September Body Weight Only Training

When I returned from Colorado Springs on September 2nd, I had just completed a month long journey with the kettlebell snatch, although I didn't hit my goal number of 5000 snatches with a 20kg bell (only did 4000), I did learn a valuable lesson and I did feel like a vagina.

I decided my next training journey would consist of body weight only training and something brand new to me, "crawling."  I followed the 100 Push Up Program set and rep scheme.  Performing Push-Ups, Squats and AbMat Sit-Ups.  I would also train the Pull-up to a lower intensity.  My plan was to train body weight Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday do some active rest in the form of Crawling and a specific upper back program by Joe Defranco.  

I have read a lot about crawling and how it would help your body hit a reset in the way of physical and mental health.  This primitive movement pattern was difficult for me initially.  It had been so long since I crawled.  The movement pattern felt so foreign to me.

I had to "think" before moving, and I was crawling very slow at first.  On top of the physical/mental pattern challenge, crawling was damn exhausting.  I crawled for the first two weeks of my body weight training, and it made a huge difference.  The upper back program just seemed interesting to me and was a way to balance out the high volume push-ups.  Well I got through the month, hit all 12 training sessions and was able to maintain my sanity. 

 Here is a summary.

When I tested my initial push-up, squat and sit-up max reps I was shocked on how low they were.

Deep full (below parallel) high volume body weight squats expose a lot of hip mobility issues.

Not a fan of the traditional sit-up, so I used an AbMat and it worked very well for me.

The body weight training session averaged about 45 minutes in length, I took my time and made sure I did strict repetitions.

Over the 4 weeks I performed 1710 push-ups, 2302 squats, and 2565 AbMat sit-ups.

The longest crawling session was 4 x 100 yards, that was after starting with 2 x 50 yards.

Although I didn't specifically set out to train the Pull-Up, my form and strength in this movement improved.

Body weight stayed the same the entire month, even though my eating plan was anything but stellar.

Did not have a training day where I didn't feel like doing the session, I didn't feel "burnt" out.

The crawling sessions gave me a new perspective on the value of primitive human movement patterns, especially as we age.

I am going to take a few days and do some active rest training and then figure out my next challenge and journey.  I am thinking about another kettlebell swing challenge intermixed with barbell training.

And always remember.

Body weight only training is a good break from traditional weight training anyone can do the movements, you don't need a gym or any equipment, so you really have no excuse not to get stronger.

Stay Strong(er).  Al