining reps. This will teach you how to extend the time under tension. Doing all this you will develop a lot of things.
Now maybe you can pull off a couple of singles with the 185, but it is still quite un-manageable. You realize this is because your triceps and shoulders are weak. So you decide to master the 135 bar with a close grip (hands 3 inches apart) and pressing from the hip (for the shoulders). Once you do this, you can manage a tripe with the 185 for quite a few sets. Now once again you have to train for strength. Maybe you will decide to bench several times a week but keep your volume low, until you can comfortably do 5 in a set. And so on, you will progress.
The point f the matter is that fixed weight training will expose your weaknesses and lay them bare. You will be unable to move forward until you have eliminated that weakness completely and have mastered every weight thoroughly. At some point your endurance will hold you back, at some point your cardiovascular fitness will hod you back, at some point a particular muscle group will hold you back, at some point a certain portion of the range of motion will hold you back. Ultimately, by the time you get to the point where you are handling double bodyweight on all your lifts, you will have no weaknesses.
In the case of bodyweight training, this is more pronounced. This is because i involves additional factors like body fat levels and control over your bodyweight. There are more weaknesses that will show up as you try to make progress. And you are never gonna make it to uneven push ups if you don't make even versions of push ups your bitch first. And you are never going to master the 1 arm chin up at 20% body fat. And the handstand push up will continue to elude you if you can't control yourself.
Thus a person who uses a fixed weight system and even one movement per muscle group, will develop the perfect body. Very simply, you are never going to master the one arm chin up, if your rowing power is weak. And you can forget the front lever if your abs are not up to snuff. Even if you pick just one exercise per muscle group, you will sooner or later have to master the movement from every conceivable angle and variation. You are not going to get to the one arm push up without mastering full ROM handstand push ups. The exercise categories practically write themselves.
And you are going to have to get bigger and stronger and faster and fitter. You will be balanced. You will be perfect.
And you know what the best part is? Its a thinking man's game! You are going to have to treat your workouts like art. Every plateau will have a unique solution. This has one more great advantage- it keeps you entertained. The most successful athlete is the athlete who knows how to keep life interesting and fun. He will always make progress.
That is the beauty of calisthenics. Combined with its supreme convenience, its pobbly the most practical form of exercise. Remember- Keep your eyes on the prize! Aim always to move up a step, to move to a harder (i.e heavier) technique. Everything else will fall in place.
Good luck and train hard.
Monday 24 December 2012
Strength And Fitness
This blog post is being written to clear the air on a topic which is already clear, yet people insist upon closing their eyes and ignoring the facts.
Strength- strictly speaking, is the maximum amount of force the body can generate. Power is the rate of development of force and strength endurance is the amount of time the body can sustain a certain level of contraction. Beyond these three- there is cardiovascular fitness and lung capacity. There is also digestive health.
So what is fitness? Logic and common sense would dictate it be some kind of combination of all of the above- in essence, the ability to live a healthy life, without pain, with a significantly improved ability to take on stress. In that sense, it would be a good measure of cardiovascular fitness, excellent blood work (results of blood test), regular and efficient digestion, low body fat, strong bones, strong joints and strong muscles.
It is easy to see that a person may therefore assume that the person with the greatest endurance, would be the fittest. This could not be more wrong. Let us examine cardiovascular fitness in depth, before we consider strength.
Cardiovascular fitness is having a large stroke volume (low pulse), a normal blood pressure and an ability to relax and recuperate. Along with that, the heart should be able to pump hard when required. Now let us analyse the traditional forms of cardiovascular training- various forms of distance running, swimming and cycling.
Constant elevated heart rate does not force the heart to increase its stroke volume (pump more blood each stroke), it just trains the heart to get better at sustaining a certain heart rate. This, first of all, tires the heart, over the long run accumulating nervous stress- which interferes with the ability of the body to recover. The stroke volume does not increase, causing the heart to maintain an elevated (and stressful) heart rate all day. This adversely affects blood pressure, as there is more blood flowing. And ultimately- since the heart does not get used to pumping as hard as it can, just slightly harder- you will be unable to maintain an near maximal heart rate and blood flow.
The only real advantage gained by this form of training, is the increased energy the muscle cells store in their mitochondria and very frankly, there are better ways to do this.
Now to talk about blood work, distance fitness keeps the sugar levels extremely low, and reduces the amount of growth hormone and testosterone in the body. This leads to loss of muscle mass and weakening of the bones. Also the associated stress of distance training only makes it harder for the body to maintain low levels of blood toxicity and hormonal balance. Also, when distance running, frequent consumption of carbs will be found necessary, which leads to prolonged insulin spikes in the body- eventually leading to a state of insulin insensitivity. This eventually leads to the feminisation of men and fat storage in women. This also compromises the degree of digestive functioning.
Also, due to the phenomenon of increased mitochondria energy, the body adapts very quickly to cardiovascular training (6 weeks at best), and after that point, you don't even burn too many calories or burn much fat either.
Last, but not the least, traditional cardio makes your bones and joints weaker and reduces strength.
So what is to be done?
The fact of the matter is, your cardiovascular health needs to be worked pretty much in the same way as you train strength- by creating a stimulus for adaptation. Therefore, stroke volume will increase when there is a need to increase it- i.e when elevating the heart rate will no longer cut it. This has to be achieved by taking your heart rate over 90% of the maximum heart rate. This only happens when you do some thing near maximum effort- For example, sprinting. This also increases your testosterone and growth hormone levels and burns fat by the pound. This form of exercise, due to the relatively low volume, is also not very stressful on the nervous and endocrine system, leading to better rest and recovery. Due to the increased stroke volume, the resting heart rate will drop. This leads to a whole lot more relaxation and normalizes blood pressure.
And digestive health and blood work? Get your diet in order!! No amount of exercise will compensate for a crap diet.
So what can you do to make the maximum gains in fitness? STRENGTH TRAIN! Because the greater your maximum strength, the stronger your bones will be, the more power you will be able to develop, the greater muscle mass you build, the easier it will be for you to burn fat (every activity burns more calories), your hormones will be in order and day to day activities will become easier. This happens because you are using a lower percentage of your maximum all the time, which again reduces the general stress in life and helps your relax. The only thing that is left is cardiovascular fitness- which can easily be worked by any form of interval training.
Thus if overall fitness is your objective and you have no intention to compete, follow the following routine-
1. Strength train 2-3 times a week using full body workouts.
If you use weights, focus on the barbell back squat with your feet medium width, using a full range of motion, the military press, the bench press, the bent over row, the barbell curl, the dead lift and the plank. Use strict form and use weight plates of 45 lbs and a 45 lb bar only. This will force you juice every weight- very simply you can't make the jump between 135 pounds to 185 pounds without really mastering the 135 barbell. And even then the 185 will be a close to maximum effort. This will create a natural periodization system- you will keep increasing and reducing the intensity.
If you use body weight focus on push ups, pull ups, squats, bridges, ham glute raises and leg raises. later you can add handstand push ups and rows. Al;ways aim at moving to higher and higher techniques.
2. Sprint 10 100m sprints 2 times a week. Every sprint must be all out!
3. Get your diet in order.
This will ensure a well balanced development of fitness. Remember- train hard and train heavy, always strive to increase the weights you are lifting over time. If you are using body weight move to harder techniques. The be honest about your sprints, really give it your all. Keep a diet log and follow sound diet principles. Don't try to over do the weight loss or gain and keep your diet clean.
Good luck and I wish you the best of health.
Strength- strictly speaking, is the maximum amount of force the body can generate. Power is the rate of development of force and strength endurance is the amount of time the body can sustain a certain level of contraction. Beyond these three- there is cardiovascular fitness and lung capacity. There is also digestive health.
So what is fitness? Logic and common sense would dictate it be some kind of combination of all of the above- in essence, the ability to live a healthy life, without pain, with a significantly improved ability to take on stress. In that sense, it would be a good measure of cardiovascular fitness, excellent blood work (results of blood test), regular and efficient digestion, low body fat, strong bones, strong joints and strong muscles.
It is easy to see that a person may therefore assume that the person with the greatest endurance, would be the fittest. This could not be more wrong. Let us examine cardiovascular fitness in depth, before we consider strength.
Cardiovascular fitness is having a large stroke volume (low pulse), a normal blood pressure and an ability to relax and recuperate. Along with that, the heart should be able to pump hard when required. Now let us analyse the traditional forms of cardiovascular training- various forms of distance running, swimming and cycling.
Constant elevated heart rate does not force the heart to increase its stroke volume (pump more blood each stroke), it just trains the heart to get better at sustaining a certain heart rate. This, first of all, tires the heart, over the long run accumulating nervous stress- which interferes with the ability of the body to recover. The stroke volume does not increase, causing the heart to maintain an elevated (and stressful) heart rate all day. This adversely affects blood pressure, as there is more blood flowing. And ultimately- since the heart does not get used to pumping as hard as it can, just slightly harder- you will be unable to maintain an near maximal heart rate and blood flow.
The only real advantage gained by this form of training, is the increased energy the muscle cells store in their mitochondria and very frankly, there are better ways to do this.
Now to talk about blood work, distance fitness keeps the sugar levels extremely low, and reduces the amount of growth hormone and testosterone in the body. This leads to loss of muscle mass and weakening of the bones. Also the associated stress of distance training only makes it harder for the body to maintain low levels of blood toxicity and hormonal balance. Also, when distance running, frequent consumption of carbs will be found necessary, which leads to prolonged insulin spikes in the body- eventually leading to a state of insulin insensitivity. This eventually leads to the feminisation of men and fat storage in women. This also compromises the degree of digestive functioning.
Also, due to the phenomenon of increased mitochondria energy, the body adapts very quickly to cardiovascular training (6 weeks at best), and after that point, you don't even burn too many calories or burn much fat either.
Last, but not the least, traditional cardio makes your bones and joints weaker and reduces strength.
So what is to be done?
The fact of the matter is, your cardiovascular health needs to be worked pretty much in the same way as you train strength- by creating a stimulus for adaptation. Therefore, stroke volume will increase when there is a need to increase it- i.e when elevating the heart rate will no longer cut it. This has to be achieved by taking your heart rate over 90% of the maximum heart rate. This only happens when you do some thing near maximum effort- For example, sprinting. This also increases your testosterone and growth hormone levels and burns fat by the pound. This form of exercise, due to the relatively low volume, is also not very stressful on the nervous and endocrine system, leading to better rest and recovery. Due to the increased stroke volume, the resting heart rate will drop. This leads to a whole lot more relaxation and normalizes blood pressure.
And digestive health and blood work? Get your diet in order!! No amount of exercise will compensate for a crap diet.
So what can you do to make the maximum gains in fitness? STRENGTH TRAIN! Because the greater your maximum strength, the stronger your bones will be, the more power you will be able to develop, the greater muscle mass you build, the easier it will be for you to burn fat (every activity burns more calories), your hormones will be in order and day to day activities will become easier. This happens because you are using a lower percentage of your maximum all the time, which again reduces the general stress in life and helps your relax. The only thing that is left is cardiovascular fitness- which can easily be worked by any form of interval training.
