I appreciate this video, and I'm sorta new to your channel. So my thoughts are pretty fresh, but some things that stand out to me are: There ARE different muscle fiber types. Fast twitch muscles may suffer a little under what I think a lot of people's workouts built around time are. Once you start getting tired, technique and effort is going to go down, and you'll ultimately distribute that overall force needed for progressive overload into a bunch of reps training different muscle types, UNLESS you're mentally disciplined enough to keep technique and effort consistent for what you're training for. Secondly, another benefit to time under tension is developing joint stability. I have no studies there, though there may be some, but, we know that the vasculature connecting to these tendons and ligaments are smaller, and will require more time to develop. I think more people are limited by weakness in the joint than we expect. Which leads me to my third point... Muscle bottlenecks. Ultimately, in conventional training, it's easy to over-priotize certain muscles and under prioritize others. Really, for functional training like you're doing, we need distributive, compound load, and if we find one area struggles a bit more for a while, this is information we would otherwise not experience as much when doing isolated muscle groups workouts. So, it's a benefit to us to accept these funnels and just strnegthen them until we are better able to access the other muscle groups further up the chain. This lets us slowly build ourselves out in a balanced way. Obviously though, there are limits, and we should listen to our body if there's a specific area that's bothering us. Balance in everything. Lastly, I do wonder about how much total time is required for this approach. Ultimately, we're lazy and care about how we spend our time. It's difficult to imagine spending a couple hours doing simple calisthenic workouts when we think we can get 80% of the benefit in an hour at a gym. (P.S. Does you thumbnail show a large difference in shoulder resting height, or is that just the lighting. Did working out alone correct this, if so? :o)
Hey glad to have you here and great points, I'll do my best to add to each! Fiber type I see what you're saying completely. It would be easy to assume these workouts end up being more like a long distance run than a sprint, but done correctly they're definitely closer to the sprint. Bodyweight exercise gets tough really quick, and within a few sets or rounds, or after a couple minutes, you end up hitting failure with every exercise every time you do it, so the fast twitch fibers have no choice but to get involved. That is a great point about technique. It definitely takes some self awareness to make sure you're doing things correctly, especially with something like a pike pushup where it's so easy to cheat the movement. About the tendons and ligaments I think you're right there too. There seems to be a lot of value to training for high reps/lighter weight, and low reps heavy weight both when trying to develop that stuff. I like to combine heavy sandbags with these calisthenics circuits it gives you the best of both worlds! The bottleneck idea makes sense too. Training primarily with big compounds you definitely find out pretty quick what's lagging behind! I made a video about trying to choose exercises correctly to avoid this issue, I linked it in the description (It's the calisthenics circuit deep dive video) if you're interested! Time depends on the circuit you do. For a full upper body circuit that hits everything, usually with 5 exercises, 20-40 minutes works great. Doing something like a density training set might only take 10 minutes per muscle group (A good example would be choosing an antagonistic pairing like a pushup and an inverted row and going back and forth for 20 minutes). Compared to 3 regular sets with rest, it ends up being about the same time investment. In my experience the time approach actually ends up being faster, or you get more work done in the same time. Also that's my bad about the thumbnail, that old pic was just me trying to move my shoulders around to flex muscle that wasn't there haha.
@@thestonecircleThanks for the lovely reply! No worries on the thumbnail, just made me curious. Usually that pairing of old-me new-me also suggests it's a bit more of an evolution video. I will say I was slightly surprised it was more analytical. Appreciate the timing comments too! I'll def check your other video! Be well!
"I think more people are limited by weakness in the joint than we expect". This is 100% my problem. Too many injuries from hockey and racing. Those of us in our mid 40s that lived an eventful life are paying for it now lol. One wrong move or "just 10 more reps!" and it can be a 6-8 week break from working out, living on Ibuprofen, and ice packs 3-4 times a day lol. At my age, less is more. It took me a few years to realize that last set when you are fatigued and form is breaking down is not worth it. Any more, as soon as my form starts to break, I call it quits; whether it's running, swimming, calisthenics, etc. It sucks, I hate it, but I'm tired of hurting myself and having to take weeks off because I aggravated my tendonitis.
I have this same issue and many of my chronic injuries stem from hockey as well as other sports that favor one side dominance. I often do long mobility warm ups before any warm up or working sets. (Check out Vernon Griffith for this). also I’ve found that conventional lifting is to rigid and sand bags, calisthenics and kettlebells are better to keep joints going. Some other things you can look into ido portal method for movement and check out banded flossing for joint recovery on your low tempo or rest days. Good luck 🤙🏽
People seem to forget that power is just work over time. If you do more work in less time you're more powerful, and if you're more powerful you're stronger by default. Even physics agree with density training
This has been one of the points that I disagree with the major fitness community for long time but never really had a solid clue. Your video explained a lot and made me 5 percent smarter. My biggest appreciation!
This concept of “time as progressive overload” is my favorite way to train , I LOVE Density Training. Set a timer between 20-30 minutes and I go at it. Record my sets or total reps, and next week I try to get at least one more rep, one more set or try to perform the same amount of work faster than the previous week (as you explained) and then do one more set or whatever. It’s made me thick, juicy, and strong and it has made my training a blast, I like to focus on 1-2 exercises for a couple of months so density training keeps me focused without it becoming monotonous. Solid info bro. Great explanation.
@@enderzebak2863 yeah, it’s how you track progress. Unless I’m doing a circuit, like he talks about in the video, then I just try to get maybe 5 cycles of the circuit, record time and then try to beat that time next session. “That which is measured improves.”
Just came over from your 10k milestone video. I found your channel recently while lookin into calisthenics and I have to say that your videos have made me learn quite a lot in little time, not only are they full of information but you also make an effort in connecting with your community and staying humble. I'm definitely looking forward to start making some of my own circuits and watching more videos. Greetings from Spain!
Hey thanks so much I'm glad you've been liking the videos! Good luck with the circuits, the first couple times you do one you'll get way better fast, then that 4th workout comes around and suddenly you have to fight for every second, it's awesome haha 😄. Hi from US!
That sprinting analogy was on point bro 👌 and you’re really breaking new ground on CZcams fitness as far as I’m aware by discussing these methods, very unique and very smart. This is really useful stuff, I’m finding myself dragging my workouts out for way too long lately … I’m out of control lol, I used to focus on similar things to what you’re discussing and you’re inspiring me to get back to business!! Train harder not longer
Same bro we get distracted with my phone, watching videos, music, too much rest etc. with those times that I was in a rush in the gym I had the best pump
I live in Texas and there are a lot of hardcore bodybuilding gyms here. And many of the pro's I've talked to would all agree with you that they go for time under tension over counting reps. Not counting reps helps you focus more on technique anyway.
I think a cool way to look at the modalities of strength training through a more fantastical lense is: the way of the iron (barbells and dumbbells), the way of the stone (stone lifting, could be changed to way of sand for sandbags), and the way of the flesh (calisthenics).
