Body-weight program

[mikeguima Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mikeguima]

Pistol squats are more of a circus skill than a strength exercise. Seriously, pistols aren't hard man. They might be a little difficult in terms of balance, but strength? Not really, unless you're a total noob to strength training.

Also, pistols are DEFINITELY not a natural position for your body to assume. A full olympic squat seems like much more natural position for your joints in general.

Yeah I know, they're not exactly the greatest exercise for strenght, but I think they're very good overall as a display of relative strenght, balance and flexibility. Can be good mass builders as well if you do them right.

[eiffel Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close eiffel]

As a martial arts instructor, I've had a few students who were just 10 year-old little kids and could do pistol squats on their first attempt effortlessly. The only other leg training they had done was kicking, jumping, bodyweight two-legged squats, and running. When I went through the progressions myself, I found that the leg strength aspect was not an issue at all, it was just a matter of developing my balance and core strength.

Shrimp squats and glute-ham raise progressions are much better options for dynamic bodyweight leg training. Also L-sits, V-sits, straddle L-sits, mannas, planches, and other static lever holds are good for strengthening the legs, especially the smaller (and often neglected, albeit necessary) muscles such as the hip flexors and gluteus medius.

As I've stated previously, strength in bodyweight conditioning is pretty much a one-way street, which is its primary advantage. If you work on shrimp squat and glute ham raise progressions, your weighted squats and deadlifts are sure to go up. But if you increase your weighted squats and deadlifts, you aren't necessarily anywhere near a two-hand elevated shrimp squat or a one leg unassisted glute ham raise.

That being said, the learning blocks in coordination during bodyweight progressions can slow down gains in pure strength, making weighted training the superior choice in the strength arena. For developing multiple athletic skills at once (albeit slower for each skill), bodyweight training is best. It just depends on what you want out of your training.

[namsokiek Banned Find all posts View Profile Close namsokiek]

Apparently there are some words I should have highlighted because other might skip them and then twist what one's said.

Anyways, things like this are hard to discuss through writting. Make fun of whoever/whatever you wanna make fun namsokiek. Hopefully your post will entertain the folks here.

Have a nice day.

Highlighting certain words would not have added credibility to the argument. You're arguing that body weight exercises are better than weight lifting; which is a universal, unqualified statement.

This argument was assailed because it is not true. How one exercises depends on one's goals. If one's goal is to build a physique like Arnold then weight lifting is superior. If one want's to become an Olympian then proper weight lifting is better.

In response, you qualify better by calling it natural; implying that natural is better. Then further refinement gives us natural movement makes it better. On the way you fabricate arguments to support you position, infer the other alternative will precipitate a hospital visit, then suggest constraints which define natural lifting. Each of these arguments are then countered, with facts, by others.

I simply make fun of the most ludicrous statements. All the injuries you refer are caused by poor programs or technique no by weights.

The fact is that you prefer body weight exercise. Which is great. You have your reasons for doing so; be it comfort, accessibility, or what ever. Which is also great.

But the assertion they are better than weights is not true. All the body weight exercises you do can be replicated while one uses hand weights.

They may be better for you and you have personal reasons (you personal preference or your personal comfort) why you prefer them.

[Stretch 66 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Stretch 66]

If you are limited to workout at home, buy DVD workoutssuch as P90X or a boot camp workout. I'm not saying these are the best for youbut you need to have a program to keep you disciplined. Having a routine isvery important. Find a friend to join you. It helps you get motivated andincreases work out intensity. Regardless of what you choose to do.... dosomething. Get the fire burning and control your diet. I'm not a dieting nutbut I find if I work out regularly, I can slip on what I eat and not feel badabout it. Good luck man!

[eow. Member of the Month April 2013 Find all posts View Profile Close eow.]

For the longest time, I never bench pressed. I always did overhead presses and dips instead. I was wary of doing bench press because it seemed useless (non-functional) and for butt-slapping jocks, which was a very biased and stupid way of thinking now that I look back on it. One day I decided to bench, and guess what? It was FUN, and I have been doing bench presses since then. There's just something about pushing heavy weight off your chest that is fun as fuck for me. Plus, I've always had a small, unimpressive chest and bench is definitely helping that. I mean, I don't workout for muscles. I have more of a powerlifting mindset, but it's still pleasing to have a nice body. I really could care less if I never use the bench press movement in a real-life scenario.

Fuck "functional" fitness. What about just having fun and doing what you enjoy instead of obsessing about real-life translation? More often than not, if there is a particular real-life skill you need to improve on, you're better off just practicing that skill instead of trying to find a gym movement that translates to it. I have NEVER, EVER had a reason to do a handstand, one-legged squat, planche, or glute-ham raise in real life (although I do have GHR in my routine). I don't play sports. I just work out to be healthy and to have fun.

Just the fact of having more strength IN GENERAL will translate to all kinds of real life situations, and that strength can be gained any way you see fit, whether it be with weights, bodyweight, fucking fat chicks, or lifting midgets, who gives a fuck. Fuck functional fitness, fuck functional fitness, fuck functional fitness. People who get all on their high-horse touting functional fitness piss me off.

[mikeguima Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mikeguima]

Highlighting certain words would not have added credibility to the argument. You're arguing that body weight exercises are better than weight lifting; which is a universal, unqualified statement.

This argument was assailed because it is not true. How one exercises depends on one's goals. If one's goal is to build a physique like Arnold then weight lifting is superior. If one want's to become an Olympian then proper weight lifting is better.

