Bodyweight training

[Drunken Cat]

I did some routines recently, and I must say it kicks my ass more than weight training, no question.

I recently read Convict Conditioning. The book definitely has its flaws, and I don't really agree with the routines it lays out, but despite its faults, the book is really an excellent primer on bodyweight exercises.

Just to summarize it, the book lays out 6 categories of bodyweight exercises: pushups, pullups, handstand pushups, squats, bridges, and leg raises.

Each category has 10 progressively more difficult variations. The "master step" of each one is one-hand pushups, one-hand pullups, one-hand handstand pushups, one-leg squats, stand-to-bridge-to-stand, and hanging leg raises.

I did a workout yesterday using pushup variations (just regular pushups, combined with a couple sets of uneven pushups--where you place one hand on a medicine ball (or basket ball)), leg raises and situps on a declined situp bench, jackknife pullups (can't quite do the regular ones yet--I didn't work out for a long time until relatively recently), bridge exercises including bridge pushups (bridges are very familiar, as I use to wrestle), and I did some shoulder presses as well, in lieu of handstand pushups (I always include shoulder presses in my regular weight training workouts).

Today, my body is seriously aching. Considerably more so than after just weight training.

I like weights too. But, I'm going to continue to work in more body weight training, as well.

In fact, I may be moving soon, and I may have to switch gyms. There's a nearby gym which is much cheaper than the one I go to now, but also much less equipped. I'm considering joining there (if I do move), and substituting in a lot more body weight training.

[theproof]

i lift weights but my body didn't transform until i added calistenics / bodyweight training. there is no best way and you ache from not being used to it. try both and you will benefit.

[ShoulderRoll]

The way Convict Conditioning breaks things down into 6 categories is really useful.

You can basically pick one exercise from each category and build yourself a good total body workout. And the progressions give you options in case you can't do a particular exercise.

It's an effective method.

[HtotheZ]

Yeah a lotta people sleep on calisthenics, especially people that dont watch or participate in combat sports

I used to mostly lift till I got into boxing and found out stuff like being able to bench 225 actually does very little for you when it comes to how hard you can punch lol, so now i do mostly calisthenics

Before that I used to just do a lotta pushups but now I be doing lotsa different things, ironically they tire me out more than lifting weights does and i used to lift a lot and ironically my muscles aren't as sore as they usually would be the next day. I am usually more tired in general though

[~AK49~]

Bodyweight can be very intense. I mean i lift, and cant even do some of this shiet

A dope video(currently trying to work on my strength at the 1:00-1:14 mark. ****s hard man)

[T.Horton]

http://hundredpushups.com/#sthash.DOyB7Xt0.dpbs

this will transform your build in thirty minutes a day for a couple of month.

[Drunken Cat]

i lift weights but my body didn't transform until i added calistenics / bodyweight training. there is no best way and you ache from not being used to it. try both and you will benefit.

I agree, and I like to lift weights. But, I think that calisthenics really bust my balls, more than my normal weight routines. I don't know why, but perhaps it is simply easier to max out on calisthenics. In any case, I find it quite effective.

[Drunken Cat]

The way Convict Conditioning breaks things down into 6 categories is really useful.

You can basically pick one exercise from each category and build yourself a good total body workout. And the progressions give you options in case you can't do a particular exercise.

It's an effective method.

Much agreed. The book is far from perfect, but it gives you a good range of basic exercises, and it describes the techniques adequately. It is also interesting to read.

[Drunken Cat]

Bodyweight can be very intense. I mean i lift, and cant even do some of this shiet

A dope video(currently trying to work on my strength at the 1:00-1:14 mark. ****s hard man)

Great videos. Thanks a lot for these.

[Drunken Cat]

Yeah a lotta people sleep on calisthenics, especially people that dont watch or participate in combat sports

I used to mostly lift till I got into boxing and found out stuff like being able to bench 225 actually does very little for you when it comes to how hard you can punch lol, so now i do mostly calisthenics

Before that I used to just do a lotta pushups but now I be doing lotsa different things, ironically they tire me out more than lifting weights does and i used to lift a lot and ironically my muscles aren't as sore as they usually would be the next day. I am usually more tired in general though

I agree with this, also.

I came up through wrestling, where we do a lot of calisthenics, in particular pushups and burpees, as well as rope climbing, and also some other stuff. I did boxing in college, and there is a lot of calisthenics there, as well. And, I did judo, and there are many different types of calisthenics which are typically done. Hell, I guess you could say it is all calisthenics, including punch mits, etc.

I think there is something to the notion that calisthenics, by using the body, are productive to building an effective body. If you just lift weights, you might build too much muscle. In bodyweight training, you are indeed bound in a sense.

If your goal is simply to get big, weights are probably the best option. But, to build effective muscles, bodyweight training is probably indispensable.

I like weight training too, and I think it is also effective. I'm certainly not meaning to denigrate it.