Is Gymnastics the Missing Link to Reaching Your Goals? If you’ve had or have the slightest bit of interest in bodyweight training, then you’ve probably seen videos of people performing incredible strength feats, using just their bodyweight. Your reaction was either, “meh, don’t really care” or “whoa, that’s so cool!” Followed by… “now how the heck do I do that?!” The ‘not knowing how or where to start’ scares you a bit, and then you ultimately go back to doing your set of bicep curls instead. After reading this article, I intend to motivate you into trying Gymnastic Strength Training (GST). Gymnasts are considered to have the greatest relative strength compared to other types of athletes and trained individuals. Relative strength is the amount of strength an individual has compared to how much they weigh. However, very few people end up exploring the world of GST for one reason or another and end up choosing to chase strength and physique gains through other methods. Don’t get me wrong—this is not an article as to why those methods are wrong, but rather an article about why I think GST is better. GST is usually broken up into Straight Arm (SAS) and Bent Arm Strength (BAS) sessions. SAS is a movement where the elbow is completely locked for the entire range of motion/movement. BAS is where the arm bends at the elbow throughout the movement. These 2 movement patterns are further divided into push and pull movements. For example, a chin up on the rings is a BAS pulling movement, where as a dip would be a pushing one. So why is this important you ask? Your scapulae (shoulder blades) and its muscles are responsible for the pushing and pulling movements we perform. The scapulae are quite complex in how they move: they can protract, retract, elevate, depress, rotate upwards and downwards. In order to train them to perform optimally, they need to be challenged in equally complex ways. Movements like: dumbbell shoulder presses, bent over rows and lateral raises won’t do the job. If I lost you there, here is a simplified list of benefits:
- Get stronger than you have ever been using only your bodyweight.
- Build a more balanced and optimal musculature (especially in the back and shoulders)
- Gain more muscle!
- More muscle means more calories burnt, which means better body composition (no more running on the hamster wheel)
- Show off cool party tricks like this:
[caption id="attachment_19925" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Planche[/caption] |
[caption id="attachment_19926" align="aligncenter" width="226"] Front Lever[/caption] |
