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Training On Lentils

So just in a case that anyone has the book I am gonna detail the steps I started with in four exercises.

1) Inclined push ups - I have hands on kitchen counter which makes me about 45 degrees inclined.
Sounds like fun, but doing 20+ reps with 5 seconds per rep amounts to almost 2 minutes of time under tension
and this is for 3 sets. In order to graduate to the next step one has to do 3x40 reps. Well, I am still sore after two days.

2) Half squats - earlier steps in squat serie are bit ridiculous (shoulder squats, really?!) so I choose half squats. As the name
suggests you go down till your thighs are parallel to the ground. These really felt great for me knees and after 20+ reps you've got
nice burn, especially durin that 1 second pause. 2x50 reps needed for advancing to the next step.

3) flat bent leg raises - nothing much to say. Graduate at 3x30 reps.

4) full bridges - as with the squats, earlier progressions are quite strange so I do full bridges straigth away.
2x15 is the progression standard. Did I mention I immediately fall in love with bridges? After bridging, the feeling
of the whole back side of my body is awesome.

So here you go. Lights out!
 
WhatWouldHulkDo said:
I actually did that chunk of the progression. They're surprisingly tough on the hamstrings. Maybe not a great lead-in to knee-dominated squats, but there's more there than you might think.
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I definitely don't disagree with your experience. It's just that I won't presumably be able to support mysef for long enough to finish the whole set, in a case of shouldersquats.

On a more general note, did you do CC as a whole, and if yes, what was your expericence with it? Thanks!
 
Push up (for first couple of progressions in CC) - barbell equivalents I "measured" by using bathroom scale.
My weight is 122 kg.

1) wall PU ~ 25 kg
2) inclined PU ~ 55 kg
3) kneel PU ~ 70 kg
4) full PU ~ 85 kg

As you can see, the bodyweight training for fatass like me is double edged sword.
On one hand it's of course much harder to make progress compared to someone who
weights 70 kg but on the other hand my strength gains will be significantly higher.
 
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Mirek said:
I definitely don't disagree with your experience. It's just that I won't presumably be able to support mysef for long enough to finish the whole set, in a case of shouldersquats.
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Was same for me at first. I came away with the impression that the shoulderstand might really be a better lead-in to some of the handstand work - building up the core tension to hold your body still.

It was kind of frustrating to think "I can squat already, why should I have to do this first?", but in the end decided I was getting something out of it... just probably not squat strength.

Mirek said:
On a more general note, did you do CC as a whole, and if yes, what was your expericence with it? Thanks!
Click to expand...

I didn't follow the CC programming to the letter, but I did use the progressions as my primary program for a while about 2 years ago; 6 days a week, using the split of pushup/leg-raise, squat/pullup, and bridge/handstand, each done 2x a week. This was pretty early on after deciding I needed to get my fat arse back in shape after slacking off for a year or so, so I was starting from a pretty weak spot. I did follow the idea of not graduating to the next movement until I could meet the standards from the book. On the whole it worked really well for me - definitely built back up a lot of the strength I had lost at the time from being sedentary, and I still today feel that working on those movements has given me a level of body control that I don't think I had even when I was young. I still try to work on the progressions now and then when I throw in a block of calisthenics work.

I'm a big guy like you, so my progress has been slow for sure. My general thoughts/progress on the progressions:
  • Pushups - I'm stuck at uneven pushups for the moment. It's just a lot more volume to graduate vs. the close pushups.
  • Squats - I've got some ankle mobility / balance issues that stop me from perfecting the close squat. I do still work on that occasionally.
  • Pullups - Despite being able to do a reasonable number of strict pullups, I still can't do a set of 30 horizontal rows! I've seen similar comments on other forums - that's just a tough movement for some of us. I noticed you said you don't have a bar, if you've got a table you can get under to try these, I think you'll find these are good lat & forearm work, though I'm a little skeptical how well they translate to vertical pullups.
  • Leg raise - This is a tough one for me too, don't have the hip strength to lift these heavy legs so many times. Haven't made it past the flat frog raise for reps, but on this one I have been "cheating" and doing some flat straight raises.
  • Bridge - I had never done this movement prior to reading CC, and I love them now - do them as part of my warmup for any strength session, and I think they've done really good things for my back. But I have some overhead shoulder mobility issues that stop me from getting into what I would call a proper bridge, so I'm working on that rather than trying to up reps.
  • Handstand - At the wall handstand, no pushing. I haven't tested myself on this in a while, actually - maybe I'll have to do that this weekend. This is a movement that I think teaches a lot of body control, and confidence.
CC gets knocked for the goofy storytelling and questionable programming, but I don't think you can go wrong with the movements, they are a really good set. And I'd say KB swings are a really good supplement to the movements - adds the grip and heavy posterior chain work that I'd say is missing.
 
My start to fitness was bodyweight training, not CC but Al Kavadlo (very similar from what ive been told) I got pretty strong with pull ups, archer pushups, bridges and I got to the point were I could do a 1-2 wall supported handstand pushups. I got a one arm pushup latter on but I used gtg approach from different heights, the different variations of pushups while good for general strength and hypertrophy don't really translate into a Oapu (in my opinion.)
I would second @WhatWouldHulkDo and add swings 2-3 times a week.
 
Thanks for detailed response!

WhatWouldHulkDo said:
Was same for me at first. I came away with the impression that the shoulderstand might really be a better lead-in to some of the handstand work - building up the core tension to hold your body still.

