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Bodyweight Protocol for Mass Building

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If you are a fan of Original Strength, I have a hypertrophy/strength routine that Tim Anderson designed for me a few years back. It was based on his own training, which at the time he attributed to gaining ~15 pounds.

@cmerrow I'm a big fan of OS, and I'd love to hear more about this. Was this based solely on OS moves? How were your results?
 
Monday
1) 10 minutes of Leopard Crawling - use a stop watch and go for a total crawling time of 10 minutes. If you stop to rest, stop the clock. When you crawl, start the clock. It may take you 18 minutes to crawl 10. It may take you 10.
2) If you do the above in less than 20 minutes, then do what I call "farm work" for 10 minutes:
Take an object of weight (40 to 80 pounds), deadlift it, shoulder it, or hold it and walk with it for 10 yards. Then put it down, turn around and repeat. Do this back and forth for 10 straight minutes. If you have to stop and rest, stop the clock.

Tuesday
A1 - BW squats x 30 x 5 sets
A2 - Handstand pushups x 5 x 5 sets - if you can't do handstand push-ups, do handstands for time (30 seconds to a minute), or sub them out with hindu pushups, or another upper body exercise of your choice like dips.
B1 - Pull-ups x 10 x 4 sets
B2 - Pushups x 25 x 4 sets
Go for a walk - 10 to 20 minutes

Wednesday
10 minutes of resets - you explore and do what you need
10 minutes of "play" - literally play with whatever: OAOLPU, pull-up, snatch, whatever
10 minutes of resets

Thursday
1) 10 minutes of backwards Leopard Crawling - same rules as Monday...
2) If you can do backwards Leopard Crawling in less than 20 minutes, more "farm work". This time carry a different load. I prefer one-sided carries here. Right arm/side down, left arm/side back.

Friday
A1 - BW squats x 40 x 5 sets
A2 - Handstand pushups x 7 x 5 sets
B1 - Pull-ups x 12 x 4 sets
B2 - Pushups x 25 x 4 sets
Go for a walk - 10 to 20 minutes

Saturday
Play - much like Wednesday

Sunday
Play: baby crawl for 10 minutes. Roll for 10 minutes. Go skipping through the park.
 
Hello,

Maybe it can interest some people:
3 Simple Methods to Build Muscle Mass with Only Bodyweight Exercises

Kind regards,

Pet'
Both points 1. and 2. are variations of decreased leverage and weight distribution, which is what Pavel put forth in NW. But with the idea of less rest, so that you don't feel fresh, where Pavel focuses on increased rest to feel fresh and max. sets of 5.

Christian Thibaudeau provides a compelling argument for not going to failure in compound movements, which allmost all bodyweight exercises are (AFAIK), although he talks about weight lifting, I don't see why his arguments can't be transferred to bodyweights.
Tip: Pros and Cons of Training to Failure | T Nation
 
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Hello,

Reducing the rest can also be a "good thing". It all depends about what you are after.

Reducing the rest can improve conditioning and strength-endurance because there are some cumulative fatigue. It can also provides some hypertrophy. For instance the "Bear Protocol" talks about multiple sets of 3 with relatively low rest. Of course, and I agree with you, it can be more taxing and require more rest.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Hello,

Reducing the rest can also be a "good thing". It all depends about what you are after.

Reducing the rest can improve conditioning and strength-endurance because there are some cumulative fatigue. It can also provides some hypertrophy. For instance the "Bear Protocol" talks about multiple sets of 3 with relatively low rest. Of course, and I agree with you, it can be more taxing and require more rest.

Kind regards,

Pet'
I didn't mean to imply that reducing rest was bad. It works, we all know that it works, even if the science isn't completely sure as to why it works. Going to failure works, why it works is unclear. And it is not the only way to stimulate muscle hypertrophy, as again all that have been on any SF program probably knows. I wonder if elite male gymnasts (especially rings) train to failure (no sarcasm, honest question)?
 
Hello,

@somanaut
I admit this is a very interesting question ! I would be glad to get the answer with a gymnast

In "Building the gymnast body", C. Sommer builds an entire program without failure. Of course, this does not mean this is not advised or possible.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Have you read both "Building the gymnast body" and "Overcoming Gravity"? If yes how do they compare in your mind?
 
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