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
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
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
If you’re looking to do more balancing exercises, this one works the deltoids, abs, and hip-flexors a lot.
circular hand walk
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.
planche freeze – 5 seconds
I’ve been working on the arm-bar and planche exercises for a long time. I talk about them on this blog quite a bit. My strength at the planche has been slowly improving, so I’m confident enough with it now to post a video. Basically I go into an elbow planche, and then slide forward and off the elbows, holding fulling extended with straight legs for about five seconds.
What Is Weight Bearing Exercise?
People often ask me about exercise without using weights and weight machines. What exactly is weight bearing exercise?
The bones in the human body are as alive as any other tissues. Bone is laid down in the same direction as mechanical stress. In other words, as you use your body, your skeletal frame, your bones build, and become more dense. Just like muscles, if you don’t use them, they will weaken.
In fact, interestingly enough, this is a big problem for astronauts. When they are exposed to the weightless environment of outer space, their bones actually shrink up to 2% per month, and they return brittle and weak. They actually develop Osteoporosis over a very short period of time.
Why do I mention astronauts? Well because people that are bedridden because of an injury, or just people who don’t exercise much, tending more towards the sedentary lifestyle, exhibit these same symptoms of Osteoporosis, albeit over many years.
So weight bearing exercise, opposing the force of gravity, is an important part of your fitness routine, be it running, rowing, or lifting some weights. My personal favorites are body weight exercises, that use only the weight of the body to stimulate and build muscle and bone.
In researching for this article, I found a very good piece on the subject What’s G Got To Do With It? You can all search google for terms like “astronaut osteoperosis”, “astronaut bone mass”, “exercise bone density”, etc.
Age, Muscle & Bone Mass
I was talking to a friend recently and they were saying how they tried to do some jump roping, and how quickly they got winded. They explained how they remembered it being so easy in high school, and how many reps they could do, and how fast. And they were only 25.
The truth is we’ve all felt the affects of aging on our health, which is obviously the reason why a lot of us, myself included, are so into training, and fitness. Anyway, I thought it might help to mention a few points from my personal training textbook on this topic. Firstly the obvious:
“the rate of strength gain appears to be greater during the years of normal growth and development, generally considered to be from the ages of 10 to 20″
but goes on to say:
“recent research has revealed that men and women of all ages can increase their muscle size and muscle strength through progressive strength training.”
But in terms of being realistic about our goals, this point puts that in perspective:
“Muscle mass declines with age, resulting in decreased muscular strength and endurance. For each decade after the age of 25, 3 to 5% of muscle mass is lost. This is primarily attributed to changes in lifestyle and the decreased use of the neuromuscular system.”
A similar affect is felt in the bone density of the bod:
“With age, bones become more fragile… With age the loss of calcium results in decreased bone mass, but weightbearing and resistance training exercises are known to help maintain bone mass.”
Loss of bone mass eventually leads to osteoperosis, but…
“The greater the physical stress and compression on a bone, the greater the rate of bone deposition (this is why weightbearing exercise is recommended).”
Running is a weightbearing exercise for example, and swimming is not. This is why folks who are older and have joint problems, are recommended swimming or walking, over running. Keep in mind that running also causes tightening of the hamstrings, and tendons around the knee joint, so more stretching is required to avoid the potential downside of running, which puts weightbearing stress on the knees and hip joints.