Why Do Bodyweight Conditioning?
Bodyweight conditioning has gained an awful lot of popularity in it's time. In the olden days, strong men would regularly perform bodyweight feats of strength amongst their already mind boggling lifts. It was common practice back then to see who could perform the longest handstand for instance. Jack Lalanne (R.I.P Sept 26th 1914 - Jan 23, 2011) was the worlds original fitness guru who preached the power of bodyweight exercises. With gymnastics style conditioning he held incredible records, such as 1000 star jumps and 1000 chin ups in 1 hour 22 minutes, 1033 push ups in 23 minutes and many more incredible feats. His physique certainly showed it too.
Jack Lalanne aged 40.
But let's get a few things straight, bodyweight training isn't for everyone. If you want to be a bodybuilder and maybe have hopes of competing one day then this isn't for you - you simply won't develop the right proportions as you could do with free weights. If you want to be a powerlifter then this isn't for you, although bodyweight training does have a direct carry over to how much you can lift, you will never out-squat someone who regularly lifts, ever. If you're a sprinter then it won't be any good, although gymnastics exercises can help with building explosive muscles you simply won't reap the same benefits of a well planned routine with direct posterial work involved.
If this is what you're looking for, then it's for you;
- An aesthetically pleasing, slender physique
- Dense muscularity
- A functional body
- Strong joints and tendons
- You want to be able to do cool things, like handstands and hanging sideways off bars
Gymnastics and bodyweight conditioning also has added health benefits. The stress it puts on the joints is much less than the likes of powerlifting or similar weight training sports, but because a lot of the static strength holds are performed while the joints are in a hyper extended position they still receive the stress they need in order to become stronger.
What kind of look with bodyweight training offer?
I'm sure you've all seen gymnasts at the olympics at some point or another. Strong muscular deltoids, the deltoids are the main stabiliser muscles of all the static strength movements. Thick abdominals, the abdominals are the second most stressed muscles after the deltoids in all static strength movements, sometimes more so than the deltoids but either way they are ALWAYS heavily incorporated. Next will be the biceps, triceps, overall back, basically your upper body will be sculpted so eventually every little bit of functional muscle will be toned and stand out. Every muscle people see will be extremely functional.
Small legs are inevitible, in gymnastics, rock climbing and the like it isn't functional to have muscular legs.
If you want large legs, weighted squats can be incorporated into your routines, but expect them to slow down the progress of your static strength exercises. Having seen a bodybuilder perform some difficult bodyweight feats of strength in the middle of a show before though I can safely say it's still very possible.
Above and beyond all, the ultimate reason to do bodyweight conditioning is as long as you have a pull up bar you never need to leave your home to do a routine. Smiles all around!
