Posts Tagged ‘pull-ups’
Bodyweight exercises can be a great way to increase strength and build muscle. Many people do not realize the strength level that can be achieved and the muscle that can be built with only bodyweight exercises. One of the most famous of individuals that have built an incredible physique through bodyweight exercises is Hershel Walker. In an interview done with Academy of Achievement in 1991 Herschel said the following:
“I didn’t grow up – my parents didn’t have a lot of money. My high school didn’t have a lot of money to afford a lot of the expensive weights. You know all this stuff. They used that as an excuse. I started doing push-ups and sit-ups during commercials as I was watching TV. And started doing about, sometimes 2,000 push-ups, 3,000 sit-ups, 1500 pull-ups, 1000 dips, or different things like that. I started creating different hand positions for all that, then I learned that could work you out. ”
All you have to do is to look at Herschel’s physique even today to realize that there is great merit to bodyweight exercise. It requires hard work but it can provide great gains in strength and muscle.
Bodyweight exercises such as pull ups and push ups and sit ups allow you to follow the principle of progression. You can build muscle when you progressively overload your muscle. Increase the number of push ups you do every day. Increase the number of pull ups that you do every day. Eric Cressey just made a post recently that stated if you did one set pull ups to failure every day for one month that you would double the number of push ups that you could do in one set.
It is based on the idea of progression. If you want to increase strength and build muscle then embark on a program of progressive bodyweight exercises. You will be amazed by the results. Maybe one day you will build up to 1000 push ups like Herschel Walker.
Many people acknowledge that you can get a great metabolic workout with bodyweight exercises, however, many of these same people are reluctant to say the bodyweight exercises are effective at building muscle. I will dispute this thought process. Bodyweight exercises may not make you a power lifter but they are definitely a help when you are trying to pack on slabs of muscle. So let’s take a look at some of the best bodyweight exercises to build muscle.
Push Ups. There are many different variations of push ups that you can do. All of them are effective at building muscle. I remember from years ago that Herschel Walker attributed his physique to hundreds of push ups each day. A push up uses about 60% of your body weight when you perform one. If you were to elevate your feet you would be using an even higher percentage of your body weight.
You can use many different variations of the push up to build muscle. Wide grip, narrow grip and a staggered grip will each give you a different feel. Narrow grip push ups are quite challenging for not only your chest muscles but you triceps as well.
If you want to not only add muscle but are looking or a bodyweight exercise to build strength then you might want to consider performing plyometric push ups. To perform this you will set a platform on each side of your arms. Then you will explode up so that you raise yourself off the ground and catch yourself on the platforms. Then perform a depth drop and propel yourself off the platform and back on to the ground. You can view the video below to see it in action.
Adam Archuleta attributed his great strength gains prior to attending the NFL combine back in 2001 to this type of training. He benched over 500 pounds at just of 200 pounds of body weight.
Pull Ups. Pull ups are not only the best bodyweight back exercises you can perform they may be the best back exercises you can perform period. Arnold Schwartzeneggar stated that the wide grip pull up was in his estimation the best exercise to pack slabs of muscle onto his lats. Not only will pull-us give you that “V look” or “cobra loo.” to your upper back but it will also provide a great workout and build muscle for your biceps.
You will find out that if you do a lot of pull ups that you will never have to do another bicep exercise in your life. And peope will still walk up to you and ask you how you got such big arms.
There are many different variations that you ca do for push ups as well. Wide grip, narrow grip, overhand grip and underhand grip will each hit you back and biceps in different ways.
One-legged squats (pistols). This is one of the toughest bodyweight exercises to perform. Not only does it require balance but an incredible amount of strength. This exercise will build muscle in your quads.
It is a very challenging exercise to perform at first and you may need the aid of some object to help you get up initially. The TRX Suspension Trainer is great for this. If you don’t have one of these you may want to use a door knob or some other object that you can grab onto to get you past the sticking point in the squat.
Handstand push ups. The last of the best bodyweight exercises to build muscle that we will cover here is the hand stand push up. It is quite difficult. You will place your hands about 2 feet from a wall and kick up into a handstand. Then lower yourself to the ground till your head touches and raise yourself back up. As I said, this is quite a challenging exercise but it is a great bodyweight exercise for shoulders.
You may want to do this on a carpeted floor. The first time I ever tried one was outside on concrete and I ended up with a scab on the top of my head when I contacted the ground a little hard. You can walk your arms away from the wall to lessen the amount of weight you are trying to push up. The closer to the wall you are the more of your bodyweight you will be using.
These four exercises are what I would consider to be the best bodyweight exercises to build muscle. Give them a try and see what you think.
Bodyweight exercises can be used to give virtually any body part a great workout. The back is not exception. If you want a great back workout here are the best bodyweight back exercises for you to perform.