Thus if overall fitness is your objective and you have no intention to compete, follow the following routine-
1. Strength train 2-3 times a week using full body workouts.
If you use weights, focus on the barbell back squat with your feet medium width, using a full range of motion, the military press, the bench press, the bent over row, the barbell curl, the dead lift and the plank. Use strict form and use weight plates of 45 lbs and a 45 lb bar only. This will force you juice every weight- very simply you can't make the jump between 135 pounds to 185 pounds without really mastering the 135 barbell. And even then the 185 will be a close to maximum effort. This will create a natural periodization system- you will keep increasing and reducing the intensity.
If you use body weight focus on push ups, pull ups, squats, bridges, ham glute raises and leg raises. later you can add handstand push ups and rows. Al;ways aim at moving to higher and higher techniques.
2. Sprint 10 100m sprints 2 times a week. Every sprint must be all out!
3. Get your diet in order.
This will ensure a well balanced development of fitness. Remember- train hard and train heavy, always strive to increase the weights you are lifting over time. If you are using body weight move to harder techniques. The be honest about your sprints, really give it your all. Keep a diet log and follow sound diet principles. Don't try to over do the weight loss or gain and keep your diet clean.
Good luck and I wish you the best of health.
Sunday 23 December 2012
The One Arm Chin Up
The one arm chin up is an incredible feat of strength and is easily the most revered one too. A bench press or squat of a certain weight, would be strong in one gym, weak in another and are of different types and depend a lot on bodyweight (the more the better). However, a one arm chin up will earn you respect in any gym on the planet. Not only is it the ultimate test of lat and bicep strength, it is also a symbol of proportional strength, back development and grip strength. It is the great equalizer among weight classes and genders too.
However, a lot of guys nowadays who perform one arm chin ups are small skinny guys. I have already discussed the reasons for this in my previous post. (Why are body weight guys not big?) If you want to be big and strong you have to work up to the one arm chin up using progressive steps, mastering every step along the way properly in perfect form.
So, how hard is the one arm chin up? Incredibly hard, but by no means impossible. A lot of people have come up with this interesting statistic that only one in 1,00,000 people have the genetic ability to perform a one am chin up. This cannot be true! Think about it, how many people have told you it is physically impossible to achieve a double bodyweight bench press or squat? No one right? Yet you expect me to believe that in the upper body lift in which the body is actually the strongest, it is supposed to be impossible to lift twice your body weight! And frankly I would say the chinning muscles are the fastest and easiest muscles to develop in the upper body. The lats are the biggest upper body muscle (when fully developed, they can be as big as the quads), and also the most powerful. The pectorals assist the lats, much in the same way the lats assist the pecs in the bench press. The posterior deltoids, the trapezius, the rhombozoids and all the scapular retractors and external rotators assist very powerfully in the movement. The biceps and all the other elbow flexors contribute directly to the lift. And let us not forget the fact that hip drive and core strength transfer a whole lot more powerfully to the chin up than they do to the bench press. All this means that you should have at least 50% more power in vertical pulling movements than horizontal pressing. If bench pressing twice your bodyweight is achievable for everybody, achieving 3-4 reps of the one
arm chin up should also be considered in the same vein- incredibly hard, but by no means impossible.
Let us get started. I am going to assume that you can perform 1 set of 12 of each of the following pull up variations in perfect form (see post- The Pull Up) on a very thick bar (about 2-2.25 inches in diameter) in one workout, in less than 30 mins.
1. Wide Overhand Grip
2. Medium Overhand grip
3. Close (fingers Touching) Overhand Grip
4. Medium underhand grip
5. Close underhand grip
If you cannot do this, achieve this first, than get back to this article. If you can, go back to my Pull up post and brush up your form. If you can do this even after that, than read on.
The first thing you must learn is how to express power with one arm, and to use your back to generate most of this power. Thus, in preparation to beginning progressive chin up work, you will-
1. Master the one arm top position isometric hold for 15 seconds-
This teaches you to use your back and develops top range lock out power and teaches you to express power using one arm. This is important because a lot of people can do uneven chin ups, in seemingly perfect form. Yet they crank out the same number of reps as the close chin up. This is because they actually use both arms evenly, whereas the whole point is to use one arm to do the bulk of the work. Done properly uneven chin ups are quite a bit harder than normal chin ups. You should feel the side grabbing the bar doing most of the work. This exercise of mastering the top position will teach you how to emphasize the working arm properly. Everyone who has mastered 12 reps of every pull up variety on a thick bar should be able to do at least 4-5 seconds of this hold on a standard bar. Add a few seconds every other workout. It should not take you very long to master the hold for 15 seconds- at worst, a month.
Remember, the bar should be in contact with the collar bone, and the humerus in line with the body.
It may be useful for you to master this hold even before you master 2 arm chin ups, if you are weak in the top range of motion of your chin ups, and regularly fail to lock yourself in the top position.
2. Master the one arm dead hang isometric hold for 15 seconds- Keep your shoulders tight and lowered, and your elbow slightly kinked. You will have to master the top hold first before you can do this one. This will strengthen the lats, and teach you the correct full body tension.
The above 2 will also prepare your grip for the stages that follow. You should be able to achieve both in about 45 days. Train them often (5 times a week), but for very light sessions- 2 attempts per arm MAX!
Now you are ready to begin working up the ladder-
1. Uneven Chin ups-
Grab the bar with one arm in a supinated grip, with the other had holding the wrist of the working arm. The thumb should be over the portion of the wrist, a little lower than the base of the palm. Keep your shoulders even with respect to the bar at all times. You you mastered the preliminary steps, you should have no problem in making the working arm do most of the work- the trick is to focus on that arm and to keep the shoulders even at all times. This will get harder the higher you go, as the closer to lock out, the lesser your assisting hand can help you. This is where the top hold really helps! You should be able to go over the top portion of the ROM with your working hand moving almost all your weight. If the top portion feels easy to you, or you don't feel a big difference in the contribution of the arms, you are doing it wrong, and probably not going high enough.
Remember, use a full ROM- all the way from a dead hang (elbows slightly kinked and shoulders tight) to the point where your collar bone touches the bar. Stop for a full second at the top.
Master for 2 sets of 10 on each arm before moving on.
2. Uneven Chin Ups 1.0-
Same as the previous technique, except your supporting hand will be grabbing your working hand about 2 inches lower. This will make the top portion of the movement harder, and reduce the ROM in which the assisting arm can assist.
Master for 2 sets of 9 on each arm.
Uptil this point, it will probably be useful for you to retain some wide overhand grip and close overhand grip work in your schedule. From this point on you can drop wide overhand grip pull ups, but retain close overhand grip chin ups till you master step 3 and have gotten over with the pre-steps for step 4. Than you can drop it too.
3. Uneven Chin Ups 2.0-
Same as the previous technique, except once again you will move your supporting hand 2 inches lower.
Master for 2 sets of 9 on each arm.
Before moving on to step 4, take the time to master one arm negatives for 10 seconds. Simply, get to the top
position of a one arm chin up, and lower yourself as slowly as you can. If you have done step 3 properly with perfect form, you should be able to do a negative for 4 seconds. Take a couple of weeks to work up to the point you can stretch it out for 10 full seconds. Train often and light, just like you did for the holds. This phase will build a lot of strength in the middle portion of the ROM, and will prepare you for the coming steps.
4. Uneven Chin Ups 3.0-
Same as 2.0, except the assisting hand will be 2 inches lower.
Master for 2 sets of 8 on each arm.
5. Uneven Chin Ups 4.0-
Same as 3.0, except the assisting hand will be 2 inches lower.
Master for 2 sets of 8 on each arm.
By this point your hand should be very very close to your elbow, such that it would be impossible to move the supporting hand 2 inches lower. If this is not so, master step 5 with your supporting hand exactly 2 inches above your elbow.
At this point, if you tried, you should be able to perform a 15 second one arm negative. If you can't, take a week to get there.
Now is when you become a man.
6. Top Range Partial One arm Chin Ups-
Get to the top position of a one arm chin up, and lower yourself all the way down, until your elbow is at approximately 90 degrees and your humerus parallel o the ground. Your contracted bicep would be a bit higher than your elbow. Stop at this point and immediately pull your self back up. Repeat for the required reps. If you can't handle this depth, use a shallower range. Use what ever depth allows you to get 2 proper reps. Work on your reps and your depth every session.
Master for 2 sets of 7 on each arm.
7. Half one arm chin up-
Same as the previous technique, except that you will go a bit lower, to the point where your bicep is just a millimeter lower than your elbow.
Master for 2 sets of 6 on each arm.
8. Frog Chin Ups-
Get into a one arm dead hang and place the fingers of the non working hand on the bicep of the working hand (the middle portion). Now begin pulling. The assisting hand will be able to help you out, only until you reach the bottom position of the 1/2 one arm chin up, than it makes things harder. When you hit that point, take off the finger and complete the rep. Then lower yourself just like a one arm negative, except you are not trying to unduly stretch it out. This helps in two ways- 1. Emphasizes the portion of the ROM in which you are strongest, and uses a full ROM. 2. Uses the fact that you are stronger in the negative portio of the movement.
Master for 2 sets of 5 on each arm.
9. Advanced frog Chin Ups-
Same as the previous technique, except this time the assisting fingers will be on the upper portion of the bicep.
Master for 2 sets of 5 on each arm.
10. The one arm chin up-
You should be able to do 1-2 reps on each arm. If you can't, master the previous step for 2 sets of 6 reps.
Once you nail your first one arm chin up, consolidate the technique. Train it with very very low volumes, but often. Once you can get 3 clean reps, you are safe.
Congratulations! You are now among the greats! If you have been doing your squats and have worked just like i have told you, juicing every step, your lats will look like wings and your back will be huge!! You should be having 18 inch biceps too (provided you have trained your triceps with the one arm push up progression).
I am assuming you are a well proportioned 200lb guy. You may have bigger arms, but certainly not lesser! And yes, this will be your cold measurement. You will always have proportional arms, if you have built your biceps and triceps using the chin up and pull up progression. And they will be strong as hell!
Thursday 20 December 2012
Why are Bodyweight Guys not Big?
I was going to write a post about the one arm chin up, as a follow up of the chin up post, but I realized that a lot of it wont make sense without this article.
Now the question in the title is something that needs to be clarified very urgently. There is a prevaling opinion in the training world that you cant get big with just calisthenics. Let us break down this myth and examine its validity.
There are three reasons this myth prevails-
1. Bodyweight training is different from weight training. (another myth)
2. There is not enough resistance in bodyweight exercise, and therefore you cant get too big.
3. Look at all the guys who workout with bodyweight and what do you see- they are all at best 180 pounds, nowhere close to guys who train with weights.
