Adding In Weights?

[crossfic]

If i wanted to add in weighted exercises, which would you say are most benifital and which ones should i avoid?

[Tyler Gibson]

Well it depends on your goals, but I would say squat, deadlift, overhead press and full contact twists. Olympic lifting is great although highly technical. Kettlebell stuff can be useful and fun. I find most upper body lifts to be much less effective than ring training, but these are my favorite lifts that I think have the biggest payoff.

[crossfic]

Those are the exact lifts i was thinking of except overhead press. I would not personally add that lift in due to the dangers of injury it could casue. So do i, i would choose ring pull ups over lat pull downs any day, also chin up on rings over bicep curls

[alec_ar]

When you asked about which weighted exercises to add were you referring to traditional weights exercises, or adding on weight to calisthenics? Don't add any weight onto your rings or SAS exercises until you are sure your connective tissues can handle it. And then I would do it in small increments typically.

[Lucas Serur]

Those are the exact lifts i was thinking of except overhead press. I would not personally add that lift in due to the dangers of injury it could casue. So do i, i would choose ring pull ups over lat pull downs any day, also chin up on rings over bicep curls

What injuries it could cause? A correctly performed overhead press is one of the safest compound barbell movements you can perform.

[Raul S]

My own view is that upper body should be trained by calisthenic methods and legs could use some help from the gym, as already stated, squats are an excellent compound for anyone, depending on goals of course, although they can be totally neglected if trained otherwise, doing unilateral leg exercises ( http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=5202148 ). Deadlifts are pretty much a no-brainer, but I think rigorous calisthenics and deadlifts would produce a too heavy combination. For exercises to avoid, there is none, but keep in mind that extra hypertrophy in legs only slows your progress down, so stay away from the usual 10-15 reps range bodybuilders like.

[Christian Nogueira]

Depends on your goals. For overall fitness I think low bar squats and deadlifts are very beneficial and for lower body maybe more so than bodyweight only exercises.

 

For upper body, some other exercises like military press and weighted pullups can be somewhat beneficial as assistance work. If you are unsure on how to add them, though, you are probably better off not adding them. I am at a low level of basic strength and I find that I'm progressing better by adding weighted pullup for assistance in front levers progressions and military press for hanstand pushups progressions (currently at headstand negatives) rather than doing the body weight exercises only.

 

The main you want to avoid is doing too much.

 

Kind regards.

[Brian Li]

...also chin up on rings over bicep curls

Chin-ups won't work the biceps that much due to the angles and it being a compound exercise with lats and rear delts as prime movers compared to bicep curls which isolate the bicep and brachialis. Even OACs don't work the biceps that hard. So if your goals are either big biceps or strong biceps then you're better off doing curls than chin-ups.

[Brian Li]

Depends on your goals. For overall fitness I think low bar squats and deadlifts are very beneficial and for lower body maybe more so than bodyweight only exercises.

What about high bar squats? I find low bar squats uncomfortable and most people use high bar from what I see.

[Connor Davies]

What about high bar squats? I find low bar squats uncomfortable and most people use high bar from what I see.

What about front squats? More core work, and you probably don't need to worry about the lack of posterior chain engagement if you're working the GHR.

 

I'm considering joining a gym just so I can do power cleans.  I've also heard good things about the farmers walk and kettlebell juggling looks like fun

 

Also, people argue about whether or not bodyweight will really make you strong.  I say if you want to bench 700 pounds, nothing short of benching is going to help you do that.

[Joshua Naterman]

What injuries it could cause? A correctly performed overhead press is one of the safest compound barbell movements you can perform.

Fairly true, but most people have terrible scapular control. This is where the problems start. Overhead press is an excellent evaluation of  just how terrible your control is, and exactly what the dysfunctional pattern is. In my opinion, if your overhead press is limited by shoulder pain instead of muscular effort, you have stretching.  rehab, and re-balancing to do. That includes a press from behind the head.

 

It can follow you in your HS work as well, which can slow a lot of progress down to a halt.

[Christian Nogueira]

What about front squats? More core work, and you probably don't need to worry about the lack of posterior chain engagement if you're working the GHR.

 

I'm considering joining a gym just so I can do power cleans.  I've also heard good things about the farmers walk and kettlebell juggling looks like fun

 

Also, people argue about whether or not bodyweight will really make you strong.  I say if you want to bench 700 pounds, nothing short of benching is going to help you do that.

Don't know about High Bar and Front Squat. Mark Rippetoe claims the low bar squat is the overall better exercise as it engages the posterior chain more. In my limited experience it's also superior to bodyweight exercises for basic strength. I for example could do single leg squats when I smoked and worked out 0 days in the week. When I started training I couldn't get better at doing pistols by actually doing pistols. Started working back squat and pistols became much easier, especially in the non-dominant leg.

