Can Anyone Recommend A Good Weight Lifting Regime

OccamzRazer

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Lifting weights pales in comparison to calisthenics in so many ways its not even funny. The former seems constructive but is actually destructive to your body as any old timer wrapped in bandages whilst smelling like joint cream who slams down painkillers after a session will attest with a grimace as he wishes he'd made better decisions as a youngun. It's all cumulative.

On the flip those who've done primarily body weight training create a very functional and aesthetic frame that endures throughout the game with far better ranges of motion and development of tendons, ligaments, supporting muscles and (best of all) neuromotor activation patterns. I realized this quite a while ago and flipped the script and feel way better now than I did in areas mentioned.
Great post. Calisthenics are amazing! What are your thoughts on weighted versions: weighted pullups, dips, etc?
 

Warrior

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Great post. Calisthenics are amazing! What are your thoughts on weighted versions: weighted pullups, dips, etc?

All good if you can maintain the discipline and have maxed out the basics and single progressions. Too many people want to jump to something that appears impressive (usually for socials) by doing that kind of remix but can't do a pistol squat, single arm pull up etc... with perfect form and decent amount of reps so are just cheating themselves with the illusion of progress.

Bodyweight can become surprisingly heavy when you do it correctly but its the mental aspect that is so amazing as you get to know every single inch of your body as you become intimate with your chain, range of motion and other factors previously mentioned.

After conquering the basic levels (which can take a lifetime in itself as its constant progression aka incremental betterment) throwing something like rings and inversion boots in keep it interesting and real funky as you get the test of stress from different modes of activation. Throw in isometric holds as well as more HIIT things like burpees and you'll see a very natural genetic potential becoming expressed in the most beautiful and aesthetic way possible without any of the detriments of pumping iron.

Its not for everyone but those who know, know.
 

Sapien

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ifting weights pales in comparison to calisthenics in so many ways its not even funny.
TRu, do a google search for "gymnast bicep"
destructive to your body
I think about it like, powerlifting etc is a **** measuring contest- for example they use insanely wide grip on bench press to move crazy weight, and people who aspire to lift heavy in the gym are doing unnecessary harm to their joints. No reason to be lifting 3x your own bodyweight.

one thing about Overcoming Isometrics i forgot to mention is that you eliminate the stress on your joints of large-you can select the exact range of motion your muscle is most activated (will be hitting close to 100 % of all muscle fibers in the Muscular subgroup ( I think this is what you were talking about with "neuromotor activation patterns").

The reason I can confidently say full ROM is due to a well accepted concept known as the sliding filament model. skip to 5:15 to see what happens when a muscle is producing peak force. This will be somewhere in the middle- upper middle of the ROM of any 2 joint muscle. any father than this is what's known as active insufficiency, and the amount of force/ amount of recruitable muscle fibers will go down. same goes for "passive insufficiency", at a stretched position. Interestingly, in a study comparing eccentric to concentric to isometric training found that not only eccentric both concentric and isometric exercises .produce muscle damage BUT with the caveat for the latter 2 only if it was done in a stretched position.

Another benefit with being able to target this exact point in the range of motion is we avoid resistance in this "stretched" position. Most bodybuilding free weight movements/ have terrible strength curves compared to a nautilus machine. Take a chest fly for example. when the force of the weight is at its heighest in the exercise (arms parallel to the floor), your chest is in a stretched position.

The concept behind nautilus equipment, invented by Arthur Jones, author of nautilus bullitin 1, 2 ,3 and creator of HIT was to provide a resistance curve that matches the strength curve. Gymnasts can manipulate this by shifting where their legs are etc.
This design is why they are used exclusively by all 32 NFL teams etc

Its about using weight/bodyweight to challenge the muscle, not using the muscle to move the weight


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body weight training create a very functional
I would tend to agree. Our muscles have specific recruitment paths that are intended to serve a purpose. The body would not create muscle, a metabolically expensive tissue, if it was not advantageous for survival. Thus, doing exercises that most simulate real world activities like bodyweight exercises seems correct.

I also think a lot of Calenetics people get caught up in the fallacy of "functional training". Contractile tissue is contractile tissue, no matter' how it is attained. All the top powerlifters are incredibly big, strength and size seem to go together. The reason some people can be stronger than they look is due to differences in neuromuscular efficiency. Allegedly a good way to improve this is ballistic isometrics


Sure you're not as big due to the change in method
Idk them Olympic gymnasts are jacked! I see a lot of people on youtube etc that do exclusively calisthenics and are jacked I think most people don't see great results with conventional bodybuilding actually. Seems like damn near everyone has to take steroids to keep up with that muscle damage. Gymnasts don't seem to be into the drugs as much.
Make your own decision
"The ultimate purpose of my articles is not merely to provide the readers with another training program(s), and expect him to blindly follow it. That would not be worth much long range. Instead, my purpose is to help you gain a firm intellectual/conceptual grasp and understanding of the basic principles of bodybuilding/exercise science; which is a prerequisite for learning how to think logically about it. Having procured a logical, rational perspective, makes it possible for one to become more or less intellectually independent on the subject; never again having to rely on the vascillating, suspect opinion of others. In the process of learning to think logically about bodybuilding, you’ll discover that you’ve learned something about the nature of thought itself; which can then be extended to other areas of human life. And with continued study and effort, you will progressively expand your intellectual range; and, thereby, mature as a human being should."

- Mike Mentzer
don't forget to question your resistance to another perspective
 

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