Lets take the first point. It is bullshit! Somehow, people think the principles of physiology change when you use your body instead of an external weight. The fact of the matter is that resistance is resistance, irrespective of if, it is a barbell, a rock or your own body. The only thing that makes a difference is the movements you use and the way you program your routine.
As far as movements are concerned, all the fundamental movements are more than adequately covered by bodyweight movements (see the post- the basics). Most guys are just not aware of all these movements, specially lower body movements and spinal movements. There is no movement you are missing out on, if your bodyweight routine is well rounded. We will discuss programming in point 3.
The second point is again quite misguided. Yes, on the face of it the resistance is limited, but with a little ingenuity and innovation, almost all bodyweight movements can be made impossibly hard. For example, if you want to talk about tricep and deltoid movements, the handstand push up is hard, and the one arm handstand push up much harder. In fact, I have never even heard of anyone ever performing it. Imagine the movement with a full range of motion- it would be a double bodyweight strict military press. Is that limited resistance?
For upper body movements, the magnitude of resistance is easily appreciable- the one arm regulation perfect push up (maybe a 2x bodyweight close grip bench press), the one arm chin up (lat pull down- twice your body weight), front lever rows with the legs straight and together (2x bodyweight bent over row), the one arm handstand push up- all these movements are next to impossible for most people in their training lives, so this argument cannot apply to the upper body.
For lower body movements, people are less aware, and try too hard to equate barbell lifts with bodyweight lifts. The fact is (and this is covered in the post- the Squat) that these movements are distinct and while they hit similar muscles, they are most certainly not comparable. However, the degree of muscular gains and transfer to athletic ability is exactly the same in both cases, which is kind of the whole point anyway. The really hard lower body movements- like the ham glute raise or the one legged gymnastic bridge, are really heavy. The ham glute raise is probably the hardest hamstring exercise around, and has excellent transfer to athletic movements. I have never heard of anyone crossing 25 reps on this exercise (assuming your form is perfect), so it is most certainly not light. And if you need to make it heavier, increase the torque, use a poor man's glute ham raise instead of the actual machine. If that also gets easy, add ROM, get to the bottom than flex at the hips while keeping the hamstring contracted at the knee, and then perform a kind of hyper extension, to get back to the bottom, and then get back up. I have never heard of anyone doing this for more than a single.
The one legged gymnasts bridge is probably the greatest spinal erector and glute exercise around. I have never heard of a person perform even 2 good reps of this technique in perfect from.
The last bone of contention is the squat. Now, the pistol squat, after a certain point is just too easy to really test strong guys. Now I personally believe that the pistol squat should be worked for high repetitions, as this leads to maximum quad growth and has the maximum athletic transfer (see a previous post- the Squat). However, if you want to add weight to your squat, it is pretty easy to do. First of all, master the shrimp/king squat (one leg held behind you) with a FULL ROM. Once you master it standing on a block to get the full ROM, your quads will be really powerful. I think getting to 20 in this movement would be next to impossible.
If this also gets too easy, you can add weight with minimal resistance- you must remember that every weight you add will have a double stimulus as it is being lifted by only one leg. The full ROM king squat is easy to load (easier than a pistol squat), and I would think a full ROM king squat done with even 50% bodyweight would be as hard as a 3x bodyweight squat.
So in conclusion, there is no shortage of resistance in the case of bodyweight exercise.
This brings us to the final question- why are guys who exclusively use calisthenics not big?
Because these guys-
1. Don't train progressively
Most guys who perform calisthenics master the basic exercises- push ups, squats, sit ups, pull ups and dips- and then try to jump all the way to the hard stuff. For example, most guys will try to get to the one arm chin up using one arm negatives. Think about it, once you can bench your bodyweight for a lot of reps, would you try to achieve a double bodyweight bench by using only bench negatives? Well no, you may use negatives once in a while but progressive weight training would always be the cornerstone of your routine. You would master a certain weight, and then move up. The main reason bodyweight guys don't grow is that they try to make unreasonable jumps in strength and use all sorts of methods to cheat their way there. Some (very few) do in fact get there, but can never really master the weight (or the movement), because their approach was not progressive enough.
The real fact of the matter is, most guys simply don't know how to increase resistance in bodyweight movements. Which is why I say, look at the upper bodies of gymnasts- their arms, chests and backs are incredible. Most bodybuilders would die for an upper body like that. This is because they train their upper bodies progressively, using harder and harder movements.
And these guys would be a lot bigger if they trained their lower bodies as hard- but we will talk about that later.
2. Get distracted
There are too many flashy moves out there to distract a bodyweight enthusiast from regular progressive training. Back levers, muscle ups, and a whole wide variety of bodyweight skills are out there that use a hell of a lot of momentum and just plain look cool. Look at any calisthenic workout video on you tube- it will be filled with flashy movements that look awesome. These movements develop a powerful core, but are too distracting and use far too much cheating to be viable as steady movements to build muscle and strength in the long run. This is why most bodyweight guys turn into acrobats- not a bad thing, but just don't blame calisthenics that you are not big and are an acrobat. You made that choice when you started focusing more on acrobatics and less on progressive training.
3. Are really low body fat
Getting good at bodyweight exercise makes you insanely lean, because no one can get better at moving their own body by carrying around useless extra weight. Muscular weight is never an impediment as new muscle (provided you train for strength) is many times stronger than its own weight and therefore only makes you stronger overall (even in proportion to your bodyweight), but fat is just dead weight, so the body gets rid of it, simply because your training de-prioritizes fat and prioritizes muscle. Yes, normal weight training also prioritizes muscle, but does not really de-prioritize fat. This leads to bodyweight guys being really lean- most guys stick between 10-12% body fat.
Because of this, a lot of them seem smaller than they are, cause most guys who workout in your local gym will be around 15%-20% body fat, which does not really change how muscular you look when clothed, but definitely makes you look a lot bigger when clothed.
4. Tend to train with ultra high repetitions
This stems from the fact that most guys approach bodyweight training as endurance training and that they don't really know how to make bodyweight exercises harder. This is just a matter of approach- use the same progressive principles you would use when weight training, and you will be good.
5. Ignore lower body work
This is a real sore point- I never understand the obsession of bodyweight guys with pull ups and dips- they are great exercises but you know, squats exist too. And its not just that your legs should be in proportion to the rest of your body, but the fact that hard lower body training stimulates the endocrine system to no end, and that training the lower body will not only make your lower body better, but will blast your growth everywhere. This, in my opinion, is the one reason why gymnasts are not as big as they could be- they really ignore lower body work, compromising growth overall (that and their emphasis on momentum). A guy who trains his lower body with the same dedication as his upper body will explode in size. I will just ask you one question- have you ever seen a guy who weighed over 230 pounds of muscular bulk, who never did squats? I rest my case.
The point is, if you treat resistance as resistance and program your bodyweight work properly, and use a little intelligence in making your movements progressive, there is no real difference between weight training and body weight training.
Now the question in the title is something that needs to be clarified very urgently. There is a prevaling opinion in the training world that you cant get big with just calisthenics. Let us break down this myth and examine its validity.
There are three reasons this myth prevails-
1. Bodyweight training is different from weight training. (another myth)
2. There is not enough resistance in bodyweight exercise, and therefore you cant get too big.
3. Look at all the guys who workout with bodyweight and what do you see- they are all at best 180 pounds, nowhere close to guys who train with weights.
Lets take the first point. It is bullshit! Somehow, people think the principles of physiology change when you use your body instead of an external weight. The fact of the matter is that resistance is resistance, irrespective of if, it is a barbell, a rock or your own body. The only thing that makes a difference is the movements you use and the way you program your routine.
As far as movements are concerned, all the fundamental movements are more than adequately covered by bodyweight movements (see the post- the basics). Most guys are just not aware of all these movements, specially lower body movements and spinal movements. There is no movement you are missing out on, if your bodyweight routine is well rounded. We will discuss programming in point 3.
The second point is again quite misguided. Yes, on the face of it the resistance is limited, but with a little ingenuity and innovation, almost all bodyweight movements can be made impossibly hard. For example, if you want to talk about tricep and deltoid movements, the handstand push up is hard, and the one arm handstand push up much harder. In fact, I have never even heard of anyone ever performing it. Imagine the movement with a full range of motion- it would be a double bodyweight strict military press. Is that limited resistance?
For upper body movements, the magnitude of resistance is easily appreciable- the one arm regulation perfect push up (maybe a 2x bodyweight close grip bench press), the one arm chin up (lat pull down- twice your body weight), front lever rows with the legs straight and together (2x bodyweight bent over row), the one arm handstand push up- all these movements are next to impossible for most people in their training lives, so this argument cannot apply to the upper body.
For lower body movements, people are less aware, and try too hard to equate barbell lifts with bodyweight lifts. The fact is (and this is covered in the post- the Squat) that these movements are distinct and while they hit similar muscles, they are most certainly not comparable. However, the degree of muscular gains and transfer to athletic ability is exactly the same in both cases, which is kind of the whole point anyway. The really hard lower body movements- like the ham glute raise or the one legged gymnastic bridge, are really heavy. The ham glute raise is probably the hardest hamstring exercise around, and has excellent transfer to athletic movements. I have never heard of anyone crossing 25 reps on this exercise (assuming your form is perfect), so it is most certainly not light. And if you need to make it heavier, increase the torque, use a poor man's glute ham raise instead of the actual machine. If that also gets easy, add ROM, get to the bottom than flex at the hips while keeping the hamstring contracted at the knee, and then perform a kind of hyper extension, to get back to the bottom, and then get back up. I have never heard of anyone doing this for more than a single.
The one legged gymnasts bridge is probably the greatest spinal erector and glute exercise around. I have never heard of a person perform even 2 good reps of this technique in perfect from.
The last bone of contention is the squat. Now, the pistol squat, after a certain point is just too easy to really test strong guys. Now I personally believe that the pistol squat should be worked for high repetitions, as this leads to maximum quad growth and has the maximum athletic transfer (see a previous post- the Squat). However, if you want to add weight to your squat, it is pretty easy to do. First of all, master the shrimp/king squat (one leg held behind you) with a FULL ROM. Once you master it standing on a block to get the full ROM, your quads will be really powerful. I think getting to 20 in this movement would be next to impossible.
If this also gets too easy, you can add weight with minimal resistance- you must remember that every weight you add will have a double stimulus as it is being lifted by only one leg. The full ROM king squat is easy to load (easier than a pistol squat), and I would think a full ROM king squat done with even 50% bodyweight would be as hard as a 3x bodyweight squat.
So in conclusion, there is no shortage of resistance in the case of bodyweight exercise.
This brings us to the final question- why are guys who exclusively use calisthenics not big?
Because these guys-
1. Don't train progressively
Most guys who perform calisthenics master the basic exercises- push ups, squats, sit ups, pull ups and dips- and then try to jump all the way to the hard stuff. For example, most guys will try to get to the one arm chin up using one arm negatives. Think about it, once you can bench your bodyweight for a lot of reps, would you try to achieve a double bodyweight bench by using only bench negatives? Well no, you may use negatives once in a while but progressive weight training would always be the cornerstone of your routine. You would master a certain weight, and then move up. The main reason bodyweight guys don't grow is that they try to make unreasonable jumps in strength and use all sorts of methods to cheat their way there. Some (very few) do in fact get there, but can never really master the weight (or the movement), because their approach was not progressive enough.
