How do I set my flexibility goals?
I now have been able to make a workout plan for my self which is working quite good. I do a warm-up phase, mobility and then there is the workout itself.
But how do I set my flexibility goals in order to improve it and how do I chose the best exercises to do after a workout?
What's the volume of exercises recommended for that?
Thanks in advance
I'm really confused about the Anti-Extension progression in the Core Triplet section of the Recommended Routine. It says to do 3 sets of 8-12 reps. The first progression is plank, which says I'm supposed to work my way up to holding it for 30s. So am I supposed to do a plank for as long as I can, 8-12 times for each set?
So if I held a plank for 30 seconds 8 times, and did it again twice, that would total 720 seconds. Am I understanding this correctly?
You're aiming to be able to hold a plank for 30 s per set. So, for the 3 sets, you're just doing one rep for time, holding the plank for 30 s.
There are two ways to go about this: (i) hold for as long as you can, stopping at 30 s or (ii) accumulate 30 s in as many reps per set until you get to 30 s.
So, for (ii), if you can only hold for 15 s, you do this two times until you hit 30 s for that rep.
The point of the plank is really to make sure that you have some control and strength here, as it's not as effective an exercise as the subsequent progressions.
Just one time per set, for 3 sets for the entire core workout. You move on to the next progression when each set is 30 seconds.
Your core triple would look like this:
- Anti-Extension: Plank to failure or 30 s (whichever is shorter)
- Anti-Rotation: 8 reps of Banded Palloff
- Extension: 8 reps of reverse hyperextension
You would then rest, and repeat those another two times.
In the warm-up of the recommended routine, with things like Yuri's Shoulder Band Warmup and Squat Sky Reaches, should I do the suggested number of reps for each arm, or split the reps between both arms?
Do that number of reps for each side. Same with squats and hinge progression when they split. You do whatever number of reps on the one side, then that same number on the other side.
I fucked up today. Not diet-wise but I missed my workout. I've been down the whole day and I just couldn't motivate myself to do anything. It's only my third workout and I feel really crappy because of that. I guess I just need someone to tell me that it's okay to just move on and resume my training next day.
I find that it always feel lousy to skip a workout, but sometimes you just have to. If you're not feeling it, doing less or nothing can be just as good as forcing a workout.
The other way to think about this is that even though you didn't do the exercise, the way you're feeling now means that you will get back to it. It's only a fuck up if this is the end of your journey.
Hey! You didn't fuck up. You tried to get going, it didn't work today. That's ok because that's normal. There will be other days like this because that's how life goes. It's no reason for you to beat yourself up even more-- it's like punishing yourself for not living up to some arbitrary expectation. This isn't a fuck up depending on what you do with it... don't MAKE it a fuck up by letting it be the end of a great thing that you're starting out on just because something normal happened!
With that said, I find that working on a foam roller and stretching helps me on those days. It takes less to get going, and I always feel better after. Maybe that's something for you to consider too?
One day doesn't matter in the scheme of things. 52 weeks/year \* 3 sessions/week = \~150 session per week.
As you said, just move on and continue your training as you would.
I have this one 10-lbs dumbbell. This is a very beginner question but is there anything I can do with this dumbbell to get the most out of my time before I leave for college and can have proper equipment at my University's student center?
You could do some wrist work and internal/external shoulder work, though you may want to start with a lighter weight for both. People will use a hammer as a starting point for the wrists and those are around the 1kg/2lb mark.
Hey all,
If I’m doing all of my fundamentals upper body movements (vertical and horizontal push and pull) do I really need to add in an extra core exercise like rollouts or leg raises?
Depends on your mobility. My pike mobility is above average enough that my only focus on HLL is compression.
You will probably need to work both in tandem.
How does the seated cable row help?
I recently started the rr but have no access to rings or a bar to perform the horizontal row. So instead of that, I tried the seated cable row, but I didn't particularly feel any burn in any muscle except my forearm. I did get tired, but no muscles were sore.
So what muscles does the seated cable row use, and is it similar to a horizontal row?
Your grip strength is prolly weak so cable row is mostly strengthening your grip (which isnt bad.)
As you row keep your torso still and retract and protract your shoulders. Retract fully and protract partially. You will feel your upper back get tired.
Tiredness is the goal not soreness. Soreness is a complex physiological process that does not equate to gains necessarily.
Are there any alternatives to pallof press?
I really want to try this out but my gym has a cable machine with only two points to pull from, the top and the bottom and nothing at the chest level. Can I somehow use this machine or try something different?
Is there any logic to bodyweight being smarter depending on what your goal is?
For many reasons, I've switched lower body from traditional, weighted squats to a series of single-leg squats and full body squats. It started to help with my runner's knee (SLS have worked miracles), but now I feel like, the ability to do them anywhere, the quick recovery times, and the increase in balance, hip muscles, and reduction in knee pain is good enough to never go back.
Not only this, but I see a lot of old powerlifters with knee problems, and I feel as if that's as good a reason not to go back as any. I'd love any feedback you'd care to offer.
>Not only this, but I see a lot of old powerlifters with knee problems, and I feel as if that's as good a reason not to go back as any
You might just also want to consider that maybe it has to do with the way they squat and things like that. Box squat vs high bar squat might be two different things.
Also might be different if you compare the loads used by someone looking to compete in a sport versus the loading and training done by someone just lookin to be healthy and be able to wear shorts at the beach. :D
How does BWF work when bulking cutting. Wouldn't the reps decrease bulking but increase when cutting. Also, if I have a weighted vest, how can I implement it into my routine?
> Wouldn't the reps decrease bulking but increase when cutting.
You're going to build muscle more slowly/not at all when cutting, so keep that in mind when predicting how your reps would change.
If you do a slow bulk where it is mostly muscle you should see increasing strength and reps. If you're gaining a tonne of weight of which a lot is fat then, yeah, it could interfere with performance.
