Using your bodyweight as the resistance in training is one of the most important tools.
I like barbells. I love kettlebells.
But if I had to pick one and only one tool it would be my own bodyweight.
Why?
You can build just about everything you need with it.
- Strength
- Endurance
- Coordination
- Flexibility
- Mobility
- Stability
- Speed
- Agility
- Power
And a great looking body.
Now don’t get me wrong other tools are great and unless you’re always on the road and can’t travel with much you do have options with tools.
But that brings up another benefit. Anywhere and anytime with no equipment (except some sort of bar for hanging exercises).
You tend to get better in tune with your body then with many other tools and exercises, at least in my experience, although this largely has to do with your intention and mind WHEN doing the exercises.
But bodyweight exercises do have some drawbacks. I explain those here.
In fact, I rarely see anyone, let alone those who tout bodyweight exercises as the Holy Grail of training, make mention of this one fact.
And then there is the matter of progression. Its hard enough for most people to understand when you’re talking about weights, but bodyweight exercises can make it even trickier.
Lots more for you on these and more when you sign up here.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. If I had one training tool it would be bodyweight exercises and if I had only four exercises they would be these FOUR…
Filed under Bodyweight Exercise by on May 16th, 2011. Comment. 
If you missed part 1 click here where kettlebell training was discussed.
Today we’ll move onto bodyweight training.
For some reason I’m known as a bodyweight guy. Maybe that’s because I do hand balancing and acrobatics. Maybe because of my crazy Ultimate Royal Court Challenge.
The truth is I love bodyweight exercises. They can be used to build all kinds of strength you need, not to mention endurance, mobility, flexibility and coordination.
The fact that you don’t need any equipment more than a bar to hang on for some and you are ready to go.
Some people say weights wreck your joints or don’t build true strength. While certain weighted exercises don’t work for some people, this is far from a universal truth. And I’m not sure what true strength specifically is in this phrase.
For these reasons I regularly include various bodyweight exercises into all my workouts, along with the barbells, kettlebells and more.
Each tool has its advantages and disadvantages. If you become a bodyweight only guy (been there) then you miss out of what other tools can provide you. The same is true if you just train with kettlebells or barbells.
There is one area that bodyweight exercises do miss that few people recognize.
There is just no way to replicate a deadlift motion or some sort of picking an object off the ground. Kettlebell swings are a similar movement too.
For squats you can do squats including one leg versions. For pressing or benching you have all manner of pushups including handstand variations. For rows you have pullups and inverted rows. But for deadlifts?
Many bodyweight guys argue that bodyweight exercises are more natural. In many cases this is correct. I’ll take a pullup over a lat pull down any day of the week. But you can’t tell me lifting a heavy object off the ground isn’t natural and doesn’t have uses.
So if you are a bodyweight only guy I encourage you to correct this with some sort lower body pulling movement.
By doing so you can have a well balanced program and strength.
On the flip side you have people that only lift weights. I encourage those of you in this camp to add in some bodyweight exercises. With a few well-placed exercises into your training you’ll gain that much more benefit.
What typically happens with bodyweight exercises, assuming you move past the very basics, is that you gain more coordination and control of your body (which helps more when you do lift weights).
In essence, you learn how to move better.
I believe bridging is one such area many would do well to add in. Handstands is another even if you never work on the balancing aspect.
The real trick to bodyweight exercises if progressing with them. Although sets and reps are easy to add, for many you can’t just add weight. Instead you need to manipulate the intensity in other ways.
I’ll be teaching all of the above and then some at the Super Human Workshop.
Plus as a special bonus, those that signup will get my unreleased Advanced Bodyweight Training Course which is going to be a 6 DVD set.
To get more details and sign up go here.
It’s a really cheap price with a bunch of extra goodies thrown on top to sweeten the pot. Be sure to sign up before March 31st for the early registration price.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Bodyweight Exercise, workshops by on Mar 18th, 2011. Comment.
Got a great question in recently that I have been asked a number of times before regarding building strength without size. That is getting stronger but not any bigger.
Dear Logan,
I have been following your site for a couple of years now and am always impressed with what you achieve, but I have noticed one thing: Although you’ve become more muscular, you’ve never been very big. This interested me greatly, first because I have been fixated with the idea of being stronger than people bigger than me as a shot against bodybuilding in general and now because I box a little, keeping my weight down is important to me. So I ask what you think the secret is, is it your diet, is it the way you train, or is it just my dumb genetic luck that every pound I lift seems like another pound of bloated muscle?In strength (but not size),
Rory
Genetics
To start the discussion I’ll tackle genetics. I am genetically gifted in that I do not put muscle on easily. I suppose you could call me a classic hard gainer. And if you want to use big words I’m an ectomorph (while my two brothers are a mesomorph and endomorph, isn’t that odd?)