The real fact of the matter is, most guys simply don't know how to increase resistance in bodyweight movements. Which is why I say, look at the upper bodies of gymnasts- their arms, chests and backs are incredible. Most bodybuilders would die for an upper body like that. This is because they train their upper bodies progressively, using harder and harder movements.
And these guys would be a lot bigger if they trained their lower bodies as hard- but we will talk about that later.
2. Get distracted
There are too many flashy moves out there to distract a bodyweight enthusiast from regular progressive training. Back levers, muscle ups, and a whole wide variety of bodyweight skills are out there that use a hell of a lot of momentum and just plain look cool. Look at any calisthenic workout video on you tube- it will be filled with flashy movements that look awesome. These movements develop a powerful core, but are too distracting and use far too much cheating to be viable as steady movements to build muscle and strength in the long run. This is why most bodyweight guys turn into acrobats- not a bad thing, but just don't blame calisthenics that you are not big and are an acrobat. You made that choice when you started focusing more on acrobatics and less on progressive training.
3. Are really low body fat
Getting good at bodyweight exercise makes you insanely lean, because no one can get better at moving their own body by carrying around useless extra weight. Muscular weight is never an impediment as new muscle (provided you train for strength) is many times stronger than its own weight and therefore only makes you stronger overall (even in proportion to your bodyweight), but fat is just dead weight, so the body gets rid of it, simply because your training de-prioritizes fat and prioritizes muscle. Yes, normal weight training also prioritizes muscle, but does not really de-prioritize fat. This leads to bodyweight guys being really lean- most guys stick between 10-12% body fat.
Because of this, a lot of them seem smaller than they are, cause most guys who workout in your local gym will be around 15%-20% body fat, which does not really change how muscular you look when clothed, but definitely makes you look a lot bigger when clothed.
4. Tend to train with ultra high repetitions
This stems from the fact that most guys approach bodyweight training as endurance training and that they don't really know how to make bodyweight exercises harder. This is just a matter of approach- use the same progressive principles you would use when weight training, and you will be good.
5. Ignore lower body work
This is a real sore point- I never understand the obsession of bodyweight guys with pull ups and dips- they are great exercises but you know, squats exist too. And its not just that your legs should be in proportion to the rest of your body, but the fact that hard lower body training stimulates the endocrine system to no end, and that training the lower body will not only make your lower body better, but will blast your growth everywhere. This, in my opinion, is the one reason why gymnasts are not as big as they could be- they really ignore lower body work, compromising growth overall (that and their emphasis on momentum). A guy who trains his lower body with the same dedication as his upper body will explode in size. I will just ask you one question- have you ever seen a guy who weighed over 230 pounds of muscular bulk, who never did squats? I rest my case.
The point is, if you treat resistance as resistance and program your bodyweight work properly, and use a little intelligence in making your movements progressive, there is no real difference between weight training and body weight training.
Saturday 15 December 2012
The Pull Up
Shruti, this one is for your reference, though anyone else who reads this should find it useful also.
All right! The pull up is my favorite upper body exercise. No person can be considered strong unless he is strong at pull ups. First of all, what are the benefits of pull ups?
1. It is the ultimate lat exercise around, period. Nothing comes close. The lats are the biggest muscles in the upper body and are key contributors in most movements.
2. It is also great for the upper back and the posterior deltoids (not as good as a row, but very close). A person who does a proper pull up with a full Range Of Motion, will hit all areas of the upper back very powerfully, and will build enormous lats.
3. When the proper variation is used (close grip, supinated- i.e palms facing you) it is also the ultimate bicep exercise around too.
4. It is a terrific grip exercise.
5. It provides fullness to the pecs, much like a pullover.
6. It builds proportional strength.
Now what constitutes a proper pull up?
1. Full Range of Motion- Begin with the arms almost fully extended (only a slight, almost unnoticeable bend at the elbows should be present) and pull with your back and biceps, until the bar touches your collar bone. The humerus should be in line with the body.
2. There should be a full second pause at the top of the movement.
3. The shoulders should always be pulled down and back. The scapula should be retracted and lowered.
Pretty much anything that fulfills the above is a pull up. Wide grip, under hand, over hand, narrow grip, medium grip- They are all variations of the pull up.
So what does it mean to be good at pull ups. I would say, anyone who can 'pull off' at least 12 pull ups in a row in perfect form, of each variety of the two handed pull up (not in the same workout, but separately), is good at pull ups. The five varieties are-
1. Medium Grip Over hand Pull Ups
2. Wide Grip Over Hand Pull Ups
3. Close (fingers touching) Grip Over Hand Pull Ups
4. Medium Grip Under Hand Chin Ups
5. Close Grip Under Hand Chin Ups
You must be able to do at least 12 consecutive reps of each variation.
Now lets get started. For those of you out there who can't yet do pull ups, here is my preferred progression.
1. Bodyweight Rows- This is an important variation as it teaches you to use your back to pull instead of the biceps. Find a stable object about waist high, under which there is space. Get under it and hold it with a overhand or neutral grip (not an underhand grip), and make your body straight. Only your heels should be on the floor, your body straight, and your hands grasping the object. Now row your body till your chest touches the object. Your humerus should be well behind your body. This will ensure you are pulling with your back, not your biceps.
If you cant do this variation properly, use a higher object 3. and reduce the height every workout.
Master for a set of 25.
Prep. Stage- (these exercises are preparation for the next stage)
Top and bottom isometric holds- Get to the top position of a medium grip overhand pull up (jump, use a stool). Just hold it.
Similarly, get to the bottom position of a pull up- elbow slightly bend, shoulders and scapula tight, and hold it.
You must be capable of holding both these holds for at least 15 seconds each before moving on.
Both holds are equally important to ensure perfect form and muscle firing later on. They may feel easy after bodyweight rows, but they are important.
2. Top half Medium grip Underhand Chin Ups- Master for a set of 10.
Prep. Stage-
Pull Up Negatives- Medium Grip Overhand. Just get into the top of a pull up and lower yourself as slowly as you can. Get to the point where you can drag it out for 15 seconds. In order to do this, you will have to focus on fully engaging your back.
3. Full Range Medium Grip Underhand Chin Ups- If You can't quite handle these yet, use a shorter ROM (reduce the ROM by reducing how low you go).
Master For a Set of 8
4. Top Half Medium Grip Overhand Pull Ups- Master for a set of 10.
5. Medium Grip Overhand Pull Ups- Master for a set of 8.
Now get down to mastering these two variations for 10 reps each (medium width- under and over hand).
Then start adding other variations and slowly work up to 12 reps each variation.
A lot of people will boast huge numbers in the pull up. Don't believe them. Most people will either use some kind of leg kipping (raising the legs to provide momentum), or not go all the way up, or go all the way down, or not pause at the bottom. If you do even 2 of the before mentioned, you will rep out a good 70% more repetitions. There are very few people who can do 12 genuinely perfect pull ups in any variation. But most of the benefits of this exercise can be obtained only by using perfect form, so don't attach your ego to numbers. If you can only do 2 top partial under hand chin ups, but do them well, do only two.
Once you master all these varieties, you must master them on a significantly thicker bar (wrap a towel around it) before beginning work on the one arm chin up. This will prepare your grip for the one handed work to come, and induces significant growth in all the elbow flexors.
There are a lot of people who can do a lot more under hand pull ups than over hand. This is ass backwards. First of all, there is not that much of a difference between the two. If you are using the same width, they use pretty much the same muscles, except that under hand uses the biceps as the primary elbow flexors, while an over hand uses the branchialis and the other elbow flexors that originate in the forearms. There is no additional contribution of the back in an over hand grip.
The two reasons people are unable to do as many over hand as under hand pull ups is because their elbow flexors are weak and they don't know how to engage their back. So they depend on the biceps when ever they can. Once you get used to fully engaging your back and create a mind-body link, you will find wide overhand grip pull ups to be the easiest variation. This is because in even a moderately trained person, the biceps and elbow flexors can never be close to as strong as the lats. Once you stop depending on your elbow flexors and engage the back, you almost always will have to end a set because your elbow flexors give out, not your back. In a wide overhand variation, the elbow flexors contribute minimally, so they last longer, allowing you to use the full potential of your back. That is why i can do 14 wide grip overhand pull ups but 10 medium grip under hand chin ups.
How do you develop this ability? Follow my progression honestly, and it will happen. The emphasis on top range partials, humerus movement and rows will ensure you get there.
A lot of people will boast huge numbers in the pull up. Don't believe them. Most people will either use some kind of leg kipping (raising the legs to provide momentum), or not go all the way up, or go all the way down, or not pause at the bottom. If you do even 2 of the before mentioned, you will rep out a good 70% more repetitions. There are very few people who can do 12 genuinely perfect pull ups in any variation. But most of the benefits of this exercise can be obtained only by using perfect form, so don't attach your ego to numbers. If you can only do 2 top partial under hand chin ups, but do them well, do only two.
Once you master all these varieties, you must master them on a significantly thicker bar (wrap a towel around it) before beginning work on the one arm chin up. This will prepare your grip for the one handed work to come, and induces significant growth in all the elbow flexors.
There are a lot of people who can do a lot more under hand pull ups than over hand. This is ass backwards. First of all, there is not that much of a difference between the two. If you are using the same width, they use pretty much the same muscles, except that under hand uses the biceps as the primary elbow flexors, while an over hand uses the branchialis and the other elbow flexors that originate in the forearms. There is no additional contribution of the back in an over hand grip.
The two reasons people are unable to do as many over hand as under hand pull ups is because their elbow flexors are weak and they don't know how to engage their back. So they depend on the biceps when ever they can. Once you get used to fully engaging your back and create a mind-body link, you will find wide overhand grip pull ups to be the easiest variation. This is because in even a moderately trained person, the biceps and elbow flexors can never be close to as strong as the lats. Once you stop depending on your elbow flexors and engage the back, you almost always will have to end a set because your elbow flexors give out, not your back. In a wide overhand variation, the elbow flexors contribute minimally, so they last longer, allowing you to use the full potential of your back. That is why i can do 14 wide grip overhand pull ups but 10 medium grip under hand chin ups.
How do you develop this ability? Follow my progression honestly, and it will happen. The emphasis on top range partials, humerus movement and rows will ensure you get there.
In my next post I will talk about going beyond the pull up and achieving the one arm chin up.
Friday 14 December 2012
Hard Work- The Great Secret to the Ultimate Physique And strength
You must work hard to reach your goals, but you must work smart too.
Let me first explain the basic idea behind training work.