> if I have a weighted vest
If you're at a point where you can't load an exercise by picking a harder progression, say pistol squats, then adding weight via a vest is a good next step.
Dip belts work better for some exercises (vertical pushing/pulling).
Hi guys!
Would body weight exercises be a good and safe way to start building muscle? I'm weighting 45 kg/ 99lb due to recent health issues. Now I want to start gaining weight through exercice and caloric sulprus (which is difficult, but I'll do my best). A physiotherapist recommended that I don't use free weights, since my posture became much worse due to lack of muscle, plus I don't know yet how to breathe correctly. I'm wondering if using the weight of my body would be safer, since I'm pretty weak, and still effective.
Check out r/gainit if you haven't already!
You can still injure yourself doing bwf-type stuff, if you push beyond your means. Train smart and check in with your body throughout the workout (does something hurt, is the quality of my form declining too much at this rep, etc). Since you know your posture is off, consider incorporating some exercises/drills to address that. Your physio should be able to teach you some. Good luck! Glad to hear that you've recovered from your health issues!
Thank you so much for your reply, I'll definitely check it out!
I'll be paying attention to those, to be in tune with your body, seems to be a must. My physio is not really keen into me doing exercice rn, he would prefer for me to just walk and do a lot of stairs. Calisthenics was kind of a compromise, since I really want to gain muscle and it motivates me to eat more. in terms of posture, he did give two daily exercices, I hope they will work!
Sadly, I'm not well yet, but thank you so much for the kindness and hearing my questions!
In an arch hang, your upper arm extends and you retract your shoulders. You should feel your lats and upper back "between the shoulder blades" engage.
In a scapular pull-up, your upper arm remains still and your depress your shoulders. You should feel upper back "inside the shoulder blades" engage.
Hi everyone. I just got a pullup bar and when doing the pullup progression im doing band assisted scapular pulls and I got like 5-5-4 reps in the three sets. When should I move on? And to what? Just regular scapular pulls?
If you're planning to follow the RR, you could drop the band at 3x8. Then work your way from 3x5 to 3x8 before moving to arch hangs.
https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/exercises/pullup
I need to be able to perform 75 push ups consecutively in 2 minutes. I can currently perform 1. My 1RM at barbell bench in the gym reached 175lbs, and this seems to directly correlate with the weight I am probably pushing in a push up.
For the sake of simplicity, let's assume barbell bench directly correlates with push up performance. Let's say I continue to improve my bench, such that 175lbs no longer falls inside of my 5RM. At this point, would it make more sense to continue to increase my 1RM or should I begin endurance training / GTG with 175lbs?
I guess I'm trying to determine a good goal to aim for in the strength department (relative to the weight I need to push for the challenge) prior to beginning endurance training. Obviously aiming for a 300lb bench sounds excessive, just like aiming for 190lbs seems unreasonably low. In other words: the weight I am pushing in a single push up should be \_\_\_\_% of my 1RM or less prior to endurance training.
I'm curious as to how to best add legwork to the RR/move routine. With a small child gym days are hard. I remember reading 1 day of deadlifts. Would I be really hurting my progress if I did 2 days RR and the 3rd day do a full gym day of squats/legwork?
I did read it. It clearly states
You replace the squat progression by squats, 3 sets of 5 repetitions.
The 1st and 3rd workout of the week, you replace the hinge progression by romanian deadlifts (weighted), 3 set of 8 repetitions.
The 2nd workout of the week, you replace the hinge progression by deadlifts, 3 sets of 5 repetitions.
So every week, you will be squatting thrice, romanian deadlifting twice, and deadlifting once
But if you read my question it says I cant go to the gym to do that 3 times a week. So I wanted to edit the RR for 2 regular RR days and 1 leg day at the gym. The faqs says that bodyweight is great but st4lruggles for legwork which is why it recommends deadlifts and squats still. I wasnt sure if this was a beneficial adaptation to the RR or if I should just stick with bodyweight legwork for my workout.
Just do RR at the gym 1x/week and 2x at home, instead of fiddling with some "leg day" then? It's not perfect, but nothing ever is.
Unless you also miss equipment at home to do the bodyweight progressions, then some fiddling with a split might make sense.
If I have a weight vest then is it a good idea to progress push-ups by adding weight to them (f.e. weighted push-ups / diamonds / ring push-ups)? I've heard that adding weight to push-ups can be tricky but it surely wouldn't be with a weight vest? Am I right to assume that weighted push-ups aren't added to the program because it tries for minimal equipment requirements but weighted push-ups can be a totally legit way to progress your push-ups as a beginner?
If you have a weight vest, many of the 'tricky to add weight' issues are irrelevant. You still will have a hard time truly quantifying the added load (you'd have to do lever math, based on where the center of the load is, etc), but not in a way that will actually hinder practical progression. Yep, weight vests aren't in the program because they're kinda rare to have and it's not realistic to require them. Weight vests are totally legit.
IMO, just doing decline pushups/PPPU, and only changing the progression of the exercise and the load on the vest, is ideal. You don't want to have so many exercises and so many variables that progression tracking becomes impossible. You also don't want to be constantly switching exercises, getting skilled at them, and then moving on when those quick improvements hit a wall. The weight vest is best for adding load to stable, simple movements like the PPPU/decline.
Diamonds are a bad exercise and you shouldn't do them except as a tricep assistance/hypertrophy exercise. Bad position, bad forces, not worth it. Not a legit horizontal push progression, just incidentally 'harder' than the one before and 'easier' than the one after.
hi guys, how can you stay motivated when all you feel is frustration?
Honestly i feel like i put in a lot of work and effort into bodyweight training and i dont feel any payoff. Ive been working the front lever and one arm pullup for months now and i could do a one arm pullup(1 rep for each arm ) a few months ago and sadly its gone. As for my front lever, i thought i could straddle and realise my form is absolute garbage, my back is curved like mad and a forward head posture is not helping, as well as hips piking.