Looking my most massive
That leaves you with two options. Either give up and say I can’t do it because of genetics. Or you say ‘screw genetics’ and figure out how to accomplish your goal anyway. I’m guessing you’re in the latter group Rory, and that you do not have my genetic build.
(Isn’t it funny how we always want what we don’t have. Rory gains muscle easily but doesn’t want to. I do not, but am in the process of putting on some size currently.)
Despite your genetics there are ways to accomplish virtually any goal. I do not have to work hard to stay small but I would also attribute it to a number of things I do.
Training
To keep muscle size down keep your volume down. Use heavier weights for shorter sets and keep the overall volume short. To give you an idea a high volume day for me is usually only 30-50 reps. And most of the exercises I do are shorter than that in both reps and sets. Singles are great for strength without size.
I do higher volume with certain exercises especially in conditioning. But these exercises, like kettlebell swings, snatches and the battling ropes, don’t lend themselves to building mass, in fact they may end up doing just the opposite.
Regarding exercise selection, there are certain exercises that have a reputation for building muscle. Squats for sure. Also bench presses and rows. If you’re trying to keep size down you may want to avoid these or limit your training in them. I don’t bench, favoring putting weight overhead much more. I do squats occasionally and have just started doing rows again.
Doing more bodyweight exercises is a great way to keep your weight down while still getting stronger. If you do pullups (which I always work on) then putting muscle and weight on makes the exercise harder, not easier. In a sense you can trick your body into wanting to stay smaller.
Diet
On to nutrition and diet. By eating a more natural and healthier diet you’re likely to lose some weight. You didn’t mention your diet so I can only speculate.
Take a look at whatever you’re eating and whether or not you are adding muscle and weight currently. If you are, all you have to do is start eating less. Cut out a meal, snacks or just down on what you have at each meal. Get to the point where you stay the same size or lose weight if you choose.
That covers all the basics of how to train for strength without size. I could go into more detail but I think that should be enough to get you started.
And for anyone else that wants big strength without looking like it, deceptively strong if you will, then you can follow these same ideas.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Barbells and Dumbbells, Bodyweight Exercise, Conditioning, Nutrition, Strength Training Concepts by on Aug 10th, 2010. 10 Comments.
While I believe everyone (except a select few with spinal problems) can and should get the benefits of bridging exercises I recognize that this move is certainly not for everyone.
I’ve taken to bridging skills over the years supporting ever increasing weights while in a wrestlers bridge. This move is just a support, holding the weight in place. The limitation before was getting the weight into place. Unless I had a training partner this was impossible for me to do as I increased the weight I could hold. Now that I have a power rack my previous limitation is gone.
Though to be honest with you I shouldn’t have gone for this weight. Although I had kept up in my neck work I hadn’t really worked the support in awhile. And normally when I do this I hold for time, usually 30 seconds.
But I had the power rack and I got excited. After a few warmups sets I did this. With 275 lbs. it was much closer to a max attempt than I should have gone. Oh well. I pulled it off with some effort, but no problems.
Like I said before, this isn’t for everyone (and I do plan to support more weight in this move than anyone else.) But if you want a strong neck and spine there’s plenty of work to do before you even approach this level. My Advanced Bridging Course will get you going building the needed strength and flexibility.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Barbells and Dumbbells, Bodyweight Exercise, Feats of Strength, Oldtime Strongmen, Videos by on Mar 13th, 2010. 3 Comments.
Today I want to talk about two different sorts of Convict Conditioning and which one you might want to try.
I know a guy who recently got out of prison after spending just a couple months inside.
We got on the subject of working out while he was there and the stories he told me where ridiculous. This is close to an actual overheard conversation he heard:
“Let’s see, we did chest and arms yesterday so today let’s work our pecs and biceps. And then tomorrow we’ll go big and do some benching and curls.”
Zero leg work. Zero back work. In my opinion, the bench press and curls can be part of an effective program. PART. Not the whole damn thing!
And the worse part was he said three people in the whole place could bench 225 lbs or more. You’d think if you only did a couple exercises you’d at least get good at them.
And most would do heavy cheat curls with…80 lbs. I wish I could show you his imitations of their atrocious form. And moving from barbell curls to preacher curls to isolation curls and so on. The advanced guys might…MIGHT do a few one arm rows.
