Convict Conditioning 2 Is On Its Way!

As you may or may not know, I've been using the progressions for bodyweight strength set forth in Paul Wade's book, Convict Conditioning. The book's purpose is to help people progress their strength using six bodyweight exercise progressions. The program is very effective and the movements cover all the major muscle groups....but it's missing something.

This is where its first sequel comes in: Convict Conditioning 2 is on its way! It covers auxiliary exercises for grip strength, neck strength and calves, along with flexibility and mobility and a lot of other goodies. There is no official release date yet, but it looks like it'll be here by December!

Here's an in-depth review by Robert Drucker of Muscles of Iron.

Train Smart!

Cardio...Best Idea For Fat Loss?

Some of you may have heard parts of this spiel already, but due to the mass amount of misinformation out there, it still bears repeating.

Aerobic training (a.k.a. CARDIO...an ugly word around me) has long been thought of as the end-all, be-all of weight loss and body recomposition. I'm here to tell you that this is simply not true! Yes, you will lose weight on a calorie-restricted diet. Yes, you will also lose weight doing cardio. No, that doesn't mean cardio is good (here's some insight into my disdain for cardio). No, you won't end up with the body you want...unless you approach it from a slightly different angle.

Here's why: Cardio and calorie restriction do, indeed, create a caloric deficit, but the cost is a little higher than most people believe. Instead of just shedding fat and getting lean, you lose muscle and bone mass also. If you don't use it, you lose it. So, how do we prevent this from happening? Enter resistance training.

Resistance training can be anything from bodyweight to resistance band training to weightlifting. There are so many options out there, your choices are practically infinite. Depending on your goals, you can use resistance training as part of an interval program, or you can train specifically for strength. Or you can do both. The point is, you need to at least maintain your lean mass if you want your body composition to change in a good way...and resistance training can get you there. As an added bonus, increasing (or, at least, maintaining) lean mass will increase your resting metabolic rate (a.k.a. how many calories you burn when you aren't being active).

Now let's take a step back and look at the big picture. I already mentioned my dislike of "chronic cardio"...so what should you do instead? My current favorite set of guidelines are from Mark Sisson's "The Primal Blueprint." There are three rules regarding fitness in the Primal Blueprint:

1: Move Frequently at a Slow Pace. It strengthens the cardiovascular and immune systems and promotes efficient metabolism. It's also less damaging on the joints. Try to get up to 55-75% max heart rate for 2-5 hours a week. Here's Mark's take.

2: Lift Heavy Things. This one has some obvious benefits, such as muscle growth and increased strength. It also strengthens the tendons so your joints stay healthy. I already mentioned that it increases resting metabolic rate. It also increases spacial awareness and proprioception. The bottom line is this: you want to increase (or maintain) your strength so you can live without fear of injury, even into old age. Keep the workouts short and intense, focusing on functional movement. 1-3x per week, shooting for 7-60 minutes per workout. (These recommendations are for general fitness. Change it however you see fit if you're working toward specific goals like I am)

3: Sprint Once in a While. Once every week or so is sufficient. Here's what I have to say about sprinting.

A fourth and often misunderstood rule that I would like to add is to play! It's fun, it's physical (that means video games don't count!), and it burns calories! Many types of play (like sports) also help with coordination and proprioception. You should give it a try sometime.

Let's recap...dieting and cardio alone won't give you the best results. Cardio is bad. Resistance training is good. Do lots of low level aerobic activity. Lift heavy things (but make sure it's intense!). Sprint once in a while.

Train Smart!

The Angle and Lever Principle

Today, we'll be talking about body position. Being a bodyweight exercise enthusiast, I've often run into problems of how to make things harder...or how to make a really hard exercise easier so I can progress toward it. I've found that there are two important factors when it comes to the difficulty of exercises: body angle and lever length. Let's look at these in detail:

Body Angle

This determines how you are loading whatever exercise you're progressing (making harder) or regressing (making easier). Say you're doing a pushup: a standard pushup distributes your weight fairly evenly on your hands and feet. Now, say you want to make it easier. All you have to do is change your body angle so less weight is on your arms. You can do this by doing incline pushups on a bench, or wall pushups. Same goes for making them harder, just reversed. Elevate your feet and you suddenly have a lot more weight on your arms.