@@thestonecircle I know you have a book coming out, but I think you should write some sort of tome of all this information about the modalities that people will read in a thousand years or something lmao
I started doing long distance farmer's walk with very light weights. Then I increased the weights when I could easily carry the lighter weights the distance without taking breaks inbetween. Then I started to increased the distance too. So I progressively overloaded time and weights. And still increasing bit by bit.
Not to mention, I also love it for having being short on time. I wake up at 3am to workout at 3:30am before my work shift at 5am-2:30pm. Now I wish I had the luxury of taking longer rest times, but my work is labor intensive. So I need to keep my workout to a half hour and that works perfectly. My 200 pound sandbag was getting shouldered once every minute for 20 minutes for a while until I got used to it. Now 2 shoulders in 1 minute for 10 minutes? I only added one heavy rep to each minute and I’ve cut my time in half. Not to mention, the longer you take, not having that hustle, you have less time to rest
Hey not only do I thank you for the comment, but to add some insight!!: Usually every minute the pickup and grip switches. Say a horizontal pickup, and hiking it up like a conventional shoulder. Each side for each minute. Then, there’s the vertical pickup, and more of an explosive one motion on the first half, with a finish of getting just under the bag like an Olympic powerlift, each side for each minute. If I really feel up to it, I’ll let it drop from the shoulder and just bear hug hold it until the 30 second mark, then I have the remaining 30 seconds to rest. Simple and effective. Pickup, lift, hold, drop, rest, repeat.
This technique is common in calisthenics, where people often compete to see who can complete a circuit or set faster, or who can do more of an exercise in a given time at the park. Some people might struggle to grasp the concept, but it's pretty simple. If it used to take me 20 minutes to do 100 pull-ups and now I can do them in 8 minutes, it's clear that progressive overload and adaptation have occurred. If someone finishes a circuit that took me 10 minutes in just 3 minutes, it's not just about cardio or technique, it's because their muscles are literally bigger and stronger. That's why they can bang out reps much faster than I do without needing any rest. The same applies in the gym: if you're working with a weight for 8 reps per set to failure and someone else comes along and does 20 reps with it no problem, they can get more reps than you in a minute, and they probably complete the first 8 reps faster than you as well. See? It's also about time. So, while this video is cool, I would argue that this training method makes intuitive sense, at least to me 🤔 It shouldn't be controversial!
Yep, someone that can do 100 pull ups in 8 minutes is vastly stronger than someone that can do them in 20 minutes, and also he is back home much earlier.
Great video. You forgot one other benefit: workout efficiency. Density training was my go to modality when we had a new baby and I was putting in long hours at work. I could be in and out of my garage in 20 minutes plus a warm up.
My friend and I used to workout like that. We'd set the time limit to 20 min , choose 3 or 4 movements, set the rep ranges and tried to cram as much sets as possible, performing them in a circuit. Also you had to keep your reps at the agreed initial value. If you failed during a set you'd take a brief breather and resume the set, that happened a lot btw. Why 20 min you ask? Because it absolutely kills you in the first 5 to 10 min. Your heart rate shoots through the roof, you start sweating bullets and gasping for air. It's like doing weight training and interval cardio at the same time. Time passes very slowly and the fatigue builds up very fast. It's a feeling similar to high rep burpees or rest pause high rep squats only it lasts 20 min. After a while I've noticed strength gains (could do more sets/full circuits in 20 min) but the limiting factor was always cardio. It's a great way to workout if you don't have the time and you want to be efficient. It will build strength,stamina (work capacity) but it's brutal. I'm not sure if it's the best protocol for hypertrophy because, likely, you won't fail because of the burn nearing muscular failure but more likely to systemic fatigue present throughout the body and the extreme heart rate.This combined makes it difficult to maintain proper form. As I said it's brutal.
Hey that's awesome I can tell you've really put in some time with this style of training! I actually made a video about how to overcome that cardio barrier if you're interested :) czcams.com/video/LS6diZH83ds/video.html
I really appreciate your channel and admire the commitment you have to not only your training, but making and posting videos. Great ideas and approach, you have given me some good reminders for what to focus on. Keep going, you're doing amazing.
Man, this is amazing, I never thought this way... I mean, I am trying to create a new workout routine, and in the last months I am very "sad" about to think in many repetitions and many sets to do.. Finally seeing this video I remind my begging of my "workout life", I started doing everyday one push up, with some days resting of course. In few days i passed my 1 push up to 10, and I remember always trying to do more and more in less time, like the sprinters. And I builded muscle in that moment. Remembering that is so good! This channel is gold, thank you! (I don't speak English, and I'm trying to... So, maybe it's difficult to understand what I'm saying lol... Anyway, thank you to open my mind to this metod. I'll try next days and I'll share the results.)
Hey I think you write very well! It's nice thinking back to those early days of training, good luck with the new routine I hope this goes well for you!
I started dong a X-down circuit after a previous video of yours. Started with a 5 down done multiple times. Moved to a 7 down multiple times, with a 2 minute rest between each down. Then a 10 down multiple times. Then a 15 down. That one got me. Had to pause a bit during some reps. So now i am using a 15 down as my benchmark time. Once i nail it to my satisfaction i will do a 20 down. I love the idea of timing a set circuit. You get to see the progress your body is making, on the clock.
doing less reps with perfect form as fast as possible is just the best, you use lees time and keeps you motivated to improve, and if you have a bad day or are tired you can still easily complete the workout (only in a bit nore time)
It really is great! And that's a really good point, there are definitely days where I don't have the motivation to push for a record, but still getting the work done, even if it takes a little longer, is still so worth it!
@@thestonecircle Exactly, this way of training has made me train again and I feel that it is much more sustainable in the long run. I also just do Push, pull, legs, push, pull, legs, abs. so I workout a bit everyday of the week but also rest the other areas everyday.
For real, until you said it, I forgot how much more stressful it can be to cut time as opposed to adding weight to a press. You made such a great video .
I came to the same realization. Because I am trying to increase my reps in a large fashion ( 150 reps for one exercise) .I decided to do the same volume I am doing currently but getting it done faster and faster. I wanted to save time that way because 150 reps will take a long time (depending on your speed). I noticed when doing the same amount of reps faster and faster that the weight felt increasingly lighter and I was still growing muscle. Now I'm working on speed every day. My theory is that muscle tension comes into play too. If your muscles have very little time to relax they have to get stronger to be able to handle the load. I also think that when you do the exercise at a more regular speed that your muscles have time to relax. So speed gives them either less time or no time at all to relax. Thus increasing either their speed (explosiveness) or muscle tension over time. On the flip side I think is doing the same exercise incredibly slow. That way your muscles also are under tension for a long time. I think I understand why these might be less popular. If you go into athletics, you are dedicated at improving certain movements and in that environment there is room for education. In the gym however, I don't think personal trainers will risk making you do certain exercises very fast because it can be dangerous and because the learning curve might be too steep. It requires more focus and better technique imo to execute certain movements really fast. Going really slow might be easier in that regard and you see it more in gym videos on youtube.