Imagine you have a castle and 20 guys to defend it. A group of 20 foot soldiers attack it. They die cause there is no way they are getting in. You are convinced you don't need better defenses, so you just stay put. (We will get back to this idea of convincing the body things are easy in the post on neuro training.) This has some value, as you and your 20 men are more confident and have gathered some fighting experience. This is making your existing muscles better- or neuro training. We will get back to how to exactly do this in that later post. This drains out fast however. After a point, once you are over the initial phase, this is just under training.
Now suppose 100 men attack your castle. You have a hard time defending it and 2-3 men die. The rest of your men get a whole lot better at fighting, and you get 10 more men just in case this happens again and build one more wall. This neuro-muscular training. You are increasing the muscle size and increasing the neural efficiency (to a lesser degree). This is where most people should get. This is optimum training.
Now suppose 200 men attack your castle. You survive, but 10 of your guys die, and the others are injured. Your walls are demolished and your money chest broken and your precious money torn to shreds. You can't possibly recover from this. This is over training. Your body can't compensate for this, you have done too much. Anything beyond this will only make things worse.
You want to stay at that work level, which elicits the best gains.
Work is a function of intensity and volume.
What is exercise intensity?
Strictly speaking, it is the percentage of maximum weight you can lift, being lifted. For example, if you can bench 200 lbs for 1 repetition, 180 lbs would be 90% intensity.
Volume is the number of repetitions being performed.
Your total work done in a workout (for training purposes) is the weight X reps. If this figure goes too high, you may be over training.
Over training is of 3 types- When you are over training volume, when you are over training intensity, or when you are just over doing things over all.
When you over train volume, your muscles and your endocrine system stop responding. When you over train intensity, your nervous systems stops improving and to a lesser degree, your endocrine system also caves in. When you are overdoing both, you start thinking about steroids. So don't.
Now I will tell you my biggest realization about exercise work-
IT IS PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO OVER TRAIN- YET OVER TRAINING IS THE ONE THING THAT HOLDS 90% PEOPLE BACK.
To elaborate, YOU CANNOT OVER TRAIN IN ONE SESSION. Over training is always accumulated. Do anything excessively for an extended period of time, and you will induce specific over training for that factor.
Keep training at high intensity (weight) over and over again, your nervous system will get fried and be unable to recover. Keep training at high volumes, and your endocrine system and your muscles will be thrashed. That being said, in one single session, don't hold back- train as hard as you can.
Here is the deal, you can't make progress if you don't work truly hard and in line with your objectives. For example- if strength is your objective, you have to push the weights. You have to strive to increase the weights you use every session. But, you cant do this at too high a volume.
If muscles size is your objective, you will use reasonably heavy weights, but go for relatively high volume. Pushing it here means churning out more repetitions. You can't do this at an insane intensity level.
The bottom line is, you can only push one thing at a time, and only for so much time, before it stops being useful and giving returns. That being said you have to push hard to make progress. You have to train HARD.
Thus, you have to avoid accumulating over training in the medium and long run.
Push your workouts insanely hard in terms of intensity, then relax your nerves and mind at all times, don't let the stress accumulate. Get plenty sleep, take a day off when you really need it, and don't even think about exercise. That's right, don't even think about it. Trust me, it works miracles to get your motivation levels back up. Don't increase your workout frequency too fast, too soon. You can, and after a point you should, train 6 days a week, but you have to work up to it very gradually. And you have to rest at all times. Just relax, chill.
And when you feel that pushing the intensity is no longer working, lower the intensity and start pushing volumes. When you can't do that anymore, change it again.
This is the essence behind periodization- change your prime focus every few weeks, to avoid onset of over training. Its okay to over train a little bit once in a while, as long as you make sure you bounce back.
You must know when to hold back and when to go full bore. If you periodize your training well (but not too rigidly) and make sure that at least in the long run you keep recovering fully and are fresh, you will become stronger.
Remember, you have to train hard. Too many people don't train hard enough. But you must also know how to recover. You must learn how to relax. And you must learn to never continue using a method beyond it is giving you returns. You must know when you have stopped improving. At the same time, you must get as much benefit as you can out of a method, before moving on.
The two great components of hard work and full recovery are- the empty mind and the relaxed mind. An empty mind allows you to focus and work hard. A relaxed mind allows you to judge what methods to use, how much to use it and just helps you recover in general.
Go train HARD!! Push your self!! Then relax and think about what your workout achieved, and if there is something you are over doing, or some thing you need to work harder at. Be honest. The only person you will be lying to is yourself.
Let me first explain the basic idea behind training work.
Imagine you have a castle and 20 guys to defend it. A group of 20 foot soldiers attack it. They die cause there is no way they are getting in. You are convinced you don't need better defenses, so you just stay put. (We will get back to this idea of convincing the body things are easy in the post on neuro training.) This has some value, as you and your 20 men are more confident and have gathered some fighting experience. This is making your existing muscles better- or neuro training. We will get back to how to exactly do this in that later post. This drains out fast however. After a point, once you are over the initial phase, this is just under training.
Now suppose 100 men attack your castle. You have a hard time defending it and 2-3 men die. The rest of your men get a whole lot better at fighting, and you get 10 more men just in case this happens again and build one more wall. This neuro-muscular training. You are increasing the muscle size and increasing the neural efficiency (to a lesser degree). This is where most people should get. This is optimum training.
Now suppose 200 men attack your castle. You survive, but 10 of your guys die, and the others are injured. Your walls are demolished and your money chest broken and your precious money torn to shreds. You can't possibly recover from this. This is over training. Your body can't compensate for this, you have done too much. Anything beyond this will only make things worse.
You want to stay at that work level, which elicits the best gains.
Work is a function of intensity and volume.
What is exercise intensity?
Strictly speaking, it is the percentage of maximum weight you can lift, being lifted. For example, if you can bench 200 lbs for 1 repetition, 180 lbs would be 90% intensity.
Volume is the number of repetitions being performed.
Your total work done in a workout (for training purposes) is the weight X reps. If this figure goes too high, you may be over training.
Over training is of 3 types- When you are over training volume, when you are over training intensity, or when you are just over doing things over all.
When you over train volume, your muscles and your endocrine system stop responding. When you over train intensity, your nervous systems stops improving and to a lesser degree, your endocrine system also caves in. When you are overdoing both, you start thinking about steroids. So don't.
Now I will tell you my biggest realization about exercise work-
IT IS PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO OVER TRAIN- YET OVER TRAINING IS THE ONE THING THAT HOLDS 90% PEOPLE BACK.
To elaborate, YOU CANNOT OVER TRAIN IN ONE SESSION. Over training is always accumulated. Do anything excessively for an extended period of time, and you will induce specific over training for that factor.
Keep training at high intensity (weight) over and over again, your nervous system will get fried and be unable to recover. Keep training at high volumes, and your endocrine system and your muscles will be thrashed. That being said, in one single session, don't hold back- train as hard as you can.
Here is the deal, you can't make progress if you don't work truly hard and in line with your objectives. For example- if strength is your objective, you have to push the weights. You have to strive to increase the weights you use every session. But, you cant do this at too high a volume.
If muscles size is your objective, you will use reasonably heavy weights, but go for relatively high volume. Pushing it here means churning out more repetitions. You can't do this at an insane intensity level.
The bottom line is, you can only push one thing at a time, and only for so much time, before it stops being useful and giving returns. That being said you have to push hard to make progress. You have to train HARD.
Thus, you have to avoid accumulating over training in the medium and long run.
Push your workouts insanely hard in terms of intensity, then relax your nerves and mind at all times, don't let the stress accumulate. Get plenty sleep, take a day off when you really need it, and don't even think about exercise. That's right, don't even think about it. Trust me, it works miracles to get your motivation levels back up. Don't increase your workout frequency too fast, too soon. You can, and after a point you should, train 6 days a week, but you have to work up to it very gradually. And you have to rest at all times. Just relax, chill.
And when you feel that pushing the intensity is no longer working, lower the intensity and start pushing volumes. When you can't do that anymore, change it again.
This is the essence behind periodization- change your prime focus every few weeks, to avoid onset of over training. Its okay to over train a little bit once in a while, as long as you make sure you bounce back.
You must know when to hold back and when to go full bore. If you periodize your training well (but not too rigidly) and make sure that at least in the long run you keep recovering fully and are fresh, you will become stronger.
Remember, you have to train hard. Too many people don't train hard enough. But you must also know how to recover. You must learn how to relax. And you must learn to never continue using a method beyond it is giving you returns. You must know when you have stopped improving. At the same time, you must get as much benefit as you can out of a method, before moving on.
The two great components of hard work and full recovery are- the empty mind and the relaxed mind. An empty mind allows you to focus and work hard. A relaxed mind allows you to judge what methods to use, how much to use it and just helps you recover in general.
Go train HARD!! Push your self!! Then relax and think about what your workout achieved, and if there is something you are over doing, or some thing you need to work harder at. Be honest. The only person you will be lying to is yourself.
Tuesday 11 December 2012
I DID IT!
Today I achieved one of my major workout goals- the ability to perform the Glute Ham Raise with perfect form and no assistance, for 5 repetitions. Before the accident, I tried to achieve this for 6 months and got no where close. Today, despite having lost a major chunk of my strength in the immobilization that followed my accident, I did it in 4 weeks. I could barely believe it as I went up and down like a piston. Obviously, I am doing something right now, something that has made all the difference. I will post a video later. And in the next post we are going to talk about workout intensity. Its the great secret to strength.
Monday 10 December 2012
The Push Up
I was originally going do a post on the bridge. It is my favorite exercise. However, Anmol called me up today and asked me for a substitute for the bench press. He needs it so I present to you the most popular bodyweight exercise around- the push up.
Let us face it- push ups are cool. And everyone wants that lean look of power a guy good at one arm push ups gets. Beautifully proportional triceps, huge ripped shoulders and neat pecs. Before we get down to the exercise itself, I would like to talk a little about the push up and the bench press.
First of all, both exercises are primarily arm and shoulder exercises. The bench press does not primarily target the pectorals, it targets the shoulders and the triceps. Don't get me wrong, the pecs are worked insanely hard during these exercises, but they are not the prime movers. The pecs kick in when your humerus moves behind the body line or there is significant flaring out of the elbows. In the first case, most people simply don't maintain perfect form in the bottom position of the range of motion. Now this can be easily corrected- just use perfect form and you will get great pecs. But to build world class pecs, you need a some kind of pec fly. In my opinion the greatest pec exercise around is the cable crossover. Arnold loved it. If you are using bodyweight, I would say the best pec exercise is the dip- done with a slight forward lean. The pecs are worked hard during the entire range of motion and the resistance shifts, so the pecs are worked from all angles other than overhead. The second (elbows flared bench) wrecks havoc on your shoulders.
The key take away points are if building a proportional and balanced physique is the objective, a horizontal and a over head press are essential (we will talk about handstand push ups in a separate post). More importantly, PERFECT FORM is critical! The better your form, the better your results shall be!! Great pecs and well rounded shoulders with hanging triceps are always a product of perfect technique. If pec building is a major issue, you will have to add either dips or flys.
