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Bodyweight Naked Warrior Tips/Comments

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Here's a few things to comment on naked warrior.

1. both the exercises serve to tie the right arm to the left leg and the right leg to the left arm.

2. the lego squat is an excellent low-knee-stress pistol variation. i even weight it using kettlebells. i can do more weight via lego squat than pistol. try the lego squat variation one day per week

3. concentric only training should get at least 1 day per week on it's own

4. isometric only training should get 1 day per week on it's own

5. don't forget about the airborne lunge

6. it's best to stick to one variation per day. the weight added can vary throughout the day

7. singles have tremendous return but you can only handle about 5 per limb per day.

8. I've found rocking on the hands and knees (the OS reset) as a good single-exercise warm up for pistols

9. a few one arm pushups on the knees before your first "real" set of the day does things.

10. variation from day to day is essential to prevent stress on the joints.

11. roll on the floor more between sets

12. the barbell deadlift is arguably the best "big pull" addition to NW, if you have the resources. try 3 sets of 3 barbell deadlifts twice a week, and then spend one day a week practicing snatches ( Monday -DL, Wed- DL, Friday-Snatches!). watch what it does to your OAPU

13. a set of face-the-wall squats every morning, done for age, will really oil up your knees and unlock your lower back.

14. GTG is tricky but it works. You just don't always know it is working.

15. yoga twice a week, along with daily resets has improved my flexibility/mobility by a lot with very little investment of time or energy. it's like "easy flexibility"

16. knodding your head up and down for 3 minutes a day will relieve / prevent tightness in the neck from OAPU and pistols

17. NW is just about practicing the same 2-3 moves frequently enough to make significant progress in them. Making significant progress in the pistol and OAPU fortunately has a lot of crossover to other high-force endeavors


just some thoughts
 
Good thoughts. Tried NW shortly in the past. Maybe going to give it a try, now that loaded training is prohibited without supervision of PT.
 
I like that Lego Squat. I first saw it on Zuzka Light videos. I´ve been doing it to get up from the floor after finishing TGU, so about 10 per day
 
@Jak Nieuwenhuis I´m curious: what was your rep, sets ,intensity and frequency scheme?

And also, what were your results? For instance, started with a box squat of 40 cm and ended with a full pistol. And in how many months?

@Steve Freides it would be cool to have a thread "I achieved the pistol and OAPU, this is my story" thread, what do you think? I´d be happy to post there in a few years from now
 
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@Jak Nieuwenhuis I´m curious: what was your rep, sets intensity and frequency scheme?

And also, what were your results? For instance, started with a box squat of 40 cm and ended with a full pistol. And in how many months?

@Steve Freides it would be cool to have a thread "I achieved the pistol and OAPU, this is my story" thread, what do you think? I´d be happy to post there in a few years from now

I mostly do sets of 1-3 reps.

I don't like to reach even a medium level of "intensity" during sets. They might be hard moves but I try to make them look pretty and effortless above all, even if it means only doing a single

training is done every day, occasionally taking a day off when I really want to. mostly i will just do very light days though, if I'm not feeling it. a light day would consist of an easy pistol variation and maybe a few dead start OAPU on each arm, done as singles.

I try to follow the rules of "Easy Strength" when it comes to the practice. Helps to avoid burnout. For instance, never going above 10 reps per limb per day is a pretty good rule. Less if those reps are singles. Even less if you feel bleh.

I think the problem with having NW standards is that a lot of people can "achieve" the Pistol and OAPU without really owning the moves. It would be like achieving simple without really "owning" it. To make it look pretty and relatively effortless is much more what NW is about IMO. Refinement through consistent practice.

To sum up: Took me 6 months to achieve OAPU and Pistol squat on all 4 limbs respectively. Had not practiced either move before NW (aside from some ugly assisted pistols). Still learning to really own the moves.
 
I can echoe with @Jak Nieuwenhuis especially in terms of OAPU. They are by far the most demanding exercise from a neurological standpoint thus I liked to keep the reps low and only very rarely upping the intensity.
In order to "work out" the muscles involed I'd do band resisted pushups with a really heavy band for 5-8 reps.

Also @Jak Nieuwenhuis makes a great point about owning the moves: once you really own them you can do them anytime without any warmup.
 
I can echoe with @Jak Nieuwenhuis especially in terms of OAPU. They are by far the most demanding exercise from a neurological standpoint thus I liked to keep the reps low and only very rarely upping the intensity.
In order to "work out" the muscles involed I'd do band resisted pushups with a really heavy band for 5-8 reps.

Also @Jak Nieuwenhuis makes a great point about owning the moves: once you really own them you can do them anytime without any warmup.


Did you ever try using KB rows as a OAPU variant on some days?
 
No, but I think conventional KB rows do not make for a good OAPU variant.

But KB renegade rows done for low reps (1 - max. 5) would def be!
 
Did you ever try using KB rows as a OAPU variant on some days?

No, but I think conventional KB rows do not make for a good OAPU variant.

But KB renegade rows done for low reps (1 - max. 5) would def be!

Guys, this reminds me of an article by Phil Scarito about using the single leg deadlift holding the kb on the opposite hand as a good drill for the anti rotational aspect of the OAPU. I'm not even close to the OAPU so I haven't tested it, but you might find the article interesting.

Unlocking the One-arm Push-up | StrongFirst
 
NW is excellent for "what to do when away from my weights". Hilariously, these moves done with the body alone are among the most challenging out there. It's like the book says, that you're getting a workout at the level of heavy weights, without the weights! The bad point is again, how difficult they are to do! Also, your body still needs a "big pull", which isn't given with these two exercises.
 
