8.30.2007
Why You Should Be Doing High-Rep Bodyweight Squats
| If you train - you should train your legs - that much should be obvious. And it should be obvious for a couple reasons: 1. High-rep leg work builds mental toughness, you can always push yourself to do a few more reps than you think you can. 2. Leg work stresses the heart and lungs, giving you a great cardio vascular workout in addition to building strength. 3. Intense leg work strengthens the largest, strongest muscles of the body allowing for more muscle growth and improvement throughout the entire body, not just the legs. |  |
4. Bodyweight squats provide much of the benefits of weighted Squats without the wear and tear on the body.
Im sure I could think of a few more, but those key points should be more than enough to go on for now, and more than enough to get you to start training your legs if you haven't been.
Over the last few thousand years, Indian Wrestlers have been doing a "swaying" form of a bodyweight known as a "Baitak" as pictured in Matt Furey's Combat Conditioning as a Hindu Squat:
The Indian wrestlers did thousands of them per day to build incredible power and endurance.
Of course, you can also do the regular style squat, often called simply "wrestlers squats" - like a barbell squat without the barbell.
Either way, the benefits are tremendous. I highly recommend starting at a very manageable level, (say only 50 if you are in very good shape) and building from there.
The soreness the next day will tell you that there's something youve been missing, and the spring in your legs from this kind of training will keep you doing them for a long time.
Labels: Baitak, High Rep Work Out, Indian Wrestling, Leg Work Out, Mental Toughness, Training Ideas
5.24.2007
3 Ways to Train Your Legs and Lungs
I got a chance to hear the great Reg Park give a talk a few months back and one of the things he mentioned (among many) was that in a workout you should always train your legs first.
He had learned this from ballet dancers and the reason for this was because training the legs and hips are the some of the largest muscles in the body, and therefore training them both helps you warm up by getting the heart pumping as well as stimulate the body's natural growth hormone.
Makes sense to me, and there’s no question that there are plenty of Bodyweight training movements that will build very strong, athletic legs.
One of the very first exercises that I was ever taught was the "freehand" or wrestlers squat – simply squatting for high reps with no weight.
The form is similar to what would normally be used with a barbell, with the knees kept over the toes and the chest up. I started out with sets of 100 and built from there. If you do this it should take you less than 5 minutes. Go real slow for some extra fun.
The next exercise I was introduced to is the Hindu Squat as taught by
Matt Furey in Combat Conditioning.
This variation has been used by wrestlers in India and Iran for centuries and it involved a much more rhythmic pattern than the traditional "squat."
I have also found that Hindu Squats also lend better to power breathing than any other kind of squat that I have found and the "jumper" variation is top notch.
The exercise that I am going to mention today is the simple walking lunge, a highly underrated exercise.
Now, when I train bodyweight squats, I do them in either one of two ways:
1. One hard maximum set of as many as I can on "Training" days
2. In combination with other conditioning movements, such as Hindu squats
between hill sprints etc.
Either way, you'll get a workout.
Now, a lot of people think that training for "strength" is one thing and "endurance" is another. The truth is, they are one in the same, do a hundred squats and you'll know what I'm talking about.
Train hard.
John Wood
He had learned this from ballet dancers and the reason for this was because training the legs and hips are the some of the largest muscles in the body, and therefore training them both helps you warm up by getting the heart pumping as well as stimulate the body's natural growth hormone.
Makes sense to me, and there’s no question that there are plenty of Bodyweight training movements that will build very strong, athletic legs.
One of the very first exercises that I was ever taught was the "freehand" or wrestlers squat – simply squatting for high reps with no weight.
The form is similar to what would normally be used with a barbell, with the knees kept over the toes and the chest up. I started out with sets of 100 and built from there. If you do this it should take you less than 5 minutes. Go real slow for some extra fun.
The next exercise I was introduced to is the Hindu Squat as taught by
Matt Furey in Combat Conditioning.
This variation has been used by wrestlers in India and Iran for centuries and it involved a much more rhythmic pattern than the traditional "squat."
I have also found that Hindu Squats also lend better to power breathing than any other kind of squat that I have found and the "jumper" variation is top notch.
The exercise that I am going to mention today is the simple walking lunge, a highly underrated exercise.
Now, when I train bodyweight squats, I do them in either one of two ways:
1. One hard maximum set of as many as I can on "Training" days
2. In combination with other conditioning movements, such as Hindu squats
between hill sprints etc.
Either way, you'll get a workout.
Now, a lot of people think that training for "strength" is one thing and "endurance" is another. The truth is, they are one in the same, do a hundred squats and you'll know what I'm talking about.
Train hard.
John Wood
Labels: Combat Conditioning, Indian Wrestling, Leg Work Out, Reg Park