Now many people attempt to compare the push ups and the bench press. There are some decided advantages that benching has, but the main problem is that the bench press does not particularly relate with standing pushing power- which kind of is the whole point. The push ups- being a closed chain exercise- has a bit more carry over. But the biggest point of contention is weight- most strong guys out grow the push up. This is where I think the bench press is just the unimaginative man's way out. The push up can easily be made several times harder with a little innovation. The ordinary one arm push up- arm to the side, legs open, body twisting- is actually a very easy weight. But there are variations far far harder than it. Another advantage is that with push ups, you have to work every aspect of your strength to make the jump to the next technique. This forces you to develop a well rounded physique.
Last thing, just because a certain technique of the push up is equal in weight to a certain bench does not mean you will actually bench exactly that much. This is because-
a. You have to train specifically for the bench, in order to bench more.
b. There is significant spinal loading which you just are not used to if you do only push ups.
On the bright side, a couple of months of benching will bring your bench and push ups numbers on par. You just need to get used to it.
All right, on to the exercises!!
Exercises are listed in ascending order of difficulty.
1. Kneeling Push Ups- EVERYONE MUST START HERE! Perfect your form, especially in the bottom position. Go all the way down, pause for a second, press back up, pause or a second. Come up as fast as you can, go down in a controlled manner. Tuck your elbows in, keep your shoulders down and tight. Do not let your hips move at all, your body should be a straight line. All the above points apply to all variations of the push ups. Apply force through both arms evenly.
Knees and hands touch the ground, legs together, knees crossed and locked behind you.
Equal to 50% bodyweight bench press.
Master for a set of 35 before moving on.
2. Frog Push Ups- Descend like a standard push up, ascend like a kneeling push up. Initially only your toes and hands should touch the ground, your legs together, your body straight. Descend to the bottom position (1 Inch from the ground), and when you pause, bend your knees till your weight is now resting on your knees and your hands, than ascend. When you reach the top, straighten your knees and return to the starting posture. This takes advantage of the fact that the negative portion of a push up is easier than the positive.
Equal to 60% Bodyweight bench press.
Master for a set of 30.
3. Standard Push Ups- Maintain perfect form. Shoulder width hands.
Equal to 70% bodyweight bench press.
Master for a set of 25.
4. Close Push Ups + Easy Maltese Push ups- Your main weak link at this point will be your triceps and deltoids. Both these variations must be worked together in order to develop the strength required to move on to the next level.
Close push ups are to be performed exactly like standard push ups, except your index fingers and your thumbs will be touching. This variation is critical and is the foundation for real pushing power. Focus on perfect technique and really juice this variation- get everything out of it. By the time you master it, you should be having a beautiful set of triceps.
Equal to 80% bodyweight bench press.
Master for a set of 25.
Easy Maltese push ups will fire your deltoids and get that round shape at the top of your pecs. Take a hand spacing of about 1.5 times shoulder width and the hands should be in line with your upper abdomen. The fingers should be pointing straight ahead, just like a normal push up. Maintaining the hands in line with your upper abdomen will take a lot of control and power.
Equal to a bench press from the abdomen with 75% bodyweight.
Master for a set of 20 reps.
5. Ball Push ups- Assume the standard push up position. Now place one hand on a basketball. Now perform push ups, until your chest touches the ball. This variation works one arm (the hand on the ball) harder than the the other. The Range of motion will be restricted though, and the arm will be working in the bottom half of the ROM of an ordinary push ups. The beauty of the movement is that the other arm works equally hard in the top half of the ROM. Their combined effort amounts to more than the weight actually being moved. The key thing is to keep the shoulders parallel to the ground at all times.
Equal to 90% bodyweight bench press.
Master for a set of 20 on each arm.
6. Close ball push ups+ Hard maltese push ups-
Close ball pushups are the same as ball push ups, except the ball and the hands are under the middle of the chest, and the position of the hands is exactly like a close push up, except one hand is on a ball.
Equal to bodyweight bench press. (about the same difficulty as a classic one arm push up).
Master for a set of 20 on each arm.
Hard Maltese pushups are the same as easy maltese pushups, except the hand are a little wider and lower and the fingers are POINTING DOWNWARDS. This is much harder than the easy maltese variation.
Equal to 90% Bodyweight lower abdomen bench press.
Master for a set of 20.
7. One arm emphasis push up- Take a normal push ups posture, but more one arm should be slightly closer to the body, the other slightly more away. Perform like a normal push up, keep the shoulders parallel to the ground. The closer arm should be doing a lot more work.
Equal to 110% bodyweight bench press.
Master of a set of 17-18 on each arm.
8. Lever Push up- Take a normal push up posture, place one arm on a basketball or a couple of bricks (same height), and place it away from the body such that when you place your hand on it, the fingers should point away from the body, and only a slight bend in the elbows should be required when in the top position (working arm closer to the body, other on ball), the shoulders are kept parallel to the ground. It is okay to bend the elbow of the assisting hand while going through the ROM.
Equal to 120% bodyweight bench press.
Master a set of 15 on each arm.
9. Advanced Lever Push Ups- Same as above, except a ball will have to be used, and the elbow of the supporting hand will not bend at all, throughout the ROM. For this to happen, you will have to roll the ball away such that in the bottom your wrist would be on the ball.
Equal to 130% bodyweight bench press.
Master a set of 15 on each arm.
10. Supported one arm push up- Same as above, except in the start, the ball will be even further away, such that only the tip of your fingers are touching the ball. Thus, in the bottom your palm would be on the ball, as you roll it away.
Equal to 140% bodyweight bench press.
Master a set of 15 on each arm.
11. Supported Regulation Perfect One arm Push Up- Same as above, except your working hand will be even closer, such that it is below your sternum almost. It should be in the same position it would be in a close push up, maybe just a little more inwards. The elbows (just like in a close push up) will splay out just very slightly. (this creates the balance required to perform the one arm push up without opening the legs or twisting the body).
Equal to 150% bodyweight bench press.
Master a set of 12 on each arm.
12. Unstable Supported regulation Perfect One arm Push Up- Same as above, except the working hand will also be on a ball, and your feet on an object the same height as the two balls.
Equal to 160% bodyweight bench press.
Master a set of 12 on each arm.
13. Frog Regulation Perfect one arm push up- Descend in a one arm push up, hand underneath the sternum, elbow slightly flayed out, legs together, no twisting the body. Pause for a second in the bottom and with just a TOUCH of assistance with the index finger of the other hand, come up to the start position.
Equal to 170% bodyweight bench press.
Master a set of 10 on each arm.
14. 3/4 Regulation perfect one arm push up (to be worked with as a main exercise, followed up always by exercise 13, to hit the full ROM)- Go down 3/4ths of the way in a regulation perfect one arm push up, pause and press back up. If you cant go so deep, use a shallower depth and then increase it every time you workout. Use some kind of object like a ball or a brick to gauge depth.
Equal to 180% bodyweight bench press.
Master a set of 8 on each arm.
15. Regulation perfect one arm push up- All the way down, no twisting, no opening of legs.
Equal to 200% bodyweight bench press.
Keep in mind that no one has yet performed a one arm regulation push ups to my knowledge, before calling push ups easy. Try out the progression and tell me if you get there.
Good Luck!!
Let us face it- push ups are cool. And everyone wants that lean look of power a guy good at one arm push ups gets. Beautifully proportional triceps, huge ripped shoulders and neat pecs. Before we get down to the exercise itself, I would like to talk a little about the push up and the bench press.
First of all, both exercises are primarily arm and shoulder exercises. The bench press does not primarily target the pectorals, it targets the shoulders and the triceps. Don't get me wrong, the pecs are worked insanely hard during these exercises, but they are not the prime movers. The pecs kick in when your humerus moves behind the body line or there is significant flaring out of the elbows. In the first case, most people simply don't maintain perfect form in the bottom position of the range of motion. Now this can be easily corrected- just use perfect form and you will get great pecs. But to build world class pecs, you need a some kind of pec fly. In my opinion the greatest pec exercise around is the cable crossover. Arnold loved it. If you are using bodyweight, I would say the best pec exercise is the dip- done with a slight forward lean. The pecs are worked hard during the entire range of motion and the resistance shifts, so the pecs are worked from all angles other than overhead. The second (elbows flared bench) wrecks havoc on your shoulders.
The key take away points are if building a proportional and balanced physique is the objective, a horizontal and a over head press are essential (we will talk about handstand push ups in a separate post). More importantly, PERFECT FORM is critical! The better your form, the better your results shall be!! Great pecs and well rounded shoulders with hanging triceps are always a product of perfect technique. If pec building is a major issue, you will have to add either dips or flys.
Now many people attempt to compare the push ups and the bench press. There are some decided advantages that benching has, but the main problem is that the bench press does not particularly relate with standing pushing power- which kind of is the whole point. The push ups- being a closed chain exercise- has a bit more carry over. But the biggest point of contention is weight- most strong guys out grow the push up. This is where I think the bench press is just the unimaginative man's way out. The push up can easily be made several times harder with a little innovation. The ordinary one arm push up- arm to the side, legs open, body twisting- is actually a very easy weight. But there are variations far far harder than it. Another advantage is that with push ups, you have to work every aspect of your strength to make the jump to the next technique. This forces you to develop a well rounded physique.
Last thing, just because a certain technique of the push up is equal in weight to a certain bench does not mean you will actually bench exactly that much. This is because-
a. You have to train specifically for the bench, in order to bench more.
b. There is significant spinal loading which you just are not used to if you do only push ups.
On the bright side, a couple of months of benching will bring your bench and push ups numbers on par. You just need to get used to it.
All right, on to the exercises!!
Exercises are listed in ascending order of difficulty.
1. Kneeling Push Ups- EVERYONE MUST START HERE! Perfect your form, especially in the bottom position. Go all the way down, pause for a second, press back up, pause or a second. Come up as fast as you can, go down in a controlled manner. Tuck your elbows in, keep your shoulders down and tight. Do not let your hips move at all, your body should be a straight line. All the above points apply to all variations of the push ups. Apply force through both arms evenly.
Knees and hands touch the ground, legs together, knees crossed and locked behind you.
Equal to 50% bodyweight bench press.
Master for a set of 35 before moving on.
2. Frog Push Ups- Descend like a standard push up, ascend like a kneeling push up. Initially only your toes and hands should touch the ground, your legs together, your body straight. Descend to the bottom position (1 Inch from the ground), and when you pause, bend your knees till your weight is now resting on your knees and your hands, than ascend. When you reach the top, straighten your knees and return to the starting posture. This takes advantage of the fact that the negative portion of a push up is easier than the positive.
Equal to 60% Bodyweight bench press.
Master for a set of 30.
3. Standard Push Ups- Maintain perfect form. Shoulder width hands.
Equal to 70% bodyweight bench press.
Master for a set of 25.
4. Close Push Ups + Easy Maltese Push ups- Your main weak link at this point will be your triceps and deltoids. Both these variations must be worked together in order to develop the strength required to move on to the next level.