Hey glad it's been working for you! There is definitely to rep speed, I've pretty much always trained with the idea that concentrics should be as fast as possible while maintaining good form, and it's worked! That's a good point about the gyms too
Another way time can be used to prorgessive overload is by adding more time. When you get to the end of a certain exercise inatead of instantly coming back hold for a few more seconds then end the rep.
Great video as usual Cody. I do something similar with my small number of exercises in my routine, work out a baseline for ten mins EMOM then slowly condense it into less time. I also like what Strength Equals does with his sandbag training, sets a timer for one minute and goes all out shouldering and then try to better it next time. Keep up the good work!
I paused the video at 1:20 to go ahead and write this. I've used "time" plenty, and it makes sense, just like a runner tries to beat their time you can do an isometric hold for as long as possible and next week try to beat that time. Not sure if this is what he'll get to later but it's an awesome form of progressive overload.
Mark Wildman also uses an interesting timed approach in a few of his 1 handed kettlebell programs: Sets of 5 reps each side emom from 5 rounds until you do 20x5 then increase the reps per minute while keepint total reps around 100 until you reach 10 rounds with 10 repetitions First increasing the duration of the work then increasing density of the work
I have been doing EMOMs at 80-85 percent. 3 reps each set for 20 minutes. Then moving to 4 reps, then 5 reps, then increasing weight. Brutal and effective. Great take on time as a variable
Awesome content as always, with the addition of these videos about circuit training. Could you do a video or post about your current actual split? I know you have the sandbag hypertrophy video but that doesn’t include any of this style of training and is missing some of the other lifts we see you do.
Training against the clock is definitely a great method. Especially for those who might be short on time no pun intended. Using calisthenics makes it even more doable since theres little to no equipment. Do it anywhere or anytime and get out of there. Great video 🫡
All my friends and many people I know are fighters not bodybuilders, and ive always trained the normal way, I think this is something i should switch to because everytime I spar i realize the difference in our cardio.
Greqt insights! I use Bryce Lane's old 50 reps in 20 minute protocol whenever I need to break out of a rut. Lets me keep a good weight for strength, focus on form, and improve conditioning. The time element makes it fun (brutal fun) and challenging. It is amazing how focused you can get when there is only one exercise to perform.
Interesting approach and a great explanation of how to utilise time as a form of progressive overload. Will definitely be implementing this with my calisthenic and wrestling workouts.
This might be a better way to do things for myself, I've always had trouble stopping myself from pushing too far during my first set of an exercise - I love the feeling of squeezing them out. I fail too early afterwards to consider it a satisfying workout and then I give up my routines.
I’ve been doing a EMOM 5 pull-ups, 10dips, 15 air squats. I have slowly added a minute every few weeks. I love this type of training. I also do a EMOM rotation of three exercises for 39min - Kettlebell swings minute one, pulllups minute two, dips minute three. Add reps as you improve.
Density enjoyer here! have done it for calisthenics, kettlebell and sandbag. I do it in some way every week since I got my sandbag in February. I like to start by dividing the time into rounds and gradually increasing the rounds, or adding reps to the rounds, depending on how taxed my cardio got last time. For instance: one I worked on for a while was 5 L sit ring chins and 5 Ring dips + 2 pistol squats per leg. It started with a round every 5th minute, then every 4th, then every 3rd. Some times I repeated the previous workout and focused on getting more of the pull ups with a perfect false grip or a higher pull, and more of the dips with a hard RTO lockout. The process visibly got me beefier. For sandbag, I worked up to 2 shoulders per minute alternating shoulders for 20 minutes before I switched up the training when I got a coach, and I'm pretty sure I can do way more now. We still try to keep things dense and we do things in rounds and complexes a lot. Recently I have been overhead pressing the bag for singles and I can shoulder it from the floor with no lapping in one almost fluid motion. Tangentially, Cody - you ever done a sandbag getup or a sandbag complex? My coach uses these a lot and I enjoy it tremendously
Heck yeah this stuff works so well! Also congrats on the one motion those are seriously so fun to do! I've done a few getups and I was pretty bad at them haha, definitely needs more work
Timed training and density training doesn't have to take that long. When I did CrossFit I found some of the most effective timed work outs to be less than 5 min. One of the very best was 'max total load back squat in 3 minutes'. For this you choose how much weight you want to have on the bar. You put it in your back and start the timer. Then you just add up by doing reps to see what sort of tonnage you get
Heyy great to hear from you! Spreading some motivation is my favorite thing about making these videos :) You have even more experience with timed training than I do, It'd be awesome to see what you could come up with!
Brilliantly explained. I always learn something I never knew i needed to learn 😆 Good point about crossfit Physique. It gets sh*t on often but the results are definitely something worth studying. I love looking at the Physiques at crossfit games and learning what exercises they do to get those abs, or shoulders, or legs. Obviously it ends up ultimately being the sane with crossfiters, but its still something to bank for a later date. Maybe performing the exercises at different intensity to create the desired effect. Im sure i sound stupid right now haha. Another great video Cody! Ive got a stone session in 7 hours! See you later!
Haha definitely not stupid those CrossFit guys are something else! Some of it is really dumb to me like the kipping pullups and doing full snatches for time, but one thing they have over pretty much everyone else is insane conditioning. I think that's a big part of why they look so good, they're just lean AF! Glad you liked this one man, I can't wait to watch the stone vid!
I wonder if i could have that kind of conditioning, and continue to het strong. It seems possible. Id have to factor in my age, im sure. Although i haven't factored it in to anything yet lmao@@thestonecircle
@unknownstrongman haha screw the age you're in the prime time for strength!! I bet you'd do really well at it if you wanted to, some of those crossfit athletes are ridiculous, shouldering 300+ like nothing then repping out handstand pushups haha
Hey thank you! I never put much effort towards it in the past, always just did high reps with the kneeling version. I have started working at it recently though!
Been doing 30-downs, 20 down workouts with a timer. Deck of cards routine go through the deck 52 cards Face cards 10 repo. Ace 11 reps.. 380 total reps.. EMOM workouts. LOTS OF VOLUME IN LITTLE TIME...Increasing my work capacity. ..BEAT YOUR NUMBERS BEAT YOUR TIME!!!
interesting, the wholly new idea that ive never heard of in over 20 years in the game.. def another layer and it does make some sense to why crossfitters are jacked. people should just maybe note that it does not mean you should speed and use bad technique but rather resting for shorter periods. rushing with bad technique and using momentum to do reps will be very bad
Hey I definitely recommend the 'escalating density training' book if you want to know more, its great! And you're absolutely right, exactly why I wouldn't use this technique with more skill based exercises. Even though some guys get away with it, I don't think it's worth it
I agree. although I don't use this approach very often bc it has to be one of the hardest methods to enhance fitness. I use this method usually for the pullups. Instead of doing straight sets with the goal to add reps over time, I set a number amount of reps like 50 and just try to beat the previous time by a few seconds. Let me tell you it's f*cking hard looking at the stopwatch knowing I need to do the next set soon if I wanna beat the previous session. However, the feeling of winning the order version of myself after is priceless. I wouldn't say this is for beginners but if you have solid techniques for the exercises, racing the clock is a lot of fun
I get that 100% haha. Bodyweight circuits are awesome but they really take a lot of willpower to get through! I go through periods of doing straight sets myself for that same reason. That feeling of accomplishment though, exactly!
