hey gang.

here is the equipment i have at my house. I don't currently have access to a gym worth anything.

-pullup bar
-gymnastics rings
-smaller than oly barbell capable of 150lbs, but i only have 120lbs of weight including the bar for it
-weight belt
-two 25lb dumbbells
-100lbs worth of iron plates
-everlast punching bag

i'm doing overhead squats and front squats for higher reps with my crappy bar maxed out as much as i can, as well as high rep deadlifts and powercleans with the weight maxed out on the bar.

with the rings i'm doing ring dips and false grip pullups... i'm SOO close to a muscle up but don't have it yet. i also do pushups by lowering the rings as well, and i'm trying to do flys like that also. i also do skin the cats and L-pullups and stuff like that.

pullup bar i'm doing pullups, lots of them, L-pullups, weighted pullups with the 25# doing sets of 10, chin ups (palms facing me), and i'm trying to get a muscle up with the pullup bar also, but it seems almost harder than on the rings.

while holding the 25# weights i do hammer curls, regular curls, i hold both of them and do pistol squats, i do plyo jumps while holding them.

i have a tire that i can drag but i don't have a harness just yet.. i'll be grabbing a tow strap and hooking it up to an old backpack or something.

with the bar i also put it into the overhead press position and walk around the backyard with it.. kind of like an overhead farmers walk.

I won't really have access to a gym until possibly january.

Anybody else have any good ideas as to what I can do? I don't really have the money to buy a bench just yet, and i don't know it's value of investment if i'm leaving soon..


punching bag i'm punching it, as well as using it for awkward cleans and presses, and awkward farmers carrys.

Oh with the bar I do alot of snatches and if i find a clean area of grass i'll be doing turkish getups also.

any advice would be incredible as to stuff i'm forgetting / exercises i could be doing. i'm eating a ton, i want to be 160 lbs and 9-10% by christmas.

right now (literally as i just typed this) i'm 157# and 12% according to my Health-o-Meter and accu-measure.

And yes, i'm eating LOTS. still 95% clean, but i am eating alot.

When you can't pack a lot of weight on the bar then single leg is always a good idea.

do you have any baller youtube videos of the almighty zen doing a 1 legged bar squat so i can see how it's done ?

the most i can do holding a 1 legged pistol is about +70#


I'm having difficulty getting more weight on my chest mainly. pushups and dips i can do high volume, think that will be good enough?

do you have any baller youtube videos of the almighty zen doing a 1 legged bar squat so i can see how it's done ?

the most i can do holding a 1 legged pistol is about +70#


I'm having difficulty getting more weight on my chest mainly. pushups and dips i can do high volume, think that will be good enough?


Bulgarian BB Squat should do you.

Floor presses can work for chest, but I'm not sure if that's enough weight for you or not. Also, I wouldn't worry too much if you can't do a chest press. Take it as a time to specialize on overhead pressing :)

yeah.. that's what i've kind of been doing... concentrating on military press / push press / push jerk supersets without dropping the bar, and then going to dips with me keeping my torso as vertical as possible...

if anything, i'll get some better shoulders, which seem to be seriously lacking...

Do you do pushups with a weighted backpack? You can get a great workout with a loaded pack. I also love doing weighted pushups with my hands on a barbell. I usually do them in a squat rack so the bar is about a foot of the ground. You can also do these where you push yourself off the bar so your hands come off the bar. This really works your chest and helps with the explosive part of the lift. Similar to clap pushups.

Bulgarian barbell squats. Also barbell lunges. For a bit of variation you could try hack squats too, although you may not have enough weight.

the most i can do holding a 1 legged pistol is about +70#



Whoa -- that is pretty good! I think most people struggle to do a single pistol squat with just bodyweight.

Whoa -- that is pretty good! I think most people struggle to do a single pistol squat with just bodyweight.

:nod: I've had to work hard to get to where I can do 6-7 with 20 lbs. Took awhile to get to 1 unloaded to full depth at the beginning.

Bulgarian BB Squat should do you.

Floor presses can work for chest, but I'm not sure if that's enough weight for you or not. Also, I wouldn't worry too much if you can't do a chest press. Take it as a time to specialize on overhead pressing :)

Whoa -- that is pretty good! I think most people struggle to do a single pistol squat with just bodyweight.

thanks. i'm pretty strong with one leg, but my CNS needs to be developed more so that i can truly explode with two legs.

i can do it either leg, so i know the strength is there, but back squatting more than 235 is a struggle for me

I'd do some planche and front lever progressions if I had rings as well as start trying some iron cross/maltese progressions.

I've always wanted to try out some rings so i'd probably go crazy on them hah.

i'm still trying for my first muscle up... i dont think you realize how hard that crap youre talking about is... i can barely even begin to hold myself at those angles....

do you have any baller youtube videos of the almighty zen doing a 1 legged bar squat so i can see how it's done ?

the most i can do holding a 1 legged pistol is about +70#


I'm having difficulty getting more weight on my chest mainly. pushups and dips i can do high volume, think that will be good enough?

A: I usually do Bulgarians with the barbell, and there is a video:

XbpMl8O479c

If you are doing pistols with 70# that's pretty good. Remember the force on the leg in the pistol is equivalent to a barbell squat with your bodyweight plus twice the added weight on the bar. So if you weigh 160# then 70# added to a pistol has a force on the leg equivalent to about 300#.