Another angle example is the use of a ramp. Say you're doing lunges. If you want to make them more challenging do them down a ramp. If you want to make them easier, just turn around and do them with the leading leg up on the ramp (stationary lunges, anyway. Walking lunges would be opposite).

The angle of the body (or the surface you're on) directly effects the amount of weight on the part of the body you're working. Play around with it!

Lever Principle

This one is a little more complex in the explanation, but it's easy in application. I'm no expert on levers, but I do know how to use them to progress or regress a workout.

Let's go straight to examples for this one. I present to you the sledgehammer. It has a fairly long handle with a hardened steel head on it. It comes in a variety of weights, but they all serve the same purpose - to create force on one end. Now, the hammer is actually designed to create force without as much effort from the user, but here we want to look at it from another perspective: try to hold the hammer parallel to the ground by the end (as far from the head as you can get). Even the measly six pound hammer is challenging (if not impossible) for most people. Now hold the hammer vertical, arm still straightened. Easier, right? Want to make it easier? bring your arm in - you're shortening the lever. You're bringing the weight closer to your center so your body doesn't have to work as hard.

Now let's look at a couple exercise examples:

Say you're doing a flat knee raise. You lie on the floor with your knees bent and your hands by your hips. You lift your legs, keeping that knee angle. Too easy? Try this: Keep your knees bent on the way up, then straighten them on the way down. Much harder, right? You just lengthened your lever. Knee raise too hard? Make your knee angle smaller. You just shortened your lever.

One more lever example before we wrap up: Look at a gymnast doing a lever on the rings (I know, right? It's a perfect example!). His lever is quite long during the lever. If you were to learn it, you would most likely start with your knees tucked, shortening your lever. The progressions are basically incrementally lengthening your lever.

Here's a great example of both principles together: the hanging straight leg raise. This changes the angle so none of the weight of the legs is supported. The straight legs also lengthen the lever as far as it can go, ensuring the abdominals and hip flexors have to do all the work, which is the ultimate goal of the leg raise.

As you can see, these principles can be used either together or on their own. They can add whole new levels to your bodyweight training, and beyond! Try using this principle during a weight session. You'd be amazed at where you can apply it!

Train Smart!

Calisthenics for Strength?

We're talking tremendous amounts of strength, too. Not just the ability to do more reps (which is strength endurance), but the ability to move more weight. How is this possible? It's the same principle as any other form of resistance training. You have to make the movements more difficult. Now, this can often take more creativity than just loading more weight on a barbell or grabbing a heavier dumbbell or kettlebell. We'll cover some ways to make movements more difficult, but first a little history.

The Early Days...

The first known account of calisthenics comes from Herotodus' well-known account of the Battle of Thermoplylae. A scouting party reported to the "God King" Xerxes that King Leonidas and his Spartan warriors were doing bodyweight movements, as though they were limbering up for battle. Xerxes did not know what to make of this. Based on their performance during said battle, I can confidently say they didn't become so powerful and capable doing push-ups (at least the kind most are used to), jumping jacks, crunches, and squat thrusts. No doubt they used easy movements such as those for warm-ups and conditioning, but they used much more advanced movements for strength.

The Spartans were not the only Greeks to use calisthenics for strength. The early Olympic competitors also used calisthenics extensively in their training. Greek wrestlers are my favorite example. They did not use weights other than occasionally lifting stones and regular practice with training partners. Everything else involved nothing but their own bodies. Their physiques were so impressive, sculptors used them as models for their statues of the Gods.

In Rome, the Gladiators were the pinnacle of strength and power. They were known to perform extremely advanced bodyweight movements. Of course, Roman soldiers were also known to use similar methods.

In China, at around the same time, Shaolin monks were also training in calisthenics and were some of the first to be seen doing handstands and handstand push-ups.

More Recently...

By recent, of course, we are talking about the turn of the century. In Prussia, the former military commander Friedrich Ludwig Jahn started to formalize training methods using minimal equipment. The equipment he did use were the parallel bars, hanging rings, horizontal bars, vaulting horse, and balancing beam. Thus gymnastics were born. During this time, many incredible strength athletes existed, known as the Strongmen. These men traveled and performed for audiences. Thomas Inch, Arthur Saxon, Rolandow, and many others who used calisthenics as a major part of their strength training. Bert Assirati was able to do full standing bridges and one-arm hand balancing at an excess of 240 lbs!

