The Unofficial Bodyweight Training Thread.

[corpse]

I am having a hard time finding a BW progression spreadsheet akin to a Starting Strength, 5/3/1, or other. Before I begin to fashion my own, with the risk of heading in the wrong direction, I wanted to check with you guys if a readily established one (or two) exists. Also, I see a lot of mentions of pull-ups as a primary means to work in a BW pull exercise, but this requires a bar. Are there other effective exercises which can be done in, say, a hotel room?

I loved following said programs before, but alas due to time constraints and a lack of access to the requisite gym equipment I now want to pursue BW exercises. Cheers.

http://www.startbodyweight.com/2014/01/basic-routine-infographic-poster.html

 

[tdluxon]

I've always been really bad at pull ups

Welcome to the Unofficial Bodyweight Training Thread!

This forum believes strongly in the lifting of free weights to build strength. While free weights are unquestionably effective at building both strength and muscle, they are not the only way to do so. Bodyweight training can be just as useful. My hope is that this thread can become a complete resource for bodyweight training on this forum.


Why would I choose bodyweight training over free weights?

There are many reasons why one may choose calisthenics over the barbell. Some of these are as follows:
1. Lack of equipment
2. Lack of space
3. Inability to find a decent gym
4. Injuries, such as those of the lower back, that can prevent the use of free weights.
5. Simple enjoyment.
......And many others.


What movements are we talking about? Pushups?

A complete list of all possible movements would be far too long. In general, most exercises will fit into one of these two categories:
1. Calisthenics and there progressions( chin ups, dips, pushups, squats, lunges, etc...)
2. Gymnastics exercises and there progressions( handstands, levers, L-sits, ring work, Planches, etc..)


What are progressions?

Progressions are movements that can be used to progress up to, and beyond, a specific movement. This would be a progression for chin ups from easiest to hardest:
Assisted chin ups
Negative chin ups
1/2 chin ups
Basic chin ups
Uneven chin ups
Assisted 1-arm chinups
Negative 1 arm chinups
1 Arm chinups

Of course, this is just an example. Each progression can be changed to fit the needs of the user.


So I become stronger by moving up the progression?

Correct. You can also work hypertrophy or conditioning by doing a lower progression for higher reps.


Where can I find these progressions?

Google! If I wanted to find a pushup progression, I would search " Pushup progression"


Okay, what equipment do I need?

The only required piece of equipment is a chin up bar. Of course, the more equipment you can find or purchase, the more options you have. Don't be afraid to use the nearest park or school playground, either. Some useful equipment would be as follows:
1. parallel bars or dip station
2. chin up bar that has enough clearance to allow for muscle ups, etc.
3. Gymnastic Rings.
These are the most important pieces, but they are not required. There are hundreds of possible pieces of "equipment" out there. Especially if you live in a large city.



I don't have anywhere to put a chin up bar! Help!

Do you have a doorway? If you do, then you can have a chin up bar. Just Google " doorway chin up bar"and pick one.


How do I work my legs?

Your legs can be worked through the bodyweight squat progression( all the way up to the pistol squat), sprinting,jumping, and glute ham raises(GHR). Eventually, you may have to weight yourself to work your legs any farther. You can weight the pistol squat and GHR by holding a weight plate in your hands, or holding a heavy bookbag. If you have the money, you could buy a weight vest for convenience.


I can do a bunch of ( insert hardest exercise in a progression here) now, what do I do?

You can continue to increase your reps, and work muscular endurance, or you can weight yourself. Some ways you can weight yourself are:
1. Resistance bands
2. free weights attached to a harness or belt.
3. heavy bookbag
4. weight vest.



I like lifting weights. How can I add bodyweight training into my program?

Bodyweight movements are great for assistance. Chins, dips, and handstand pushups are some examples. Experiment!


Cool, anything else I should know?

that's pretty much it! Here is some stuff for you to look into:

Beast Skills ( www.beastskills.com)
Great tutorials to a lot of different movements, including progressions.

Gymnastic Bodies (http://www.gymnasticbodies.com/)

This website's you tube channel and forum are very helpful.

Recon Ron spreadsheet (http://webpages.charter.net/bert/reconron.html)

Recon Ron is a volume program that has you do 5 sets of a movement 6 days a week. It is excellent for improving your rep max. This program can be done for almost any bodyweight movement.

Ross Training ( www.rosstraining.com)

Ross loves to improvise. The result is some great training material, that often includes some bodyweight training.

