Ideas for doing weighted push ups

[Warrior'sSuite]

I'll see how I organize everything because it's a little messy right now, I'm not sure yet what to do each day or when to do what.

[dnj23]

Anyone know of the best way to do weighted push ups without a weight vest? I'm out of the U.S. and buying one online will be extremely expensive, so for now I'll have to think of a way of doing them without a weight vest.

What would be the best option? Getting a strong back pack and putting plates in it?

Also, where would it be best to have the weight placed? Upper back?

I also can't count with someone helping me putting plates on and things like that, or sparring.

I just got a pair of rings. Ring push ups were a little too easy for me but I like the way it hits the arms and core. What I did is I took my dipping/chinning belt and wrapped a plate under my chest. You'll need to keep it tight and elevate your feet on a block so you can get full Rom. Set the rings same height as the block. I figure if you are diligent with it you can buy yourself time working up to at least 2 45 lb plates - Good exercise and a refreshing change from a bench press.

[Warrior'sSuite]

I just got a pair of rings. Ring push ups were a little too easy for me but I like the way it hits the arms and core. What I did is I took my dipping/chinning belt and wrapped a plate under my chest. You'll need to keep it tight and elevate your feet on a block so you can get full Rom. Set the rings same height as the block. I figure if you are diligent with it you can buy yourself time working up to at least 2 45 lb plates - Good exercise and a refreshing change from a bench press.

Hey, that's a pretty good idea, I hadn't thought about that.

I just started doing ring pushups yesterday and the most I can do is 10 so it's going to take a while before I can do them weighted.

You can do them with 2 45 plates on?

[Warrior'sSuite]

Hey slizzardman, I wanted to ask you something about the ring curls, the ones you made a video of.

This exercise is awesome but I noticed that it's going to really mess up my hands and it feels a little uncomfortable because of that.

My question is, for this exercise, would it be best for the hands to really be able to slide on the rings? I did it with bare hands. They told me that using powder would really make your hands slide. I was also thinking of finding some gloves or some kind of cloth or whatever that would protect my hands but at the same time let them slide.

So would this be best for this exercise? Would any kind of glove that would provide some grip or stickiness be not ideal?

[dnj23]

Hey, that's a pretty good idea, I hadn't thought about that.

I just started doing ring pushups yesterday and the most I can do is 10 so it's going to take a while before I can do them weighted.

You can do them with 2 45 plates on?

Not with good form, but more in the lines of the plate threshold of what I can manage to strap to myself.

[Warrior'sSuite]

It's all right, I forgot I already had some sort of gardening gloves that are really soft or slippery, they don't have any grip at all, these are perfect.

Yeah we got it now.

[Joshua Naterman]

Hey slizzardman, I wanted to ask you something about the ring curls, the ones you made a video of.

This exercise is awesome but I noticed that it's going to really mess up my hands and it feels a little uncomfortable because of that.

My question is, for this exercise, would it be best for the hands to really be able to slide on the rings? I did it with bare hands. They told me that using powder would really make your hands slide. I was also thinking of finding some gloves or some kind of cloth or whatever that would protect my hands but at the same time let them slide.

So would this be best for this exercise? Would any kind of glove that would provide some grip or stickiness be not ideal?

Personally I prefer to do these with a false grip most of the time, because that seems to be harder on the inner elbow flexors. It probably doesn't matter much though, just do what feels right for you!

[Alexander Moreen]

Hey, that's a pretty good idea, I hadn't thought about that.

I just started doing ring pushups yesterday and the most I can do is 10 so it's going to take a while before I can do them weighted.

You can do them with 2 45 plates on?

Not with good form, but more in the lines of the plate threshold of what I can manage to strap to myself.

Be careful with doing weighted exercises on rings because your prime movers will get stronger faster than your stabilizing muscles. Allowing you to wobbly push a weight up that you can't really control making a tear more likely.

[Joshua Naterman]

Yes, good advice!

[Warrior'sSuite]

I wanted to ask something, just to see how it really is.