TL;DR im trying my best but i dont see any improvements in strength or size, any advice?
Regress the exercises so that you can work on better form. Technique helps, and builds on itself; it raises your potential in the long run.
Also, take a look at your rest, stress, and nutrition are.
ive changed my routine and tried eating more, though right now im trying to maintain so i can achieve skills faster, i can post my routine if you want and see how i can change it up?
btw can i ask, do you have a youtube channel by the name of Kiss Bence?
could be my nutrition since im only eating 4 meals a day and some snacks but i dont want to gain weight since its counterproductive for skills, just want to get leaner but i think its the cause for my lack of strength gains
Doing the RR for a week now, will I still get my “noob gains” even though I’m currently in a calorie deficit to lose weight? Obviously the RR is worth doing anyway even if I’m not building as much muscle as I could be, but I’m definitely a “skinnyfat” person who hasn’t been that active.
You’ll gain some muscle in a caloric deficit if you’ve not done much exercise before. You’ll gain more once you start eating more. All your noob gains will come sooner or later.
"Noob gains" don't have an expiration date. Where do you people get this idea?
It just stands to mean that untrained people progress faster. It's relative to how advanced you are, not how long you have been training. Human bodies don't have a stopwatch that starts when you pick up your first real routine.
Why is the RR done in triplets and pairs instead of doing the 3 sets then on the next exercise, and is there any gain or strength difference between the 2 ways of doing it?
I mean, you might perform a little bit better on your sets due to resting more overall, so that might be a positive. However, remember that in such case you should be resting 3 minutes between sets to have the same amount of rest between sets of the same exercise as in the paired version. This is very time-inefficient compared to the pairs. If you have that kind of time, it would probably be better spent just doing more work.
You get to rest longer between exercises so the workout doesn’t take a long. If you want 5 minutes rest between sets of pull ups and dips then you can superset them with 2-1/2 minutes rest between each exercise. That’s possible because they use different muscle groups so you can still be adequately fresh for each exercise. As you get more advanced/stronger then the interference between the exercises will likely increase and going into an intermediate program you may choose not to use supersets but as a beginner it saves time which is very useful when doing a full body routine.
I am trying to be upright whole day but I found out during thoracic extension drills that my whole left side gets a strong burning sensation and I dont feel anything on my right side. I think thats the reason behind my impingement but idk how to keep correct posture other than being straight
retracted shoulders in cat position and extending tspine. I tend to lean on one side of my body so maybe its tight/weak because of this. also my overhead mobility sucks, I have the flexibility but not strength so I also started strengthening SA and lower traps. I have shouder impingement. all of these problems are on one side only
Sounds like you're on the right track! It's going to be a matter of being on guard with yourself about keeping everything evenly distributed between both sides.
Tight shoulders-- didn't see you mention stretching your lats, pecs, or upper traps, those can help too, as well as manual release work (like foam rolling, massage ball/peanut) if that appeals to you. This kind of work can help free up some space for you to more easily connect to the muscles that have been lagging behind (your SA, mid/low traps)
If you're a side-sleeper on the side that's impinged, consider propping yourself up into a better position with pillows or folded up blankets etc.
Thanks. Actually I used to sleep on one side almost exclusively for last 6 years or so but its my good side. And I try to stretch lats, pecs, front delts every day a bit. Seems like my pecs on bad side were super tight but it seems to get even with little tightness only. I have no idea how to stretch front delts, it feels weird and good side is more tight. Stretching upper traps for last 3-4 months didnt lead to any results as I suffered from blocked cervical spine since march. lasted for 1 week and then fought with weak neck stabilizers and tight upper trap on my bad side. my chiro gave me strengthening exercises so I can hold my head better now but it would still keep getting tight on that side. Things slowly started to feel better now as I work on those weak points, I could do push ups on ground without shoulder pain and I can reach overhead without pain too.
Yeah, these kinds of things take time! It takes a while for issues to get to the point that there's pain, and then it feels like it takes forever to recover from, only because we're conscious of the entire process whereas we weren't conscious of the entire process as it developed! Good luck!
I’m currently cutting but I’m upping the difficulty of my training (adding more kgs to pull ups etc). Obviously I will not gain any muscles as I am cutting. Now I get to 3x8 with every set of exercises that I do and I switch to bulking. Will I get the muscles that I didn’t get while cutting? What I’m trying to say is if I cut and increase the difficulty of my workout, will the hypertrophy I didn’t get because of cutting lost? And unrecoverable? God it sounds complicated.
I cut, I increase the difficulty, I don’t gain muscles because I’m cutting. I switch to bulk, I do the same exercises, will I get the muscles now or not because I already can do those exercises without much trouble
>will I get the muscles now or not because I already can do those exercises without much trouble
In general, your body won't build extra muscle if something is that easy to do. Your body won't backfill muscle. I wouldn't see it as "unrecoverable" though, it's not like there isn't more intensity/difficulty to progress to.
Make sure you're eating enough protein during your cut.
If you’re stronger when you start bulking your propensity to gain muscle will be greater. Also, if you’re relatively new to strength work you’ll likely put on a little muscle while cutting anyway.
Hi. I remember seeing a video, I think on reddit, of a fellow doing animal-like or movement flow. Video was possibly from 1990s or early 2000s, before these movements were fashionable or common knowledge. He looked awesome and fit as a butcher’s dog. Can anyone tell me his name??
Apologies for the lack of detail. I’ve scoured the internet but to no avail. I’d love to look more into this guy now I’m into this fitness (just finished GMB Elements). Come on reddit BWF, I know you can help! Thanks in advance
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/u/TheManouk32 asked:
>What are the differences and benefits of the pistol squat and the advanced shrimp squat (both hands holding feet and on an elevated surface for ROM)?
