[Kristian]

(05-15-2013 02:37 AM)Valentine Wrote:  

It is possible to get huge using purely bodyweight exercises. Look on YouTube for Bartendaz, CalisthenicsKingz, Hannibal, Jim Bathurst from Beast Skills and gymnasts like Jordan Jovtchev or Yuri Van Gelder.

Resistance is resistance, your muscles don't know what force they're contracting against. They just know that they're working their hardest and it's not enough so they need to grow.

There's one main reason I work out with primarily bodyweight: it's so much cooler. With weights you can add an extra 5kg to your lifts when you progress whereas with bodyweight exercises you're now onto a harder looking progression.

Just look at the One Arm Planche, Victorian or One Arm Front Lever Pull-up. All ridiculously hard exercises that look absolutely incredible - they're what motivate me to keep getting stronger.

I second Building the Gymnastic Body by Coach Sommer, invaluable for any calisthenics enthusiast.

If anyone wants to see how this guys use to train to gain muscle and strenght...check out the videos of this cannel

[Valentine]

Tried to edit my posts to insert pics but didn't realise there was a 60 min time limit.

You don't need to do 100+ pushups or add extra weight unnecessarily, just keep pushing for harder bodyweight exercise variations, e.g.

One Arm Planche
   

Victorian
   

One Arm Front Lever Pullup
   

Manna
   

Close to Impossible
   

There's nothing for me that's more inspiring than moves like this.

[Hannibal]

I've been doing some reading on "bar athletes" such as madbarz, barstarzz, bar-barianz, that kind of thing. Basically, these guys go to playgrounds and do a shitload of dips, pullups, and pushups. Then once they're strong enough, they start doing more technical gymnastic moves such as levers or flags.

One guy in particular, a czech by the name of Lada Pridal, had some seriously impressive results from his training. This was the best before/after picture I could find out of all of them.



I see a lot of steroid accusations being thrown around for these bar athletes, but what bothers me is that the majority of these guys get into bar sports because they're too poor to afford a gym membership. I've been trolling their forums a bit and there's enough success stories like Lada that they can't all be on the juice, especially if they couldn't afford a 30 dollar a month gym membership in the first place.

[gandt]

People are so quick to refer to "genetics" and "juicing" as the result of people's success, when really they just put in the man hours to get it done.

[Kristian]

good post hannibal

could you share the link of the posts in which there are before/after success stories?

I think that accusing this people of using steroids is an stupid argument from a typical lazzy pagghot

Here we have Adam Raw,another calisthenics monster

[Kristian]

This world is amazing...

Here we have Metin Dabak AKA Little Beast:

https://www.fitstream.com/littlebeastm/

http://thejsapblog.wordpress.com/2011/02...tlebeastm/






Also it's amazing how you can train the different parts of the body:
http://pull-ups.blogspot.com.es/2012/02/...rkout.html

Other interview:
http://sealgrinderpt.com/navy-seal-worko...rner.html/

[Hannibal]

Here's some links.

http://www.madbarz.com/

http://www.barstarzz.com/

http://bar-barians.forumotions.net/

[Valentine]

This is the article that most people find that gets them into bodyweight/gymnastic strength training http://www.dragondoor.com/articles/build...ditioning/

It's by Coach Sommer (author of Building the Gymnastic Body) and teaches you the two basic pulling and pushing movements: the front lever and the planche. The tutorial article lists progressions that even a total beginner to bodyweight exercise can do.

[Kristian]

more ideas

[Therapsid]

You can definitely get buff doing body-weight exercises and calisthenics. Will you become as jacked or be able to deadlift and squat like the guy with a gym membership? Nope. But you can become very fit and develop good muscle definition, if that's what you're after.

For years I made it a point to workout completely without weights because I was working in marine biology and wanted to be able to do research in the field without worrying about not having a gym available.

