Bodyweight exercises

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chenda
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by chenda »

So I'm now on the following:

3 X 10 half press ups (knees on ground)
3 X 30 seconds planks
3 X 10 Bridges
3 X 10 squats
3 X 10 doorframe pulls

3 times a week...I was doing 4 times but I found I needed more muscle recovery. Some of the gains I initially thought I had have disappeared, though I think that may have been some kind of preliminary muscle swelling. Overall though I am getting stronger and feel better about my body than I have every felt, not that it looks very different but I am heading in the right direction and seeing achievable gains.

I do need to loose stomach weight though, as my hip to waist ratio is borderline unhealthy and I've been eating too much the past few weeks. I don't want to have exposed abs but just safely within a healthy ratio.

@whitebelt you're definitely right about those models, lots those women look unnaturally top-heavy.

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seanconn256
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by seanconn256 »

Just thought I would add this as a resource:

http://www.startbodyweight.com/

I've found it very useful, it includes a full body basic bodyweight routine, and progressions for a lot of common exercises.

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Jean
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by Jean »

Ok I'll join, my routine is as follows

first section
6xA Dips
6xA Grouped hands pushup
6xA open arm pushup
6xA Pull up
6xA one leged squat on each leg

second section
4xA jumps
120 sit-up (in 2 or three sets)
6xB hanging leg raise
3x15 triceps "curl" against a table

with A being a number that i raise and lower cyclicaly while introducing amplitude variation (for the first section), and B, a number that i raise until it reaches 20

today, A was 8, and B was 17, with a low amplitude around the midle point. I hope to reach 20 for A, and then I'll set A back to 3, and do full amplitude move.
2 to 4 times a week depending on how long the sets are.

It's based on a book called methode Lafay, which i recommend if one want to be able to follow an algorithm for ones programm without thinking to much.

guitarplayer
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by guitarplayer »

@chenda, a shame that burpees are to complex as they seem to involve most of the muscles and be a pretty complete body movement. I have been doing them for more than 1.5 years and the effects are great.

In any case, I think that what @jacob wrote in the book about pacing exercise progression is just such a simple self regulating system that works so well. It goes roughly like this. Once you have an exercise / set of exercises, then you do this:

Set a goal of x repetitions of the exercise for each session
divide the exercises into x/n sets of repetitions where n is an arbitrary number of repetitions
do these sets in x/n arbitrary time intervals, start at the beginning of the time interval and then rest till the end of it
do it again at the start of the next interval
as time passes, when you get too comfortable, change the number of exercises in a set to n+1.
do it regularly every 2/3/4 days.

For example, this is how it went for me with burpees:
I set a goal of 200 burpees for each session
I divided the repetitions into 200/5=40 sets, 5 repetitions in each set
I set the time interval at 1min and did 5 repetitions, then rested until the end of the minute
I did it then again 39 more times
When I got too comfortable I changed the number of repetitions in a set from 5 to 6
I did it every second day

It is a clever self regulating mechanism because when you increase the number of exercises in a set, the resting time gets shorter too. So it becomes pretty high intensity pretty quickly, and also then takes little time.

Now I am in a bit of an exercise limbo but maintain my form that I gained from that system. The maintenance is just 20min/day.

chenda
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by chenda »

seanconn256 wrote:
Wed Jun 09, 2021 7:07 pm
Just thought I would add this as a resource:

http://www.startbodyweight.com/

I've found it very useful, it includes a full body basic bodyweight routine, and progressions for a lot of common exercises.
Thanks that's a really useful blog.

@guiterplayer - you've lost me in all that algebra! I just gradually increase the number of repetitions, keep it simple.

guitarplayer
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by guitarplayer »

yup, simple is always preferable for me also. In practice that system is pretty simple, but now that I think about it since it can get pretty intense rather quickly, maybe it is better to keep it for later. But really, it only requires a timer and most importantly for me there is no need to write things down or refer to a source such as a book or the internet.

Anyway, good luck with getting fitter!

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Jean
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by Jean »

I found your system and explanations to be quite simple.

guitarplayer
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by guitarplayer »

It's described even better under 'High-intensity interval training' in the ERE book.

chenda
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by chenda »

guitarplayer wrote:
Fri Jun 11, 2021 4:11 am
Anyway, good luck with getting fitter!
Thanks you too :)

chenda
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by chenda »

So 10 months on my gains have consolidated around 3 x 10 press ups and 3 x 45 second planks. Which I am pleased with, although this year I would like to be able to pass the RAF recruitment fitness test as a measure of fitness. This requires the following:

8 press ups
26 sit ups
2.4 km run in 14.13 mins

I have measured out the 2.4 km on a path near me so I will give it a go tomorrow, I don't ever run so it might be more of a brisk walk to start with.

I can't do a single sit up currently, literally can barely lift my back off the ground so I think I'll need to start with a crunch/half sit up first and work upwards.

white belt
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by white belt »

For an intermediate/advanced trainee, it can be difficult to provide sufficient lower body stimulus with body weight exercises, especially if one already has a lot of lower body strength. I recently stumbled upon reverse Nordic curls as a great body weight exercise for the quads: https://www.strongerbyscience.com/reverse-nordic-curls/

You can also use regular Nordic curls to provide a lot of hamstring stimulus, but you might have to get creative with your setup if you don’t have a partner to hold your feet.

