BW exercises that will make you a beast!!!!! (or not)

[Joshua Naterman]

No problem! They are pretty fun, you can really get into it because it is so similar to a wrestling slam off of a double leg. My two favorite versions, and I like them both because they are a bit different in focus, are the kneeling bear hug to standing slam off the chest and the clean to shoulder and then standing slam. If your gym members enjoy medicine ball slams I wouldn't cut them out, but instead just mix in the sandbag slams. Make sure your sandbags are sturdy!

[Quick Start Test Smith]

At the very least I would follow the WODs' template. FOllow a similar theme. You will never be perfect at the WODs your first time or two through them, but that will come. You get the hang of it pretty quickly. I don't remember if you have the book, but you really need it for the WODs and for building your gymnastic strength in general. Your strength is fine for the WODs! You will be scaling down a bit, but that's ok. You're supposed to.

Great. I'll just do the best I can with the WODs.

I'm actually just about to order the book. The book+rings packet is out of stock unfortunately (I probably couldn't afford it anyway), but maybe I can get the rings inexpensively from somewhere else (or make my own with semi-melted PVC or 14 gauge wire).

As for sandbag slams, they resemble a body and can be quite heavy. THis is not an "ab exercise" like medicine ball slams are, it is more of a clean and slam that should resemble scooping your opponent with a good single leg, double leg, or bear hug from the back and then lifting them to your standing position and power slamming them down. Very specific muscular and metabolic conditioning. Those are fantastic for anyone who wrestles or grapples. Medicine ball slams, in my opinion, are a pretty giant waste of time. They aren't specific to much of anything (people will argue ground and pound perhaps, but seriously, that's ridiculous. You'd be better off straddling a heavy bag and punching with light resistance bands but you'd be even better off just doing fast, explosive dips and/or PPP. GB ab work including arch/hollow snaps and other dynamic ab exercises that we do will give you far, far more explosive ability) and in my opinion there are more beneficial ways to wear yourself out if that's what you're after!

Of course if you're doing medicine ball slams because it is fun to slam a medicine ball into the ground (and it is strangely satisfying, I must say) then go for it! Just don't fool yourself into thinking that is the best way to condition yourself for combat, because it isn't.

Sounds good!

What kind of rep scheme would you use for the KB swings?

Sorry to ask you all these questions... I'd be happy to hire you to answer my questions and organize a basic training template for me. Thanks!

[Joshua Naterman]

I appreciate the offer. I think that the WODs are going to be the core of your template. I have no idea what your goals are, I will PM you with some questions about that and we can go from there.

[Chris Hansen]

http://zacheven-esh.com/blog/top-10-bodyweight-exercises-making-you-a-true-beast/

Zach is a good trainer, but this article just goes to show you that even the best trainers still do not understand bodyweight training.

Here's his top 10 BW exercises that will make you a "beast" followed by my commentary:

1) pistols x 10 ea. leg [weak]

2) 1 arm push ups x 10 ea. arm [eh]

3) 1 hand pull up x 1 rep ea. arm [ok, these are good]

4) muscle up on bar / rings x 5 in a row [a beginners exercise, weak]

5) 100 consecutive push ups [just a test of endurance, not beastly]

6) 10 handstand push ups [he probably means HeSPU, weeeeaaakkkk]

7) handstand walking [not really beastly]

8) 20′ rope climb without leg assistance [rope climbs are cool, but just body weight?]

9) parallel bar dips x 50 reps (upper arms parallel to floor) [again, endurance, not really beastly]

10) 20 pull ups (overhand or underhand grip) [not the choice one could make]

I don't know, I think Zach's list is pretty good. If I could do everything on it I would certainly be a stronger, fitter person than I am now. Actually, I don't personally know anyone who could do anything on that list.

I don't think most people (outside the gymnastics community) consider a muscle up to be a beginners exercise. And what do you have against 1 arm pushups anyway? I would also argue that endurance/work-capacity/staying-power is an important part of being "beastly", otherwise you're only strong.

[Joshua Naterman]

I don't disagree with muscle ups being on there, but 5 muscle ups really is weak for being on a beast list. He is almost certainly talking about kipping muscle ups as that is how everyone seems to do them. Not that kipping muscle ups are wrong or anything, just that 15-20 would be a bit better. We're talking beast here.

Handstand walking is also not necessarily a beastly thing, though it is COOL. Now handstand wall runs... that's different, but how many people think about those? Freestanding HeSPU sets would be more appropriate.

I like the pistols as long as that is one leg at a time for 10 reps with a pause at the bottom.

The one arm push ups... these are pretty iffy. Most peoples' are really crappy and they aren't strong despite doing them.

