Rafael
Level 3 Valued Member
I'm a Buddhist monk in the Thai Forest Tradition. The monastery I live in is a piece of forest with huts. No money, no Internet, very little possessions. Right now I'm visiting my parents in Brazil, so we can talk.
I'm interested in physical training, though. It's useful there. We walk a lot, work a lot and sit cross-legged a huge lot. It's not hard to meet monks with bad backs and similar problems.
I've just happened to know S&S one year before going to Thailand to ordain, in 2015. It was not possible, of course, to take my kettlebell with me, so I stuck with bodyweight training. In the first 1½ year I've got busy adapting to the new lifestyle, getting (and getting rid of) some tropical jungle diseases and breaking my arm, so I got little training. After that, I resumed training. Strength workouts, followed by stretching.
I took Convict Conditioning over the Naked Warrior because I could take care of the back and torso, but later on I couldn't help but endorse the views in this post. Also, I've read many of you stressing how BW training offers no alternative to swinging/deadlifting. I think back training is important.
I respect a lot Pavel's work, and feel more confident with his stuff than with everything else I've met. If I was a layman, I would just go to Rio de Janeiro and get some SF courses. That not being the case, would you suggest me any suitable training? (I know I'm asking for free advice, and I'm sorry for that.)
I'll point some of my doubts out:
Thank you very much, gents and ladies out there.
I'm interested in physical training, though. It's useful there. We walk a lot, work a lot and sit cross-legged a huge lot. It's not hard to meet monks with bad backs and similar problems.
I've just happened to know S&S one year before going to Thailand to ordain, in 2015. It was not possible, of course, to take my kettlebell with me, so I stuck with bodyweight training. In the first 1½ year I've got busy adapting to the new lifestyle, getting (and getting rid of) some tropical jungle diseases and breaking my arm, so I got little training. After that, I resumed training. Strength workouts, followed by stretching.
I took Convict Conditioning over the Naked Warrior because I could take care of the back and torso, but later on I couldn't help but endorse the views in this post. Also, I've read many of you stressing how BW training offers no alternative to swinging/deadlifting. I think back training is important.
I respect a lot Pavel's work, and feel more confident with his stuff than with everything else I've met. If I was a layman, I would just go to Rio de Janeiro and get some SF courses. That not being the case, would you suggest me any suitable training? (I know I'm asking for free advice, and I'm sorry for that.)
I'll point some of my doubts out:
- What's the best way to take care of your back in a BW-only scenario?
- Should I try to get some makeshift weights?
- In NW, Pavel recommends training straight for the pistol and the OA pushup, unilaterally from the beginning. In your opinion, is there any benefit in increasing bilateral squats/pushups first?
- What about horizontal rows? Should I get better in it before actual pullups?
Thank you very much, gents and ladies out there.