Archived Forum Advice, Vol. 572

By Steve Maxwell

Recovered by Dave Wardman

Dear guy,

There are different types of strength."Real strength"depends on what you are training for.If your interests are in lifting maximal weights,body wt. calesthenics are of minimal use. Lifting heavy wts. is a specific skill that can only be aquired by praticing those lifts.I am not interested in wt. lifting as a sport,and I found that bodywt.exercises are excellent for developing the kind of strength I need for my interests,in this case martial arts(grappling).But to say that one type of training builds real strength while the other one does not is simply not acurate.Real for what?

I do agree that once an exercise can be performed into the hundreds of reps.,it is primarily a muscular endurance/cadio workout.This can be a great aid if that type of endurance is neccessary for your sport.Great absolute strength can be built with just bodywt.resistence alone.One arm chinups,one arm pushups,and one legged squats(Pistols)are three great movements that build total body strength.One could mix the high rep stuff with the low rep exercises to get the best of both worlds.Add in handstand pushups,dips,various chin/pullups,lunges,hindu jumper squats,hanging leg raises,janda situps etc. and you have an awesome program!

Steve Maxwell