I apply this rule to EVERY easy isolation. It's a simple rule: Go to failure, that do an "attempt rep" that is performed at maximum effort even though you know you can't get it up, THEN do 5 more reps that are cheated as slightly as possible at maximal effort
I experimented with time based routines a while back with great success. EMOMs in particular where my favorite to get a lot of volume in, in a short space of time. Ladder sets too, are amazing.
This channel is highly motivating! I really want to be able to do this, but dont know how to get started. I am what can be called skinny fat, with barely any muscle and no gym experience whatsoever. But i want to change that.
Hey glad you like it! The easiest place for most to start is with basic calisthenics, just working with the basic exercises improving reps over time. You could use this time approach but it might not be necessary yet. At this point you'll see great gains just improving with the basic stuff
monday - 30 pushups or 30 burpees with perfect form as fast as you can (write your time) twesday - 20 pullups or pull form under a table if you dont have a bar, perfect form as fast as you can (write you time everyday) wensd - 50 squat perft form as fast as you can (write..) thursday - same as monday (push day) friday - same as twuesday (pull day) SAturd - Same as wends (leg day) Sunday - 50 situps perfect form as fast a you can (sunday abs day) Write everyday your times so you keep track and compare and see the evolution, once you can do this exercises in less than a minute, increase the number of reps 10 more or just switch to a more difficult variation (for example pushups with your feet elevated on a chair, or pushups with close or open hands) Always do a pair of minutes of yoga to warm up your body, you will be getting strong at home in sessions that last just minutes!! And you can do it for years and years, you will not want to quit. Then when you get strong you can increase reps but i mean, 60 pike pushups or 60 pullups as fast as you can will destroy even strong athelets, you need no gym.
Love this content Cody! Although, for myself, the deeper I dive into lifting methodology in that search for the most optimal way to train... I realise there is a million ways to do it...and a million ways to fuck it up! Now, I've done Stalley's Escalating Density Training. I liked it. I did 3 supersets for 12min each. The first was a low-rep-set for strength on two opposed compound lifts like Squat and OHP for instance. I kept it low rep for the strength benefits and to ensure there was less likelihood of form breakdown. The second "zone" as Stalley refers to them was usually a machine seated set for higher reps on antagonistic leg groups like leg extension/seated leg curl. Then my third and final zone was an upper body antagonistic grouping usually of a variation of pressing or pulling either on cable machines or dumbbells. I'd have an A and B workout (Squat+OHP centric and Deadlift+Bench centric) and gym it 3x a week so that there'd be a fluctuation in the frequency and hence recoverability of the muscle groups. I found I got swole during the sessions and my cardiovascular fitness rocketed! However, I also found when you're racing the clock that my form on those last few sets were turning to crap as I was driving to beat last week's reps before the clock ran out. And although I never received any injury, I can see how the potential exists for it. I'd certainly do it again, but currently I'm doing 2x full body a week and I'm seeing good returns, so I'm reluctant to change at this moment. Funnily enough though, I'm using a Stalley inspired rep scheme of 10x3 rather than the usual 3x10 bodybuilding staple for a couple of my heavier lifts. Keep up the good work!
Idk if you would be interested in making a follow along workout or explicit examples of workouts but that would be really cool! Thanks for the inspiration either way man!
Big fan of a time based method of progression, I regularly use volume/density cycles from Mark Wildman (you two would be an interesting colab) essentially, a volume cycle uses a fixed load (say a kettlebell) for a fixed amount of reps (say 5) for a specific movement (say kettlebell cleans), you operate in an EMOM style so say begin at 6 minutes EMOM 5 reps, next week 8 minutes, next 10, next 12 etc etc to say 20 minutes EMOM of 5 reps with the same weight and movement. Simple and highly effective and I have found it allows great recovery while dealing with 2 kids and working shifts
Someone else mentioned that Mark Wildman approach too, sounds really awesome! I like how it naturally waves over time, that's a lot of good work in little time!
Density training is also very popular in kettlebell training. Since most of the time the weight is fixed and jumps are too heavy, training with the same weight and number of reps but decreasing time is often used.
Your last point on big movements like clean and presses, you can do that 100% however you need to have build the skill on the movement already if you are already very skillful at that or like say a log press you can do it. However you do need to be very skillful at those movements, strongman mitchell hooper does log press EMOMs as an example.
Time and intensity is what you need to "Shock da muskle" However I'm seeing some studies of some HIIT like training but with weights, not so often for growth. Seems be based more on recovery and eating like a lion tho.
Love this video 👍 OK, this may be the older guy's perspective 😄, but in contrast to doing more reps or lifting more weight, doing the same overall workload in less time is also the only way to improve your performance without putting more stress on your joints. So far, I have always been experimenting and trying to find an even more interesting circuit instead of doing exactly the same one but faster. But maybe I'll get to that point eventually. As for the questionable compatibility of heavy compound exercises, so far I am quite pleased with sandbag bearhug squats in that regard. They may be very tough, but the technical difficulty isn't that high. And other than a barbell a sandbag usually won't cause trouble if you just have to drop it from whatever height.
Thank you for the video! I love the notion of using time is it measure for progressive overload, but struggle to find a way to incorporate it into a functional plan. Can anyone provide a basic outline on how you would structure your workouts using the demsoty training approach?
Hey glad you liked it! It could be as simple as taking one of your exercises for the day and doing as many reps as you can in 5 minutes rather than counting sets and reps. Usually somewhere near a 15rm works well. Over the weeks you can try to increase how many reps you can do in that time, and at a certain point add weight or go back to straight sets. (I did exclusively density training for a while and found 50 reps in 5 mins was a good goal to aim for before adding reps). You could leave it at that or use it for multiple exercises, you can superset them together. It's pretty versatile
I have a weight vest and I used to use it a bit with my circuits, but it was made for skinny calisthenics guys and my neck is too wide for it now haha, chokes me out. I'll probably get anohter one at some point!
@@thestonecircleI know this isn’t a direct continuation of this conversation - have you considered testing your traditional barbell 1rms, doing this calisthenics circuit for a year (plus sandbags), and testing maxes again? I’d be very curious how your maximum strength in traditional lifts would shift in relation to your work capacity, aesthetics, etc. If you could hold or improve your strength levels while getting the calisthenics and cardio benefits, that’d be huge.
