Wide and varied goals w BW preferred...

1.  Adding muscular bodyweight is a function of working into the glycholitic energy system not the modality one uses to get there.  So overload is important and exercising for 20-60 seconds will make muscle cells grow. Push ups, squats, bike on a hill, or sawing wood will elicit a hypertrophic response if the "load is challenging to move for the alotted time." The challenge w bodyweight movements is that it can be difficult to perform enough reps to create hypertrophy. A bodyweight squat is too easy for most people to burn out in 12 reps and doing chin ups for 12 reps is quite challenging for most people, so what does one do? One can add load and/ or go to one legged squats to create the appropriate intensity in the squat. And one can use a heavy elastic band to help one do full pull ups until such time as its no longer necessary. Anyway, both those and all the other bodyweight exercises are infinitely scalable if one is creative.

*Interesting Aside: Gymnastics Coaches consider 3 reps * 3 sets adequate for strength and 5 reps * 3 sets adequate for hypertrophy. They achieve their weekly volume by training more times a week and by rachetting up complexity (scaling up) as soon as the required reps can be achieved.

2.  Good technical movement is the way to keep from injury " in training" but training for size and power require training at an intensity and velocity that at times requires "risk." If a solid technical foundation is laid down, then acceptable levels of risk can be taken.

3.  With power and resilience against injury a goal, modulation of intensity, frequency and duration of training are as important (possibly more) than what movements are grouped together.

Generally one should pull more than push (2 to 1).  Legs can be trained more often than and recover faster than the upper extremities. Power training requires far more time between workouts than any other type of training. Training for more than an 1.5 hours can lessen training effect. Additionally, grouping similar exercises together (pushes, pull, lower, upper etc) will elicit muscle growth (goal 1) but will negatively effect technique (goal 2) and potentially lessen power benefits (goal 3).  The interactions of exercises is, then, very tricky and further complicated by heredity, chronological age, training age and injury,

4.  Your definition of endurance training is quite interesting to me. It requires heart health and cardiovascular capacity and strength! This means we will need some sort of equipment/ objects to carry. I think borrowing from the lexicon of World's Strongest Man would be the way to go (farmers walk, fireman's carry, stone carries, etc.)

*Interesting Aside: there is every bodyweight oriented competitive television program called American Ninja Warrior. In it, the participants race across obstacles by running, jumping and climbing. Training for the show, they will carry heavy objects in various ways as a way to simulate the obstacle course fatigue before practicing for a particular stage.

5.  Power Training is my specialty. It's what dominates my time training and I believe since it elicit useful levels of hypertrophy of both muscle and connectivity tissue,I see it as sort of the nexus of physical fitness. That said, I emphasize article bar movement on a competitive level which eats up a tremendous amount of time and energy as it relates to technique and skill acquisition. If one is concerned w power on multiple planes and in rotation, one will have to resign themselves to a moderately skill heavy list of exercises. That said, I'm still of the opinion that most people need to practice skills (language, music, bar snatches, box jumps or martial arts throws) at least  twice a week to elicit adaptations. For some people one "practice" a week may be enough to cause adaptations and or maintain them.

6.  Cardiovascular benefit is only possible if the frequency of exercise is high enough. The general rule of thumb is to not go more than 5 days without repeating similar cardiovascular training.

It should be noted that long steady state cardiovascular eroded strength and power. But the converse is not the case!

So, for the client who wants it all and further would need/ prefer to train a fair amount w bodyweight exercises, these are some of my thoughts on that...

Joshua Peters sent this.

Joshua Peters sent this.