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Archive | Bodyweight Training

A Better Way to do Chin Ups

30. Sep, 2011 27 Comments Body Weight Exercises, Bodyweight Training, How to Build Muscle

Some things will never change.

Squats, deads, presses, cleans, snatches, pushups, chins and dips will always be the foundation of a good strength training program.

To be explosive you’re never going to be able to beat throwing and jumping.

To be in shape nothing will ever top hill sprints or the Prowler.

One thing that I have changed, however, is the way I coach certain exercises. Chin ups being one of the most noteworthy.

I’ve been down on straight bar chins for quite some time now and haven’t done one myself in years. Over the [...]

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Should You Always Use a Full Range of Motion: Part 2

24. Jun, 2011 6 Comments Bodyweight Training, How to Build Muscle

In Part 1 we discussed neck, traps, shoulders, chest and triceps. Today we keep it rolling, starting with every a Jersey Shore favorite- the biceps.

Curls
As with most of these exercises, beginners should use a full range of motion. Let me rephrase that…. Beginners should never do curls.

After a few years of training when you start curling you should use a full range of motion. But shortly after that it would be wise to cut the range and save your elbows. Keep the elbows slightly bent in the bottom position and [...]

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Is Bodyweight Training Effective for Building Muscle?

10. Jun, 2011 34 Comments Bodyweight Training

I absolutely love bodyweight training and always include it in my programs. Bodyweight exercises don’t beat up your joints as much as traditional weight training exercises do. In fact, some would argue that they heal your joints. They’re more natural than traditional weight training exercises and they improve your overall athleticism quite effectively.

As I have mentioned in the past, bodyweight training leads to higher levels of neuromuscular activation than any exercise that simply has you moving your body through space. From a muscle building perspective that’s a good thing

However, there [...]

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Bodyweight Training Tips from Sin City

08. Jun, 2011 17 Comments Body Weight Exercises, Bodyweight Training

Bodyweight Training Tips From Sin City

Normally when you’re in Vegas with Jay Z pumping through the speakers and a big ass shakin right next to you at the pool you’d be thinking to yourself, “Maaaannn, look at those glutes, I’d love to see what that girl could do…

In the gym…”

Or maybe that’s just me.

Or the over 35 year old version of me.

Truth be told, I’m obsessed with strength and bodyweight training and am always thinking about it in some way or another. Even when there’s a bunch of tanned, [...]

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27 Tips For Healthier Shoulders- Part 2

25. Mar, 2011 14 Comments Bodyweight Training, How to Build Muscle, Strength & Conditioning

I hope you guys enjoyed the first installment of this article. Today I’m serving up Part 2…

11) Do More Pushups- Pushups are still one of my top ten favorite exercises and always will be. They are also significantly better for your shoulders than any other form of horizontal pressing with a bar or dumbbells. Pushups are highly underrated because people don’t know how to load them properly or do advanced variations.

For loading you can get a weighted vest, chains, a Power Pushup (which is awesome) or even have a partner [...]

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Training & Diet Update- 3/22/11

24. Mar, 2011 0 Comments Bodyweight Training, Intermittent Fasting

Well, it’s been a while since I updated my training and nutrition log so I just wanted to give you guys a quick update on what’s been going on along with some current progress pics.

I’m gonna give you a quick run down on my workouts over the last eight weeks and also give you a closer look at The Renegade Diet. I’ve been constantly working on improving the diet and making tweaks to it to make it even more effective.

I have several people on it now and all of them [...]

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Jen’s New Chin Up PR (And How We Did It)

20. Nov, 2010 31 Comments Bodyweight Training, How to Build Muscle

Jen set a new PR on chin ups this week, beating her old max of 13 by four reps (17). We determined that her strength endurance was good but in order to bring up her numbers we would need to improve her explosiveness and maximal strength.

Over the last few months we’ve had her do nothing but low reps on chin ups. Except for the rare sets of five we haven’t gone above three in quite a while.

Basically we worked on maximal strength and speed. She would often do twenty explosive [...]

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Build Muscle to Burn Fat

20. Jul, 2010 9 Comments Bodyweight Training, Fat Loss, How to Build Muscle

Guest Post by Scott Sonnon of Tactfit Commando

We’ve known for years that muscle tissue is highly active metabolically, and it helps us burn more calories during the day. So more muscle equals better fat burn, right? Unfortunately that’s only partly true — and not to the extent we once believed. A pound of muscle is now thought to burn an extra 6 calories per hour (as opposed to the 25 or more per hour we once believed). You’d have to pack on an awful lot of beef to make much [...]

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Hill Sprints For Fat Loss

19. Jul, 2010 30 Comments Bodyweight Training, Fat Loss, Strength & Conditioning

If you know me you know I like to keep things simple. I’m a big believer in the 80/20 rule. Focusing on too many things and making too many changes at once is always a recipe for disaster and will undoubtedly lead to lackluster results.

So when people ask me for some tips on how to get lean I tell them two things- diet and sprint. Pretty simple stuff.

Diet is really 80% of getting lean but that’s another topic entirely. Today we’re simply gonna focus on hill sprints for fat loss. [...]

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Top 10 Ways to Improve Your Pull Ups

20. Feb, 2010 48 Comments Bodyweight Training, How to Build Muscle, Strength & Conditioning

The pull up is quite possibly the ultimate measure of strength. It’s also one of the greatest muscle building exercises in existence, which is precisely why it’s been called the upper body squat. Lat pulldowns can’t even come close to comparing. Whenever you move your body through space the level of neuromuscular activation is dramatically higher.

People all too often ask, “How much can ya bench?” A more appropriate question would be “How many pull ups can you do?” The pull up measures your strength to weight ratio better than almost [...]

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