@a_colby Yeah I'd like to try! All my stuff is in storage at the moment but I'd like to try again at some point. I miss barbell squats more than anything!
Hi, I really appreciate your videos! They've convinced me to make a 100 lb sandbag and try some calisthenics circuits, it's been a fun way to spice up working out and I've really enjoyed it :) If you don't mind, can you help me with some of the questions i have about circuit training? I've been trying an 8 down workout with sets consisting of 8 wide pullups, 16 pushups, 8 neutral grip pullups, 8 pike pushups, and then working down to 1 wide pullup, 2 pushups, etc. I've been doing these down workouts by going into the next set (ex: 8->7->6...) without resting, which results in a lot of the exercises turning into a sort of rest pause. For example, after doing the 6 rep set group, I try to do the 5 rep set group but only get 3 wide pullups instead of 5, so I have to wait for about 15 seconds before doing more reps to meet the rep quota. Basically, every set is done to failure. Is this the right way to be doing these circuits? It's the most pumped I've ever felt but I get extremely sore afterwards and have to wait 3-5 days before working those muscle groups again, and I'm wondering if rest pause is reaching diminishing returns in terms of stimulus to fatigue. Or maybe, I don't have the muscle endurance and I should just tough it out? Not really sure what I should be doing. Once again, thanks for all the quality information you provide and hope the book writing is going smoothly!
Hey that's awesome!! I always love to hear someone has started up with this stuff :) I know what you mean exactly. First I would say definitely don't worry about diminishing returns. I'd say once you reach the point where you really have to push through that fatigue is when the real growth happens, so embrace that because it's a huge part of what makes these so effective for building muscle! For your question about the right way to do the circuits, the way you're doing it works great and I do it that way sometimes too. Personally I like to think in terms of total reps rather than trying to follow the exact 'down workout' outline. So 8 down for wide pullups, You could look at that as a set in stone workout that says you need to do exactly 8, then 7, then 6 all the way down to one. Or you could look at an 8 down as 36 total reps that need to be completed in the circuit, and how you get them done doesn't matter. When looking at total reps rather than a set workout, you can start splitting things up. In my experience, you will finish the workout in less time if you don't rest pause. Rest pause has its own benefits, but you could also say getting all the reps done in less time has its own benefit as well. So for example rather than 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 for each exercise (and double for your pushups) you might do something like this 8, 7, 6, (3+2), (3+1), 3, 2, 1. That would mean once you get to your set of 5, you'd do 3 of each exercise, then 2 of each, rather than rest pausing between one specific exercise. That keeps the workout flowing better and means you never really get any rest at all, makes the conditioning side of things more difficult too. I hope that helps!
Man I love this kind of training, really appreciate this video!! I have a question tho not too related with it haha, but how could I reduce tendon pain in my arms? I know it comes from different parts like the shoulder, neck, etc.. (I have mostly elbow pain). And if I train like fast, I get really sore and painful in that area.. I would appreciate some insights from you man, thanks for everything, salute!!
Hey really glad you liked it! I'm definitely not an expert but I had some elbow tendinitis pretty bad a while back when I tried to do too much at once. What helped me was avoiding the positions that hurt (for me it was switching over completely to neutral grip pullups rather than pronated), and lots of band curls. I make sure to get at least a couple hundred quick reps with a light band before every workout, curling with an underhand, neutral, and overhand grip. It definitely helped me a lot! I've heard rice bucket training is really effective for that too, though I've yet to try it myself
My job is notorious for elbow tendonitis, golfers, tennis and distal bicep. I do thousands of reps a day of a particular movement. I tried everything, was given print offs from physiotherapists pushing bicep curls, wrist curls etc but I just made it worse as I was adding more reps to something which was caused by thousands of daily reps at work. What cured this after roughly four years of being tortured with it was isometrics. Get a tie down strap, yoga strap, old seat belt or similar and stand on it and do different isometric holds in various bicep curl positions, watch arm wrestlers training and mimic their pronation lifts etc only do so with an isometric hold. I undone four years of tendonitis in literally weeks doing this. Also isometrics are the real deal in building strength and also to a degree muscle. They don't get the respect they deserve because there's nothing to sell, it looks boring but it's extremely effective. As you can probably tell I'm very passionate about isometrics especially as I get older. Give it a try!
A great way to increase the strength, cardiovascular and metabolic output is by doing ladders of heavy to light weights/hard to easy calisthenics moves, this way we keep the pump, the cardio-metabolic output and can reach a 70-80% strength/power reps also - from session to session we can keep the reps of the ladder but either we increase the weight or increase the difficulty of the ladder calisthenics moves - progressive overload or fiber recruitment.
One thing I would ad is proper technique while trying to do more reps under a certain time. How many times have we seen a video of some one pounding out push ups, but only using 1/4 of the range of motion. "I just did 100 push ups in a minute bro!". No, no you didn't, you did 0 reps. I like the idea of setting a benchmark for reps in a certain amount of time and trying to beat that time or adding reps within that timeframe, but maintaining proper form with full range of motion. Any advice on over coming that plateau? Let's say my first set is 50 push ups when my form starts to break down, I no longer have full range of motion and it took a minute. Over the course of the next few weeks, I drop that time to 50 seconds for 50 push ups and i can't seem to break 50 seconds. Without cheating on form and range of motion, how would we break that barrier? Thank you.
Yeah form plays a big part for sure! In my experience adding some variation helps a lot, like working towards dips or a different pushup variation for a while in the same way. In the long run it definitely helps!
hey man ive been trying to get into working out but it seems like every time i try i just lose any desire to keep doing it after a day or two (calisthenics, not weights, im thinking maybe weights are easier since i hate the feeling of my arms giving out while doing pushups) so im thinking maybe doing sandbag workouts might be a better way to get into it, what do you think? im thinking i need to do things i like that have hypertrophy as a side effect i.e. splitting wood, rock climbing, etc.
Hi Cody, first of all tks for your videos and dedication you are really an inspiration. I have a 100 lbs sand bag and after few trainings I ask my girlfriend to see how my back was evolving. She said to me that the right side of my back was more evolved (more muscle) than the left. I wanted to ask if someone has the same situation, if I have to we carefully about that and if it will balance with training.
Hey that's awesome! It depends on how much of an imbalance it is. Pretty much everyone has at least some imbalances, but some unilateral work can usually even it out. Sandbag carries seem to force you into the proper position too so that might help. I'd just make sure if you're doing the sandbag to shoulder you do it on both sides equally.
Hey thank you! Sandbags 2-3x a week and calisthenics circuits every other day, I went into more detail on it in my recent 'I trained my back everyday for 2 years' video!
I guess it really depends on what you want to reach. If you want to improve your bench by n%, I seriously doubt this approach could help. As far as building muscle and especially strength endurance, it might work much better than a normal "bodybuilding" regime. Anyway, great, thought-inspiring video as always!
