The best gymnastic body?

[Neal Winkler]

I hope gymnastic training makes me look like this...

g_LN0xPaiyE

[Gregor]

I hope gymnastic training makes me look like this...

g_LN0xPaiyE

:?

Do you know that he is one of best of the best ring specialists in the world :roll:

For body like that, you must train as hard as he and some genetics...(so yes, it's posible if you are capable as vice world champion, BTW no world class gymnast is bulky as he is).

[Gregor]

I don't want to be rude, but practicaly is imposible to have a body like him with gymnastics. If you want big/insane hypertrophy, start bodybuilding style training.

[NickD]

He also is a really small statured guy so his muscles are going to appear alot larger on his small frame. I mean a 5' 2" guy with 16 inch arms looks massive but a 6' guy with the same arms doesnt look impressive at atall. But with that said he definatly has genetics on his side.

[puppetmaster]

I'm going after the samething, but i will add a little more weight lifting to my routine. Gymnastic training will be my foundation though :!:

[Walt Peacock]

I would love to look like Yuri also! That is my ultimate (aesthetic) goal. He is rediculously strong too! Check out his website.

[Neal Winkler]

From t-nation today:

3. Why Ring Training Didn't Get You Podium-Ripped

I see this with people who look at the physique of an athlete — a gymnast for example — and automatically assume that adopting a few of their exercises will give them the same type of physique.

Sadly, it doesn't work that way. Gymnasts aren't super lean and muscular because they do bodyweight exercises. They're that way because they do this type of training six hours per day for years. Eventually, they're bound to be super lean.

Not to mention that the individuals you see at the Olympics are the absolute best in the world. So not only have they trained like crazy, they're also the top genetic freaks in that sport.

Finally, gymnasts arguably have one of the most regimented diets in the world of athletics because, although they need strength and power, they also need to be as light as possible.

There's a huge difference between:

Being genetically gifted for gymnastics and training 30 hours per week on an extremely severe diet for years.

And...

Your average Joe, training four or five hours per week while eating a diet that swings from good to horrible over the short term.

The end result won't be the same.

I'm not saying that gymnastic-like exercises aren't effective. However, it's unrealistic to think that simply adding 30 minutes of them three times per week will give you the same results as someone who does this for a living.

[Coach Sommer]

I always find it disconcerting when people with no gymnastics background whatsoever pontificate about what constitutes proper gymnastics training and what results to expect from "their idea" of gymnastics training.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

[Neal Winkler]

Coach,

In the same article, he states, "Considering that maximum hypertrophy stimulation occurs with sets lasting at least 20 seconds (30 to 50 seconds being better for most)..."

He blows his idea out of the water since one could simply do sets of gymnastics exercises for 20-50 seconds.

[Chris Hobbs]

Don't see how the article wasn't accurate. Is it not reasonable to believe a hobbyist simply won't achieve the same results as a competitive olympic level athlete? I didn't read anything stating they wouldn't get results. In fact, to me the very last paragraph summarizes it nicely. In my mind this article section addresses the group of people that believe simply by doing a few of the exercises from their favorite athlete, that they will somehow morph into said athlete.

- Chris

[Justin Rawley]

It's much better to train to DO something rather than to LOOK LIKE something. Functional training gives you practical benefits while there is almost invariably some carryover into improving appearance. If you train for aesthetics only, you may get big and you may get lean, but there's relatively little carryover (by comparison to what you get training function) into real measurable usage.

[Ortprod]

This body type is kinda close though, right?

UF1F4E_mfs4

[Gregor]

I saw even bigger gymnast, then gelder Al Assi Ali from Jordania. He is doing vault, flor and rings (victorian on rings).

[Razz]

Gregor you mean from jordan? if so i might have seen him at the asian cup here in doha.. didnt see a victorian though, gotta look for him next time!

[Alex Dienaar]

I'd prefer something less bulky xD I like my skinnyness, and in the end I don't really care about what I look like I guess. Just about what I can do ^^.

The physique on the front of the book looks delicious though

[Gregor]

Gregor you mean from jordan? if so i might have seen him at the asian cup here in doha.. didnt see a victorian though, gotta look for him next time!

Yea Jordan :oops:

By the way: very very nice routine from Pluznhnikov on rings two days ago (15, 650).

[(Le)average]

It's much better to train to DO something rather than to LOOK LIKE something.

That#s the right way!

"Your only limitation is the one that you set up in your own mind."- Napoleon Hill

[Joshua Naterman]

I don't want to be rude, but practicaly is imposible to have a body like him with gymnastics. If you want big/insane hypertrophy, start bodybuilding style training.

Gregor, you are halfway wrong. The part you are right about is that if you want to have a body like that, then your primary goal needs to be training for mass like a bodybuilder. The part you are wrong about is that it can't be done with gymnastics. There is nothing magical about weights that makes them grow muscle moreso than gymnastics. The reason that people grow with weights is that their volume, intensity, and frequency are modulated for hypertrophy. You can achieve the same results with Gymnastics. You just use the right progressions, so that you are within the rep range and time under tension that achieves the most hypertrophy, 8-14 reps over 20-40 seconds. If you can do more than that, time for a step up on the progressions! Having said that, a true bodybuilder would still need weights, because there are certain muscle groups that are less easily hypertrophied with gymnastics training, like the trapezius muscles. All you have is your bodyweight for shrugs. After that, even with vests you eventually taper out, and the pros are doing shrugs with something silly like 700 lbs or more. So in that sense, you would still need weights. But to build Van Gelder's body? Parallel bars and rings are all you need, man. Just use the bodybuilder mindset with gymnastic techniques, and you will have an amazing body that is also amazingly functional!

