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.
Be Strong
Know exactly what you want, expect greatness from yourself, work hard and be confident. Never believe all the negativity and mediocrity society feeds you. Take risks and be who you are- take the first step to constant self improvement. Engage your body and your mind, train your bones to be strong and everything in life will become simpler. Every small gain will make the world so much more purposeful and understandable. Work hard, be strong and do the best you can.
Thursday 20 December 2012
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