When i first started doing push ups i did them everyday and tried to bust out more and more each time. Well, although i got a but stronger that did not work for too long and i eventually plataued and got weaker.
I want to get back to the basics (for a little while, at least) to help strengthen my connective tissue, learn proper movement patterns and work on my mobilty (which i greatly need)using closed chain bodyweight (some ext. load if necessary eventually, but not much). Lunges, Reverse lunges, push-up variations, inverted rows, planks etc…
What is an effective way to go about periodizing these exercises?
I was thinking of these 2 methods:
- M,W,F schedule. I would test my max reps for each exercise then do three sets of half that number (example; 30 max push-ups = 3 sets of 15). Come W i would go for 4 sets than on F try for 5 sets. When i meet this quota i would add a few more reps for each exercise and start the cycle again.
2)M,T,TH,F schedule. Start the same way, going for 3 sets of half my max (30) which gives my 45 total reps. The next day go for slightly more volume achieved by doing more sets of less reps. Maybe 6 sets of 10 for a total of 60. The next day i would rest/recover followed by 2 more days of training with the “new” total volume now being my starting number (so i would bang out 3 sets of 20 for 60 total followed the next day by 5 sets of 15 giving 75 total, for instance).
Does any of this sound like an intelligent to manipulate my training variables (which, with only bodyweight, seems limited to sets/reps and time between sets; although i did not think to mention it in the routines)?
Thanks
I would not bother with periodization with BW exercises. With BW exercises, I would do them as often as possible. Dont do a lot of reps, like 30 push - ups.
Thats going to build endurance, but not strength and not strong joints. Plus, you form gets worse with every rep. start doing push - ups with feet elevated, one arm push - ups (if you cant do them on the flat surface, elevate your upper boyd).
Start doing one leg squats (again, if you cant go all the way to the bottom, do the box squats and progress). Practice makes it perfect.
But of course change it up sometimes (change exercises).
[quote]EvilRUS wrote:
I would not bother with periodization with BW exercises. With BW exercises, I would do them as often as possible. Dont do a lot of reps, like 30 push - ups.
Thats going to build endurance, but not strength and not strong joints. Plus, you form gets worse with every rep. start doing push - ups with feet elevated, one arm push - ups (if you cant do them on the flat surface, elevate your upper boyd).
Start doing one leg squats (again, if you cant go all the way to the bottom, do the box squats and progress). Practice makes it perfect.[/quote]
i was under the impression that bodyweight exercises help to stabilaize joints because the intensity is not extremely high. Is this not one of the reasons why heavy lifters deload every so often; to help strenghten connective tissue and such?
Also, during box squats, how do i go about finding how hih a platform i should be using.
Thanks
Yeah, thats true, deloads are to strengthen the joints and to relax, but you are not going to build strong joints with the high amount of reps. In addition, your strength will stop growing because you are doing endurance training (very high amount of reps).
I would say joints get more damaged with high amount of reps (if you bend a paper clip many times, eventually it will break, yeah, I know, we are not paper clips).
About the box. A few of my athletes cant go down all the way in single-leg squats, so they take a not very high bench and squat on that.
If they can go deeper, then they take something lower than the bench (like a few plates). If you cant sit down on the bench, then take something higher than the bench. Of course you need to progress from high to low.
[quote]EvilRUS wrote:
Yeah, thats true, deloads are to strengthen the joints and to relax, but you are not going to build strong joints with the high amount of reps. In addition, your strength will stop growing because you are doing endurance training (very high amount of reps).
I would say joints get more damaged with high amount of reps (if you bend a paper clip many times, eventually it will break, yeah, I know, we are not paper clips).[/quote]
That makes sense and (unfortunately) a good analogy to describe what goes on. It would seem then that isometric work is probably great for your joints.
I should have mentioned that i am not really trying to go crazy with reps. I just want to build a solid foundation to work on before adding external load. I was thinking of getting to a point where i could 50 solid push ups, 50 lunges/step ups etc…Is there a rough guide to how many reps one should be able to do-ideally-before moving on to external loading?
[quote]EvilRUS wrote:
About the box. A few of my athletes cant go down all the way in single-leg squats, so they take a not very high bench and squat on that.
If they can go deeper, then they take something lower than the bench (like a few plates). If you cant sit down on the bench, then take something higher than the bench. Of course you need to progress from high to low.[/quote]
So i start from the negative (sitting on the box)and try to raise up using one leg while keeping the torso straight? Or do i slowly sit back onto the box then rise up and count that as the rep? Something tells me i will only be able to a few at the most. It would be pretty great to get to a point where i was doing full pistols for reps which, i assume, is what this progression should allow me to do (along with consistency, of course), correct?
Yes, thats right. You can try both ways. I would say, start with sitting down on the box. Go down slowly (fight the gravity), sit down and rise up. Count that as a rep.
If you are a heavy weight athlete, do the method above (heavy eccentric) frequently, if you are light weight do that method rarely (1-2 times a week), for the rest of the time do it with regular speed (if you are light weight).
If you find yourself weak at the bottom (hard to get up), start sitting on the box, put the tension in you body and rise up. Cound that as a rep. Again, you want to mix up those methods. Maybe, 2 weeks one method, 2 weeks another method.