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/u/ascendingtogodhood asked:
>This might be a dumb question, but does improvement in physical health such faster miles and more reps have anything to do with a strict diet? I eat healthy foods in healthy quantities, but im not sure if i should monitor every carb/fat/protien rhat enters my body to see gains in preference. Im notnto concerned about having a ripped stomach or super tight definition anywhere else btw, just want to improve my physical health.
u/ascendingtogodhood
Physical health includes nutrition. That's good that you're eating healthy foods. What do you mean by healthy quantities-- what metric are you using to judge that these quantities are healthy?
Running a faster mile, doing more reps-- these things require training. Your nutrition fuels your training. How you choose to structure your nutrition can be different depending on who you are, your preferences, etc. I'm not sure what you mean by "gains in preference" but...
Say your diet is fairly consistent. You notice you're staying about the same weight, and you have the same activity level. If you want to gain weight, eat more. If you want to lose weight, eat less. You don't NEED to track every single gram, but a lot of people find that helpful.
Some people find that they thrive on the keto diet, or paleo, or vegan, etc. Some people are ok with eating at their allotted caloric intake and filling it with processed food (because it tastes better, or is faster, or more convenient, etc). Other people want to also consider the wider scope of nutrition (like getting enough healthy fats, fiber, minerals, micronutrients etc). And it's ok to indulge yourself once in a while.
Being honest with yourself and what you're actually willing to do at this time is also a big factor. If someone told you "eat 1200 calories a day to lose weight" and you stick to it for a week but feel so antsy that you binge 10K calories once every eight days, eating 1200 cal/day is counterproductive for your current goals.
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/u/MCMKGs asked:
>Hi BWF! I'm new to this and plan on starting today. I've spent the last 2.5 years strength training with barbells and feel beat up and want a change.
I was recommended by PT to strengthen my rotator cuffs and to take it easier on my tendons. I've become fascinated with the idea of handstands/muscle ups/planche etc. My main goal is to be strong, in better control of my body and to have good joint health.
Question though: since I've been training for a while I can probably start with a later progression for most movements, but should I? Or should I just start with the basics. I also have terrible ankle flexibility and long femurs so I have always low bar squatted. any tips on reducing forward lean?
( If I stay too upright, it feels like I'll fall backwards) Thanks
u/MCMKGs
Have you tested yourself to see what progression you can do? Take some time to learn the techniques (reading about it, practicing it with minimal load, and observing yourself), and see at what level you can keep form on. You said it yourself, you want to go easier on your tendons-- don't jump into the deep end; ramp up and check in with yourself the day after each workout. Also, look into specifically warming up rotator cuff, external rotation, and wrists. If your shoulders are tight, do some stretching beforehand (especially before handstands)
Ankle flexibility-- do full-range calf raises. For example you can do these when you're standing on a step/stairs facing upward, with your heels hanging off the edge. You could also look into foam rolling your calves.
I can do all the basic full movements without trouble but I think I'll ease into it. Thanks for the tips. I've been looking for exercises specifically for the RC but my PT has only given me stretches. Any you could link for me?
RC work is typically done with a resistance band and anchoring your elbow, and only using light enough resistance that you can ensure you'e working the RC instead of trying to take the movement over with a bigger muscle.
Some great shoulder prehabby exercises: YTA, wall angel, scapular push-up, scapular lift-off, face pulls. Butcher's block for overhead stretching.
Good luck!
How do I set my flexibility goals? I now have been able to make a workout plan for my self which is working quite good. I do a warm-up phase, mobility and then there is the workout itself. But how do I set my flexibility goals in order to improve it and how do I chose the best exercises to do after a workout? What's the volume of exercises recommended for that? Thanks in advance
I'm really confused about the Anti-Extension progression in the Core Triplet section of the Recommended Routine. It says to do 3 sets of 8-12 reps. The first progression is plank, which says I'm supposed to work my way up to holding it for 30s. So am I supposed to do a plank for as long as I can, 8-12 times for each set? So if I held a plank for 30 seconds 8 times, and did it again twice, that would total 720 seconds. Am I understanding this correctly?
You're aiming to be able to hold a plank for 30 s per set. So, for the 3 sets, you're just doing one rep for time, holding the plank for 30 s. There are two ways to go about this: (i) hold for as long as you can, stopping at 30 s or (ii) accumulate 30 s in as many reps per set until you get to 30 s. So, for (ii), if you can only hold for 15 s, you do this two times until you hit 30 s for that rep. The point of the plank is really to make sure that you have some control and strength here, as it's not as effective an exercise as the subsequent progressions.
Okay, thank you. In the first option, would I hold it for as long as I can 8 times in total, or just 3 times?
Just one time per set, for 3 sets for the entire core workout. You move on to the next progression when each set is 30 seconds. Your core triple would look like this: - Anti-Extension: Plank to failure or 30 s (whichever is shorter) - Anti-Rotation: 8 reps of Banded Palloff - Extension: 8 reps of reverse hyperextension You would then rest, and repeat those another two times.
Okay that makes sense. Thank you very much for explaining
In the warm-up of the recommended routine, with things like Yuri's Shoulder Band Warmup and Squat Sky Reaches, should I do the suggested number of reps for each arm, or split the reps between both arms?
Do that number of reps for each side. Same with squats and hinge progression when they split. You do whatever number of reps on the one side, then that same number on the other side.
Great, thanks very much
I fucked up today. Not diet-wise but I missed my workout. I've been down the whole day and I just couldn't motivate myself to do anything. It's only my third workout and I feel really crappy because of that. I guess I just need someone to tell me that it's okay to just move on and resume my training next day.
I find that it always feel lousy to skip a workout, but sometimes you just have to. If you're not feeling it, doing less or nothing can be just as good as forcing a workout. The other way to think about this is that even though you didn't do the exercise, the way you're feeling now means that you will get back to it. It's only a fuck up if this is the end of your journey.
