There is
very little in this world which can escape the push and pull of changing trends
- and muscle building workouts are no exception. For the last decade, gyms up
and down the country have been filled with pumped up guys, worshiping at the
altar of the bench press and the dumbbell rack.
Yet, what
happens if you turn up for your session and there is a queue of hulking gents
hogging the rack? What if you cannot make it to the gym at all? You might have
to work away from home. You might have a hard month and have to cancel your
membership outright. Are you supposed to just let all of those hard won gains
go to waste?
Of course
not - men built mass before the invention of sophisticated gym machines and
they can still do it now. In fact, this more organic way of building muscle
(commonly referred to as bodyweight training or calisthenics) has slowly grown
in popularity over the last five years. There are now more guys choosing to
trust their bodies and acquire mass the natural way.
Whilst
weight training with apparatus is certainly not a bad way to sculpt and tone
the chest, arms, and back, a narrow emphasis on assisted training often leads
to a physicality which is overly reliant on a limited range of forms.
Alternatively, calisthenics (or bodyweight training), which tones and shapes,
via strength training without weights, encourages the body to become flexible,
supple, incredibly strong under pressure.
Balanced
Calisthenics for Sustainable Mass
The real
power in calisthenics training lies with the fact that it focuses on movements
which involve multiple muscles. It does not try to pick out and strengthen
separate muscle groups. This is something which can feel rather alien to
anybody who is unfamiliar with bodyweight exercises, but its value quickly
becomes clear when trying to learn how to master tricky moves like the one arm
pull up.
Clearly, a
one arm pull up is going to require super strong arms and laterals, but it
needs more than this. In fact, it cannot be done without the ability to
regulate strength and tension across the whole of the body. This is what
calisthenics does; it involves the whole body as a cohesive unit, order to
create balanced and even centers of mass.
The core
tenets of calisthenics strength training exhibit a direct physical expression,
as the strength to weight balance needed to carry out high level exercises
makes precise demands on the body. For this reason, calisthenics experts work
towards finding the perfect balance between muscle mass and body fat, so that
no cycle, movement, or exercise is beyond them.
Calisthenics
for the Abs
The best
calisthenics 'projects' begin right at the center. This is important because,
in order to use your own weight as a tool, you first need to train your abs to
withstand the pressure - calisthenics routines always rely on the abs. It will
start to show after a couple of months too, so keep that end goal in mind if
the work feels intimidating.
The
windshield wiper and the hanging leg raise are both great moves for working the
abs. In fact, any kind of bar work is bound to be valuable. The classic bar
move puts pressure on the serratus anterior, so it produces visible changes
within the torso very quickly. If you want that killer serratus edge and a six
pack to die for, this is the way to go.
Calisthenics
for the Arms
To start
making gains in this area, you do not even have to switch up your moves all
that much - bar work happens to be great for arms too, especially biceps. The
truth is that your arms are going to get a more solid workout from chin up reps
than they are curls, so keep using your own weight as tool and start worshiping
the natural way.
There is a
wide range of different moves that you could try here; everything from overhand
pull ups to underhand chins, the thick bar, the switch grip, and pulling up from
anything which is strong enough to take your weight. After a few months, you
will start to notice an incredible increase in tensile capacity. You might
start to look a bit like Popeye too, what with those arms.
Calisthenics
for the Chest and Back
It should
come as no surprise to find that extremely broad laterals are a real sign of an
accomplished calisthenics built physique. As there is no narrow focus on
picking out and separately working the arms, it becomes easier to realise the
true potential of the laterals with the use of muscle ups, pull ups, bar
levels, and moves like the human flag.
And now to
the big boss of calisthenics; the classic push up. It remains one of the finest
and most efficient unassisted bodyweight movements. However, too many guys are
tempted to just get to grips with the boring old signature push up - take
things further and make it exciting. You should always remember that if it is
easy, your body is not working as hard as it should.
Putting
Together the Right Calisthenics Routine
The
following three day split calisthenics routine is a fairly basic one, but it
will encourage the growth of new muscle. It can be performed with the use of
exterior weights, or you can go solo and pump it out unassisted - the choice is
yours.
Also, you
can make the routine harder, if you need to, by altering the incline of push
ups, restricting points of contact, and expanding the range of motion, in order
to definitively answer the question 'Can calisthenics build mass?'
Workout One:
Pushing Movements + Core
Exercise -
Sets - Reps - Rest
Weighted
Push-up - 3 - 8-12 - 90 sec.
Weighted
Push-up, feet elevated - 3 - 8-12 - 90 sec.
Handstand
Push-up - 3 - 8-12 - 90 sec.
Hanging Leg
Raise - 3 - 12-15 - 90 sec.
Windshield
Wipers - 3 - 12-15 - 90 sec.
Workout Two:
Pulling Movements + Core
Exercise
Sets Reps Rest
Pull-up - 3
- 8-12 - 90 sec
Neutral grip
pull-up - 3 - 8-12 - 90 sec
Chin-up - 3
- 8-12 - 90 sec
Dragonflags
- 3 - Failure - 180 sec
Workout
Three: Legs and Conditioning:
Exercise -
Sets - Reps - Rest
100-meter
Sprint - 3 - 150 sec
50 meter
run, than 50 meter walk - 2 - 5 - 240 sec
Pistol
Squats - 3 - Pre-Fail - 150 sec.
7 Jump
Squats
7 Jump
Lunges (left)
7 Jump
Lunges (right) - 3 - 90 sec.
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