Inverted rows. If you have a TRX, I would perform this exercise with the aide of the TRX Suspension Trainer. If not then you will have to improvise a bit. If you have a weight bar around the house simply lay it across two sturdy objects such as a stool. It will need to high enough off the ground so that your arms can be fully extended and not touch the ground. If you do not have a weight bar then you can use a sturdy broom handle or something similar. You could also go to Home Depot and purchase a 4′ long section of 3/4″ dowel rod.
To perform the exercise use either an overhead or underhand grip on the bar and pull your chest to the bar.
Pull Ups. You cannot have a discussion about the best bodyweight back exercises unless you include the pull up. It is the most effective exercise at building size in your upper back. To really hit your lats use a wide grip. However, use varying grips to work your back in different ways. You can use close grip, wide grip, overhand or underhand grips. You can also use things such as towels to drape over the bar. In addition to giving your back a great workout it also wreaks havoc on your grip. You can buy a free standing pull up unit or you can get one that attaches to your door frame like Iron Gym. Or if you have exposed rafters in your garage stick a metal rod between them and knock out your pull ups. If you look around you will probably find many things to use such as a sturdy tree branch or monkey bars at your local park.
The previous two back exercises are for the upper back. If you want to work the lower back then one of the best bodyweight back exercises that you can perform is a hyperextension. These can be done on a Roman Chair if you have one. If not, then you will have to improvise and it might require a partner. Drape your body over something so that when you bend at the waist your head will not touch the ground. Have a partner hold your legs or find some way to anchor your feet. This will give you a great lower back workout.
Incorporate these bodyweight back exercises into your bodyweight exercise routine and watch your back grow in size and strength.
By Hugo Rivera
Bodybuilding training is composed mostly of weight training exercises. For the best results possible, your bodybuilding training should be composed of mostly free weight exercises that use dumbbells and barbells for resistance. However, I often get asked the questions: “What about bodyweight exercises? Are these useful for bodybuilding?”
Truth of the matter is, that bodyweight exercises are the best exercises for the fastest bodybuilding results! Examples of such exercises are the pull-ups, chin-ups, push-ups, dips, squats, lunges and calf raises. Any exercise where you have to move your torso through space and that can be done just by using your body as the resistance is a bodyweight exercise.
These exercises provide the best bodybuilding results because you have to activate the most amount of muscle fibers (since they provide the most neural stimulation) and use several stabilizer muscles (in addition to the main muscles being targeted) to accomplish the task of moving your body through space. In addition, these exercises are excellent for creating functional strength; in other words, strength that can be used to any task in your daily life.
As you get stronger, resistance can be added by using a weight belt for exercises like the pull-ups, chin-ups and dips, while barbells and dumbbells can be used for the squats, lunges, and calf raises. For push-ups, you can have a partner provide you with the resistance.
So be sure to incorporate plenty of bodyweight exercises in your bodybuilding routine and watch your bodybuilding results soar!
Then you pull yourself upwards until your chest is almost touching the bar and your chin is higher than the bar. You have to focus on keeping your body straight when doing this type of exercise. The main thing is to keep your feet off the floor, but you can bend your knees or cross your legs.
There are many variations of this exercise. You can use the wide grip position with your arms extended about twice the width of your shoulders. This variation helps you to emphasize your lats.
You can use the close grip variation where your hands are only 6 8 inches apart on the bar to work on the lower lats. Whatever exercise you choose to do in chin ups, the resistance is provided by your body. You should combine pull ups with other strength training exercises such as push ups or a bench press.
A pull up bar is a very inexpensive piece of exercise equipment. You can place it anywhere you want in your home or exercise room and use it as part of your regular exercise routine. Strength training for the muscles of your back and neck help you in your daily life as there are many occasions when you have to life something and dont have the strength required. Toning your back and neck muscles also helps to keep your body straight as you get older.
By: vishal
About the Author:
Read About Bodybuilding Also Read About Benefits of Antioxidants And Bodybuilding Diet Plan
I always laugh because it isn’t really a secret, the Army has had the answer for years.
When I attended the United States Army Airborne School in 1993 one of the requirements is that you needed to complete at least five pull-ups. Back then my my max in pull-ups was about eight so I had no problem doing the minimum. When I left Jump School I could Max out at 20 pull-ups after only three weeks!!
To improve your pull-ups you need to do pull-ups three times a day every day. You can’t expect to go to the gym three times a week and improve on your pull-ups. The way the army had it set up is that in front of every mess hall there are pull up bars. Before you go eat you need to perform three to five pull-ups at least. Breakfast, lunch and dinner I would do one set of 5-8 pull-ups everyday.
At the end of three weeks I was able to max out at 20 pull-ups!! You can incorporate this training into your life style be either making a pull-up bar in your back yard or mounting one at your work place. Pull-ups are one of the best exercises because it gives you functional strength and flexibility.
At the end of three weeks I was able to max out at 20 pull-ups!! You can incorporate this training into your life style be either making a pull-up bar in your back yard or mounting one at your work place. Pull-ups are one of the best exercises because it gives you functional strength and flexibility.
