Athlete In The City » weightbearing

eighteen extreme exercises

admin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:00:52 +0000

Just found this video on youtube and was pretty impressed. Although I’ve never had much luck with the human flag, I don’t work on it much either. The straddle planche pushups though, I work at everyday. Closer but still not there. All the others I’ve got pretty well. So I guess I’m getting somewhere!

standing ab wheel rollout
back lever
hannibal pullups
korean dips
one-arm one-leg pushups
leg lifts
straddle planche pushups
L-sit walk
human flag
superman pushup
dragon flag
side-to-sides
handstand pushup to nose
elbow step pushups – together
muscle-up with false grip
stall bar hold
deep handstand pushups
bicycle pullups

new handstand pushups – on medicine ball

admin — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:00:57 +0000

A new twist on handstand pushups. If handstand pushups get too easy, try deep press hanstand pushups (on parallettes) where your chest comes down to hand level. If those get to easy, destabilize one or both of your hands with a medicine ball. And a caveat aka warning, please don’t try this if you struggle with basic handstand pushups. You’ll fall splat on your face!!

xvest demo – 110% bodyweight clapping pushups

admin — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:00:59 +0000

I finally bought a weight vest. If you’re serious about bodyweight training, it’s only a matter of time. Here I demo the xvest. I’m really happy with it. It’s super adjustable, in one pound increments from zero to 40 pounds, and fits really snug with velcro elastic straps around the core. Good stuff!!

Introducing The Wall Walk

admin — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:00:26 +0000

This is an exercise I learned from my gymnastics teacher. If you can do a wall walk to start, try getting into the basic backbend or wheel as they call it in yoga. From there lift one hand for five seconds, put it back. Lift the other hand for five seconds, put it back. Then lift a leg, then the other leg. Try to remain fully inflated, and stretch through your upper back as much as possible. You want the pressure on your arms and shoulders, not your lower back. Good luck!

five minutes of intensity

admin — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 13:00:53 +0000

As I’m always trying to think of new ways to mix up the workout, I recently added a little twist to my sets and reps. The idea is simple. Set your stopwatch to countdown from 5 minutes. Then do as many as you possibly can in that five minute period. Short reps, long reps, rest as long as you like. But the total count is what you’re interested in. Keep track. Over time you’ll surely improve your five minute max!!

pullups – 45
planche pushups – 80
floor walk – 140
handstand shoulder shrug – 80

Those were my numbers. Oh, one other little itty bitty detail. I did these with a my new xvest weight vest loaded with 20 pounds. Now I weigh 145 so that’s about 15% of my body weight. Will have more on the new weight vest next week, so stay tuned.

Put a good size break between your five minute sets or you’ll have nothing left at the end! Good luck!!

hand walks – shoulders and core

admin — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:00:19 +0000

This training skill works the shoulders with the full eight of the body, and demands a balanced weight shift and very tight core in order to execute. If you’re having trouble with this trick as-is, try resting one foot on a gymnastics scooter.

straddle planche hold

admin — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:00:44 +0000

After many years of building basic strength, I’m finally starting to get somewhere with this planche training. Take a look at my first straddle planche holds…

Learn from the Astronauts & Dr Sanjay Gupta

admin — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:00:10 +0000

I’ve harped on about weightbearing exercise before. It’s very important. The force of gravity upon the skeletal system stimultes bone growth, and health.

I was just watching CNN today, and Sanjay Gupta was interviewing some scientists at NASA on the affects of weightlessness on the astronauts bodies.

Here’s the article: Making Gravity Work For You by Dr Sanjay Gupta

Some hightlights…

I learned how beneficial gravity is for us on Earth. Doctors call it axial load. You can think of it as a slight tension on our bodies, more importantly our ligaments, tendons and bones. Turns out, this slight pulling of gravity slows down the loss of bone mass, which in space accelerates 10 times faster than a post-menopausal woman.

and more importantly…

The message for the rest of us is to embrace gravity. In addition to your aerobic exercise, which you should do most days of the week, add some axial load to your routine. And, this is a message for everyone, especially women in their 40s and 50s who will have to deal with menopause. Pick up some dumbbells, park yourself under a bench press or learn how to use a cable system. It’s good for your health and for your bones.

For the rest of us into bodyweight training, all the different types of pushups, handstands, pullups etc all count as weightbearing exercise too.

planche pushups – feet against the wall

admin — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:00:05 +0000

Still working on planche pushups steadily. Here are some average-ish planche pushups, feet against the wall…

peck flys on scooters

admin — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:28:55 +0000

Scooters you probably remember from your high school or middle school gym days. For bodyweight training, you can use them for all sorts of things. Here I’m doing peck flys, which you might normally do on a bench with barbels. The scooters work quite well. Adjust the weight by starting on your knees, or on your toes, but with legs apart. Try to keep your arms straight. My left arm bends a lot, not sure what to do about that yet…

one-arm one-leg pushup

admin — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:09:38 +0000

Pavel Tsutsouline has done some amazing shit. Once I saw his one-arm one-leg pushup, I had to add it to my repertoire. Easier said than done. Well I’m getting closer with a one-finger assist!!

double clap pushups

admin — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:39:51 +0000

Just got back last week from a long trip to the west coast, san francisco, berkeley, sierra mountains, reno nevada, and of course black rock city. Never a dull moment…

Anyway, after a long hiatus, here’s a quick double clap pushup video. 10 reps. If you’re having trouble with this trick, seperate your legs more. If you’re in a complete straddle position, for instance, most people can do a double clap pushup, because you have more time in the air. Try it and see!

ab wheel demo

admin — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:45:00 +0000

The ab wheel is a great addition to anyone’s training toolbox. Good for beginners, good for experts. Can do amazing things for your abdominal muscles…

one-arm balance

admin — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:04:18 +0000

If you’re looking to do more balancing exercises, this one works the deltoids, abs, and hip-flexors a lot.

circular hand walk

admin — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:00:37 +0000

Walking on your hands involves a lot of deltoid strength, but surprisingly it also requires quite a bit of abdominal strength as well. Add a touch of hip-flexors, and you have the makings of a tough exercise that works the whole body. In our video we do the skill in a circular movement, to add intensity.