[xmlenigma]

(05-14-2013 12:47 PM)Hades Wrote:  

I've been chatting with Hannibal and he has some good shit about the subject. Here's some links that have caught my interest for some time now.
The best website about the subject for beginners is -
http://www.alkavadlo.com/

For intermediate and advanced to elite-
http://meckanimal.com/
http://www.beastskills.com
http://www.gymnasticbodies.com ***(this website cannot be recommended highly enough, you can in fact skip everything I have written and just buy a copy of Foundation One so you can spam the gymnastic bodies private forum to get better advice than you can find anywhere, here included. Coach Sommer is basically the world premier in gymnastics.)

And here is a great youtube video to get started slow - just increase the number of sets -

Make sure to check the comments to find steps 2 and 3 once you master the basics.

If you want to get a book, I recommend you read "Convict Conditioning I & II" with a grain of salt (the hype is in there but it's great information anyway) and some articles by Coach Sommers on his website. One thing that is worth mentioning is that calisthenics take some time to notice mass gains though strength gains happen pretty quickly.

If you want to spend no money, just register on the Gymnastic Bodies forum to get the Kilroy template, and in the meantime read everything by Al Kavadlo and Steve Bathurst on Beastskills because they know their shit.

GB is brilliant. Discipline is needed. I got the Desktop Version and they are not giving out the ePubs anymore and need the iOS copy.

[Jaylow]

The Lada guy has the type of physique I would expect from calisthenics.

Quote:

I think that accusing this people of using steroids is an stupid argument from a typical lazzy pagghot

This argument is much more "lazzy pagghot". You sound like a calisthenics fanboy. People can tell by the look and development of someones muscles if their gains are suspicious or not. Especially photo evidence on a given timeline. Muscle only grows so fast regardless if you are a genetic beast or not. People on a MMA online message board I frequent were outing Chael Sonnen as a doper before he got busted just by looking at his pictures for example. Vitor Belfort as well.

This is why I attacked calisthenics at the beginning of the thread. So much dishonesty from this community which sets unrealistic goals and expectations to newcomers. Theres no way Metin and Adam raw got those muscles from calisthenics alone.

[Jaylow]

Last thing I am going to say about calisthenics. This type of exercise is a newer market. In this generation where you can make thousands off youtube hits and subs there is a lot of incentive for dishonesty. You see people trying to reinvent the wheel on weightlifting all the time almost always with no success.

Calisthenics is untreaded territory to the masses, it does not have the "bible" like weightlifting has with Arnolds book or a set structure with existing legitimate professionals who are popular. Naturally people look at the biggest and most ripped dude and deem him the greatest success so that is why you see so many cheaters in calisthenics. Dudes roid it up and hit the gym for their shot at a small amount of fame and fortune.

[thegmanifesto]

(05-22-2013 05:00 AM)Jaylow Wrote:  

Last thing I am going to say about calisthenics. This type of exercise is a newer market.

Say what??????

Calisthenics I think have been done since the time of Ancient Greeks.

Update.

From wiki:

Quote:

The word Calisthenics comes from the ancient Greek kallos, which means beauty, and sthénos meaning strength. It is the art of using your own body weight and qualities of inertia as a means to develop your physique.

The legend tells that in a horribly cold day the god Kallisto decided to wrestle hand to hand with his friend the god Yemo (or in English Yemish) to get warmed up. The thing is Yemo hated secretly Kallisto, so they began a fight to death. Kallisto, horrified and about to die because Yemo was very strong, asked for help from the demigod Heracles, who gave Kallisto the skill to move his muscles harmoniously so he could defend himself with grace. The legend ends with Yemo being sent into exile to the barbarian lands.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calisthenics

[Jaylow]

I meant in terms of becoming more popular with the masses G. Only in the past few years have most people even heard of it. Calisthenics was "invented" when we were monkeys swinging tree branch to tree branch.

[Kristian]

I don't like al kavadlo,so skynny

[Handsome Creepy Eel]

I don't know about this Lad'a Czech lad (pun intended), but the goal of Calisthenics should be to be at maximum personal strength - in relation to your body. Being able to lift yourself with just one arm or do a perfect plank, that's invigorating and more rewarding than lifting something artificial no matter how ripped you look. Getting a shredded look should be just a possible side effect, not an expectation.