Close push ups are to be performed exactly like standard push ups, except your index fingers and your thumbs will be touching. This variation is critical and is the foundation for real pushing power. Focus on perfect technique and really juice this variation- get everything out of it. By the time you master it, you should be having a beautiful set of triceps.
Equal to 80% bodyweight bench press.
Master for a set of 25.
Easy Maltese push ups will fire your deltoids and get that round shape at the top of your pecs. Take a hand spacing of about 1.5 times shoulder width and the hands should be in line with your upper abdomen. The fingers should be pointing straight ahead, just like a normal push up. Maintaining the hands in line with your upper abdomen will take a lot of control and power.
Equal to a bench press from the abdomen with 75% bodyweight.
Master for a set of 20 reps.
5. Ball Push ups- Assume the standard push up position. Now place one hand on a basketball. Now perform push ups, until your chest touches the ball. This variation works one arm (the hand on the ball) harder than the the other. The Range of motion will be restricted though, and the arm will be working in the bottom half of the ROM of an ordinary push ups. The beauty of the movement is that the other arm works equally hard in the top half of the ROM. Their combined effort amounts to more than the weight actually being moved. The key thing is to keep the shoulders parallel to the ground at all times.
Equal to 90% bodyweight bench press.
Master for a set of 20 on each arm.
6. Close ball push ups+ Hard maltese push ups-
Close ball pushups are the same as ball push ups, except the ball and the hands are under the middle of the chest, and the position of the hands is exactly like a close push up, except one hand is on a ball.
Equal to bodyweight bench press. (about the same difficulty as a classic one arm push up).
Master for a set of 20 on each arm.
Hard Maltese pushups are the same as easy maltese pushups, except the hand are a little wider and lower and the fingers are POINTING DOWNWARDS. This is much harder than the easy maltese variation.
Equal to 90% Bodyweight lower abdomen bench press.
Master for a set of 20.
7. One arm emphasis push up- Take a normal push ups posture, but more one arm should be slightly closer to the body, the other slightly more away. Perform like a normal push up, keep the shoulders parallel to the ground. The closer arm should be doing a lot more work.
Equal to 110% bodyweight bench press.
Master of a set of 17-18 on each arm.
8. Lever Push up- Take a normal push up posture, place one arm on a basketball or a couple of bricks (same height), and place it away from the body such that when you place your hand on it, the fingers should point away from the body, and only a slight bend in the elbows should be required when in the top position (working arm closer to the body, other on ball), the shoulders are kept parallel to the ground. It is okay to bend the elbow of the assisting hand while going through the ROM.
Equal to 120% bodyweight bench press.
Master a set of 15 on each arm.
9. Advanced Lever Push Ups- Same as above, except a ball will have to be used, and the elbow of the supporting hand will not bend at all, throughout the ROM. For this to happen, you will have to roll the ball away such that in the bottom your wrist would be on the ball.
Equal to 130% bodyweight bench press.
Master a set of 15 on each arm.
10. Supported one arm push up- Same as above, except in the start, the ball will be even further away, such that only the tip of your fingers are touching the ball. Thus, in the bottom your palm would be on the ball, as you roll it away.
Equal to 140% bodyweight bench press.
Master a set of 15 on each arm.
11. Supported Regulation Perfect One arm Push Up- Same as above, except your working hand will be even closer, such that it is below your sternum almost. It should be in the same position it would be in a close push up, maybe just a little more inwards. The elbows (just like in a close push up) will splay out just very slightly. (this creates the balance required to perform the one arm push up without opening the legs or twisting the body).
Equal to 150% bodyweight bench press.
Master a set of 12 on each arm.
12. Unstable Supported regulation Perfect One arm Push Up- Same as above, except the working hand will also be on a ball, and your feet on an object the same height as the two balls.
Equal to 160% bodyweight bench press.
Master a set of 12 on each arm.
13. Frog Regulation Perfect one arm push up- Descend in a one arm push up, hand underneath the sternum, elbow slightly flayed out, legs together, no twisting the body. Pause for a second in the bottom and with just a TOUCH of assistance with the index finger of the other hand, come up to the start position.
Equal to 170% bodyweight bench press.
Master a set of 10 on each arm.
14. 3/4 Regulation perfect one arm push up (to be worked with as a main exercise, followed up always by exercise 13, to hit the full ROM)- Go down 3/4ths of the way in a regulation perfect one arm push up, pause and press back up. If you cant go so deep, use a shallower depth and then increase it every time you workout. Use some kind of object like a ball or a brick to gauge depth.
Equal to 180% bodyweight bench press.
Master a set of 8 on each arm.
15. Regulation perfect one arm push up- All the way down, no twisting, no opening of legs.
Equal to 200% bodyweight bench press.
Keep in mind that no one has yet performed a one arm regulation push ups to my knowledge, before calling push ups easy. Try out the progression and tell me if you get there.
Good Luck!!
Saturday 8 December 2012
The Squat
The Squat was my first love. My favorite exercise is probably the bridge, and my second is the squat. Third is probably the pull up. But my first love is the squat. All the varieties- back squats, front squats, Olympic squats, pistol squats, bodyweight squats, power lifting squats, breathing squats, you name it!! But if i had to pick a favorite, it would be the heels touching, Ass-to-grass barbell squats- which I call Full ROM Close back Squats. It is the variation that puts the maximum emphasis on the muscles of the thigh- all four heads of the quads and the hamstrings. If you are one of those guys who has a hard time getting that tear shaped muscle close to the knee, or developing the outer head of the quads, you should give this variation a shot. The extended ROM really develops the tear shaped muscle, the heels together develops the outer head. If you find your ankle flexibility insufficient, use a 5 pound plate under your heels.
In any case, the quads are the prime movers in this movement. Therefore, I feel this squat is worked best for medium repetitions. Essentially use the maximum weight you can clean. You will probably get 5-7 reps with that weight. These squats, done for a total of 50 reps, will build beautiful quads. It also has a great effect on the hamstrings, and really burns them when done for high reps. I feel maximum weights need to be used to train the hamstrings properly, as it is basically a fast twitch muscle group. But I still think medium repetition work in this fashion is beneficial for the hamstrings.
My leg approach used to be simple- Full ROM Close Back Squats for medium reps for the quads, heavy deadlifts (preferably singles) for the hamstrings and barbell hip thrusts (or bridges) done heavy for triples for the glutes. Now, however, as I cant use weights anymore, I have had to develop an alternative system. The alternative for Full ROM Close Back Squats is pistol squats. I will discuss the other two- Glute Ham Raises and Bridges- in a different post. Today we shall talk about the squat.
I feel that Full ROM Close Back Squats are the closest technique around to pistol squats. A pistol squat is essentially a Full ROM Close Back Squat with 93-95% bodyweight, with more stabilization requirements. In fact anyone who is trying to work towards pistol squats through barbell squats should try this technique. Anyway, pistol squats are an easy to load variation that just fits in perfectly with my lower body combo.
For people who are trying to achieve pistol squats through bodyweight work, here is my progression.
1. Normal shoulder width bodyweight squats- set of 100 (standard to reach to go to the next technique)
2. Heels touching full ROM bodyweight squats- set of 100
3. Uneven Squats- One leg 2 feet ahead, rear leg is the main working leg, Front leg provides assistance. Hold on to an object about waist height to make sure you don't topple over in the bottom position. This is the main variation that needs to be worked that people are not aware of. - set of 50
4. Half pistol squat (thigh parallel)- set of 40
5. Flying Lunge (aka king squat, shrimp squat)- this variation works the hamstrings more and develops more strength to get out of the hole at the bottom. - set of 30
6. Floor assisted squat (descend like a normal pistol squat, push off the floor with one hand to get out of the bottom position)- set of 25
7. Full pistol squat- set of 20
This progression is broken up into a lot more steps then most people care to use to get to pistol squats, but i feel they are essential. A pistol squat needs to be built up to slowly, as it is very very heavy on the knees and a person who used a high rep progression will develop amazingly injury resistant knees. The only way to use a high rep progression is to break it up into a lot of steps.
One last thing, a lot of people try to put their pistol numbers together and calculate their (classic) barbell squat. The numbers do not and cannot match. 3 reasons-
1. Barbell squats use the glutes and lower back much more. In must people the lower back is the main limiting factor, as a pistol squat is essentially a thigh exercise, while a barbel squat is a hip and lower back exercise. And in most guys who work exclusively with pistol squats, their lower backs are weak. This should not be a problem if you are dead lifting or doing bridges, but more on this later.
2. Even if all you muscles are up to the mark, you are just not used to the degree of spinal loading.
3. Principle of specificity- if you want to get good at barbell squats, you have to barbell squat. That being said your body learns how to use existing strength pretty fast. If your glutes and lower back are strong and your pistol numbers are high, in about 3-4 weeks of dedicated barbell squatting, you will find your pistol and barbell numbers match. But in my experience, must people just don't have glutes and lower back as strong as their thighs, period. Even experienced squatters!! This is where bridges are important!! But more on that later.
So why squat?
Cause it is closely related to
1. Natural running speed and hopping ability- This is supremely functional. Incidentally, vertical jump is related to Glute Ham strength and sprinting and long jumping with hamstring strength. That is where the bridge and squat combo is wonderful.
2. Hormone levels in your body. The more you squat, the more muscle you will build and the more fat you will burn.
Also, unilateral variations build more running and lateral hopping power.
So yeah, go squat. Barbell, pistol something. Anything. Just squat.
In any case, the quads are the prime movers in this movement. Therefore, I feel this squat is worked best for medium repetitions. Essentially use the maximum weight you can clean. You will probably get 5-7 reps with that weight. These squats, done for a total of 50 reps, will build beautiful quads. It also has a great effect on the hamstrings, and really burns them when done for high reps. I feel maximum weights need to be used to train the hamstrings properly, as it is basically a fast twitch muscle group. But I still think medium repetition work in this fashion is beneficial for the hamstrings.
My leg approach used to be simple- Full ROM Close Back Squats for medium reps for the quads, heavy deadlifts (preferably singles) for the hamstrings and barbell hip thrusts (or bridges) done heavy for triples for the glutes. Now, however, as I cant use weights anymore, I have had to develop an alternative system. The alternative for Full ROM Close Back Squats is pistol squats. I will discuss the other two- Glute Ham Raises and Bridges- in a different post. Today we shall talk about the squat.
I feel that Full ROM Close Back Squats are the closest technique around to pistol squats. A pistol squat is essentially a Full ROM Close Back Squat with 93-95% bodyweight, with more stabilization requirements. In fact anyone who is trying to work towards pistol squats through barbell squats should try this technique. Anyway, pistol squats are an easy to load variation that just fits in perfectly with my lower body combo.
For people who are trying to achieve pistol squats through bodyweight work, here is my progression.
