Strength training with no weights?

13»

Replies

  • ianisgreat
    ianisgreat Posts: 18
    I recommend getting a pull up bar. I have one that looks like this
    http://www.crossfitintrepid.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/bar.jpg

    You can use them to do pull-ups, chin-ups, etc. Changing your grip changes which muscles it targets. If you can't do a pull-up, you can assist by using a chair, partner, or your own legs (if you are tall enough).

    The bar also does double duty as a push bar that kind of forces you to have good form. If you can't do push-ups, you can start trying them with your knees on the floor (get kneepads or use a towel). You can build up to doing pushups, even putting some weight in a backpack if you like

    To work on your legs/butt, try doing jumping squats. Video here.
    http://youtu.be/eZZc18uX-q8

    I do these exercises, and I can attest to their usefulness. Over time, you can add weight if you like, but they are good for using your own body weight as the weight you'll be lifting.
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
    Going up into a handstand without kicking up (called a handstand press) requires a ton of shoulder and core strength or extreme shoulder and compression/pancake flexibility (even then, its still frickin hard). If you can't really stack yourself up near perectly vertical (forget touching your toes, flatpalming between your heels), it gets difficult fast.

    Your average dude will find a handstand press every bit as difficult as a 1x BW overhead press, if not harder if flexibility is a serious issue.

    i'm not even close to being able to do one, and I can bang out 10 handstand pushups without issue.
    I could do a head stand no problem without kicking up doing exactly as she did, very slowly, legs to gut. Even as a puny puny weakling.
    558756_10152755408510607_132076792_n.jpg

    Headstand press is much easier than a handstand press. It requires a lot less strength to open the shoulder joint and mobility isn't nearly as limiting.

    Notice my point about stacking yourself vertical and how much easier it makes them, you are stacked almost perfectly vertical in that shot. Doing that in a handstand is MUCH harder unless you are extremely flexible. You don't have to be all that flexible at the hips to get perfectly vertical in the torso with the legs still supporting you on the ground in a headstand. Just look at my avi, flipped upside down in a headstand I'm flexible enough to do that. Add the arms overhead and you can't stack yourself perfectly vertical unless you are legit heads between the knees flexible in compression and/or a pancake.

    If you aren't flexible enough to get perfectly vertical, your shoulder rotators (deltoids and pectorals) will have to lift your legs off the ground and rotate you into vertical position. With straight arms the perceived load at your shoulders is HUGE (think about it, it is a straight armed OHP essentially, at least at the end of OHP ROM). The less flexible you are, the more difficult the exercise becomes.

    Handstand press is the one advanced bodyweight exercise where females tend to get it much easier than males (OTOH most truly advanced BW exercises can only be done by males, females just can't get pound for pound strong enough). This is because it can be done with brute strength, flexibility, or a combination of both. Women tend to be a lot more flexible than men, which limits the amount of brute strength needed.
  • ianisgreat
    ianisgreat Posts: 18
    Another thing, if you want to add muscle, you will have to eat more calories than you need in a day. You will also want to have a high protein diet, probably around 100 to 150 g of protein a day (minimum) depending on your size.

    When you are exercising, you'll want to be going "as hard as you can." Hard to define this, but if you can do more than 10 reps of something at a time, it is time to try something harder. Usually this means add more weight, but not always.

    As you add muscle, you will by definition be gaining weight. I've only recently dieted to the point where I am switching between gaining muscle/weight and cutting fat/weight, usually about 3 weeks at a time each direction. You'll have to find what works best for you.

Categories