So whenever you exercise, whether with weights or without, say you want to do 5 sets of 8-12 reps, you'll pick an exercise/weight that will allow you to do that on all five sets right? It's not that you'll pick an exercise/weight in which your all-out max is 8-12 reps? Is this how it is?

I can only do this with say regular pushups, or declined or whatever, in fact I could probably do 5-10 sets of 15 reps probably. But I can't do this obviously with say chinups or pullups.

So is this how it is?

[Gerald Mangona]

Yes. Pick an exercise that will (barely) allow you to do 8-12 on ALL five sets.

[Warrior'sSuite]

Yes. Pick an exercise that will (barely) allow you to do 8-12 on ALL five sets.

Right. So just as an example, since I could only do the pulls with 6 reps each of the five sets, not even with 7, getting to where you can do 12 on each set e.g. will work for hypertrophy right?

[Gerald Mangona]

Yes. But if you can't do 8 Tuck FL Pull-ups, what has you wanting to do those? Can you do 5 sets of XR Bulgarian Rows x 12?

[Warrior'sSuite]

Yes. But if you can't do 8 Tuck FL Pull-ups,

I can do 8 FL chin-ups, I don't know if they are the same as tuck FL pullups but I get more range of motion doing them as chinups, with a neutral grip. Probably when you're strong you'll be able to do them with a pullup grip, pulling your hands to your sides, but I don't think I can do that right now.

what has you wanting to do those?

What do you mean?

Can you do 5 sets of XR Bulgarian Rows x 12?

Hell no! Right now I'm just doing regular rows with a chinup and a pullup grip, with feet like an inch or less higher than the rings. My max on these is 11 reps. I haven't tried doing them bulgarian yet.

[Joshua Naterman]

Bulgarian rows, done properly, are incredibly difficult because you are only using the traps. There is almost no lat involvement at all. They are seriously one of the most important exercises in the book. There aren't enough text options for me to properly emphasize that lol! I'd need to make those words 3D and covered in lightning while they are going supersaiyan or something!

So anyways, higher rep work is only part of getting big for nearly all natural athletes. You also need to get stronger, so you will be doing some sets of 2-5 reps (in my gym you would only do 2 reps with a weight you can do 3-4 good reps with for 5-10 sets for this strength work) and for your endurance work you have your choice of either selecting a weight or variation that makes your last set a real challenge (the last rep is your last possible good form rep) OR just doing drop sets, again only challenging yourself a lot on the last set or two. That strength work is very important, please do not neglect it. It will greatly accelerate your endurance progress. That is all lol!

Basically, you are never pushing a set to the limit unless it is the last set. You only need 1 set like that. Even when doing high intensity interval training, the set up is similar. You should not be pushed to your true limit until near the end. You're working hard, yes, but not to the limit.

[Warrior'sSuite]

Bulgarian rows, done properly, are incredibly difficult because you are only using the traps. There is almost no lat involvement at all. They are seriously one of the most important exercises in the book. There aren't enough text options for me to properly emphasize that lol! I'd need to make those words 3D and covered in lightning while they are going supersaiyan or something!

I've never actually tried doing bulgarian rows, I'll have to try them out. They seem like you could do them wrong easily though, like some other exercises out there, might have to use a camera.

So anyways, higher rep work is only part of getting big for nearly all natural athletes. You also need to get stronger, so you will be doing some sets of 2-5 reps (in my gym you would only do 2 reps with a weight you can do 3-4 good reps with for 5-10 sets for this strength work) and for your endurance work you have your choice of either selecting a weight or variation that makes your last set a real challenge (the last rep is your last possible good form rep) OR just doing drop sets, again only challenging yourself a lot on the last set or two. That strength work is very important, please do not neglect it. It will greatly accelerate your endurance progress. That is all lol!

Basically, you are never pushing a set to the limit unless it is the last set. You only need 1 set like that. Even when doing high intensity interval training, the set up is similar. You should not be pushed to your true limit until near the end. You're working hard, yes, but not to the limit.

Hmm.

Well, what I'm doing right now is just workouts of 2 exercises, a pull and a push. I do five sets with each pull and push. I always do the pull first and then a few minutes later the push, and I take at least an hour between workouts. The most I've done in a day so far have been 5 workouts. I could do at least 2 more though, if I wanted to that is.

