Possible to body weight condition incorrectly??

This is a question i've been wondering about recently. Is it possible to train your body incorrectly and develop badly using body weight conditioning?

I have several friends that also do alot of body weight conditioning but seem to lack the patients in slowly progressing through skills. They are over zealous and try to go for the full planche or straight body human flag right off the bat. They also dont seem to listen to me when I try to explain the progressive steps needed for both. Is there any risk in this type of training to the body? Will their muscles develop incorrectly from doing this? Or will they simple just not be able to do it?

Another friend of mine has gotten pull ups and muscle ups about as strong as i think someone could get them. He is even good at one arm pull ups. THe thing is his arms are gigantic when compared to the rest of his body. I've seen plenty of other people o multiple one arm pull ups or chins but their build looks rather balanced. I've just always been curious if this is just a function of training or a product of incorrect training.

Thanks for any pointers you all can offer.

JoeSimo said:

This is a question i've been wondering about recently. Is it possible to train your body incorrectly and develop badly using body weight conditioning?

I have several friends that also do alot of body weight conditioning but seem to lack the patients in slowly progressing through skills. They are over zealous and try to go for the full planche or straight body human flag right off the bat. They also dont seem to listen to me when I try to explain the progressive steps needed for both. Is there any risk in this type of training to the body? Will their muscles develop incorrectly from doing this? Or will they simple just not be able to do it?

Another friend of mine has gotten pull ups and muscle ups about as strong as i think someone could get them. He is even good at one arm pull ups. THe thing is his arms are gigantic when compared to the rest of his body. I've seen plenty of other people o multiple one arm pull ups or chins but their build looks rather balanced. I've just always been curious if this is just a function of training or a product of incorrect training.

Thanks for any pointers you all can offer.

Hey I know some guys like that.n

Joe I think the answer is that it is possible to develop asymettrically and the consequence will be injuries and joint pain. Just like the guy who does nothing but bench press will develop an imbalance between internal and external rotators, somebody who never does overhead pressing and does lots of overhead pulling will develop imbalances.

On the other hand I don't know if pain free one arm pull-ups are possible. Just about everyone who talks about them seems to indicate elbow tendonitis is an unavoidable side-effect.

In general I think it is best not to give advice to those who don't request it, chances are they will not benefit from it and they may even resent you for it.

I appreciate your advice though, so don't be too discouraged.

Sometimes can assymetry in the phsyique be do to genetic factors (like the way your structured or whatever?) and not necessarily from practicing wrong training techniques? With me the left side of my abs are much more developed than the right side. It also appears that my left quads are more developed than my right ones... I wonder if maybe one of my legs is shorter than the other or something to cause this? Also I had my dad look at my upper back and he thought that they were pretty close but if anything the left was more developed. Also, the left side of my lower back is tighter than the right side.

Any ideas as to why this is?

I think everyone has a dominant side. My right side is stronger than my left because i am right handed and in wushu class do all the sword techniques using my right arm.

I guess what I'm asking is if instead of using your whole body in a technique you simply pull with just the arm would it lead to detrimental side effects?

Oh, and dont worry eric I dont plan on lecturing anyone on proper form. I'm mainly interested in this for my own benefit.

JoeSimo said:

This is a question i've been wondering about recently. Is it possible to train your body incorrectly and develop badly using body weight conditioning?

I have several friends that also do alot of body weight conditioning but seem to lack the patients in slowly progressing through skills. They are over zealous and try to go for the full planche or straight body human flag right off the bat. They also dont seem to listen to me when I try to explain the progressive steps needed for both. Is there any risk in this type of training to the body? Will their muscles develop incorrectly from doing this? Or will they simple just not be able to do it?

Another friend of mine has gotten pull ups and muscle ups about as strong as i think someone could get them. He is even good at one arm pull ups. THe thing is his arms are gigantic when compared to the rest of his body. I've seen plenty of other people o multiple one arm pull ups or chins but their build looks rather balanced. I've just always been curious if this is just a function of training or a product of incorrect training.

Thanks for any pointers you all can offer.

What r u talkin bout Joe, I always listen to you. Now I'm not going to listen to you anymore! hahaha

Hi JoeSimo,

I know what you mean - it's very irritating when friends/family dismiss good advice out of hand simply because a globo-gym trainer, Men's Health magazine, or one of their mates said so. My take is to mention it a time or two, then let it go. Then at least your conscience is clear when they get injured, or make no progress.

You can lead a horse to water, and all that.

Cheers,

George.

You know i wasnt actually talking about you rick.. stop thinking everything is all about you all the time geez...

I can be frustrating when someone does not listen to you. Of that I agree. But my main question is to whether or not following an incorrect or over zealous plan can lead to injury, bad habits, or the incorrect type of strength.

Yes, of course following a poorly designed program has a multitude of consequences. While it is true that choosing the correct exercises is critically important for long term gains, that is only the beginning. The correct exercises performed incorrectly, whether through poor technique or an improperly structured training program, will result in drastically reduced strength gains and often structural imbalances which are ripe with the potential to lead to long term over-use injuries.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Thanks for the input coach. I will now be doubly careful about how i structure my training.

JoeSimo said:

You know i wasnt actually talking about you rick.. stop thinking everything is all about you all the time geez...

I can be frustrating when someone does not listen to you. Of that I agree. But my main question is to whether or not following an incorrect or over zealous plan can lead to injury, bad habits, or the incorrect type of strength.

Man Chill dag! I'm just playin round. You got other friends doing planche and flag. Bring em to the park to get money! See you Sun.