By: vishal
About the Author:
Read About Bodybuilding Also Read About Benefits of Antioxidants And Bodybuilding Diet Plan
Both men and women can follow body weight workouts and get great results that are in line with fitness goals ranging from slimming, shaping and toning to strengthening and lean muscle building.
A big hurdle for most people to get over when considering body weight workouts for fitness is the question of, “How can a body weight workout routine replace one that uses weight training and machines?”
It is easy to see how psychology can be an obstacle in trying to help people understand that properly structured bodyweight workouts can be better than traditional weight-lifting and exercise machine workouts. Traditional workouts offer many variations, almost endless actually. Where as bodyweight workouts rely on creativity mixed with a good understanding of how the body functions and what exercises stimulate healthy and safe fitness progress.
Many fitness pros believe that body-weight workouts offer just a limited amount of exercise options and are very general at best, meaning that there is no ability to target and isolate specific muscle groups during a bodyweight workout. This is a big mis-perception that prevents many fitness success stories from ever becoming a reality.
Here’s the reason why. When people get into the ‘health club mentality’ of only being able to workout with equipment, weights and machines, they set themselves up for many episodes of ‘falling off the program’ and failing. Bodyweight workouts eliminate this excuse.
Here’s an example where bodyweight workouts are a million times more effective than regular old gym workouts. You go on vacation or you go out of town on business, or maybe to visit family for several days. So many times these events become excuses for people not sticking to their fitness plan because they ‘couldn’t go to a gym’. With a well-rounded, bodyweight workout program this excuse is not valid.
The right body weight workouts can be done anywhere and anytime. They can be done at home, the office, a fiend’s house or even on a play-ground. And in terms of effectiveness – I can only say through personal experience with my own bodyweight workouts and those of the people who I have trained that when planned properly and followed consistently, bodyweight workouts can be even more effective than most weight lifting or machine based workout programs.
Body weight workouts offer ‘fitness veterans’ – a refreshing, eye-opening alternative to the those repetitive weight and machine training programs. Even more importantly, bodyweight workouts offer sedentary fitness beginners a safe, non-intimidating and effective method for starting a home based fitness program with a high probability for success.
Whether you are just beginning or you’ve been ‘pumping the weights’ for some time now, give some consideration to the benefits and advantages of properly structured body weight workouts and how they can help you move forward in your fitness and conditioning goals. Open up your mind to the possibility of a bodyweight workout being a part of your overall fitness plan and see what happens. You’ll be very pleased and maybe a bit surprised with the results you experience.
By: Joey Atlas
About the Author:
Exercise Physiologist, Joey Atlas, is the creator of the Top Body weight Workout Program for Full Body Fitness.
And also visit Leg Exercises for Leg Workout Advice.
A couple of years ago I first heard about Crossfit. I made my way over to their site and within a short period of time I was in love with what I saw.
The thing that drew me in more than anything else is that they had a different opinion of what real fitness was all about. Most of us have imbalanced views of what fitness is. If you have a running background, you might think that being fit means you have the ability to run 10 miles at a 5 – 6 minute pace for each mile.
If you are a weightlifter you might believe that being fit means that you can bench press in excess of 400 pounds, squat nearly 600 pounds and deadlift about 500 pounds.
If you are a bodybuilder you might believe that being fit is easy to determine. If you have built large muscles and rippling abs, then you have arrived.
The point is that we have a tendency to define fitness by the standard defined by the fitness area that we gravitate towards the most. Although, all of the above things are positive and beneficial they don’t necessarily define fitness. What good is it if you can run 10 miles but struggle carrying two gallons of milk in from the store?
It is nice to be able to lift heavy weights but if you are tired after walking a couple of flights of stairs then I would venture to say that your overall fitness level is not too great.
Crossfit looked at this problem and developed a workout protocol that attempts to build proficiency in all areas of fitness. They focus on endurance, strength, and flexibility. They incorporate running, body weight exercise, olympic lifts, kettlebell training, medicine ball training, etc.
Here is Crossfit type workout that I have modified slightly. It will kick your butt and have your heart leaping out of your chest. Give it a try and let me know what you think of it.
50 Body weight squats
40 Push-ups
30 Sit Ups
20 Pull-Ups
This list above is meant to be performed in succession without any rest in between the exercises. As soon as you are done with the squats fit the ground and move on to the push-ups. At the end of the entire set you can rest for 3 minutes. Repeat the set five times. At the end you will have done 150 body weight squats, 200 push-ups, 150 sit-ups and 100 pull-ups.
Good luck and let me know how it went and how long it took you to complete it.
In order to get the most out of bodyweight exercises you need to be able to do pull-ups and chin-ups. Pull-ups are one of the greatest exercises one can do for size and strength in the back area. However, most of us don’t have the equipment to do a pull-up. Free standing units are usually quite pricey. However, Iron Gym has a great pull-up attachment that hooks to any door and can be purchased for less than $35.
You can watch the video below to see the Iron Gym in action and if you need something like this to perform pull-ups in your house then I have provided a link to Amazon for you.