It was kind of frustrating to think "I can squat already, why should I have to do this first?", but in the end decided I was getting something out of it... just probably not squat strength.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think that shoulder squats really are for morbidly obese or in other way bodily unable people. I do not think that healthy human should start their leg strength journey with legs pointing upwards.

WhatWouldHulkDo said:
I didn't follow the CC programming to the letter, but I did use the progressions as my primary program for a while about 2 years ago; 6 days a week, using the split of pushup/leg-raise, squat/pullup, and bridge/handstand, each done 2x a week. This was pretty early on after deciding I needed to get my fat arse back in shape after slacking off for a year or so, so I was starting from a pretty weak spot. I did follow the idea of not graduating to the next movement until I could meet the standards from the book. On the whole it worked really well for me - definitely built back up a lot of the strength I had lost at the time from being sedentary, and I still today feel that working on those movements has given me a level of body control that I don't think I had even when I was young. I still try to work on the progressions now and then when I throw in a block of calisthenics work.

I'm a big guy like you, so my progress has been slow for sure. My general thoughts/progress on the progressions:
  • Pushups - I'm stuck at uneven pushups for the moment. It's just a lot more volume to graduate vs. the close pushups.
  • Squats - I've got some ankle mobility / balance issues that stop me from perfecting the close squat. I do still work on that occasionally.
  • Pullups - Despite being able to do a reasonable number of strict pullups, I still can't do a set of 30 horizontal rows! I've seen similar comments on other forums - that's just a tough movement for some of us. I noticed you said you don't have a bar, if you've got a table you can get under to try these, I think you'll find these are good lat & forearm work, though I'm a little skeptical how well they translate to vertical pullups.
  • Leg raise - This is a tough one for me too, don't have the hip strength to lift these heavy legs so many times. Haven't made it past the flat frog raise for reps, but on this one I have been "cheating" and doing some flat straight raises.
  • Bridge - I had never done this movement prior to reading CC, and I love them now - do them as part of my warmup for any strength session, and I think they've done really good things for my back. But I have some overhead shoulder mobility issues that stop me from getting into what I would call a proper bridge, so I'm working on that rather than trying to up reps.
  • Handstand - At the wall handstand, no pushing. I haven't tested myself on this in a while, actually - maybe I'll have to do that this weekend. This is a movement that I think teaches a lot of body control, and confidence.
CC gets knocked for the goofy storytelling and questionable programming, but I don't think you can go wrong with the movements, they are a really good set. And I'd say KB swings are a really good supplement to the movements - adds the grip and heavy posterior chain work that I'd say is missing.
Click to expand...

As I've hardly ever done high reps (> 5) of anything this will be tough.

  • Push ups? 3x40 of inclines will take me alot of time I guess
  • For some reasone I seem to crave higher rep (>20) squats. Maybe my legs will respond better to higher rep ranges, who knows.
  • I've nothing to hang from even for aussie pull ups so I tried them with table as you suggested. It turned out to be more challenging for table than for me and because I hate going to shop to IKEA I might need to figure out something different.
  • Leg raises are better than I expected but I did not get into more than 20 reps yet.
  • I mentioned already that bridges leave me feel great. Handstands are far away from me right now.
 
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I realized I actually did not log any of my prison workouts. So here we go.
I usually do one warm up set. Tempo really is 2-1-2 which makes it harder
than it looks on the screen.

30.1.19
inclined push ups 14, 14
leg raises 11, 11

31.1.19
half squats 19, 19
full bridges 5

1.2.19
rest

2.2.19
inclined push ups 15, 15
leg raises 12, 12

3.2.19
half squats 20, 20
full bridges 5

4.2.19
rest

5.2.19
inclined push ups 16, 16
leg raises 13, 10
 
After being incarcerated for two weeks I befriended one prison guard and he managed to smuggle
40 kg bell for me - I only had a couple of minutes to use it. I pressed it five times with my
left hand with at least one rep to spare. Looks like doing inclined push ups in high reps on
my cell basin does not hurt after all.
 
15.2.19
half squats 24, 24
horizontal pull ups 10, 10, 6

I should say that I do horizontal pull ups with bent knees. Fully straight I'd get 4 or 5 reps at most.
Out of all major muscle groups, pulling one is my weakest link.
 
I'm in the same boat. Upper body pull is my weakest link too. Maybe it's the nature of the lift for us big guys, that hinders progress.
 
masa said:
I'm in the same boat. Upper body pull is my weakest link too. Maybe it's the nature of the lift for us big guys, that hinders progress.
Click to expand...

I believe that the reason is simply excess weight. Take the average guy, say 75 kg, give him 40 or 50 kg backpack,
and he will struggle the same way as we do, I guess.
 
Mirek said:
I believe that the reason is simply excess weight. Take the average guy, say 75 kg, give him 40 or 50 kg backpack,
and he will struggle the same way as we do, I guess.
Click to expand...
That was well thought through. I coudn't have explained it better.(y)
 
masa said:
That was well thought through. I coudn't have explained it better.(y)
Click to expand...

Well thought you say? Must have been some weak moment of mine hahaha

Anyway, the fact that I started with pure calisthenics just turns my attention to that nasty thing called nutrition.
The chances are next to nil to progress beyond regular push ups or pull ups when one weights 120 kg+.
 
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