1. Normal shoulder width bodyweight squats- set of 100 (standard to reach to go to the next technique)
2. Heels touching full ROM bodyweight squats- set of 100
3. Uneven Squats- One leg 2 feet ahead, rear leg is the main working leg, Front leg provides assistance. Hold on to an object about waist height to make sure you don't topple over in the bottom position. This is the main variation that needs to be worked that people are not aware of. - set of 50
4. Half pistol squat (thigh parallel)- set of 40
5. Flying Lunge (aka king squat, shrimp squat)- this variation works the hamstrings more and develops more strength to get out of the hole at the bottom. - set of 30
6. Floor assisted squat (descend like a normal pistol squat, push off the floor with one hand to get out of the bottom position)- set of 25
7. Full pistol squat- set of 20
This progression is broken up into a lot more steps then most people care to use to get to pistol squats, but i feel they are essential. A pistol squat needs to be built up to slowly, as it is very very heavy on the knees and a person who used a high rep progression will develop amazingly injury resistant knees. The only way to use a high rep progression is to break it up into a lot of steps.
One last thing, a lot of people try to put their pistol numbers together and calculate their (classic) barbell squat. The numbers do not and cannot match. 3 reasons-
1. Barbell squats use the glutes and lower back much more. In must people the lower back is the main limiting factor, as a pistol squat is essentially a thigh exercise, while a barbel squat is a hip and lower back exercise. And in most guys who work exclusively with pistol squats, their lower backs are weak. This should not be a problem if you are dead lifting or doing bridges, but more on this later.
2. Even if all you muscles are up to the mark, you are just not used to the degree of spinal loading.
3. Principle of specificity- if you want to get good at barbell squats, you have to barbell squat. That being said your body learns how to use existing strength pretty fast. If your glutes and lower back are strong and your pistol numbers are high, in about 3-4 weeks of dedicated barbell squatting, you will find your pistol and barbell numbers match. But in my experience, must people just don't have glutes and lower back as strong as their thighs, period. Even experienced squatters!! This is where bridges are important!! But more on that later.
So why squat?
Cause it is closely related to
1. Natural running speed and hopping ability- This is supremely functional. Incidentally, vertical jump is related to Glute Ham strength and sprinting and long jumping with hamstring strength. That is where the bridge and squat combo is wonderful.
2. Hormone levels in your body. The more you squat, the more muscle you will build and the more fat you will burn.
Also, unilateral variations build more running and lateral hopping power.
So yeah, go squat. Barbell, pistol something. Anything. Just squat.
Thursday 6 December 2012
The Basics
Everyone agrees.
Basics are irreplaceable.
You want to be strong? You must get good at the basics- squat, dead, bench, row, pull and press. Maybe some Ab work too.
So what are the basics for exercise without equipment?
I am gonna make this easy for you, cause almost nobody approaches bodyweight exercise as an entire alternative system to weight training. It can do everything weight training can, that I am convinced.
The Basics of Bodyweight Training are-
Lower Body-
Squat
Bridge
Glute Ham Raises
Upper Body-
Push ups
Chin Ups
Handstand Push Ups
Body weight Rows
And Leg Raises
And how do you train the basics?
Go heavy, increase the weight- progression is the name of the game.
How to make body weight exercises progressive, I will discuss later.
Today lets get down to the absolute basics. What are the exercises if at which you get strong, you are strong?
Squat, Bridge, Chin Up And Push Ups
If you can perform 20 pistol squats a leg, 2 one arm chin ups an arm, 15 one arm push ups each arm and 10 strict full bridges with one leg, every fiber of you is strong.
Push ups and pull ups are self explanatory. The one arm chin up is the gold standard of lat, back and bicep strength. The one arm push up, with no body twisting and minimal distance between the feet is incredibly hard. I have never actually seen someone do a no twisting, no legs open one arm push up ever. Your triceps and delts would we like stone and your pecs graceful.
One leg squats get a lot of crap from the weightlifting community. People never seem to be able to get their one legged and two legged numbers to match. That is because they are different exercises you twits!! Pistol squats are not barbell squats. Pistol squats use a whole lot more stabilizer strength, require a much deeper motion for proper gains and use the quads and hamstring much, much more than the glutes. A barbell squat uses the glutes as a prime mover and does not involve as much stabilization. Also the lower back is a major (weak) link in the barbell squat. Neither is better or worse, nor are they comparable.
I find that the barbell squat is related closely the long jumping and medium distance running strength, while deadlifts are related to vertical jumping and to a much lesser degree sprinting. I think neither is sufficient for developing sprinting power, I feel the barbell hip thrust has the most direct relation to sprints.
Anyway, Pistol squats seem to relate very closely to moderate distance running and vertical jumping ability. This is not only because of the muscles used, but because of the fact that these movements are executed one legged. That is why a lot of people who play sports feel a spring in their legs after mastering pistol squats for reps. It really balances the knee out, and develops the knee from every direction. A person good at pistol squats will have incredibly injury resistant knees, great active flexibility and really strong skipping and jumping ability. But long jumps and sprints are not worked as well, due to the low glute stimulus.
That is where in my opinion the queen of all bodyweight exercises- the bridge comes in. The squat may be the king, but it can never produce a powerful offspring without the queen. The bridge- done properly- is a true power exercise. It works the glutes through its main function- hip hyper extension. This takes sprinting and long jumping ability through the roof. It stretches the hip flexors, balancing out the hip and correcting almost all lower back problems. It strengthens the lower back correcting the greatest weak link in bodyweight exercise. It stretches the pecs and strengthens the shoulder re-tractors balancing out the shoulder joint. It corrects posture and stretches the rib cage. It strengthens all the spinal ex-tensors very evenly and properly. It strengthens the traps and the shoulder girdle. It opens up the spine. It provides the finish to the body. Worked properly it is the most functional exercise around.
The proper execution of these exercises will be discussed in a later post. How to make them harder will also be discussed.
Also, abdominal exercise is not in the list of absolute essentials as push ups, pull ups and squats work the abs pretty hard, specially once you get to one limbed and uneven variations.
Btw, remind me I also need to talk about training intensity. the proper artistic advantages of bodyweight exercise and the perfect body.
Aaaah, You wont forget.
Basics are irreplaceable.
You want to be strong? You must get good at the basics- squat, dead, bench, row, pull and press. Maybe some Ab work too.
So what are the basics for exercise without equipment?
I am gonna make this easy for you, cause almost nobody approaches bodyweight exercise as an entire alternative system to weight training. It can do everything weight training can, that I am convinced.
The Basics of Bodyweight Training are-
Lower Body-
Squat
Bridge
Glute Ham Raises
Upper Body-
Push ups
Chin Ups
Handstand Push Ups
Body weight Rows
And Leg Raises
And how do you train the basics?
Go heavy, increase the weight- progression is the name of the game.
How to make body weight exercises progressive, I will discuss later.
Today lets get down to the absolute basics. What are the exercises if at which you get strong, you are strong?
Squat, Bridge, Chin Up And Push Ups
If you can perform 20 pistol squats a leg, 2 one arm chin ups an arm, 15 one arm push ups each arm and 10 strict full bridges with one leg, every fiber of you is strong.
Push ups and pull ups are self explanatory. The one arm chin up is the gold standard of lat, back and bicep strength. The one arm push up, with no body twisting and minimal distance between the feet is incredibly hard. I have never actually seen someone do a no twisting, no legs open one arm push up ever. Your triceps and delts would we like stone and your pecs graceful.
One leg squats get a lot of crap from the weightlifting community. People never seem to be able to get their one legged and two legged numbers to match. That is because they are different exercises you twits!! Pistol squats are not barbell squats. Pistol squats use a whole lot more stabilizer strength, require a much deeper motion for proper gains and use the quads and hamstring much, much more than the glutes. A barbell squat uses the glutes as a prime mover and does not involve as much stabilization. Also the lower back is a major (weak) link in the barbell squat. Neither is better or worse, nor are they comparable.
I find that the barbell squat is related closely the long jumping and medium distance running strength, while deadlifts are related to vertical jumping and to a much lesser degree sprinting. I think neither is sufficient for developing sprinting power, I feel the barbell hip thrust has the most direct relation to sprints.
Anyway, Pistol squats seem to relate very closely to moderate distance running and vertical jumping ability. This is not only because of the muscles used, but because of the fact that these movements are executed one legged. That is why a lot of people who play sports feel a spring in their legs after mastering pistol squats for reps. It really balances the knee out, and develops the knee from every direction. A person good at pistol squats will have incredibly injury resistant knees, great active flexibility and really strong skipping and jumping ability. But long jumps and sprints are not worked as well, due to the low glute stimulus.
That is where in my opinion the queen of all bodyweight exercises- the bridge comes in. The squat may be the king, but it can never produce a powerful offspring without the queen. The bridge- done properly- is a true power exercise. It works the glutes through its main function- hip hyper extension. This takes sprinting and long jumping ability through the roof. It stretches the hip flexors, balancing out the hip and correcting almost all lower back problems. It strengthens the lower back correcting the greatest weak link in bodyweight exercise. It stretches the pecs and strengthens the shoulder re-tractors balancing out the shoulder joint. It corrects posture and stretches the rib cage. It strengthens all the spinal ex-tensors very evenly and properly. It strengthens the traps and the shoulder girdle. It opens up the spine. It provides the finish to the body. Worked properly it is the most functional exercise around.
The proper execution of these exercises will be discussed in a later post. How to make them harder will also be discussed.
Also, abdominal exercise is not in the list of absolute essentials as push ups, pull ups and squats work the abs pretty hard, specially once you get to one limbed and uneven variations.
Btw, remind me I also need to talk about training intensity. the proper artistic advantages of bodyweight exercise and the perfect body.
Aaaah, You wont forget.
What is this?!
This blog has been created to record my thoughts and my progress in healing my body and my spine. About six months ago my motorbike flipped over, and then an SUV ran over my back twice, then it dragged my ass for 15 meters after which I was pulled up and I had to walk 200 meters to the hospital. Several other things happened but I will not say it all here. At the end of it all I had 42 fractures along my spine, 2 burst vertebra, a contorted torso and an inability to even move my neck. The picture on the right was the state of my spine after exactly 10 weeks. I can now walk, have started working and I am going to be stronger than I have ever been before.I was a powerlifter and I loved calisthenics in addition to the big three lifts. I could squat 330lbs, deadlift 400lbs and bench 250lbs, all at a bodyweight of 160lbs. I knew I was strong for my size and training experience. I could perform 5 archer chin ups on each arm, could bent over row 225lbs for 6-7 reps, could perform 10 pistol squats on each leg, perform 10 flawless gymnastic bridges, strict military press 160lbs for 5 reps, perform 3 unassisted ham glute raises, 4 perfect gymnastic leg raises,and perform 40 dips at any point of time. Now i cant use weights. At all.
Every Thursday I shall post my thoughts on training. Every Sunday I shall post how i applied what i have learnt. I hope someone benefits from this.
Good Luck
Train Hard
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| Thanks for helping me figure out how to become strong. I would have never understood any of this without you. Btw her name is Sukanya. |
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