In response, you qualify better by calling it natural; implying that natural is better. Then further refinement gives us natural movement makes it better. On the way you fabricate arguments to support you position, infer the other alternative will precipitate a hospital visit, then suggest constraints which define natural lifting. Each of these arguments are then countered, with facts, by others.

I simply make fun of the most ludicrous statements. All the injuries you refer are caused by poor programs or technique no by weights.

The fact is that you prefer body weight exercise. Which is great. You have your reasons for doing so; be it comfort, accessibility, or what ever. Which is also great.

But the assertion they are better than weights is not true. All the body weight exercises you do can be replicated while one uses hand weights.

They may be better for you and you have personal reasons (you personal preference or your personal comfort) why you prefer them.

The purpose of highlighting the words wouldn't be to add credibility, it'd be to catch you attention to them. For instance, if you go back and read my posts, you'll notice that I never said the spartans did X. I said I bet (=think=assume) they did that. Of course it might not be correct. Who knows?

Now, I want you to go back through my posts and find a sentence in which I say that bodyweight exercises are better than weight lifting. Go ahead.

First, bodyweight training is a form of weight lifting.

Second, I do prefer bodyweight lifting, but I do not hate on the other forms of weight lifting. In fact, I might even start practising them in the future.

Third, all of this started when someone said that the purpose of resitance training is to put lots of stress on the joints, which is completely wrong!

Fourth, all I've argued is that most movements done in bodyweight training are more natural (yes, here it goes again) and thus easier on your joints, than most movements from the other forms of weight training. There are a lot less people getting injured from bodyweight training than from other forms of weight training. That is a fact.

I don't like it when people put words in my mouth. I don't like when people make fun of my opinions either, specially when I'm trying to discuss serious matters, in a serious way.

Hope you take that in consideration.

[eiffel Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close eiffel]

Yeah sure, do whatever you have the most fun with, but don't act like serious strength training through bodyweight exercises is impossible. It just takes a little know-how and creativity.

And for those of us who do engage in athletic endeavors like martial arts, parkour, dance, acrobatics, and gymnastics, bodyweight exercises are a great compliment. For powerlifters, Olympic lifters, bodybuilders, strongmen, and American football players, weighted training is going to be a much better fit.

You may never have to do a planche in a real-world situation, but having the strength and balance required for that skill is transferable to a broad range of activities. If you have the coordination to balance on your hands while doing the equivalent of a simultaneous double bodyweight bench press and deadlift, picking up on other, real-world athletic skills shouldn't be too much of a challenge.

[mikeguima Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mikeguima]

Yeah sure, do whatever you have the most fun with, but don't act like serious strength training through bodyweight exercises is impossible. It just takes a little know-how and creativity.

And for those of us who do engage in athletic endeavors like martial arts, parkour, dance, acrobatics, and gymnastics, bodyweight exercises are a great compliment. For powerlifters, Olympic lifters, bodybuilders, strongmen, and American football players, weighted training is going to be a much better fit.

You may never have to do a planche in a real-world situation, but having the strength and balance required for that skill is transferable to a broad range of activities. If you have the coordination to balance on your hands while doing the equivalent of a simultaneous double bodyweight bench press and deadlift, picking up on other, real-world athletic skills shouldn't be too much of a challenge.

Couldn't have said it better.

[eow. Member of the Month April 2013 Find all posts View Profile Close eow.]

Leg strength is one of the qualities that I believe weighted lifting will always have an advantage over bodyweight training.

[mikeguima Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mikeguima]

Leg strength is one of the qualities that I believe weighted lifting will always have an advantage over bodyweight training.

I'll rephrase what you said: "Strenght is one of the qualities that I believe weighted lifting will always have an advantage over bodyweight training".

With BW there's only one weight you're lifting. With weighted training you can lift whatever weight you want.

Anyways, I didn't create this thread, but It's entitled "Body-weight program", so I say we stop dicussing this stuff on the man's thread.

[eiffel Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close eiffel]

Well, I think in terms of pure strength, weightlifting will always have an advantage, since you won't have to go through any coordination barriers to get to the next level of strength.

That being said, I think your belief that leg strength is a deficiency for bodyweight training is unfounded. By constantly decreasing leverage and bilateral distribution, you can always increase the resistance of an exercise.

Even with holds where the weight is distributed to the upper body, like the planche, V-sit and straddle L, the lower-body tension required to keep the body in position is tremendous.

[eow. Member of the Month April 2013 Find all posts View Profile Close eow.]

When you do an L-sit you have to keep your quads fully flexed the entire time, this is true. However, that is not really a function of maximum strength. It is more muscular endurance. Anyone can lock out their knees by flexing their quads.

[eiffel Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close eiffel]

Locking your knees out while seated on the ground, vs while holding and L-sit, vs while holding a V-sit, are magnitudes of difference in difficulty on the leg muscles.

[Big Al AdministratorPEGym EditorMale Enhancement Coach Rep.PEGym Hero Find all posts View Profile Close Big Al]

Body weight exercises can indeed be extremely intense. Here's a body weight exercises that's considered one of the most difficult ones that you can do: Tiger Bend Pushups - YouTube

[mikeguima Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mikeguima]

Body weight exercises can indeed be extremely intense. Here's a body weight exercises that's considered one of the most difficult ones that you can do: Tiger Bend Pushups - YouTube

I can do the floor variation of those. Still have to work on my free handstands to be able to do those.