Hey thank you! Yeah bench has a big skill component and I wouldn't want to chance developing bad form habits training this way with an exercise like that. Some people seem to swear by it but I prefer pushing with less technical exercises when using time myself. I could see it helping bench if someone kept benching the normal way and did timed pressing workouts on other days, but probably not more than just doing regular straight sets
You can treat bench normally as far as a powerlifting approach with long rests etc, then apply these methods to assistance/supplemental work, that’s one option.
If you use four to five body weight exercises is it still good to use for time I usually try that and it seems like it works pretty good what your opinion cuz I like to go every other day plus you some sandbags on the other days
@jakedempsey5943 yes definitely! That's exactly what I do too, I go into a lot of detail on that here if you're interested 🙂 czcams.com/video/LS6diZH83ds/video.htmlsi=6hSd08NMXdb4oiKC
It's a different approach definitely. Most guys who have put in the work for a long time will tell you the idea of time under tension is a lot less meaningful than it's made out to be, but there is still something to be said for it no doubt.
those dips into leg raises are interesting. do you find one part of the movement limits the other? Ive used density training with squats. usually ill go for 25 reps in 10minutes and i try to leave 2-3rir for each set and typically take 45 seconds between each mini set. ends up being set of 2-5 mostly.
They're limited by the dips I'd say, but the fun (and sometimes not fun haha) thing about the leg raises is it's really up to you to do them as powerfully as you can. If I'm really worn out I can kinda just throw my legs up without much effort and it still looks like a completed rep, but in a way I'll have failed because I didn't push with everything I have. It's almost like the dips will limit you based on muscle strength, and the leg raises limit you based on mental willpower. Mostly though I like throwing them in as a variation for the variety, and because they push the workout just a bit further in the direction of endurance which is fun on occasion :) That sounds super intense with the squats!
@@thestonecircle makes sense. reminds me of a burpee almost because its a combination but with an emphasos. what limits me is always the pushup portion of a burpee as i do 2 or 5 pumps or navy seals. ill try these leg raise dips for sure!
this is a really cool channel, idk if youve been on the flipside or if you know much about weight loss but can you do some type of video for someone whos overweight and looking to build muscle and lose weight, i can do pushups and maybe 1 pike pushups but thats about it for calisthenics, thanks!
I can't go to the gym to exercise, but I have dumbbells and I'm starting to get bored. I repeat the same things every week. Can you give me a more creative exercise plan?
By myo reps you mean rest pausing for a few seconds after you hit failure and then going for a few more full rom reps right? I think that works great! At a certain point these calisthenics circuits I mentioned kinda turn into one giant myo rep fest haha. Once you're far enough in, every time you repeat an exercise you'll already be pretty close to failure from the start, it works really well.
.)•(..}•{..]•[../•\..)•(..}•{..]•[../•\. Just some more comments and a Like for the algo. *************** Stay shredded, brahs (and brahettes). *************** We're all gonna make it. *************** Peace.
Hi Can i get a training program with sand bags ? I have done my own working on time 30,40,50 kg 15,10 ,5 reps x 6 sets End with hanging and dips Upper body day done Day 2 lower body Sand bag hold and squat 10 reps x 10 sets Will try and do walk 1 hour daily or 12500 steps and once week sprint walk Any thoughts Thanks
It's honestly simple physics. Power=(force x distance)/ time. Exerting a given amount of force over a given distance is work. Doing a given amount of work in a given time is power. Doing the same work in less time requires more power. More power requires more muscle. or more neural adaptations, but eventually, it requires more muscle.
Hey Bro - excellent content you put out - really one of the best channels on youtube for true fitness and strength gains. This time element is definitely much more difficult than sets and reps or adding weight. The time factor is literally a fight against yourself and your inner bitch and usually the voice of the bitch screams the loudest and forces us to take a longer rest period. To see the effectiveness of such routines one just needs to look to the Iron Wolf's CVP workouts to see how effective simple bodyweight exercises combined with burpees can be. Incredible work once again on your channel, your dedication and passion is a rarity these days. Much love and big respect from Cape Town, South Africa/ Ps id love to see you add some kettlebell content to the channel(i bet you love the kettlebells aswell!)
Also regarding kettlebells much of their usage involves working for time or trying to do as many reps during an allotted time slot. Trying to cram as much as possible into as limited time as possible
Hey thanks so much! It really is a fight against that inner "well....we could probably stop now right?" voice haha. I've actually only trained with kettlebells a few times but I'd love to get some of my own at some point!
Haha I'd argue the opposite! If you do three sets of 5 different exercises you have to write down 15 different numbers on your training log. If you have a set circuit all you have to do is write down how long it took you to complete the circuit. And if you're racing the clock, you don't actually look at it until the end to see how long it took you. You do have a point for the density training approach though, I did find myself checking the time a bit with that one
I appreciate this video, and I'm sorta new to your channel. So my thoughts are pretty fresh, but some things that stand out to me are:
There ARE different muscle fiber types. Fast twitch muscles may suffer a little under what I think a lot of people's workouts built around time are. Once you start getting tired, technique and effort is going to go down, and you'll ultimately distribute that overall force needed for progressive overload into a bunch of reps training different muscle types, UNLESS you're mentally disciplined enough to keep technique and effort consistent for what you're training for.
Secondly, another benefit to time under tension is developing joint stability. I have no studies there, though there may be some, but, we know that the vasculature connecting to these tendons and ligaments are smaller, and will require more time to develop. I think more people are limited by weakness in the joint than we expect. Which leads me to my third point...
Muscle bottlenecks. Ultimately, in conventional training, it's easy to over-priotize certain muscles and under prioritize others. Really, for functional training like you're doing, we need distributive, compound load, and if we find one area struggles a bit more for a while, this is information we would otherwise not experience as much when doing isolated muscle groups workouts. So, it's a benefit to us to accept these funnels and just strnegthen them until we are better able to access the other muscle groups further up the chain. This lets us slowly build ourselves out in a balanced way. Obviously though, there are limits, and we should listen to our body if there's a specific area that's bothering us. Balance in everything.
Lastly, I do wonder about how much total time is required for this approach. Ultimately, we're lazy and care about how we spend our time. It's difficult to imagine spending a couple hours doing simple calisthenic workouts when we think we can get 80% of the benefit in an hour at a gym.
(P.S. Does you thumbnail show a large difference in shoulder resting height, or is that just the lighting. Did working out alone correct this, if so? :o)
Hey glad to have you here and great points, I'll do my best to add to each!
Fiber type I see what you're saying completely. It would be easy to assume these workouts end up being more like a long distance run than a sprint, but done correctly they're definitely closer to the sprint. Bodyweight exercise gets tough really quick, and within a few sets or rounds, or after a couple minutes, you end up hitting failure with every exercise every time you do it, so the fast twitch fibers have no choice but to get involved.
