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Bodyweight Body weight Options

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Steve Rogers

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Hello Strong First Family,

I normally hangout in the Kettlebell threads and I have done some S&S until having issues with my shoulder and then selling all my Kettlebells.

Which brings me here. I’ve finished my rehabilitation of my shoulder and I have started doing Original Strength and then continued stretching of my shoulder.

Since I don’t have any kettlebells or barbells I wanted to see what my options might be for body weight.

Can you list some Strong First body weight options for training for strength?
 
Hello,

@Steve Rogers
First of all, I hope your shoulder is now fine.

As far as strength goes, if you look for some kind of bodyweight version of S&S, this protocol is interesting:

If you do not want to do OAP / OAOL PU, you can do HSPU. Both have advantages and drawbacks:
OAP / OAOL PU will drastically work on your core, so this is "time efficient". Nonetheless, OVH press (so HSPU here) transfer better to horizontal push than the other way around. The drawback is that HSPU engages less the core, so if you want to be more "well rounded", it can be interesting to add a core training.

It will be hard to replicate the hip hinge provided by the swings. But you can do shrimp squats which are some kind of "hip hinge" squat. So when you perform a pistol, immediately after you can perform the shrimp (with the same number of repetitions)

As far as the conditioning goes, LSD / rucking / swimming, etc... For AGT training, sprint repeats (with plenty of rest between sets)

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Sorry @Karen Smith I just saw this. My shoulder was very inflamed after moving several hundred heavy boxes for my FedEx job. I have had x-rays and an MRI and nothing is visibly torn or fractured so I have been given the green light to workout. However, I have noticed that I get some pain when I do pull-ups.
 
Hello,

For the push ups, good ways to make them easier or to get a rehab is to do them hand elevated (on chair for instance) or doing them on the knees.

Hand and placement is important : I like putting them shoulder width, with fingers pointing slightly outwards (this engagez the lats).

I also like leaning a little forward

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
It will be hard to replicate the hip hinge provided by the swings. But you can do shrimp squats which are some kind of "hip hinge" squat.
I recently started doing wrestler's (neck) bridges, inspired by the Gamma the Wrestler thread. They feel to me quite a bit like squat/DL combo in different plane and of course, with different ROM. I was working on gymnastic/yoga bridges and found that my shoulders hated them like the behind the neck presses they are. Wrestler's bridge is a whole different animal. One caution, they are surprisingly intense. Last time I did them was in high school in late 1960's (YIKES! So long ago). I still have the muscle memory and first day did 3 sets of 5 up the middle followed immediately by holding at the top while going as far as ROM allows, ear to ear (5 each side). Mild DOMS so next day did 5 sets with no issues. Then did 3 sets of 10 and got a lot more sore. 5X10 caused acute need for a couple days off. Felt a lot like too much vol/intensity of deadlifts.
 
Hello,

I agree with you @GeoffreyLevens . Bridges can replicate to a certain extent, as you said, the hip hinge motion. I remember that Al Kadadlo, alongside with bdw single leg DL can help to build / replicate a regular deadlift.

Below is video of him performing it by the way. This is a move I really like because if done very explosively, it helps to maintain swings. I often pair it with hanging leg raises to get a flexion and an extension. Usually, I do 5 HLR and 6 bridges.


I remember neck bridges training when I practiced judo. They were extremely hard. I think they are not for everybody, at least not for me !

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
2 cautions: The full bridge Al demonstrates contains, as I mentioned, a behind the neck press which can be problematic if you have shoulder and/or thoracic mobility issues. I do neck bridge a bit differently than he does. I use my neck as part of the power generator to get up into position. And there again, due attention must be paid to mobility. Be very certain you know where you are going, how far you can go, and don't exceed that if/when you do them explosively. A catastrophic neck injury can talk to you for the rest of your life. I do them at a much more contained pace rate, faster than a full grind but definitely NOT explosively. Goals are crucial as always.
 
Hello,

The pistol is a nice blend of strength, balance and mobility.

The full back bridge is also some kind of interesting blend: hip strength and power (I'll come back to that after), spine and shoulder flexibility.

I do not use my neck at all during this move. As far as shoulder goes, I stretch them everyday. Initially, the back bridge was part of my daily stretch routine, but with only 1 or 2 repetitions. Doing it as a portion of my current routine, meaning doing more repetitions, is something "new". However, I guess that stretching this move for years prior help me to handle it.

The power I put in the move through my hips permits me to initiate the motion. Then, the flexibility of the shoulders and the spine does the rest of the job. There is indeed a slight behind the neck press in all cases, but the more power I put through the hips, the less pressing strength I have to use. This is almost the same concept between a strict kb press and a jerk / push press.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Not strongfirst program per se, but I enjoy currently doing new blood 2.0 from convict conditioning. 3 sessions per week, pretty quick sessions and pretty minimalist.(push up and leg raise day, squat and pull up day)... I think I'll add snatches/swings there at somepoint instead of bridging. (What I can say.. I just love my kbs)
There is plenty of regressions and progressions which may condition your shoulders.

Even If I said it's not sf program, @Brett Jones did some stuff for that product when it was released before there was SF.
There is also conspiracy theories that author is actually Pavel. :D
 
Hello, hope your shoulder feels better. I know the pain.

As far as bodyweight goes, there are a lot of options really. Pushups have been mentioned, but as a shoulder injured man myself, I find they only aggravate this issue. I find crawling mixed with static holds are great and help you work on certain skills. If you do want to work pushups, you could add a band to help unload the bottom. If you attach it to your pull-up bar and step inside the band, as you lower to the floor, the band will ease tension off the shoulder. This is actually how I GTG for OAP with my messy shoulder if you feel inclined to do so.

There are many variations of both and I find crawling as very alleviating for the shoulders. For isomeric static holds, these can be as simple as L-sits, OAP planks, handstands, even planche but the latter is very demanding, not only of strength but flexibility and stability and may not help with shoulders.

As far as pull-ups go, have you tried other grip positions? Rings would be very beneficial here because of the freedom they allow in rotation but if not an option, I find the neutral grip the least offensive to shoulder limitations. Play around, you can use many different grips, thumbless may help or even baseball bat grips.

I see some have mentioned ideas of PC training with bridges. I think it’s a great move but mainly for mobility purposes. Sprinting and jumping are great for the posterior muscles if iron isn’t available. Also, glute bridges, single leg or both, floor slides for hamstrings or even a makeshift GH raise, if you have something to anchor your feet on. Slow single leg RDLs can be of use but are better with weight if you can still use your KBs. Deadlifts seem to help with shoulder issues more than the other patterns so pulling of some sort will be of benefit.

I wrote a post a while back about how months of Calisthenics improved my iron training and Aleks Salkin has posted some articles on SF about this topic. BW training has great benefits and is only limited to your imagination.
 
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