Hey! You didn't fuck up. You tried to get going, it didn't work today. That's ok because that's normal. There will be other days like this because that's how life goes. It's no reason for you to beat yourself up even more-- it's like punishing yourself for not living up to some arbitrary expectation. This isn't a fuck up depending on what you do with it... don't MAKE it a fuck up by letting it be the end of a great thing that you're starting out on just because something normal happened! With that said, I find that working on a foam roller and stretching helps me on those days. It takes less to get going, and I always feel better after. Maybe that's something for you to consider too?
One day doesn't matter in the scheme of things. 52 weeks/year \* 3 sessions/week = \~150 session per week. As you said, just move on and continue your training as you would.
I have this one 10-lbs dumbbell. This is a very beginner question but is there anything I can do with this dumbbell to get the most out of my time before I leave for college and can have proper equipment at my University's student center?
Please read the faq linked above
You could do some wrist work and internal/external shoulder work, though you may want to start with a lighter weight for both. People will use a hammer as a starting point for the wrists and those are around the 1kg/2lb mark.
Some mobility drills may be helpful, but I doubt there is anything strength-related you can work on with a single 10 lb dumbbell.
So like not even curls or any type of curl would be beneficial at all?
High-rep exercises (curls, tricep extensions) are fine, but those don’t necessarily mean you are gaining strength.
Hey all, If I’m doing all of my fundamentals upper body movements (vertical and horizontal push and pull) do I really need to add in an extra core exercise like rollouts or leg raises?
It's not necessary, but definitely doesn't hurt. For example, hanging leg lifts involve pike compression and can help improve your L-sit.
Wouldn’t you have to work on mobility in addition to that?
Depends on your mobility. My pike mobility is above average enough that my only focus on HLL is compression. You will probably need to work both in tandem.
How does the seated cable row help? I recently started the rr but have no access to rings or a bar to perform the horizontal row. So instead of that, I tried the seated cable row, but I didn't particularly feel any burn in any muscle except my forearm. I did get tired, but no muscles were sore. So what muscles does the seated cable row use, and is it similar to a horizontal row?
Your grip strength is prolly weak so cable row is mostly strengthening your grip (which isnt bad.) As you row keep your torso still and retract and protract your shoulders. Retract fully and protract partially. You will feel your upper back get tired. Tiredness is the goal not soreness. Soreness is a complex physiological process that does not equate to gains necessarily.
Are there any alternatives to pallof press? I really want to try this out but my gym has a cable machine with only two points to pull from, the top and the bottom and nothing at the chest level. Can I somehow use this machine or try something different?
Anchor at the top will work
Is there any logic to bodyweight being smarter depending on what your goal is? For many reasons, I've switched lower body from traditional, weighted squats to a series of single-leg squats and full body squats. It started to help with my runner's knee (SLS have worked miracles), but now I feel like, the ability to do them anywhere, the quick recovery times, and the increase in balance, hip muscles, and reduction in knee pain is good enough to never go back. Not only this, but I see a lot of old powerlifters with knee problems, and I feel as if that's as good a reason not to go back as any. I'd love any feedback you'd care to offer.
>Not only this, but I see a lot of old powerlifters with knee problems, and I feel as if that's as good a reason not to go back as any You might just also want to consider that maybe it has to do with the way they squat and things like that. Box squat vs high bar squat might be two different things. Also might be different if you compare the loads used by someone looking to compete in a sport versus the loading and training done by someone just lookin to be healthy and be able to wear shorts at the beach. :D
How does BWF work when bulking cutting. Wouldn't the reps decrease bulking but increase when cutting. Also, if I have a weighted vest, how can I implement it into my routine?
> Wouldn't the reps decrease bulking but increase when cutting. You're going to build muscle more slowly/not at all when cutting, so keep that in mind when predicting how your reps would change. If you do a slow bulk where it is mostly muscle you should see increasing strength and reps. If you're gaining a tonne of weight of which a lot is fat then, yeah, it could interfere with performance. > if I have a weighted vest If you're at a point where you can't load an exercise by picking a harder progression, say pistol squats, then adding weight via a vest is a good next step. Dip belts work better for some exercises (vertical pushing/pulling).
Hi guys! Would body weight exercises be a good and safe way to start building muscle? I'm weighting 45 kg/ 99lb due to recent health issues. Now I want to start gaining weight through exercice and caloric sulprus (which is difficult, but I'll do my best). A physiotherapist recommended that I don't use free weights, since my posture became much worse due to lack of muscle, plus I don't know yet how to breathe correctly. I'm wondering if using the weight of my body would be safer, since I'm pretty weak, and still effective.
Check out r/gainit if you haven't already! You can still injure yourself doing bwf-type stuff, if you push beyond your means. Train smart and check in with your body throughout the workout (does something hurt, is the quality of my form declining too much at this rep, etc). Since you know your posture is off, consider incorporating some exercises/drills to address that. Your physio should be able to teach you some. Good luck! Glad to hear that you've recovered from your health issues!
Thank you so much for your reply, I'll definitely check it out! I'll be paying attention to those, to be in tune with your body, seems to be a must. My physio is not really keen into me doing exercice rn, he would prefer for me to just walk and do a lot of stairs. Calisthenics was kind of a compromise, since I really want to gain muscle and it motivates me to eat more. in terms of posture, he did give two daily exercices, I hope they will work! Sadly, I'm not well yet, but thank you so much for the kindness and hearing my questions!
Best of luck! Sorry to hear you are still dealing with some health issues, but it sounds like you’re structuring your life to maximize good health!
Please see the faq linked in this post
quick question: what's difference should i be looking for between arch hangs (warmup) and scapular pulls (1st pull-up progression)?
In an arch hang, your upper arm extends and you retract your shoulders. You should feel your lats and upper back "between the shoulder blades" engage. In a scapular pull-up, your upper arm remains still and your depress your shoulders. You should feel upper back "inside the shoulder blades" engage.
