all posts post new thread

Bodyweight The buff naked warrior

Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
So hi I'm an 16 year old boy, I weight about 120lbs and I am 5'6. Before reading about Pavel I was your normal blacanic teenager doing numbers of pushups and situps. I did karate and some boxing and for a while I went to the gym and bench pressed 121lbs at 95lbs of body mass. For a while I stopped training and really lost my power and endurance. I couldn't do more than 20 PUs and sit ups. I would look at calisthenics programs online ( since I don't have weight available) and give up at about a week. All changed when I read the Naked Warrior. First I didn't know about Pavel but after reading NW I was shooked. Reading that I could do OAPUs without doing those stupid progressions really amazed. At first I couldn't do a single OAPU but then I could 2 in a row ( for me thats impressing). Then I searched about which book of his is focused on no equipment training and after searching I ordered Hardstyle Abs and Relax Into Stretch. Now my routine is as following.

NW GTG everyday ( although somedays lighter than other )
Abs I am practicing hardstyle breathing but I plan to do 2x a week cycles of Situps and HLR just like pavel suggests.
I stretch 3x a week using RIS principels
And Pullups 3x a week

The thing is even though I am happy I am getting stronger, I want to be bigger. The sad thing is that as far as I know Pavel doesn't mention how to build mass ( without weights) and other options such as those Calisthenics youtubers aren't for me. So I ask for your help and advice. I thought of adding weight to my OAPUs and Pullups but don't know if that will help. So do you guys have any advice on how to build mass with pure cals? Or do you have any advice in general how a guy like me can improve this training plan?

Every advice is welcomed.
Thanks in advance.
Hi

From my understanding of your requirement so far, I find this Anytime, Anywhere program by Aleks Salkins, or one of its adaptations for hypertrophy could be what you're looking for:


Thanks
Rahul
 
Hello,

I agree with @Nate At some point, we have to "accept" our morphology.

It remains easier to overload the upper body using bodyweight training only. However, this is harder when it comes to the legs. This is why I think @Nate 's idea to use sandbag to do squat is great. Bobby Pandour had a great leg development (and trunk as well) by doing stair climbing while carrying his brother.

In general, the more you carry (rucking, bear hug, etc...) the more muscle you will evenly put.

Pet'


My legs are pretty good for my body. I've also been sprinting since scientifically will put some muscles. The thing is no sports store here nearby have sandbags. But I will use a backpack and hold it in front while squatting sorta like a dumbell
 
I was something like 140 lbs at a height of about 5'10" until I reached my mid-20s, and struggled being very thin all throughout high school. I thought that training all the time would do the trick. It didn't. I needed REST, and a LOT more food than I was getting.

Generally speaking, to add mass you need VOLUME, REST, and FOOD.

A GTG style approach does not typically give large results in the way of hypertrophy. You will build some muscle over time, but not nearly as much as if you reduced your training days to ~2-4 days/week and condensed your volume into those sessions. There is evidence that it is overall weekly volume that drives hypertrophy, but in most of those studies the frequency is still about 3-4 days/week, and the lifters are usually experienced if memory serves me right. In GTG, you get a "lot" of weekly volume, but your adaptations will likely be more nerve-driven than muscular/physiological. You may net some hypertrophy over time, but it will take longer than if you condense your volume into a few days.

There is also high-frequency training (the type recommended by Chad Waterbury): you do the same-ish exercises 4+ days per week, and slowly add reps each day or week. You have to start lower than you think though, as it is quite easy to burn out and give yourself repetitive stress injuries this way (speaking from experience). The tricky part though, is that you're constantly riding the line between stimulus and recovery. It can be REALLY EASY to overdo it on this kind of program, so proceed with caution. This is not a program for you if you don't have patience; Waterbury has said repeatedly that it is the last couple month (of about 6-8 months) where you will likely see the most gains.

My suggestion: The simplest "routine" to add muscle using bodyweight is to reduce your training days to 2 per week per muscle group, and slowly work up to something like 5 sets of 15-20 reps. You can still do pistols and OAPUs but the latter will likely have to be its own exercise, as 5x15 might be a stretch ;) Do your 5x15 with pushups, weighted pushups, pike pushups, handstand pushups, etc.

So that's:
-2 upper body/2 lower body, core whenever
OR
-2push/2pull/1-2 days for legs, core whenever

THEN: if you're recovering well, meaning you are not sore at the start of each session, and your reps are not more difficult to perform, you may add another day, making it 3 days/week.

You can use the program that @Rahul Raje recommended for this type of training.

Lastly, EAT. A. TON. Prioritize protein; the ballpark estimate of 1g/lb bodyweight is most definitely not too much. And there are plenty of calorie calculators online to see how many calories you should be getting for your goals. Try a few of them to get an accurate idea of how much you should be eating.

Last minute edit: WEIGH yourself and maybe even consider taking body measurements. Sometimes changes come slowly and you can't really "see" them without measuring. I was stuck at 150lbs for-EVER, and finally the scale is saying 162-164, but it's hard to see in the mirror each day if you're really adding much.

Good luck, happy training!
 
Hello,

I agree with @Nate At some point, we have to "accept" our morphology.

It remains easier to overload the upper body using bodyweight training only. However, this is harder when it comes to the legs. This is why I think @Nate 's idea to use sandbag to do squat is great. Bobby Pandour had a great leg development (and trunk as well) by doing stair climbing while carrying his brother.

In general, the more you carry (rucking, bear hug, etc...) the more muscle you will evenly put.

Pet'

I recently had great success using sandbag and single leg squats from a box or on a staircase. This variation requires less balance and you can get quite deep as well.

Overall for building mass I have consistently gotten best results using DeLorme and similar variants.

The rep and load scheme can be modified to an RPE scheme instead of % 10 rep max. 1st tough, 2nd set easy 3rd set all you got.

Contrary to a lot of advice I recommend keeping the training volume low. Do enough work to trigger muscle protein synthesis and stop.
Eat plenty of protein and lean carbs.
 
Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
Back
Top Bottom