[thegmanifesto]

(05-22-2013 10:30 AM)Jaylow Wrote:  

I meant in terms of becoming more popular with the masses G. Only in the past few years have most people even heard of it. Calisthenics was "invented" when we were monkeys swinging tree branch to tree branch.

I would say every kid in America has heard of Calisthenics.

In America, we did Calisthenics in physical education as little kids.

Maybe Canada is different.

[Kristian]

(05-28-2013 10:38 AM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

(05-22-2013 10:30 AM)Jaylow Wrote:  

I meant in terms of becoming more popular with the masses G. Only in the past few years have most people even heard of it. Calisthenics was "invented" when we were monkeys swinging tree branch to tree branch.

I would say every kid in America has heard of Calisthenics.

In America, we did Calisthenics in physical education as little kids.

Maybe Canada is different.

This is an example of how society devaluate staying in shape..having all the tols to get a decent body..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myosdptroFc

[kosko]

It's funny since core strength is the real measure of strength. Lifting heavy does not mean shit in the big picture if you lack real core strength, flexibility, and extensions. It's all very important. I feel you should so both but ice is no better than the other. Bodybuilders have a myth that size is everything. Many Bodybuilders are not healthy or truly strong, I respect Calisthenics for taking a approach to building a sub-layer an internal layer of strength first.

[xmlenigma]

(05-28-2013 10:38 AM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

(05-22-2013 10:30 AM)Jaylow Wrote:  

I meant in terms of becoming more popular with the masses G. Only in the past few years have most people even heard of it. Calisthenics was "invented" when we were monkeys swinging tree branch to tree branch.

I would say every kid in America has heard of Calisthenics.

In America, we did Calisthenics in physical education as little kids.

Maybe Canada is different.

G - I think what is happening is that it started with Calisthenics and Gymnastic training like some of the old strong men and Jack LaLane types.

Then the BIG LIFTING and Body Building TRENDS (Arnold, Stallone, Muscle Beach) kind of became more VISIBLE in the FITNESS MARKET.

Now there's a reverse trend in the VISIBLE MARKET

It all existed just that DOMINANT MARKET TRENDS & VISIBILITY keeps changing.

Low card, Low fat, Low this.. low that.. high this, high that.. and now Paleo.. eat natural.. clean.. back to basics.

[Architekt]

I always include bodyweight exercises as part of my workouts anyway. I don't know of many people who lift and don't include at least chins/pulls and maybe dips in their routines. Personally, I feel that we probably evolved for both lifting yourself (to safety or to hunt) and carrying large objects (such as large animals you just finished hunting), so doing a combination of both makes the most sense to me. I quite like calisthenics, though - you can do more with your body than the average weight lifter.

[thegmanifesto]

(05-14-2013 07:14 PM)Hannibal Wrote:  

Here's a couple options if you're serious about bodyweight stuff.

If you just want to fool around with calisthenics, get a copy of al kavadlos books Raising the Bar and Pushing the Limits and then just work through the progressions and see how far you get. Convict Conditioning follows a similar vein to this form of training.

Anyone have any reviews on these books?

Anyone recommend which one to pick up first?

After this summer I am going to go heavy into this stuff (have a different focus for next two months).

[Eastbound]

I have convict conditioning, its a really solid book. More physique oriented than a lot of the calisthenics stuff out there which is a plus for me. That said, a lot of advanced calisthenics moves have very little hypertrophy carryover. Ie...You are not going to see your biceps swell when you can do 2-3 one arm chinups. The time under tension is just too low. And for legs, calisthenics simply are no comparison to free weights.

[Giovonny]

I have tried to get big using only body weight exercises.

I did thousands of pull ups, dips, etc.

It never worked.

You can look like Bruce Lee but you won't get big and muscular.

If you wanna get big, you gotta lift big weights.

Calisthenics will keep you firm but they won't add much size.