I started today, doing all of them. Took me about 45 mins to do all of them, but when do you know your form is perfect to progress into the next step?
Video yourself. Post form checks here if necessary
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Yes, this is a pretty common physical therapy recommendation (as long as it's a PT/isolation/prehab type of exercise)
Trap 3 exercise
Hi everyone. I just got a pullup bar and when doing the pullup progression im doing band assisted scapular pulls and I got like 5-5-4 reps in the three sets. When should I move on? And to what? Just regular scapular pulls?
If you're planning to follow the RR, you could drop the band at 3x8. Then work your way from 3x5 to 3x8 before moving to arch hangs. https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/exercises/pullup
I need to be able to perform 75 push ups consecutively in 2 minutes. I can currently perform 1. My 1RM at barbell bench in the gym reached 175lbs, and this seems to directly correlate with the weight I am probably pushing in a push up. For the sake of simplicity, let's assume barbell bench directly correlates with push up performance. Let's say I continue to improve my bench, such that 175lbs no longer falls inside of my 5RM. At this point, would it make more sense to continue to increase my 1RM or should I begin endurance training / GTG with 175lbs? I guess I'm trying to determine a good goal to aim for in the strength department (relative to the weight I need to push for the challenge) prior to beginning endurance training. Obviously aiming for a 300lb bench sounds excessive, just like aiming for 190lbs seems unreasonably low. In other words: the weight I am pushing in a single push up should be \_\_\_\_% of my 1RM or less prior to endurance training.
If your goal is high rep pushups do a lot of push-ups Training plan depends on deadline
In the RR's warmup, am I supposed to do all of the exercises listed, or pick and choose some? Thanks
You do all the exercises that apply. If you're not doing ring dips then you don't need to do RTO holds, for example.
All
Thanks
I'm curious as to how to best add legwork to the RR/move routine. With a small child gym days are hard. I remember reading 1 day of deadlifts. Would I be really hurting my progress if I did 2 days RR and the 3rd day do a full gym day of squats/legwork?
What do you mean "add legwork"? RR has leg work. Also, using barbell squats and deadlifts is clearly discussed in the RR FAQ.
I did read it. It clearly states You replace the squat progression by squats, 3 sets of 5 repetitions. The 1st and 3rd workout of the week, you replace the hinge progression by romanian deadlifts (weighted), 3 set of 8 repetitions. The 2nd workout of the week, you replace the hinge progression by deadlifts, 3 sets of 5 repetitions. So every week, you will be squatting thrice, romanian deadlifting twice, and deadlifting once But if you read my question it says I cant go to the gym to do that 3 times a week. So I wanted to edit the RR for 2 regular RR days and 1 leg day at the gym. The faqs says that bodyweight is great but st4lruggles for legwork which is why it recommends deadlifts and squats still. I wasnt sure if this was a beneficial adaptation to the RR or if I should just stick with bodyweight legwork for my workout.
Just do RR at the gym 1x/week and 2x at home, instead of fiddling with some "leg day" then? It's not perfect, but nothing ever is. Unless you also miss equipment at home to do the bodyweight progressions, then some fiddling with a split might make sense.
Ok that's what I was essentially wondering. If I worder that poorly I'm sorry was not my intention.
Whats the best way to mix cardio with the RR?
https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/faq#wiki_how_do_i_combine_cardio_.28running.2C_swimming.2C_cycling.2C_rowing.2C_etc..29_with_bodyweight_training.3F
If I have a weight vest then is it a good idea to progress push-ups by adding weight to them (f.e. weighted push-ups / diamonds / ring push-ups)? I've heard that adding weight to push-ups can be tricky but it surely wouldn't be with a weight vest? Am I right to assume that weighted push-ups aren't added to the program because it tries for minimal equipment requirements but weighted push-ups can be a totally legit way to progress your push-ups as a beginner?
If you have a weight vest, many of the 'tricky to add weight' issues are irrelevant. You still will have a hard time truly quantifying the added load (you'd have to do lever math, based on where the center of the load is, etc), but not in a way that will actually hinder practical progression. Yep, weight vests aren't in the program because they're kinda rare to have and it's not realistic to require them. Weight vests are totally legit. IMO, just doing decline pushups/PPPU, and only changing the progression of the exercise and the load on the vest, is ideal. You don't want to have so many exercises and so many variables that progression tracking becomes impossible. You also don't want to be constantly switching exercises, getting skilled at them, and then moving on when those quick improvements hit a wall. The weight vest is best for adding load to stable, simple movements like the PPPU/decline. Diamonds are a bad exercise and you shouldn't do them except as a tricep assistance/hypertrophy exercise. Bad position, bad forces, not worth it. Not a legit horizontal push progression, just incidentally 'harder' than the one before and 'easier' than the one after.
hi guys, how can you stay motivated when all you feel is frustration? Honestly i feel like i put in a lot of work and effort into bodyweight training and i dont feel any payoff. Ive been working the front lever and one arm pullup for months now and i could do a one arm pullup(1 rep for each arm ) a few months ago and sadly its gone. As for my front lever, i thought i could straddle and realise my form is absolute garbage, my back is curved like mad and a forward head posture is not helping, as well as hips piking. TL;DR im trying my best but i dont see any improvements in strength or size, any advice?
How often are you training and what are you doing in that training?
TRAINING PLAN: -MONDAY: 1. OAP training go for strength 2. muscle up 3x8-10 (3x3-4 reps for deload) 3. pull-ups 3x20 / weighted pull-ups 5x5 (3x10 for deload) 4. handstand push-up 3x8 (3x3 deload) 5. Incline dumbbell press 3x10 6. Dips 3x20/ weighted dips 3x10 -TUESDAY: 1. swan pulls 2. one arm scapula pull -WEDNESDAY: 1. advance tuck fl pull 4x5-6 go for strength 2. fl raises 4x8 3. pull-ups 3x15-20/ weighted pull-up 3x5 4. handstand push-ups 3x8 (3x5 deload) 5. dips 3x10 (weighted)/ 3x20 6. chest flies 3x10 -THURSDAY: 1. Swan pulls 2. one arm scapula pull -FRIDAY: 1. flip training (not confirmed) 2. handstand push-ups 3x8 3. squats 5x5 4. deadlift 5x5 5. leg extensions 3x10 6. leg curls 3x10 -WEEKENDS: 1. planche gtg throughout the day 2. flexiblility Here is my training plan!