When my friend was doing pullups (yeah I know, a real ‘out there’ exercise) one inmate asked him if that worked the shoulders. He was the only guy doing pullups in the whole place!
This whole conversation started when I showed him Convict Conditioning, a recent publication from Dragondoor. On the cover is a man in the middle of doing a one arm handstand pushup. Must be very different penitentiaries for this colossal chasm of difference in training.
Considering I do lots of training with bodyweight exercises (and have my own courses devoted to two of the moves found inside – bridging and handstand pushups) I bought the book and read through it. In it Paul “Coach” Wade takes you through 6 exercises which lead up to some impressive feats. These include:
One Arm Pushups
One Leg Squats
One Arm Pullups
Hanging Leg Raises
Stand-to-Stand Bridges
One Arm Handstand Pushups
Each exercise is broken down into ten progressive steps. These steps take you from remedial exercises (usually the first 3-4 steps) up to these advanced moves.
That’s a real important thing most people don’t grasp. Making bodyweight exercises progressive isn’t as easy as throwing another plate on the bar. And in all training progression is the name of the game. So I have to applaud the effort of systematizing the progression as its laid out in this book. I don’t 100% agree with every one in here (for example some jumps in steps are small and some are real big) but overall it’s really good.
Now, I can do four of these moves but was particularly interested in the progressions he used for the other two, as they are exercises I‘d like to do one day. (I’ll let you guess which of the two exercises are quite a bit more difficult then the others.)
For anyone wishing to do the same I recommend getting Convict Conditioning and applying what you learn inside. It’s well worth it.
Even if you just did this routine you’d be fairly well off. Of course you really should add conditioning work as well and hand and neck training but besides that it’s a great program.
Anyone who wishes to train should master their bodyweight to some degree before touching any other training tool. You don’t have to be able to do all six of these moves but being at steps 5 or 6 in the progressions would not be a bad idea.
You can get Convict Conditioning by clicking here.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. I would never recommend a product I do not believe it and use myself. That being said I will be paid a small commission if you buy this book by clicking on the links on this page. After all I am running a business here. For the price its an excellent value.
P.P.S. Be sure to also check out this follow-up post on Convict Conditioning Routines.
Filed under Bodyweight Exercise by on Jan 6th, 2010. 9 Comments.
Today I’m going to give you a tough kettlebell and bodyweight exercise workout.
I first came up with this workout after hearing reading about Bud Jeffries’ concept of Yardstick Conditioning in Twisted Conditioning 2 several years ago.
I wanted a way to combine kettlebell exercises with bodyweight exercises in a single intense workout that would test overall conditioning as well as build muscular endurance. I picked four exercises that I felt where foundational and ones I wanted to work on. Those exercises are:
Double Kettlebell Jerks
Pushups
Bodyweight Squats
Kettlebell Snatch
(When I originally did this it involved hindu pushups and hindu squats, although when I started doing this workout again recently I’ve done the regular versions of pushups and squats.)
Each exercise is done for 5 minutes straight. Then without a break you move onto the next exercise in the order listed.
The goal is obviously to do the highest number of reps in each exercise.
But another big goal is to get to the point where you can do the exercise without dropping the bells or getting out of position for the whole five minutes. This means you can only rest with the kettlebells in the rack or overhead position for the jerks, and just overhead with the snatches. You can do as many hand switches as you need with the snatches.
On the pushups you stay in the plank position (much easier to maintain five minutes of hindu pushups). With squats its easy to go all five minutes so recently I added cables, a portable power jumper from lifeline, to make them harder.
Of course, in the start do as many sets as you need to do the whole five minutes.
For the kettlebell exercises I use 24 kg bells. You’ll want to start lighter especially if you have no experience with long sets. Eventually I’d like to work up to 32 kg bells. That may take awhile. I shouldn’t have to say it but technique is real important here.
I would recommend only doing this workout once per week mixed in with your other training. And each time you do it you seek to add just a few more reps to each exercise.
It’s a challenging workout. But rewarding and if you enjoy bodyweight exercises and kettlebells it’s a great way to work on those fundamental exercises.
Give it a try and let me know how you do.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Bodyweight Exercise, Conditioning, Kettlebells, Workouts by on Nov 16th, 2009. 2 Comments.
An important part of a complete training program is to do some sort of conditioning work. Of course, this can come in many shapes and sizes.
Sprints, kettlebell swings and snatches, skipping rope, and high rep bodyweight exercises are a few of my favorites.
And just like in any other training, your conditioning work should be made progressive. The thing is its not so easy as just adding more weight like you can with a barbell.