That is a great point about technique. It definitely takes some self awareness to make sure you're doing things correctly, especially with something like a pike pushup where it's so easy to cheat the movement.
About the tendons and ligaments I think you're right there too. There seems to be a lot of value to training for high reps/lighter weight, and low reps heavy weight both when trying to develop that stuff. I like to combine heavy sandbags with these calisthenics circuits it gives you the best of both worlds!
The bottleneck idea makes sense too. Training primarily with big compounds you definitely find out pretty quick what's lagging behind! I made a video about trying to choose exercises correctly to avoid this issue, I linked it in the description (It's the calisthenics circuit deep dive video) if you're interested!
Time depends on the circuit you do. For a full upper body circuit that hits everything, usually with 5 exercises, 20-40 minutes works great. Doing something like a density training set might only take 10 minutes per muscle group (A good example would be choosing an antagonistic pairing like a pushup and an inverted row and going back and forth for 20 minutes). Compared to 3 regular sets with rest, it ends up being about the same time investment. In my experience the time approach actually ends up being faster, or you get more work done in the same time.
Also that's my bad about the thumbnail, that old pic was just me trying to move my shoulders around to flex muscle that wasn't there haha.
@@thestonecircleThanks for the lovely reply! No worries on the thumbnail, just made me curious. Usually that pairing of old-me new-me also suggests it's a bit more of an evolution video. I will say I was slightly surprised it was more analytical.
Appreciate the timing comments too! I'll def check your other video! Be well!
"I think more people are limited by weakness in the joint than we expect". This is 100% my problem. Too many injuries from hockey and racing. Those of us in our mid 40s that lived an eventful life are paying for it now lol. One wrong move or "just 10 more reps!" and it can be a 6-8 week break from working out, living on Ibuprofen, and ice packs 3-4 times a day lol. At my age, less is more. It took me a few years to realize that last set when you are fatigued and form is breaking down is not worth it. Any more, as soon as my form starts to break, I call it quits; whether it's running, swimming, calisthenics, etc. It sucks, I hate it, but I'm tired of hurting myself and having to take weeks off because I aggravated my tendonitis.
I have this same issue and many of my chronic injuries stem from hockey as well as other sports that favor one side dominance. I often do long mobility warm ups before any warm up or working sets. (Check out Vernon Griffith for this). also I’ve found that conventional lifting is to rigid and sand bags, calisthenics and kettlebells are better to keep joints going. Some other things you can look into ido portal method for movement and check out banded flossing for joint recovery on your low tempo or rest days. Good luck 🤙🏽
tl;dr
People seem to forget that power is just work over time.
If you do more work in less time you're more powerful, and if you're more powerful you're stronger by default.
Even physics agree with density training
Yes, power and torque apply just as in engines.
It just makes sense!
Great way to put it
Power and strength are two different things
The medieval music ties everything together
Like a dark ages rennaisance man rediscovering ancient tomes of tried and tested success
Awesome work bro
Hahah hell yes, Thank you :D
Reason number 45 on why The Stone Circle is among the best channels out there:
:D thank you!
This has been one of the points that I disagree with the major fitness community for long time but never really had a solid clue. Your video explained a lot and made me 5 percent smarter. My biggest appreciation!
Haha hey I'm glad you got some value from this!!
I just got unbanned from yt comments and I wanted to celebrate by calling you🏳️🌈, regards - Hell
This concept of “time as progressive overload” is my favorite way to train , I LOVE Density Training. Set a timer between 20-30 minutes and I go at it. Record my sets or total reps, and next week I try to get at least one more rep, one more set or try to perform the same amount of work faster than the previous week (as you explained) and then do one more set or whatever. It’s made me thick, juicy, and strong and it has made my training a blast, I like to focus on 1-2 exercises for a couple of months so density training keeps me focused without it becoming monotonous.
Solid info bro. Great explanation.
Heck yeah training this way really is fun! Rather than a list of chores it's like a game. Awesome to hear it's worked for you too!!
so you are basically still counting sets and reps
@@enderzebak2863 yeah, it’s how you track progress. Unless I’m doing a circuit, like he talks about in the video, then I just try to get maybe 5 cycles of the circuit, record time and then try to beat that time next session. “That which is measured improves.”
Just came over from your 10k milestone video. I found your channel recently while lookin into calisthenics and I have to say that your videos have made me learn quite a lot in little time, not only are they full of information but you also make an effort in connecting with your community and staying humble. I'm definitely looking forward to start making some of my own circuits and watching more videos. Greetings from Spain!
Hey thanks so much I'm glad you've been liking the videos! Good luck with the circuits, the first couple times you do one you'll get way better fast, then that 4th workout comes around and suddenly you have to fight for every second, it's awesome haha 😄. Hi from US!
That sprinting analogy was on point bro 👌 and you’re really breaking new ground on CZcams fitness as far as I’m aware by discussing these methods, very unique and very smart.
This is really useful stuff, I’m finding myself dragging my workouts out for way too long lately … I’m out of control lol, I used to focus on similar things to what you’re discussing and you’re inspiring me to get back to business!! Train harder not longer
Thanks man! I always do the same when I get away from these, even my sandbag workouts have been getting pretty long lately haha, so easy to do
Agreed!
Same bro we get distracted with my phone, watching videos, music, too much rest etc. with those times that I was in a rush in the gym I had the best pump
I live in Texas and there are a lot of hardcore bodybuilding gyms here. And many of the pro's I've talked to would all agree with you that they go for time under tension over counting reps. Not counting reps helps you focus more on technique anyway.
I've seen footage of some Texas based bodybuilding gyms, really seems like the best kind of no nonsense place to get massive!
We're all gonna make it brahs
💪
@@brianbachmeier34 💪💪
I think a cool way to look at the modalities of strength training through a more fantastical lense is: the way of the iron (barbells and dumbbells), the way of the stone (stone lifting, could be changed to way of sand for sandbags), and the way of the flesh (calisthenics).
Sounds pretty badass to me 😎💪
Also makes me think of that Gojira album 'The Way of all Flesh' which I'm glad i can go listen to again now 😁
@@thestonecircle I know you have a book coming out, but I think you should write some sort of tome of all this information about the modalities that people will read in a thousand years or something lmao
@@FreeRoger that would be awesome haha, just the fact that it could be called a tome is enough for me
@@thestonecircle You could literally just call it "The Stone Circle" and in a couple thousand years it'd be like the dead sea scrolls
I started doing long distance farmer's walk with very light weights.
Then I increased the weights when I could easily carry the lighter weights the distance without taking breaks inbetween.
Then I started to increased the distance too.
So I progressively overloaded time and weights.
And still increasing bit by bit.
Smart way to do it! A lot of the old school strongmen guys used to use that approach too
Not to mention, I also love it for having being short on time.
I wake up at 3am to workout at 3:30am before my work shift at 5am-2:30pm.