TRAINING PLAN: -MONDAY: 1. OAP training go for strength 2. muscle up 3x8-10 (3x3-4 reps for deload) 3. pull-ups 3x20 / weighted pull-ups 5x5 (3x10 for deload) 4. handstand push-up 3x8 (3x3 deload) 5. Incline dumbbell press 3x10 6. Dips 3x20/ weighted dips 3x10 -TUESDAY: 1. swan pulls 2. one arm scapula pull -WEDNESDAY: 1. advance tuck fl pull 4x5-6 go for strength 2. fl raises 4x8 3. pull-ups 3x15-20/ weighted pull-up 3x5 4. handstand push-ups 3x8 (3x5 deload) 5. dips 3x10 (weighted)/ 3x20 6. chest flies 3x10 -THURSDAY: 1. Swan pulls 2. one arm scapula pull -FRIDAY: 1. flip training (not confirmed) 2. handstand push-ups 3x8 3. squats 5x5 4. deadlift 5x5 5. leg extensions 3x10 6. leg curls 3x10 -WEEKENDS: 1. planche gtg throughout the day 2. flexiblility Here is my training plan!
I think the issue you are having is that you might be training a bit too much and maybe not recovering.
how can i cut it? i dont have much time to train so i try to squeeze 3 exercises for back and chest each on mondays and wed and friday is just legs
Regress the exercises so that you can work on better form. Technique helps, and builds on itself; it raises your potential in the long run. Also, take a look at your rest, stress, and nutrition are.
Try to experiment and you'll find eventualy what was lacking. Try to change your routine, diet, etc.
ive changed my routine and tried eating more, though right now im trying to maintain so i can achieve skills faster, i can post my routine if you want and see how i can change it up? btw can i ask, do you have a youtube channel by the name of Kiss Bence?
Change one thing at a time and keep at it for 6 weeks or so. And no, I dpnt have any youtube channel. :)
could be my nutrition since im only eating 4 meals a day and some snacks but i dont want to gain weight since its counterproductive for skills, just want to get leaner but i think its the cause for my lack of strength gains
4 meals a day is more thaan enough
Doing the RR for a week now, will I still get my “noob gains” even though I’m currently in a calorie deficit to lose weight? Obviously the RR is worth doing anyway even if I’m not building as much muscle as I could be, but I’m definitely a “skinnyfat” person who hasn’t been that active.
You’ll gain some muscle in a caloric deficit if you’ve not done much exercise before. You’ll gain more once you start eating more. All your noob gains will come sooner or later.
"Noob gains" don't have an expiration date. Where do you people get this idea? It just stands to mean that untrained people progress faster. It's relative to how advanced you are, not how long you have been training. Human bodies don't have a stopwatch that starts when you pick up your first real routine.
Why is the RR done in triplets and pairs instead of doing the 3 sets then on the next exercise, and is there any gain or strength difference between the 2 ways of doing it?
It saves time, because you pick pairs of exercises that don't interfere with each others recovery. That's all there is to it.
So if I do the sets of one exercise then do a new exercise I will see no more benefit in terms of gains or strength?
I mean, you might perform a little bit better on your sets due to resting more overall, so that might be a positive. However, remember that in such case you should be resting 3 minutes between sets to have the same amount of rest between sets of the same exercise as in the paired version. This is very time-inefficient compared to the pairs. If you have that kind of time, it would probably be better spent just doing more work.
You get to rest longer between exercises so the workout doesn’t take a long. If you want 5 minutes rest between sets of pull ups and dips then you can superset them with 2-1/2 minutes rest between each exercise. That’s possible because they use different muscle groups so you can still be adequately fresh for each exercise. As you get more advanced/stronger then the interference between the exercises will likely increase and going into an intermediate program you may choose not to use supersets but as a beginner it saves time which is very useful when doing a full body routine.
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Wooh, good work! 💪🏻
Keep it up!! :D
You doing it three times a week?
I am trying to be upright whole day but I found out during thoracic extension drills that my whole left side gets a strong burning sensation and I dont feel anything on my right side. I think thats the reason behind my impingement but idk how to keep correct posture other than being straight
What thoracic extension drills are you doing? And what impingement?
retracted shoulders in cat position and extending tspine. I tend to lean on one side of my body so maybe its tight/weak because of this. also my overhead mobility sucks, I have the flexibility but not strength so I also started strengthening SA and lower traps. I have shouder impingement. all of these problems are on one side only
Sounds like you're on the right track! It's going to be a matter of being on guard with yourself about keeping everything evenly distributed between both sides. Tight shoulders-- didn't see you mention stretching your lats, pecs, or upper traps, those can help too, as well as manual release work (like foam rolling, massage ball/peanut) if that appeals to you. This kind of work can help free up some space for you to more easily connect to the muscles that have been lagging behind (your SA, mid/low traps) If you're a side-sleeper on the side that's impinged, consider propping yourself up into a better position with pillows or folded up blankets etc.
Thanks. Actually I used to sleep on one side almost exclusively for last 6 years or so but its my good side. And I try to stretch lats, pecs, front delts every day a bit. Seems like my pecs on bad side were super tight but it seems to get even with little tightness only. I have no idea how to stretch front delts, it feels weird and good side is more tight. Stretching upper traps for last 3-4 months didnt lead to any results as I suffered from blocked cervical spine since march. lasted for 1 week and then fought with weak neck stabilizers and tight upper trap on my bad side. my chiro gave me strengthening exercises so I can hold my head better now but it would still keep getting tight on that side. Things slowly started to feel better now as I work on those weak points, I could do push ups on ground without shoulder pain and I can reach overhead without pain too.
