im doing a bodyweight routine and a question…should I do 1 set of max reps and reach my goal whether its 500 or 200 reps or should i do something like 10x10?
Both would work and I may suggest something like a bodyweight edt pattern. Fatigue managment. Take the max reps you can do for a certain bodyweight exercise and Half that for the start. For ease lets say that the max reps is ten you would start doing 5’s in perfect form. Continue with this keeping same form and as you fell the form may start to fade drop down in reps until reaching your target reps. EVERY rep the same in flawless form. Aim to hit that same target 3 in less time when you repeat or more reps less time etc…
[quote]Phill wrote:
Both would work and I may suggest something like a bodyweight edt pattern. Fatigue managment. Take the max reps you can do for a certain bodyweight exercise and Half that for the start. For ease lets say that the max reps is ten you would start doing 5’s in perfect form. Continue with this keeping same form and as you fell the form may start to fade drop down in reps until reaching your target reps. EVERY rep the same in flawless form. Aim to hit that same target 3 in less time when you repeat or more reps less time etc…
[/quote]
Sorry, but I don’t really understand. If my max was 10 reps, how would the workout go?
A couple of friends and i were reading this post, and they made some suggestions, due to the fact that they train with bodyweight sets only, and look amazingly big.
My friend francois said that he does a 10 x 10 protocol 3 times a week, and he said it was because of his tempo:
" I lift myself up in the speed at which i feel the hardest muscle contraction for the longest time, and go back down in a speed in which i feel the muscle as tense as possible, almost as going up, this is at the maximum tension possible( he usually gets 1 second on the way up and 1-2 seconds on the way down) so i get a pump from rep #1 to my last rep"
He explained that he began with 10 sets, and at first, they were sets of 10, but in time, he reached sets of 15, so he added weight.
My other friend, Pietro, he sais " I just aimed to get as many reps in good form as possible…a hard and explosive concentric which didn’t help me with its momentum, and a controlled eccentric. I aim for maximum reps, so i don’t put too much into the eccentric, i exert control, but I try to use as little srength as possible in order to save my energy for the lifting, since I am trying to get as many reps as possible( he gets a full rep done perfectly in 1 full second, or 1,2 to 1,5 seconds, always keeping an eccentric phase longer than the concetric, like a 60/40 ratio)…However, I always make sure to keep a decent level of tension in the muscles targeted. I may start with a first set of 20, and end up in a last set of 4. Do this twice a wek and you will grow"
My own advice is to alternate their programs…I train 2 times a week,a nd in one day, I use the routine Francoise uses, and on the other I use Pietro’s routine. So far I seem to be catching up with their physiques
Hope this helps
Ok, I’m thinking of doing bodyweight workouts 4x a week…Mon-Tues-Thurs-Fri
First two days are 10x10 and the second 2 days are the other way. But a question, for the way that you go to failure each set, how many sets do you perform?
Thanks ALOT
[quote]A_N_91 wrote:
Ok, I’m thinking of doing bodyweight workouts 4x a week…Mon-Tues-Thurs-Fri
First two days are 10x10 and the second 2 days are the other way. But a question, for the way that you go to failure each set, how many sets do you perform?
Thanks ALOT[/quote]
I’ve been doing bodyweight exercises for about a year now. For pushups I do sets of 5x50 or more. Changing hand positions and feet. Hindus only do them to a song, nothing to long. Squats I do sets of 50 swithcing with bootstrappers(those kill the quads). Then start with the pullups using a pyramid sets changing hand positions. As for dips I do bw and weighted doing those till failure on the last set. As for abs its all in how much you want them to burn.
Cheers Rick
I would recommend 2-3 times a week, leaving the max reps strategy for the last session of the week.
I would advise to se the max reps strategy with care.
By the way, if you are using pushups and fat man’s pull-ups only, for you can’t feel the groove with the dips and pull-ups, you can use a Timed Sets type of approach…
sets of 20-40 seconds (more like 30-40) with rep speeds of 1 second per rep or less, and use around 10-12 sets, splitting them in 3-5 sets per exercise
think more in different hand positions and angles rather than exercises…I use 3 types of pushups: wide, medium and medium with palms out and thumbs pointing to my feet, for 3-4 sets each, but I always get 5 sets of the normal medium-grip pushups and 3-4 of the other two.
Try this pyramid up to level 10 and back down:
1 x Pullups
2 x Pushups
3 x Hindu Squats
Total
100 Pullups
200 Pushups
300 Squats
When Pushups become easy, do them one arm and split between arms.
I must say, my friend does me much honor by mentioning my workout in his post.
I would have to agree to soemthing: there is no better way to work with bodyweight sets than to simply perform strict reps, and do your sets for as many reps as you can before hitting failure…
Tempo is of no consequence, but instead of getting as many fast reps as you can, just get as many good pumps as you can, going up and down in constant motion, and going down in a way that feels like going up…going up should be hard, a hard and powerful contrction which you should stretch to its maximum length in time…but don’t go so sloow it feels more in the joints than the muscles or so slow that you don’t feel a depp pumping contraction that says that all the fibers are screaming for help.
lift hard for long… lower just as hard and longer, not harder