My personal favorite was Eugen Sandow, whose figure is used to this day for the Mr. Olympia statue. His feats included hoisting 300 lb dumbbells overhead with ease, breaking chains wrapped around his midsection by merely flexing, lifting a 1,500 lb stone with one hand, and taking on 3 wrestlers at a time with ease! His career began with gymnastics and he never lost his respect for bodyweight strength training. Later in his career he made attempts to build machines, such as a push-up machine, but he ultimately gave up, believing that the traditional push-up was far more effective. For more information on Sandow, his story can be found here.

The Current State of Calisthenics

Strength-focused calisthenics today are very under-appreciated and have almost disappeared entirely from the mainstream fitness world. When you ask the average gym rat or fitness buff what calisthenics are, the most common response is "Cali...what?" Those who do know what calisthenics are generally believe that they are the basic push-ups, sit-ups or crunches, bodyweight squats, and pull-ups. They believe that calisthenics are merely endurance exercises.

I say nay! They most certainly are not! You can achieve tremendous amounts of strength if you do calisthenics correctly, progressively loading them (by loading, I mean making more difficult, not adding external sources of weight). Progression is the key word here, but we'll get into that a little later. First, a quick, improved overview of the benefits of calisthenics:

1. You don't need any equipment.

2. You can progress all the way to your genetic limits. Your body is genetically designed with limitations. There is a healthy weight range, and once you reach a certain level of strength it's not always effective or advised to continue further. There are, of course, ways to progress further, but it's something you should approach with great care. Same goes with weight, for those who are looking to add mass. Adding too much would be counterproductive to your attempts to master your own body.

3. Calisthenics can be used for conditioning, by using high-rep schemes.

4. Plyometrics are another option for bodyweight training.

5. Bodyweight training regulates body composition and fat storage. I'll expand on this in a moment.

6. It's the most functional way to train.

Now, to expand (just like I promised)...

Now, I would normally present information that is evidence-based (derived from studies and research and whatnot), but this rarely-mentioned benefit of calisthenics (especially for strength) is only experience-based. Considering its age, one would think there would be piles of studies regarding changes in the body's composition due to adaptations to calisthenics. Alas, there are not. So instead I will refer to the SAID principle: Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands.

Let's look at the theory of body recomposition based on this principle: You are a bit overweight, but you have started doing bodyweight progressions. You have made it to the point where the workouts are getting more difficult and you're having to move more of your body's weight. Yes, we can assume that you will get stronger doing this, but there's another adaptation - you start to shed the excess body fat. Your body is an efficient machine and will try whatever it can to adapt to regular demands. If you're doing pull-ups, your body will drop fat in order to do them easier!

The Key to Strength is Progression

Progression is something of a lost art since the dawning of the "Age of False Muscle." Bodybuilders nowadays often use the same weight every workout. There will be no progress that way! Progression is absolutely needed. My favorite progressive calisthenics program at the moment is called Convict Conditioning, by Paul "Coach" Wade. His book has been endorsed by some of the biggest names in training: John Du Cane (Dragon Door), Gray Cook, and Loren Christensen.

The basic premise of the book (beyond the whole prison part, which is not at all what the bulk of the book is about) is that incredible bodyweight feats can be accomplished by following a progressive, methodical approach. He focuses on six movements and the progressions to reach them: the one-arm push-up, the one-leg squat (a.k.a. the Pistol), the hanging straight leg raise, the stand-to-stand bridge, and the one-arm handstand push-up. He recommends starting at the bottom, progressing from the easiest steps and slowly building the "training momentum" in order to build tendon strength along with muscular strength. I agree with every part of his method.

The progressions start with the easiest movements possible, often used in rehabilitation and physical therapy. For the push-up you would start with 1 set of 10 reps of wall push-ups, and you would progress to Intermediate (2 sets of 25), and then to the Progression Standard (3 sets of 30). From there you progress to the next step, which is a slightly more difficult form of the exercise. In the case of push-ups it would be incline push-ups, and you would start back at 1 set of 10 reps.

This kind of progression will take much longer than most people in our "instant gratification" world are used to, but patience pays off! You're much less likely to plateau when you start from the bottom and work your way up. It also helps to shore up weaknesses and imbalances.

For more information about Convict Conditioning, check out the book!


For more information and bodyweight strength-building techniques, check out Pavel's Naked Warrior:

Why I Do Calisthenics

There's a quick answer to this and a much, much longer one. Today I will tackle both!