I pair either tuck FL chins, XR rows, tuck FL pulls, and the bicep curls on the rings with either ring pushups or with floor HSPU's with the wall. So far it's looking good.

I always do the max reps I can do with good form on each set though, the first set is always like 10-11 reps (on all exercises except the HSPU's) and the rest of the sets are like half or 1 rep more, between 5 and 6 reps (except the HSPU's, with these sometimes i do 2-3 reps on the last sets).

Looks like I got more pulling exercises than I do pushing. I tried doing korean dips and they kicked my ass, dammit. I'll have to go with either bulgarian dips or regular dips, or both. Haven't really done dips in a while.

Don't really get what you mean by pushing yourself to the limit though, I do the most reps I can with good form. If I know I'm not going to be able to complete the next rep I don't do it. Is that pushing yourself to the limit?

[Warrior'sSuite]

Oh yeah and i forgot to add that i also do the statics obviously.

What i haven't done yet is the pulls workout, the one with 7 types of pulls, each one being a workout. Don't know where i'll fit them in or how many times a week i'll do them. I don't do them like you said though, in which you would do all or many types of pulls as 1 round or workout.

The reason i separated each one was because i quickly found out that obviously some pulls were harder than others and vice versa, and if i started out with easy ones by the time i got to the hard ones i couldn't do the same number of reps and vice versa. Another thing i didn't like about this is that i just felt that you couldn't know for sure your "pure" number of reps/strength for each pull if you did them all in one round, so that's another reason why i do each one individually.

[Gerald Mangona]

I mean, we could go back and forth like this for awhile. But why don't you just do the WODs?

[Warrior'sSuite]

I mean, we could go back and forth like this for awhile. But why don't you just do the WODs?

I forgot all about the wod's lol. They're gonna have to wait now.

[Gerald Mangona]

No, I mean, why are you struggling to put together your own programming instead of using Coach's? I'm not opposed to people doing their own programming if they know their own body and have an idea of where to start. But you're putting a whole lot of energy into trying to start programming from scratch.

Wouldn't it just be easier to scrap what you're doing and just do the WODs?

[Joshua Naterman]

That is definitely pushing it to the limit. If you are going to do, for example, 5 sets of 5 reps, you should be using a weight or variation that you know you can get 7-8 good reps with. That 5th rep should not be your last good rep unless it is set # 4 or 5.

The way you are trying to implement your workouts is not going to line up with the way your body heals and grows stronger, so you will not be experiencing your best progress that way. As long as you are moving forward that's ok, but it is not important to know your exact ability in each pull up variation. The main purpose of doing them all together is to make sure that you are working all of the muscles involved in pulling. By breaking them up into separate workouts you are piling damage together, plus you are doing a ton more than I am recommending. I recommend two sets of each pull up, not five or six as you were describing in your post about how you do your workouts.

In the end results speak louder than threads do, and what I do gets extremely quick results from everyone I have worked with and does not take much time. If you feel that you are progressing steadily then that is the most important thing, but if you are not I will suggest that you give what I recommend a try on its own. I definitely suggest that you figure out which pull ups are hardest for you and work them by alternating the hardest with the easiest, then the second hardest with the second easiest, with the medium ones last. For me that would be wide grip, chin up, close grip, close grip chins, mountain climber/parallel grip and finally regular pull ups. You may be different, and if so you would need to re-arrange things accordingly. This style of arranging things is not necessary for success, but it will produce slightly better results. The reason it's not necessary is that you are not trying to master any particular pull up, you are just trying to build overall vertical pulling ability. Your performance in any particular pull up is irrelevant by itself because each pull up is simply a tool. As you move from week to week your performance in all of them will improve, and that is what matters. That is an overall improvement.

Edit: I totally agree with Jman. There is nothing shameful about not knowing the best way to get results from your body, most people do not. That includes many pro athletes. They do what their trainers tell them to because it is the trainer's job to understand these things and create workouts that get athletes physically prepared to play, and it is the athlete's job to do the work that is necessary to be physically prepared. Coach has done that, and has put together an incredibly time efficient way to develop the physical ability of a national level competitor.