Official Barstarzz you tube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialBarstarzz)

These guys pull of some seriously cool stuff. They also do the occasional tutorial.

Now, go! The world is your gym!

ive always been terrible at pull-ups and I've been trying to increase my reps over the last couple months but I don't seem to be really increasing much.

I've been trying the "greasing the groove" thing, doing lots of really light sets (like 8-10 sets), focusing on form. I started with a max of 5 (super weak, I know) and doing lots of sets of 2 and I'm up to max 7-8 and sets 3, but that's still pretty weak and it seems like I'm kinda plateaued.

Any thoughts?

 

[PapiFlaco]

What can you do to sub the deadlift especially for the posterior chain, even more specifically the lower back?

I'm aware that the GHR covers the Hammies and a little bit of the gluteus, but that's not all of which needs to be worked.

 

[corpse]

What can you do to sub the deadlift especially for the posterior chain, even more specifically the lower back?

I'm aware that the GHR covers the Hammies and a little bit of the gluteus, but that's not all of which needs to be worked.

i would do the hip thrust with some sort of extra weight. you can't really immitate a deadlift, though. you only can strengthen the special parts of the whole chain. lying reverse hypers from a table or a bench are my favourite for the lower back/glutes part right now.

you can do iso deadlift holds with a long towel if you have zero equipment. just stand on the ends and pull the middle part. you can do this for different pulling heights. this would be the next thing to strenghten the chain as a whole, i think.

 

[PapiFlaco]

I do weighted pushups with a 150lb weighted vest. I do them with push-up handles on cement blocks so I still make depth.

Do you use the entire 150 lbs? Isn't it difficult and uncomfortable in between sets? Also, isn't it difficult to put on and take off?

 

[JosephDredd]

What can you do to sub the deadlift especially for the posterior chain, even more specifically the lower back?

I'm aware that the GHR covers the Hammies and a little bit of the gluteus, but that's not all of which needs to be worked.

Jefferson curls, planche holds

 

[LatFlare]

I've always been really bad at pull ups

ive always been terrible at pull-ups and I've been trying to increase my reps over the last couple months but I don't seem to be really increasing much.

I've been trying the "greasing the groove" thing, doing lots of really light sets (like 8-10 sets), focusing on form. I started with a max of 5 (super weak, I know) and doing lots of sets of 2 and I'm up to max 7-8 and sets 3, but that's still pretty weak and it seems like I'm kinda plateaued.

Any thoughts?

Try the recon Ron program

 

[ThunderL1ps]

2-year thread reanimation...

I think as far as most BW specialists go, they start out on a steady diet of pulls ups, push ups and squats and then start going from there: more reps, variations of greater difficulty, gymnastic stuff, more total volume/density, etc.

I'll bump this thread.

Don't forget isometrics.

 

[Cross_Trainer]

Is it possible to do leg raises (toes touching the bar) on one of those screwless doorway chinup bars? I'm thinking of something like the Iron Gym chinup bars that Sherdog threads often recommend. Or is that just asking for an injury if the bar slips?

My guess is that it's a bad idea and an injury waiting to happen, but I figured I'd check with the forum just in case I was being too cautious.

 

[ThunderL1ps]

Is it possible to do leg raises (toes touching the bar) on one of those screwless doorway chinup bars? I'm thinking of something like the Iron Gym chinup bars that Sherdog threads often recommend. Or is that just asking for an injury if the bar slips?

My guess is that it's a bad idea and an injury waiting to happen, but I figured I'd check with the forum just in case I was being too cautious.

You should be fine as long as it's secured properly and you're doing the movement under control. If you feel uncomfortable with it, you can always try an alternative setup with galvanized pipe with 2 x 4's attached to rafters in a garage or basement if that's an option.

 

[spiderguardman]

 

[SalvadorAllende]

What can you do to sub the deadlift especially for the posterior chain, even more specifically the lower back?

I'm aware that the GHR covers the Hammies and a little bit of the gluteus, but that's not all of which needs to be worked.

I would think something like back extensions. But Im just transitioning to BW training so this thread is gold.

 

[BobbyHillComedian]

Chinups and pullups are the best back strength builder hands down

You could just do a ton of them for pull day with nothing else and you wouldn't be missing much

I used to be a lat pulldown guy but i have been converted... the core work is insane. Feel like I did abs yesterday just from all the pullups and chinups