Here is the quick answer.

It is the most versatile and effective form of training on the planet.

Now here's the long answer.

Calisthenics happen to be the world's oldest known training methods. Long before padded machines, cables, bench press, barbells, dumbbells, and all other man-made exercise equipment men (and women) regularly trained exclusively using their bodyweight. The greek warriors and Olympian athletes were some of the best-known to have used Calisthenics, but their use has spanned from the Shaolin Temples to Soviet Russia to turn of the century America. Up until the advent of machines and bodybuilding (a.k.a. the "Age of the False Athlete"), anyone serious about fitness or athletics used Calisthenics as a part of their training.

The word Calisthenics is derived from the Greek words kallos, meaning "beauty," and sthenos, meaning "strength."

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Calisthenics: 1. systematic rhythmic bodily exercises performed usually without apparatus.

Calisthenics can be used in many different applications, be it strength, muscular endurance and work capacity, conditioning, speed and explosiveness, etc. I will be writing articles specifically about developing each of these. For now, let's look at the big picture, what all of these methods have in common.

First, the only equipment you need is your own body. A pull-up bar can be useful, but isn't necessary.

Second, there are ways to progress exercises. You can even get to the point where you are moving your entire body with one limb (I am currently working on a few goals based on this), or moving in a very difficult position in a slow, controlled manner (like Stand-To-Stand bridges).

Third, you can work for reps, going as high-rep as possible. Coupled with other high-rep bodyweight exercises, you can develop high levels of conditioning. Crossfit uses this principle in many of their workouts.

Fourth, you can train explosiveness easily. Clap pushups and jump squats are just two examples.

Fifth, Calisthenics help your body to regulate healthy fat storage. It's a simple equation. More bodyweight equals more difficulty moving said bodyweight. When you have to move your body through these types of movements, your body will do whatever it can to make it easier and adapt. This often leads to quicker fat loss and increased muscle, which can also help burn more fat (not a ton like the Muscle & Fiction mags will tell you, but every little bit helps right?).

Last, but most definitely not least (technically not the last, but to continue would go beyond the scope of this article), it is the most functional way to train. What do we have to do the most in our lives? Move our own bodies. How do you do it better? Move your own body! It helps to strengthen not only the muscles, but also the tendons and joints. It prevents injuries and can help to rehabilitate existing ones.

For advanced athletes, calisthenics can also be done with added resistance in the form of weight vests and wrist/ankle weights.

Some examples of Calisthenic exercises are as follows:

- The Pushup (variations include Incline and Decline, Close, Weighted, and One-Arm)

- The Squat (Variations include the Hindu Squat, the Lunge, the Jump Squat or Box Jump, and     the Pistol)

- The Pullup (Variations include the Body Row, the Chinup, and the One-Arm Pullup)

- The Bridge (Variations include Hip Raises, Full Bridge, Wall Walking, and Stand-to-Stand     Bridges)

- The Handstand Pushup (Variations include the Pike Pushup, the Half Hanstand Pushup, and     the One-Arm Hanstand Pushup)

- The Leg Raise (Variations include Lying Leg Raise, Hanging Knee Raise, Hanging Frog Raise,     Hanging Straight Leg Raise, and V-Raise)

New to exercise?

All of these movements can also be regressed for beginners and those in physical therapy and injury rehab. For example, you can substitute the standard Push-up with the Wall Pushup, you can do a Supported or Half Squat instead of a full one, you can do Seated Knee Tucks instead of Leg Raises, etc.

Or are you an exercise veteran?

Advanced athletes can try their hand at more Gymnastics-based movements such as the free-standing (away from a wall or support) Handstand Pushup, the Planche, the Lever, or the Muscle-up. Advanced athletes can also continue to increase strength in the basic movements by adding weight, suchs as weight vests or kettlebells. Steve Cotter, RKC can do a pistol with two racked 24kg (53lb) kettlebells with ease.

The bottom line is this:
If you want to lose weight, build muscle, and develop lot of functional strength, Calisthenics are the way to go!

Don't take it from me, though. Take it from these guys:

Bud Jeffries

Pavel Tsatsouline

Steve Cotter

Jim Bathurst

Ross Enamait

Matt Furey

These are just five of the countless advanced athletes who swear by Calisthenics and its benefits. So what are you waiting for? DROP AND GIVE ME 20!