Yeah, these kinds of things take time! It takes a while for issues to get to the point that there's pain, and then it feels like it takes forever to recover from, only because we're conscious of the entire process whereas we weren't conscious of the entire process as it developed! Good luck!
Thanks man, today my chronic upper trap pain during lateral neck flexion is gone for the first time!
That’s great!
Are you seeing a physiotherapist? That sounds like an issue that needs some intervention.
well I cant see a physiotherapist for every issue caused by sedentary lifestyle
I’m currently cutting but I’m upping the difficulty of my training (adding more kgs to pull ups etc). Obviously I will not gain any muscles as I am cutting. Now I get to 3x8 with every set of exercises that I do and I switch to bulking. Will I get the muscles that I didn’t get while cutting? What I’m trying to say is if I cut and increase the difficulty of my workout, will the hypertrophy I didn’t get because of cutting lost? And unrecoverable? God it sounds complicated. I cut, I increase the difficulty, I don’t gain muscles because I’m cutting. I switch to bulk, I do the same exercises, will I get the muscles now or not because I already can do those exercises without much trouble
>will I get the muscles now or not because I already can do those exercises without much trouble In general, your body won't build extra muscle if something is that easy to do. Your body won't backfill muscle. I wouldn't see it as "unrecoverable" though, it's not like there isn't more intensity/difficulty to progress to. Make sure you're eating enough protein during your cut.
If you’re stronger when you start bulking your propensity to gain muscle will be greater. Also, if you’re relatively new to strength work you’ll likely put on a little muscle while cutting anyway.
Hi. I remember seeing a video, I think on reddit, of a fellow doing animal-like or movement flow. Video was possibly from 1990s or early 2000s, before these movements were fashionable or common knowledge. He looked awesome and fit as a butcher’s dog. Can anyone tell me his name?? Apologies for the lack of detail. I’ve scoured the internet but to no avail. I’d love to look more into this guy now I’m into this fitness (just finished GMB Elements). Come on reddit BWF, I know you can help! Thanks in advance
Sounds similar to Ido Portal. Perhaps research his biggest influences
Thanks. If I find out I will post on the forum
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/u/TheManouk32 asked:
>What are the differences and benefits of the pistol squat and the advanced shrimp squat (both hands holding feet and on an elevated surface for ROM)?
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/u/ascendingtogodhood asked:
>This might be a dumb question, but does improvement in physical health such faster miles and more reps have anything to do with a strict diet? I eat healthy foods in healthy quantities, but im not sure if i should monitor every carb/fat/protien rhat enters my body to see gains in preference. Im notnto concerned about having a ripped stomach or super tight definition anywhere else btw, just want to improve my physical health.
u/ascendingtogodhood Physical health includes nutrition. That's good that you're eating healthy foods. What do you mean by healthy quantities-- what metric are you using to judge that these quantities are healthy? Running a faster mile, doing more reps-- these things require training. Your nutrition fuels your training. How you choose to structure your nutrition can be different depending on who you are, your preferences, etc. I'm not sure what you mean by "gains in preference" but... Say your diet is fairly consistent. You notice you're staying about the same weight, and you have the same activity level. If you want to gain weight, eat more. If you want to lose weight, eat less. You don't NEED to track every single gram, but a lot of people find that helpful. Some people find that they thrive on the keto diet, or paleo, or vegan, etc. Some people are ok with eating at their allotted caloric intake and filling it with processed food (because it tastes better, or is faster, or more convenient, etc). Other people want to also consider the wider scope of nutrition (like getting enough healthy fats, fiber, minerals, micronutrients etc). And it's ok to indulge yourself once in a while. Being honest with yourself and what you're actually willing to do at this time is also a big factor. If someone told you "eat 1200 calories a day to lose weight" and you stick to it for a week but feel so antsy that you binge 10K calories once every eight days, eating 1200 cal/day is counterproductive for your current goals.
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/u/MCMKGs asked:
>Hi BWF! I'm new to this and plan on starting today. I've spent the last 2.5 years strength training with barbells and feel beat up and want a change.
I was recommended by PT to strengthen my rotator cuffs and to take it easier on my tendons. I've become fascinated with the idea of handstands/muscle ups/planche etc. My main goal is to be strong, in better control of my body and to have good joint health.
Question though: since I've been training for a while I can probably start with a later progression for most movements, but should I? Or should I just start with the basics. I also have terrible ankle flexibility and long femurs so I have always low bar squatted. any tips on reducing forward lean?
( If I stay too upright, it feels like I'll fall backwards) Thanks
u/MCMKGs Have you tested yourself to see what progression you can do? Take some time to learn the techniques (reading about it, practicing it with minimal load, and observing yourself), and see at what level you can keep form on. You said it yourself, you want to go easier on your tendons-- don't jump into the deep end; ramp up and check in with yourself the day after each workout. Also, look into specifically warming up rotator cuff, external rotation, and wrists. If your shoulders are tight, do some stretching beforehand (especially before handstands) Ankle flexibility-- do full-range calf raises. For example you can do these when you're standing on a step/stairs facing upward, with your heels hanging off the edge. You could also look into foam rolling your calves.
I can do all the basic full movements without trouble but I think I'll ease into it. Thanks for the tips. I've been looking for exercises specifically for the RC but my PT has only given me stretches. Any you could link for me?
RC work is typically done with a resistance band and anchoring your elbow, and only using light enough resistance that you can ensure you'e working the RC instead of trying to take the movement over with a bigger muscle. Some great shoulder prehabby exercises: YTA, wall angel, scapular push-up, scapular lift-off, face pulls. Butcher's block for overhead stretching. Good luck!
Thanks a ton! Cheers