Bodyweight Strength Philosophy – Part 2
I will start off by saying that whether you lift weights or use your bodyweight
if you want to gain weight and muscle you need to take in more calories, if
you want to get leaner you burn more calories, you can get learner lifting
weights and you can get leaner using your own bodyweight.
When I was younger and lifted heavy weights and was bench pressing
330lbs at a bodyweight of 145lbs no matter how much I lifted I never gained
a pound, enter whole milk and tons of weight gain and after a couple of years
later I welcomed about 95 extra pounds of bodyweight. It wasn’t pretty.
Basically what I have been trying to say is you can build size doing 500
pushups everyday as long as you are taking in more calories, this is not
my opinion, and it’s a fact. The only difference is the heavier you tend to
get the more bodyweight you have to push; and the faster the weight gain,
the less you will be able to do.
You can use your own bodyweight or you can lift weights and you will get
sore the next day, why? Because the muscle is broke down and will repair
bigger, whether lifting weights or using your own bodyweight.
The average man cannot handle their own bodyweight, but any weakling
can lift weights, hell, that’s how they train senior citizens. Ever watch a
senior citizen or extremely overweight person use their bodyweight? NO!
But, you will see these types of people lifting weights, so if you can
lift weights to lose weight and get leaner and you can use weights to get
bigger, why can’t you use your own bodyweight to get more muscular
bigger or leaner?
If bodyweight training won’t make you weight lifting strong, why is it that
so many muscled up gym guys with pumped up chests and balloon
size arms fail at a simple bodyweight strength test?
The fact is, it’s a waste of time. Everyone who has been reading books,
magazines listening to the media will always think the best way to look
super model good and be superman strong is to lift weights and throw
around kettle bells, great. I got one question? If you listen to the masses
and train like everyone else and act like everyone else you will get the
same results, the results of a follower!
Toughness Builds Winners
I enjoyed reading your article. I like the fact that you speak your mind even though it may be contrary to popular thought. You also tell the truth, which in my experience, is something others mistake for being too agressive, too hardcore, too full of yourself. But “they” got it all WRONG.
As a former active duty Navy member (served 1994-2006), I was in the “best” shape of my life. Sure, I trained with free weights, nautilus machines, treadmills, but the bulk of my exercise came from what you call “Bodyweight Training” I was one of the fitness leaders at every command I was stationed at, and we would run, run on trails, do hardcore calistenics, every day….. We didn’t take any free weights outside with us, we didn’t take mats, we didn’t take any bosu balls….. we simply used our own body weight to build and maintain strength and stamina. It’s amazing to me that this concept isn’t common knowledge. People are so wrapped up in GIMICS and empty promises of loosing 10lbs in 2 days, that they don’t even educate themselves on how the human body works. They just believe whoever they see on TV. Today’s fitness industry is nothing more than a money pit. I swear every week or so some unknown Fitness “expert” unveils another diet, exercise program, or equipment. People go for it too. SAD, all the way around.
People like you, who are honest, hard working, and passionate about your beliefs are in the minority, But it’s like I tell my 14 year old son, “If everyone is doing it, it probably isn’t right”
Thank you for allowing readers to leave comments, I think it’s important to have communication with the fitness community, and let all the fake, wanna-be trainers know that we are on to their game.
Alissa