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Slevin
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by Slevin »

Agreed, I’ve been doing both for a few years, and they are some of the best tools for building lower body strength, regardless of if you want to use weights or not. Obviously the advanced variations of both require external weight to increase the difficulty. Also if you are trying to figure out how to do Nordic curls without a partner and need ideas, consult YouTube for some fun ideas. I use the bottom of some stairs, but I have used a piece of plywood and a strap before and can say that it is fine, and also the bottom lip of the body of a car.

To add onto lower body strength movements that don’t require weights, there is the tibialis raise, single leg calf raise (best on an incline), pistol squat, dragon pistol squat, horse stance (which is the classic Kung fu way to build iron legs, bring to at least 5 minutes per set, but the classic Kung fu length to achieve is 1 hour), split squat (to reach full range of motion), all splits trainings, the couch stretch, L sit progressions and leg lift progressions (trying to build strength and lengthen hip flexors, something waaaay too tight in modern humans), the Cossack squat, back extensions, and single leg back extensions (yeah I include those sun lower body because it’s lower back, but it’s not leg work per se) and probably 10 million other things not at the front of my mind.

With listing all these bodyweight leg exercises, I’m gonna stress that an only bodyweight system is going to be limiting for training weaknesses in the lower body in an isolated fashion (that may be causing systemic issues and form issues). I usually use a mix of weights and not weights, and although I did use bodyweight exercises only for my upper body for quite some time (and got sets of 5+ ring muscle ups and freestanding handstand pushups , so I made lots of progress) because almost all the exercises are compound, the bodyweight training only didn’t allow me to easily focus on weak muscle groups and repattern them, and so I usually compensated for the weak muscle groups with already strong muscles for a long time. This can be avoided with a proper routine that takes this into account, but I haven’t yet seen any systemic training methods that are only bodyweight. Usually you need a couple adjustable dumbbells for accessory work to start strengthening up those possibly weak points.

When they get easy (or for any bodyweight exercise), first make sure you are hitting the full range of motion, then make the tempo longer on the eccentric near the bottom of the range of motion (for leg stuff anyways), and make sure you pause at the bottom for 1-3 seconds. Then you can progress to a fun "1 + 1/4 rep" where you lower down to the bottom of the eccentric (slower near the bottom, make the bottom 1/4 of motion take 1-3 seconds), then go up for 1/4 of the concentric, then slowly lower back down to the bottom of the eccentric, then pause again, then up for the full concentric. The idea is to build strength and possibly more mobility in the weakest part of the range of motion by prioritizing recruitment in this area. After this, add weight to them. No reason to be a purist when it isn't functional anymore :D and you are already a monster.
Last edited by Slevin on Tue Mar 08, 2022 12:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.

jacob
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by jacob »

Pistols no good?

chenda
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by chenda »

white belt wrote:
Tue Mar 08, 2022 8:21 am
You can also use regular Nordic curls to provide a lot of hamstring stimulus, but you might have to get creative with your setup if you don’t have a partner to hold your feet.
Yes I found if I put my toes under the edge of the settee it gives me enough leverage to do a couple of sit ups.

@Slevin. Interesting thanks for the ideas. Yes lower body does seem more limited in terms of bodyweight, especially as my coordination problems limit me to only simple exercises.

Dave
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by Dave »

How's the training going chenda? Any issues/concerns?

I came across a new calisthenics fitness platform I thought might be of some value to you. Admittedly, it might be a bit redundant with some of what we've already talked about in this thread, but sometimes people resonate with different messages. I like this guy a lot, and think his message is great for a large portion of newer trainees. The program is:

https://www.hybridcalisthenics.com/routine

chenda
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by chenda »

Dave wrote:
Thu May 12, 2022 4:34 pm
How's the training going chenda? Any issues/concerns?
Thanks Dave I'll look at that. It's going OK although I've slacked off in the last few months. Need to get motivated again.

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Lemur
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by Lemur »

Building up to this:
"Dragon Flags"

https://youtu.be/poioa-W4HA8

I can't even do one but just the act of trying has had my abs sore a few times already.

You're real strong when you can dragon flag with full range of motion and do multiple reps...its a great core exercise when done right as it does not require spinal flexion.

chenda
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by chenda »

I've spent the last few months doing a very simple routine of 20 press ups and 10 squats three times a week. I found just doing one set of press-ups each time made it much easier to go to the point of failure, whereas when you know you have to repeat the set 2 more times it's too tempting to quit early to make the subsequent sets easier. As a result I was able to hit my target of 20 press ups.

However, I filmed myself doing the press-ups a few weeks ago and found I'd developed really bad habits. Sagging pelvis and not dropping my elbows to at least 45 degrees. So next time I made sure I did good form and the next video was much better, although I had to split them into 2 X sets of 10. Instant feedback makes learning much quicker.

I intend to add a pull-up set too, and bought a pull up bar to put in a doorframe. However I might try and find a park near me which has those pull up frames instead, as it's going to be a pain assembling the thing 3 times a week and it looks too cluttered just left there in my bedroom doorway.

Anyway, for the first time in my life I actually have body confidence and am comfortable with what I see in the mirror. Although it's as much due to attitude and knowledge of what I'm physical capable of doing than just how I actually look.

theanimal
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by theanimal »

A fun game to play is to institute a toll each time you walk into a specific room, with the payment being some physical exercise. In your case @chenda, you could leave the pull up bar in the door and do X number of pull ups each time you go in or out of your bedroom. Also, can be substituted for squats, pushups, burpees and so on.

chenda
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Re: Bodyweight exercises

Post by chenda »

@theanimal - that's a good idea : )

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