Try doing the pushups and dips with one hand. I doubt you'll be needing any added weight on the dips.

i'm still trying for my first muscle up... i dont think you realize how hard that crap youre talking about is... i can barely even begin to hold myself at those angles....

I see the planche progressions got mentioned. Well, that will hold you for a while.

I'd do some planche and front lever progressions if I had rings as well as start trying some iron cross/maltese progressions.

I've always wanted to try out some rings so i'd probably go crazy on them hah.

i'm still trying for my first muscle up... i dont think you realize how hard that crap youre talking about is... i can barely even begin to hold myself at those angles....
He said progressions. You don't start out being able to do levers, crosses, planches, etc. Working on gymnastic strength holds is pretty much the obvious thing to do if you have limited equipment, but have a pair of rings.

Check out:

http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/229/
http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/36/
http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/232/
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=581914
http://www.beastskills.com/tutorials.htm

A: I usually do Bulgarians with the barbell, and there is a video:




Hehe. Nice video. Some guy doing barbell squats outside in orange crocs would certainly draw a crowd in my neighborhood, if not the cops ;-)

Thanks as always for sharing.

Pete

Well, some of the crazy leg stuff will have to wait until i'm all the way better.


I"m up to 161 lbs now though. wondering if i should eat at maintenance for a month, or just keep on keepin on on my trek to 170 before cutting back down?

I"m up to 161 lbs now though. wondering if i should eat at maintenance for a month, or just keep on keepin on on my trek to 170 before cutting back down?
If you can see your abs at all when you wake up in the morning, keep going, IMO.

hahaha.. i'ts 2am and i can still see them...

looks like it will be another lift heavy month... how the hell am i supposed to get a muscle up when i keep throwing more weight on the flab belt ? hahaha.

hahaha.. i'ts 2am and i can still see them...

looks like it will be another lift heavy month... how the hell am i supposed to get a muscle up when i keep throwing more weight on the flab belt ? hahaha.
Based on your pull-up, your problem isn't strength, so it won't matter how much weight you put on for quite a while. The strength is there. If you haven't already, search YouTube for "muscle up." There are a couple tutorials on there and videos of people performing the skill, which will help you get a feel for it.

yeah.. ive been youtubing muscle ups both on the bar and the rings for months before finally getting my own rings... i don't know whether i'm kicking at the wrong time, or my shoulder strength isn't there ( probably), but i can't get the transition down into getting myself to the dip.

the one time i ALMOST got it i started to pull my trap again and my neck was kinked and sore for a few minutes... but i was able to massage it out and finish my workout. i think it will come soon enough.. i just need to keep blasting my shoulders and then letting them recover.

I can't touch my chest to the bar with a 75lb weighted pullup either. i can only get my neck to the bar (obviously chin over the bar). so maybe strength vs range of motion is a problem.


One last thing: At your college gym do you have bumper plates?? two schools that im potentially going to don't allow the general student population access to the bumper plates, only football players. is that how it is for you?

yeah.. ive been youtubing muscle ups both on the bar and the rings for months before finally getting my own rings... i don't know whether i'm kicking at the wrong time, or my shoulder strength isn't there ( probably), but i can't get the transition down into getting myself to the dip.

the one time i ALMOST got it i started to pull my trap again and my neck was kinked and sore for a few minutes... but i was able to massage it out and finish my workout. i think it will come soon enough.. i just need to keep blasting my shoulders and then letting them recover.

I can't touch my chest to the bar with a 75lb weighted pullup either. i can only get my neck to the bar (obviously chin over the bar). so maybe strength vs range of motion is a problem.
For the rings, you have to keep them close to your body, almost in the arm pits, in order for the skill to work.

In either case, once you've set the false grip, it's about momentum at the transition point and then leaning into it. If you try to use your legs, the tendency is going to be to bring them out in front of you, which is going to lay you back and move you away from the bar or rings. Instead, you want your COG to remain as close to the bar or rings as possible and then rotate around them during the transition so that it comes out above them.

You might want to practice speed pull-ups, false grip pull-ups, and then speed false grip pull-ups -- all while preventing yourself from laying back at the top of the movement -- to train for the muscle-up.

One last thing: At your college gym do you have bumper plates?? two schools that im potentially going to don't allow the general student population access to the bumper plates, only football players. is that how it is for you?
You have to be a varsity athlete here to access the three or four gyms where they have bumpers and platforms unfortunately.

so how do you practice your overhead stuff?

with loud clangs?? hahahaha

so how do you practice your overhead stuff?

with loud clangs?? hahahaha
I'm comfortable returning anything up to about 50 lbs over my max military press to my shoulders. Then, there's another 20 lbs more of buffer where I'm not really comfortable doing it, but it's manageable. Above that, it's no longer safe and I need bumpers, so it's really only the heaviest jerks that I have to leave out. So, unless it's a very heavy jerk, if I can put the weight up, it's not much trouble to get it back onto the shoulders -- no clangs necessary.

The technique to do that is basically to control the eccentric as best you can and then absorb the impact by bending your knees. I learned it watching that Dimas training hall clip. He does it on his first set of jerks after he finishes snatching:

xVB_rQFSsEg

(Just after 2:40 on this embed and 1:20 on the video proper. There's also another example at 1:10 / 2:50.)

man that video is awesome. i'm not so comfortable lowering it back to the front of my chest, but i do alright lowering it to my shoulders. just need more time i guess.