Got a few questions...

D

dhr27

0
Hi I am a new poster here.... my names Dan. I used to do a lot of weight training. About 4 months ago I blew out my knee, had surgery a couple weeks ago and now I am slowly recovering. Since my injury I really stopped working out almost altogether (Except some situps, pullups, pushups) and have put on some fat around the gut area that I'd like to lose.

Ive been reading about certain athletes (like Herschel Walker) who don't do any weight training, just body weight and callesthetics. I am thinking of starting an almost exclusively body-weight regime (with the exception of deadlifts and squats once my right leg is back to shape)

MY QUESTION IS:

What kind of body-weight exercises can I do to build up my shoulder muscles and my biceps? I noticed Herschel Walker has very built up biceps and jacked shoulders.

Aside from dips, pullups, pushups, squats (no weight), situps/crunches/leg lifts, WHAT OTHER EXERCISES SHOULD I ADD?

All help would be very appreciated.

Thanks
 
I'm glad you posted this question because I've been wondering the same thing. All I do is calisthenics because I don't want weight training to hinder my flexibility in my martial arts training. I've done research before and all I ever see is what you mentioned. Push ups, pull ups, dips, crunches, so forth and so on. Just different variations of them for added resistance.
 
wellness108 said:
I'm glad you posted this question because I've been wondering the same thing. All I do is calisthenics because I don't want weight training to hinder my flexibility in my martial arts training. I've done research before and all I ever see is what you mentioned. Push ups, pull ups, dips, crunches, so forth and so on. Just different variations of them for added resistance.
Click to expand...

What kind of martial arts do you practice?

I train in Judo myself.
 
Firstly, what are you defining as a pull up? This is one of my little peeves, because there seems to be a trend in America where pull ups are recognised as feet off the ground, which I've always known as a chin up. What I then call a pull up is more of a body-weight row, lying supine under a bar to pull yourself up to. If you're not doing both, then now you've got one more exercise to add to your repertoire.

Some variations you might be interested in are:
- box jumps (because of your injury, I'd suggest only doing the concentric jump, and then stepping down carefully) or stair jumps
- one-legged box squats (instead of bringing the non-stance leg forward, let it drop straight down or back slightly as you lower yourself on top of a box - this will help you maintain better back position than the more common leg forward technique)
- split squats with the back leg on a step behind you, trying to put minimal weight on the back leg
- 20-rep 1-legged calf raise on a step (just one set per leg will probably have you feeling it for 3-4 days)
- lunges/traveling lunges
- bridge/one-legged bridge (I'd save the latter until you've progressed through rehab for a while)
- supermans
- horse stance
- flutters
- prone hold/oblique hold
- toe taps
- broom stick twist (get into a medicine ball twist position, wedge a broomstick into a corner, and hold the other end out infront of you as if it were a medicine ball)
- push up + (which is done with straight arms, lowering and pushing up only at the shoulders, focusing on serratus anterior)
- shoulder push up (doing a handstand against a wall and going through a shoulder press motion...that ought to be hard...in fact even just holding a handstand would probably do the job for a while)
- if you have a rope and sled (or something you can improvise as such), you can stack it up (bricks or books in a bag would do the trick), lay it out across the backyard, sit down and pull it towards you one arm at a time, working the same muscles you do in a seated row

I'm starting to run out of ideas (or at least, easily explainable ones), but I hope this has given you some inspiration.

PS. @wellness108: resistance training won't make you lose flexibility. Failing to stretch will. Many martial artists, gymnasts and dancers, who all need great flexibility, also need a lot of strength and power, and get the best results with a well-structured strength and conditioning program, which often means spending a few hours each week in the gym hitting intense weights.
 
Goldfish said:
Firstly, what are you defining as a pull up? This is one of my little peeves, because there seems to be a trend in America where pull ups are recognised as feet off the ground, which I've always known as a chin up. What I then call a pull up is more of a body-weight row, lying supine under a bar to pull yourself up to. If you're not doing both, then now you've got one more exercise to add to your repertoire.

Some variations you might be interested in are:
- box jumps (because of your injury, I'd suggest only doing the concentric jump, and then stepping down carefully) or stair jumps
- one-legged box squats (instead of bringing the non-stance leg forward, let it drop straight down or back slightly as you lower yourself on top of a box - this will help you maintain better back position than the more common leg forward technique)
- split squats with the back leg on a step behind you, trying to put minimal weight on the back leg
- 20-rep 1-legged calf raise on a step (just one set per leg will probably have you feeling it for 3-4 days)
- lunges/traveling lunges
- bridge/one-legged bridge (I'd save the latter until you've progressed through rehab for a while)
- supermans
- horse stance
- flutters
- prone hold/oblique hold
- toe taps
- broom stick twist (get into a medicine ball twist position, wedge a broomstick into a corner, and hold the other end out infront of you as if it were a medicine ball)
- push up + (which is done with straight arms, lowering and pushing up only at the shoulders, focusing on serratus anterior)
- shoulder push up (doing a handstand against a wall and going through a shoulder press motion...that ought to be hard...in fact even just holding a handstand would probably do the job for a while)
- if you have a rope and sled (or something you can improvise as such), you can stack it up (bricks or books in a bag would do the trick), lay it out across the backyard, sit down and pull it towards you one arm at a time, working the same muscles you do in a seated row

I'm starting to run out of ideas (or at least, easily explainable ones), but I hope this has given you some inspiration.

PS. @wellness108: resistance training won't make you lose flexibility. Failing to stretch will. Many martial artists, gymnasts and dancers, who all need great flexibility, also need a lot of strength and power, and get the best results with a well-structured strength and conditioning program, which often means spending a few hours each week in the gym hitting intense weights.
Click to expand...

This was very helpful, thank you Goldfish.
 
As far I know that freehand exercises are quite effective for body fit. But I think it will be better to discuss with a gym trainer about this matter. They will suggest you the way.
 
Should I be doing all these exercises (dips, situps, pushups, chinups, pullups, squats etc.) on the same day every day or split it. If I should split it, then how? Alternate days with upper and lower body exercises?
 
well ill tell you my progressive routine.. all i do is pushups, situps, pull ups, bodyweight squats. there thats every muscle in your body in 4 exercises.. I am able to do 1000 pushups in under 45 minutes.. i can do 350 pullups in about a hour. 300 bodyweight squats in about 20 minutes flat. and my best for situps is 800 in a 45 minute timed period.. and i am a beast what i did is based on how much i could do of a exercise to failure was my starting point, for example.. i began with only being able to do barely 15 pushups straight so within a hour i made a goal get to 100 pushups under a hour in as lil of sets as possible soon i was making that 200 then 400 all the way to 1000 so make a goal number to make in a hour that is realistic achieve it and use these proven effective exercises and you well be strong as hell trust me.. if your pushing yourself these exercises are all you need to achieve your results.. i hope this helped.
 
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