NW is excellent for "what to do when away from my weights". Hilariously, these moves done with the body alone are among the most challenging out there. It's like the book says, that you're getting a workout at the level of heavy weights, without the weights! The bad point is again, how difficult they are to do! Also, your body still needs a "big pull", which isn't given with these two exercises.

Yes, the "bad part" about NW is that the moves are terribly hard, even after practicing them for some time.

Hitting the deck for a OAPU (or 2-3) can be quite taxing neurologically, meaning that you can only GTG with them pretty sparingly.

My view on the process is that if I can get even 2 OAPU per arm per day then I will get about 24 OAPU in total per week, minimum..

An answer to the low volume would be "how many OAPU did you do last week"? .. Makes one think about how this very difficult exercise can rack up decent numbers when done GTG style.

What I think is quite neat about the NW is that it doesn't follow Pavel's classic " 1 Big pull + 1 big (usually overhead) push" forumla

instead the program is a big squat + a big (horizontal) push

Of course it is kind of easy to add a big pull to the program, making it quite a complete "powerlifting style" line up
 
Guys, this reminds me of an article by Phil Scarito about using the single leg deadlift holding the kb on the opposite hand as a good drill for the anti rotational aspect of the OAPU. I'm not even close to the OAPU so I haven't tested it, but you might find the article interesting.

Unlocking the One-arm Push-up | StrongFirst

I haven't seen this article yet, but it is quite interesting.

I personally despise the SLDL,, aside from doing the unweighted walking version

However I can see the application.

My big "AHAH!" moment for the OAPU was realizing how much I have to root the foot opposite the arm. For instance, when doing a OAPU with the right arm, one must keep the left leg extremely tight by pressing as much of the left foot's surface into the ground as possible. Like you are doing a OAOL, but with the other leg pressing as best it can as well.
 
Here is another weird OAPU hack i figured out while playing the other day..

While standing, clean a KB ( i use 16kg) and hold the kettlebell "bottoms up" while zipping your body up as best you can

Just keep holding the KB bottoms up while tightening your body for a minute or 2. It is perfectly acceptable to switch hands to integrate the whole body

after just a few minutes of doing this (simply holding the KB bottoms up) try a OAPU.

I think you will be quite surprised at the new-found ease!
 
Observation: My elevated OAOLPU is getting more solid but more taxing. I have to take longer breaks between sets (at same elevation). It might of course just be accidental for those particular training days, some days you have more power than others. Or could it be because: as ones proficiency in a move/skill improves, one recruits more motor units (or something similar) and thus demand more power from ones system?
I seem to recall reading from several sources (non Strong First) that neophytes (the untrained) simply can't recruit enough muscle fibers, and thus do not need that long rest periods. They/me are simply enough producing enough muscle contraction to exhaust the muscles in that particular energy system. So while you can fatigue a beginner, and you can force them to muscle failure, it's because of many factors. I seem to recall from NW, that in the beginning the problem is energy "leakage", that can of course be hard in and of it self, you are essentially chasing tension around the body. Is this what is meant, that a move like the OAOLPU can be fatigue'ing for the nervous system? If yes, holy s*** I am experiencing that at the moment!
 
Hello,

[Disclaimer] Maybe it will be a little off-topic
I remember I read something from D. John: 80% of the program results come from the 20% of the program beginning. I guess it explains why at the beginning we progress a lot. Then, progress is slower so we have to spend more energy to get the last 20%. The "marginal effort" become more significant as we progress. It may explain why recovery becomes a key factor of progression on the long haul. "Everything works for 6 weeks".

However, once we get the result we wanted, if we do not look for harder variations, we become more and more proficient, so body adapts and recovery duration is shorter.
[/Disclaimer]

I would say that a lot of recovery is needed for TNW, at least as long as we want to tackle harder variations. As soon as we "feel" we will not pass the repetition properly, the "training day is over".

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Observation: My elevated OAOLPU is getting more solid but more taxing. I have to take longer breaks between sets (at same elevation). It might of course just be accidental for those particular training days, some days you have more power than others. Or could it be because: as ones proficiency in a move/skill improves, one recruits more motor units (or something similar) and thus demand more power from ones system?
I seem to recall reading from several sources (non Strong First) that neophytes (the untrained) simply can't recruit enough muscle fibers, and thus do not need that long rest periods. They/me are simply enough producing enough muscle contraction to exhaust the muscles in that particular energy system. So while you can fatigue a beginner, and you can force them to muscle failure, it's because of many factors. I seem to recall from NW, that in the beginning the problem is energy "leakage", that can of course be hard in and of it self, you are essentially chasing tension around the body. Is this what is meant, that a move like the OAOLPU can be fatigue'ing for the nervous system? If yes, holy s*** I am experiencing that at the moment!

That's true to an extent, but recovery capacity is also very much a trainable physical quality. As time goes on, your body will get better at recovery from training. That's not too surprising; it's pretty logical.

You know me, I'm a simple guy. I don't really understand concepts like "CNS is getting fried" or "energy leakage" of the body. Mainly because I literally don't understand them I guess 0_o

I think if you find the OAPU to be taxing, it's because it's hard work and it's strength training 0_o haha nobody said it was easy!

It does eventually get a little easier. Or so I'm told!
 
Whatever the reason, I am not looking forward to Heavy day sunday. I thought I was on an "easy" program. The volume (is that what you call number of sets?) is really starting to be felt. No soreness or fatigue 30 min after set or the next days. It's just a brutal max effort move.
 
Hello,

Waving volume and intensity can be a pretty good approach:
- some days with regular push ups but a lot of repetitions
- some days with tough variations but with far less répétitions

That way it is possible to reap the benefits of both worlds (endurance and strength endurance Vs max strength). Plus it brings variety so it avoids boredom and enhance recovery.

kind regards,

Pet'
 
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