In these cases you’ll most often be working with volume and time. That is to do a certain amount of work (no matter the exercises or tools used) in a period of time.
If you can do the same work in less time, or more work in the same amount of time you’re doing better than before. Since this is a conditioning based activity progress means you’ve improved your conditioning.
You can change up what you do to condition yourself from session to session as long as you have a ‘test’ workout. That’s a specific workout you come back to again and again to see if you’ve improved.
I’ll share with you what I use later on to test out my conditioning levels, later on. But for now just make sure you do progressive training when it comes to strength AND conditioning.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Conditioning by on Aug 11th, 2009. Comment.
One of my brothers who was in town is into Crossfit big time and he convinced me to go along with him to one of the local gyms this Saturday.
When we got there I was asked if I had done Crossfit before. My answer was ‘sort of’. I had done Crossfit style workouts several times, and knew how to do the lifts, but had never actually trained at a Crossfit before.
Since I was substituting my normal Hill Sprint workout with this one I was hoping it would be more conditioning focused and I wasn’t disappointed.
Here’s the workout:
3 rounds of 400m Run, 12 Deadlifts w/ Bodyweight on the bar, & 21 Box Jumps done for time
My time was 11:52. I finished second in the group of about seven. Only eight seconds behind (but I was using a bigger box to jump on).
I’m not going to lie. It feels good to go into someone else’s house and perform near the top. Of course, I train hard and heavy all the time, just differently from what is typically done in Crossfit.
And I know there are certain other workouts that could have happened that I wouldn’t have performed as well on.
There are great benefits to training like they do at Crossfit. It develops all around fitness using all manner of exercises. From gymnastic and bodyweight exercises to Olympic and power lifting. You’ll build strength and endurance almost always at the same time.
The randomness of it can be both good and bad. It will keep you excited and the body will never really adapt. However if you have certain goals you want to achieve its not the most direct path.
The competitive element pushes you to work harder then you might normally do. However, I’ve seen some people neglect form to go faster and also due to being tired. This can lead to injuries which is never good.
It was a fun time and a good workout. I may be going back every once in awhile just to test myself and shake things up a bit.
They also have a bunch of knowledgeable coaches. I know I’ll be going to get some help on Olympic lifting which I have little experience in myself.
Sometimes you need to train outside your box even if it’s a good box that you train in.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. Next time I’ll have a video for you of a somewhat extreme feat of strength. I’ll tell you I can feel the soreness in my head and neck right now from doing it yesterday…
Filed under Barbells and Dumbbells, Bodyweight Exercise, Conditioning, Strength Training Concepts by on Aug 3rd, 2009. Comment.
There are bodyweight guys. There are kettlebell guys. There are clubbell guys. There are barbell guys.
Some of its marketing but I think the biggest reason behind this sticking to one system is exactly what happened me.
I use to go to a commercial gym like most people seeking to get fit. And I never got much by way of results. Then I found out about bodyweight training. After a little testing I went full force into that.
This was good and bad. The good was that I focused on that training and saw lots of benefit from doing it. The bad was that since I was now getting results I thought anyone who did anything else was wasting there time.
Over time I started using some other training implements and saw the benefits in doing so. The fact, is each tool has its own unique advantages and drawbacks.
Bodyweight exercises are great because you can do them anywhere. They quickly get you in tune with your own body. And you really should have some mastery over you body before doing anything else. But sometimes in life you have to pick something heavy up, and there’s no way you can recreate that with bodyweight exercises.
Barbells are great because they are balanced, actually the perfect tool for lifting maximum weight. With plates you can incrementally use more and more weight. But for the most part the training is one-dimensional. And that balanced tool can act against you when you have to lift something that’s not made for lifting.
Clubs are great because they offer real three-dimensional training. You can hit the arms and shoulders in ways that can’t be replicated. But for building maximum strength levels they may not be your best choice.
I could go one but I think the point is clear.
In my training I use bodyweight, kettlebells, clubbells, Indian clubs, trap bar, barbells, thick handled dumbbells, block weights, grippers, the formulator, sledgehammers, nails, bands and I’m sure there are a few other items I’m forgetting.
Each tool has its purpose and that’s why I use it. In the end that’ll make you stronger and a better athlete.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. Making good headway on the big project I mentioned last time. Next week I should have an update, the first details on what it is.
Filed under Barbells and Dumbbells, Bodyweight Exercise, Kettlebells, Odd Objects, Strength Training Concepts by on Jun 10th, 2009. Comment.