You have the option of making it your job to do the work that Coach recommends. He has been building champions for many years, and more importantly building far less talented athletes into strong competitors who can challenge and beat many of the more talented kids. The WODs are how he does this, and following them may be a job you enjoy.

[Warrior'sSuite]

No, I mean, why are you struggling to put together your own programming instead of using Coach's? I'm not opposed to people doing their own programming if they know their own body and have an idea of where to start. But you're putting a whole lot of energy into trying to start programming from scratch.

Wouldn't it just be easier to scrap what you're doing and just do the WODs?

Well, I'm not really struggling putting up the workouts, it's pretty straightforward, but I don't know i guess i just want to do things my way for now, and just do these exercises for now.

I'll hit the wod's later hahaha.

[Warrior'sSuite]

That is definitely pushing it to the limit. If you are going to do, for example, 5 sets of 5 reps, you should be using a weight or variation that you know you can get 7-8 good reps with. That 5th rep should not be your last good rep unless it is set # 4 or 5.

Ok, and what's the purpose of doing this?

The way you are trying to implement your workouts is not going to line up with the way your body heals and grows stronger, so you will not be experiencing your best progress that way. As long as you are moving forward that's ok, but it is not important to know your exact ability in each pull up variation. The main purpose of doing them all together is to make sure that you are working all of the muscles involved in pulling. By breaking them up into separate workouts you are piling damage together, plus you are doing a ton more than I am recommending. I recommend two sets of each pull up, not five or six as you were describing in your post about how you do your workouts.

In the end results speak louder than threads do, and what I do gets extremely quick results from everyone I have worked with and does not take much time. If you feel that you are progressing steadily then that is the most important thing, but if you are not I will suggest that you give what I recommend a try on its own. I definitely suggest that you figure out which pull ups are hardest for you and work them by alternating the hardest with the easiest, then the second hardest with the second easiest, with the medium ones last. For me that would be wide grip, chin up, close grip, close grip chins, mountain climber/parallel grip and finally regular pull ups. You may be different, and if so you would need to re-arrange things accordingly. This style of arranging things is not necessary for success, but it will produce slightly better results. The reason it's not necessary is that you are not trying to master any particular pull up, you are just trying to build overall vertical pulling ability. Your performance in any particular pull up is irrelevant by itself because each pull up is simply a tool. As you move from week to week your performance in all of them will improve, and that is what matters. That is an overall improvement.

Ok, I'll give what you say here a try. Come to think of it breaking up each pull would be too much, that it would.

So 6 types of pullups, hardest with easiest, and so on.

So they're gonna be 6 sets, how much rest between sets? And how much rest between the first round and the second?

Edit: I totally agree with Jman. There is nothing shameful about not knowing the best way to get results from your body, most people do not. That includes many pro athletes. They do what their trainers tell them to because it is the trainer's job to understand these things and create workouts that get athletes physically prepared to play, and it is the athlete's job to do the work that is necessary to be physically prepared. Coach has done that, and has put together an incredibly time efficient way to develop the physical ability of a national level competitor.

You have the option of making it your job to do the work that Coach recommends. He has been building champions for many years, and more importantly building far less talented athletes into strong competitors who can challenge and beat many of the more talented kids. The WODs are how he does this, and following them may be a job you enjoy.

I'll give the wod's a try eventually, that's for sure.

[Warrior'sSuite]

Slizzardman?

[Joshua Naterman]

You can start off with 30-60s of rest between sets if you need it, I would try 30s and see how that goes. I'd take 2-3 minutes between round 1 and 2.

The purpose is to not fry your body. We are not capable of back to back maximum efforts, and once you do one you are going to perform at a lower level for a while. That's partially a safety mechanism and partially an energy system thing, depending on what you're doing. Submaximal training always gets better results. It is the basis of the most successful lifting programs in existence, and for good reason. It has always worked, and always will, because it follows the basic rules of how the body works and reacts to stress.