[crossfic]

Wow, got more answears than i was going to ask Very good points from all of you, has been very helpful! I just thought of something, instead of adding weight to bodyweight exercises via weighted vest's, ankle weight etc... would it not be better to gain a little more muscle in your legs which would therefor increase your bodyweight and thus make bodyweight exercises harder? Yes i agree that suats are a great exercise and i use them regulary in my leg routine. I came across a couple of articles that says doing handstand pushups can burst the capillars in your eyes due to the pressure thats builds up in the inverted postition, surely this isnt correct? Also would preforming military press be safer with the use of dumbells over barbell?

[Raul S]

Well, the whole purpose of gymnastics is to make you able to move yourself more freely, unnecessary leg hypertrophy will only slow you down. If you've improved to the point that you need extra weight, pick another and harder exercise and keep doing that.

[Connor Davies]

Well, the whole purpose of gymnastics is to make you able to move yourself more freely, unnecessary leg hypertrophy will only slow you down.

To a point.  Sure, it will make the rings signifigantly harder, but in everyday life (as well as emergency situations) you're probably going to use your legs a lot more than your arms.  I can imagine many situations where I would need to sprint or push hard with my legs in order to save my own life, but none where I would need to perform a maltese or a victorian.  Certainly none where a planche or front lever wouldn't suffice

[Philip Chubb]

In terms of the upper body, gymnastics is has more complexity and strength to gain, however, you will find a lot of benefit in cuban presses if done correctly. Balancing the external rotators is important in a sport where it is mostly internal.

 

Leg wise, there is nothing better than olympic lifting and it's assistance exercises. If you are looking to become fast, jump high, tumble on the ground, these are things that are very important to do. SLS will take you so far but after a while, to gain maximal strength in the lower body, these movements become necessary.

[Raul S]

What I meant is that instead of bulking your legs to a point of unnecessary mass to make your upper body exercises harder, concentrate on getting stronger via myofibrillar hypertrophy. I never said leg training is useless, but doing it in a way that will weaken your upper body strength feats is not the most clever approach.

[Rik de Kort]

What I meant is that instead of bulking your legs to a point of unnecessary mass to make your upper body exercises harder, concentrate on getting stronger via myofibrillar hypertrophy. I never said leg training is useless, but doing it in a way that will weaken your upper body strength feats is not the most clever approach.

Who is stronger, someone holding a front lever who also has a 2x bodyweight back squat, or someone holding a front lever who has chicken legs? You aren't weakening your upper body. You are making it stronger by adding extra load.

[Raul S]

Of course, I agree with you that the first one is stronger. As I understood the question, the OP asked whether to make his legs heavier ( in which ever way ) in order to make his upper body exercises harder to perform. There's no point in bulking them up without getting the strength benefits, train for strength and size will EVENTUALLY follow, but my two cents is that there's no point in bulking your legs with the usual bodybuilder split, making them big but weak.  So who's stronger, the guy who can do 2x bodyweight back squats or the guy who's 30lbs lighter and can do the same weight. The 30lb difference therefore lets him do greater skills with his upper body. It's like there are two guys - both have the same lean muscle mass, but one's 30lb heavier, therefore his bodyfat is higher, therefore he's weaker than the first one in relation to his body.

[crossfic]

Both two very good points! I wasnt planning on building them up to the usual bodybuilding size, but through sprints piston squats lunges etc... maybe a little more volume so i could gain a bit of size. You say train for strength, im guessing this is in the 3x5 rep range, could there be a comprimise between gaining muscle and strength whilst not gaining too much of both... e.g. 3x8? Also im focusing on compound movments as these are the most functonal exercises to do, can anyone recommned exercises to STAY AWAY FROM, by this i mean ones that have a higher chance to causes unneeded injury

[Tyler Gibson]

It is not neatly divided so that as soon as you perform your sixth rep you are doomed to be big and weak. Strength work can induce hypertrophy, and vice versa, but it is most efficient to suit your rep range to your goals.

 

Additionally, other factors such as rest time, total volume, frequency, exercise choice, sleep and especially nutrition/ how much you eat can all have a bearing on hypertrophy.

 

My advice is that you focus on strength and eat a lot. Hypertrophy will follow.

 

As far as exercises are concerned, any exercise is dangerous if performed improperly. Focus on compound movements and either tape yourself or have a trusted friend/training partner judge your performance. Don't go too heavy until you have perfect form and then go very heavy.