[Gregor]

NO, I don't agree, why? It exsist two diffrent hypertrophys one is hypertrophy like bodybuilders do and other is from maximum strenght....

You can not do 8-12 malteses 3-4 rounds....or 8-12 iron cross presses 3-4 rounds...

And especialy not if you are not competitive gymnast.

[griffdrc]

i would disagree with gregor...

i think the important fact to remember is that if the goal is size and not performance... then reps and volume is more important than skill progression... remember the movement provides the resistence... as in individual get stronger the movement would progress... the individual would not need to do the hardest variation... just the one that they could perform at the proper intensity... it would be a much different style of training... different from gymnastics but you could target the same type of hypertrophic response through modifiing the gymnastic training program...

[David Picó García]

Yes, you could do the BB regimen doing cross pulls, with elasticbands for example.

This wont be of course a truly 'classic' gymnastic training.

Anyway, chen yibing

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[Joshua Naterman]

NO, I don't agree, why? It exsist two diffrent hypertrophys one is hypertrophy like bodybuilders do and other is from maximum strenght....

You can not do 8-12 malteses 3-4 rounds....or 8-12 iron cross presses 3-4 rounds...

And especialy not if you are not competitive gymnast.

Hypertrophy has exactly one meaning, and that is growth. Increased size. There is only one kind of hypertrophy, the kind where you get bigger. It can be caused by a variety of stimuli, but there is only one kind of hypertrophy.

Perhaps what you are trying to say is that by training for maximal strength you will not get huge like that. And for most people, that is true. However, to say you need weights to get huge is silly, and it is also both silly and incorrect to say that weights will make you big, no matter what. If you look at powerlifters, they also have a very high strength to bodyweight ratio. There are guys who are barely 200 lbs who can bench almost 600. They are pretty small, really. Nothing like what you would expect from a guy that strong. They happen to use weights, and yet they do not look like bodybuilders. They train with the same mindset as a gymnast, maximum strength for whatever bodyweight they are at.

If a gymnast were to utilize gymnastic training methods with a bodybuilder's mindset, they would grow like a bodybuilder. Just as a bodybuilder doesn't work out with his maximum load, but instead does higher reps with more moderate weight, a gymnast would need to use the skills they were able to do the appropriate nomber of sets and reps with. They would grow just like a bodybuilder does, because they are doing the same type of work. Muscles don't care whether they are moving your body or an iron bar, all they know is that they are working. If they work within the parameters that trigger significant growth, that's what you get, whether it is from iron or an iron cross.

And, just for you, by this time next year I will do at least 3 sets of 8 cross pulls, just to show you that you are in fact wrong. And I am not nor have I ever been a competitive gymnast. You and the rest of the forum will see what kind of body this training can build. I am not sure if I am too big to do a maltese or not I can only train and find out! Probably not by then though, I'm barely doing advanced tuck planche on rings for 5 seconds now. But I WILL show you sets of some sort of planche progression pushup on the rings. I just edited this because i forgot the period.

[David Picó García]

but there is only one kind of hypertrophy

Well this is not really true, i'll quote this extract from wikipedia, as my level of english doesn't allow me to explain it better:

"There are two different types of muscular hypertrophy: sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and myofibrillar (muscles also increase in size due to a small amount of hyperplasia but this contribution is minimal). During sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, the volume of sarcoplasmic fluid in the muscle cell increases with no accompanying increase in muscular strength. During myofibrillar hypertrophy, the myofibrils, comprised of the actin and myosin contractile proteins, increase in number and add to muscular strength as well as a small increase in the size of the muscle. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is characteristic of the muscles of bodybuilders while myofibrillar hypertrophy is characteristic of extreme weightlifters.[4]"

[4] Kraemer, William J.; Zatsiorsky, Vladimir M. (2006). Science and practice of strength training. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. pp. 50. ISBN 0-7360-5628-9.

The second one is the one of gymnastics and is more difficult to achive but is also more perdurable with light training that the sarcoplasmic hypertrophy which is easier to achive and easier to loose.

[Gregor]

The second one is the one of gymnastics and is more difficult to achive but is also more perdurable with light training that the sarcoplasmic hypertrophy which is easier to achive and easier to loose.

That was my point.

[Joshua Naterman]

but there is only one kind of hypertrophy

Well this is not really true, i'll quote this extract from wikipedia, as my level of english doesn't allow me to explain it better:

"There are two different types of muscular hypertrophy: sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and myofibrillar (muscles also increase in size due to a small amount of hyperplasia but this contribution is minimal). During sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, the volume of sarcoplasmic fluid in the muscle cell increases with no accompanying increase in muscular strength. During myofibrillar hypertrophy, the myofibrils, comprised of the actin and myosin contractile proteins, increase in number and add to muscular strength as well as a small increase in the size of the muscle. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is characteristic of the muscles of bodybuilders while myofibrillar hypertrophy is characteristic of extreme weightlifters.[4]"

[4] Kraemer, William J.; Zatsiorsky, Vladimir M. (2006). Science and practice of strength training. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. pp. 50. ISBN 0-7360-5628-9.

The second one is the one of gymnastics and is more difficult to achive but is also more perdurable with light training that the sarcoplasmic hypertrophy which is easier to achive and easier to loose.

OWNED. I think my roommate was talking about this, but I'm glad you went and found this! I'm not used to having my foot in my mouth, this tastes funny

I still say that it is more than just possible, but in fact as or more efficient to build mass with gymnastic strength movements. Just because it isn't done doesn't mean it can't or shouldn't be! Sort of like how athletes used to look down on weight training.