Bodyweight exercises in high numbers.

[spirez]

There is still a need for a base level of endurance and bodyweight exercises can help to build this, as well as testing your mental strength too.

Don't believe me? Try this:

http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/noexcuses.html

Granted sport specific exercises are the core of training but there is a need for a well rounded regime and bodyweight can really help add to that, especially if you have little-no equipment.

[odorblocker]

Go to http://www.bodyweightculture.com and say something bad about bodyweight. They'll do pullups with you on their back.

[new2bjj]

Thanks guys.

No other responces ?

Go to Stadion.com, check out some of the articles on conditioning. You don't want your form to deteriorate when doing techniques/sparring- ie building endurance and getting sloppy at the same time. You're right though- cranking it out all the time in the weight room or doing a zillion hindu squats isn't going to make you fight better, just not get tired as fast. I guess, what I am trying to say, is, your body memorizes things (in connection to your brain, of course) and doing so much that you get sloppy, so you can build stamina, is counter productive.

[A.D.D]

Go to http://www.bodyweightculture.com and say something bad about bodyweight. They'll do pullups with you on their back.

But then they wouldn't be doing bodyweight exercises.

[spirez]

But then they wouldn't be doing bodyweight exercises.

Erm, yeah they would!

Unless, of course, your head has been preserved in a glass jar?

[Teh El Macho]

Equpoise gave me some very useful information on another thread titled "Endurance for Lifting". In fact it's still recent here in this forum. You guys can read what he stated on the last page.

But it got me thinking. Is there really a need to do Bodyweight exercises in high numbers ? What does it achieve ? It seems to me fitness is relative. No amount of Bodyweight Squats or Pushups will get one in condition to wrestle hard for 5 rounds. Or last a few rounds in the ring for something like Kickboxing.

I'm going to have to disagree on that one. If you take your sweet time doing push ups, it won't do anything for you. And that's true for all exercises, bodyweight or otherwise. The key to bodyweight exercises is in the intensity of the sets. For example, look at the following clip from Ross Enamait (a boxing coach):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjaTd_ZemkQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjaTd_ZemkQ

Or this excerpt from Rhadi Ferguson (a top grappler):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM-HkxsLRqw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM-HkxsLRqw

Or this other clip for example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH40oB3CnS8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH40oB3CnS8

Tha'ts how you use bodyweight exercises to improve your conditioning. Those clips don't show anything really different from what I've seen in BJJ and Judo clubs, really. Of course, in class, time is limited for warm ups, so it is up to the students to do any remedial conditioning they see necessary.

See, hitting a plateau is inevitable. And when that happens, your training suffers and will not improve unless you change something (rest, nutrition, and in many cases, additional conditioning.)

My understanding is if you want fitness for grappling, then grapple. Put your mouthguard in and wrestle hard for 3 minutes. Stop, rest for 30 seconds and go again. Repeat 7 times and puke at will.

Hmmm, no. Rolling is not for conditioning; it is for training your grappling skills. The conditioning you get from it (which is a lot, mind you) is a side-effect of it. This is why you see top competitors doing conditioning outside of the mat.

If you want fitness for striking, work the heavy bag, Kick shields and do lots of sparring for as many rounds as you can last.

Hmmm, no. What happened to skipping and calistenics?

To increase strength one must lift heavy for low repetiions.

True.

Now I know there are some Bodyweight movements like Handstand Pushups, One arm pushups and One Leged Squats which prove effective strength builders.

Not just for strenght training, but for training your core muscles (specially one-arm push ups.)

But as for doing 500 Pushups, is there a need for it ?

Taking your sweet time to do 500 push ups, yep, that's a waste. Doing them as fast as possible in combination to other exercises (bodyweight or not), just see the clips I posted above. With the exception of the third clip, the previous two are specifically designed for combat sports practitioners.

For me, I used to gas after 5 minutes. No matter how much I rolled, that was my plateau. Sprints helped, but not that much. After experimenting with different b/w exercises, I found plyo push ups (or regular push ups) to help the most. I do them by themselves, or I throw them in between sets of squats or deadlifts.

Though I haven't rolled in 10 weeks, last time I rolled I was able to do so for 12 minutes. From 5 to 12 in about 4 weeks, and the only thing I did differently was to include push ups by the hundreds (in sets of 40) as fast as possible almost everyday, either with little breaks in between or as fillers between sets of squats.

That's my personal annecdote on bodyweight exercises.

[nomamao]

I wouldn't knock bodyweight exercises.

[LI GUY 1]

BW exercises helped me a lot when my muscles would fatigue when rolling. For example fighting for the RNC your biceps might fail on you. Pullups helped a lot with that one in particular.

[A.D.D]

Erm, yeah they would!

Unless, of course, your head has been preserved in a glass jar?

The statement was pullups with a person on the person's back doing pullups. Which is additional weight besides one's own body.

So, they wouldn't be bodyweight exercises.

[Teh El Macho]

To me, it is useless to stick to an orthodox definition of bodyweight exercises as "only those exercises in which you use your bodyweight and nothing more."

To me, a bodyweight exercise just gives me an idea of an exercise, an exercise in which I can throw additional weight if that change helps me achieve a particular goal.