I think that 2-3 laps on the rope is definitely beastly. Just 1 up and down is surprisingly attainable.

PB dips x 50 I think is ok, but full ROM is pretty beast. Half reps like he's saying are relatively easy to do 50 reps with, but still not bad.

I do agree with 20 pull ups, if they are dead hang pull ups. That's pretty good. Chins are ok, but I think that 20 pull ups are more worthy of beast.

100 GOOD push ups in a row would be very impressive. I remember when I could do that and most of the people at BUDS couldn't match me. Maybe 10 out of 185, at the most.

One arm pull ups are absolutely beast.

Having said all that, I think that you would absolutely be a very fit person if you were doing all of the things on the list! I can absolutely do most of them and I don't consider myself a beast, though there are many people who disagree. It's all about who you are comparing to, I guess.

[Rafael David]

I can do 90% of these things, but do not consider myself a beast. For me, the beasts are guys like Gregor, Ido and the gymnasts in general who do things out of the ordinary.

[Sternford]

I can do 90% of these things, but do not consider myself a beast. For me, the beasts are guys like Gregor, Ido and the gymnasts in general who do things out of the ordinary.

Would you say "beastly" is more about applied strength then?

[Neal Winkler]

I can do 90% of these things, but do not consider myself a beast. For me, the beasts are guys like Gregor, Ido and the gymnasts in general who do things out of the ordinary.

Would you say "beastly" is more about applied strength then?

That's how I take it. I acknowledge the difficulty of running marathons but "beastly" doesn't seem like a right descriptor to me.

[Nicholas Sortino]

His list is attainable by almost anyone though. It is something that most of people could strive for and meet.

A list containing things like Maltese, IC (both), Manna, Full lay planche etc are probably beyond what most people could do. I know it may be possible with years of dedicated training, but even then, things like the maltese and manna are not guaranteed. Realistically, what are the chances of a big guy doing a maltese (I would love to see a 6' + guy do one)? Especially one who trains his legs. Because as much respect as I have for someone who can do all of those, I would rather have great lower and upper body strength than godly upper body strength alone.

Sure the list could certainly be harder, since he did decide to use the term "beastly," but it is not a bad set of goals for a body weight practitioner to shoot for, at least as a start. Certainly you will be stronger than the majority of the people out there who "exersize."

[Quick Start Test Smith]

I appreciate the offer. I think that the WODs are going to be the core of your template. I have no idea what your goals are, I will PM you with some questions about that and we can go from there.

Sounds great, Slizzardman. I don't know what you charge for that kind of thing, but I'll be glad to discuss it via PM.

[Joshua Naterman]

Probably nothing, right now I want to be able to have honest testimonials. The most important thing is that A) I can actually help you, because I shouldn't be a trainer if I can't, and B) that I start building a good reputation as a guy who gets results.

I would accept a donation AFTER excellent results have been achieved, but I don't want to think about any of that until you have at least traveled quite far along the road towards your goals.

[AlexX]

Keep in mind the athletes doing this list are also lifting stones, doing a ton of conditiong and explosive work and are also doing a bunch of weight exercises like bench, overhead press, rows, deadlifts, squats and others. Now I maintain that this list is a good one for these athletes but eh to each his own I guess.

On the off-hand I always found it funny how each training philosophie's practitioner always looks down on the others' philosophies when all have been shown to produce results (making fun of fitness magazine is more than justified though :roll: ). Back in the old days variety was accepted and everyone loved that each strong person did things differently, now its looked down upon. This isn't a stab at anyone here I was just thinking of how Zach's kids would probably not think that the people here are very strong either and certainly not beastly.

[Joshua Naterman]

Good points, for sure!

I'm certainly not trying to rain on Zach's parade, even if I knew him and had proof that he's not that great I wouldn't go nuts saying so.

That may be true that Zach's kids may think we aren't strong if they saw us working, but I believe that one week of WODs would change their tune. I would certainly go head to head in the gym with any 225 lb'er he's got, both on our work and theirs and see what happens! They perform far more anaerobic endurance work than we do, so I wouldn't be surprised if most of the people here had a hard time finishing one of their workouts, but that is not strength. That's energy system optimization, and even so I think we would do surprisingly well. I mean, I can go through pretty much any Crossfit WOD with a fairly good time and I don't do anywhere near as much "met-con" as they do. What we get from the WODs is a surprisingly good mix of athletic attributes.

Again, as you have said nearly every system gets good results if you stick to it, but I have never cared about good results. I have only cared about the best results. I think the BEST thing Zach does is specific met-con for wrestling. I don't think I would structure mine horribly differently for the most part.