Now I wish I had the luxury of taking longer rest times, but my work is labor intensive. So I need to keep my workout to a half hour and that works perfectly.
My 200 pound sandbag was getting shouldered once every minute for 20 minutes for a while until I got used to it. Now 2 shoulders in 1 minute for 10 minutes?
I only added one heavy rep to each minute and I’ve cut my time in half.
Not to mention, the longer you take, not having that hustle, you have less time to rest
That's an intense workout nice!! I can only imagine how crazy strong you might be after reaching 40 or 50 shoulders in that time!
Hey not only do I thank you for the comment, but to add some insight!!:
Usually every minute the pickup and grip switches.
Say a horizontal pickup, and hiking it up like a conventional shoulder. Each side for each minute.
Then, there’s the vertical pickup, and more of an explosive one motion on the first half, with a finish of getting just under the bag like an Olympic powerlift, each side for each minute.
If I really feel up to it, I’ll let it drop from the shoulder and just bear hug hold it until the 30 second mark, then I have the remaining 30 seconds to rest.
Simple and effective. Pickup, lift, hold, drop, rest, repeat.
This technique is common in calisthenics, where people often compete to see who can complete a circuit or set faster, or who can do more of an exercise in a given time at the park. Some people might struggle to grasp the concept, but it's pretty simple. If it used to take me 20 minutes to do 100 pull-ups and now I can do them in 8 minutes, it's clear that progressive overload and adaptation have occurred. If someone finishes a circuit that took me 10 minutes in just 3 minutes, it's not just about cardio or technique, it's because their muscles are literally bigger and stronger. That's why they can bang out reps much faster than I do without needing any rest. The same applies in the gym: if you're working with a weight for 8 reps per set to failure and someone else comes along and does 20 reps with it no problem, they can get more reps than you in a minute, and they probably complete the first 8 reps faster than you as well. See? It's also about time. So, while this video is cool, I would argue that this training method makes intuitive sense, at least to me 🤔 It shouldn't be controversial!
I agree it just makes sense!
Yep, someone that can do 100 pull ups in 8 minutes is vastly stronger than someone that can do them in 20 minutes, and also he is back home much earlier.
Great video. You forgot one other benefit: workout efficiency. Density training was my go to modality when we had a new baby and I was putting in long hours at work. I could be in and out of my garage in 20 minutes plus a warm up.
Definitely a great part of it! thank you!
Escalating density training ❤❤❤
Learned a lot from that book!
My friend and I used to workout like that. We'd set the time limit to 20 min , choose 3 or 4 movements, set the rep ranges and tried to cram as much sets as possible, performing them in a circuit. Also you had to keep your reps at the agreed initial value. If you failed during a set you'd take a brief breather and resume the set, that happened a lot btw.
Why 20 min you ask? Because it absolutely kills you in the first 5 to 10 min. Your heart rate shoots through the roof, you start sweating bullets and gasping for air. It's like doing weight training and interval cardio at the same time. Time passes very slowly and the fatigue builds up very fast. It's a feeling similar to high rep burpees or rest pause high rep squats only it lasts 20 min.
After a while I've noticed strength gains (could do more sets/full circuits in 20 min) but the limiting factor was always cardio. It's a great way to workout if you don't have the time and you want to be efficient. It will build strength,stamina (work capacity) but it's brutal.
I'm not sure if it's the best protocol for hypertrophy because, likely, you won't fail because of the burn nearing muscular failure but more likely to systemic fatigue present throughout the body and the extreme heart rate.This combined makes it difficult to maintain proper form. As I said it's brutal.
Hey that's awesome I can tell you've really put in some time with this style of training! I actually made a video about how to overcome that cardio barrier if you're interested :) czcams.com/video/LS6diZH83ds/video.html
I really appreciate your channel and admire the commitment you have to not only your training, but making and posting videos. Great ideas and approach, you have given me some good reminders for what to focus on. Keep going, you're doing amazing.
Hey thank you I really appreciate that!
Man, this is amazing, I never thought this way... I mean, I am trying to create a new workout routine, and in the last months I am very "sad" about to think in many repetitions and many sets to do..
Finally seeing this video I remind my begging of my "workout life", I started doing everyday one push up, with some days resting of course. In few days i passed my 1 push up to 10, and I remember always trying to do more and more in less time, like the sprinters. And I builded muscle in that moment. Remembering that is so good! This channel is gold, thank you!
(I don't speak English, and I'm trying to... So, maybe it's difficult to understand what I'm saying lol... Anyway, thank you to open my mind to this metod. I'll try next days and I'll share the results.)
Hey I think you write very well! It's nice thinking back to those early days of training, good luck with the new routine I hope this goes well for you!
another benefit of using time as main marking point is it saving alot of time.
True!
I started dong a X-down circuit after a previous video of yours. Started with a 5 down done multiple times. Moved to a 7 down multiple times, with a 2 minute rest between each down. Then a 10 down multiple times. Then a 15 down. That one got me. Had to pause a bit during some reps. So now i am using a 15 down as my benchmark time. Once i nail it to my satisfaction i will do a 20 down. I love the idea of timing a set circuit. You get to see the progress your body is making, on the clock.
That's awesome you've stuck with it! Even 15 down can be so difficult, 20 down is crazy! I can only imagine the gains you've been making :O
Down workouts have been some of the most productive workouts I've done. Strength, work capacity and hypertrophy
@@bassmuscle101heck yeah same here!
doing less reps with perfect form as fast as possible is just the best, you use lees time and keeps you motivated to improve, and if you have a bad day or are tired you can still easily complete the workout (only in a bit nore time)
It really is great! And that's a really good point, there are definitely days where I don't have the motivation to push for a record, but still getting the work done, even if it takes a little longer, is still so worth it!
@@thestonecircle Exactly, this way of training has made me train again and I feel that it is much more sustainable in the long run. I also just do Push, pull, legs, push, pull, legs, abs. so I workout a bit everyday of the week but also rest the other areas everyday.
For real, until you said it, I forgot how much more stressful it can be to cut time as opposed to adding weight to a press. You made such a great video .
Hey thank you I'm really glad you liked this vid! For sure cutting time is so tough!
Just discovered this channel and it's🔥
Hey glad to have you here!!
I came to the same realization. Because I am trying to increase my reps in a large fashion ( 150 reps for one exercise) .I decided to do the same volume I am doing currently but getting it done faster and faster. I wanted to save time that way because 150 reps will take a long time (depending on your speed).
I noticed when doing the same amount of reps faster and faster that the weight felt increasingly lighter and I was still growing muscle. Now I'm working on speed every day.
My theory is that muscle tension comes into play too. If your muscles have very little time to relax they have to get stronger to be able to handle the load. I also think that when you do the exercise at a more regular speed that your muscles have time to relax. So speed gives them either less time or no time at all to relax. Thus increasing either their speed (explosiveness) or muscle tension over time. On the flip side I think is doing the same exercise incredibly slow. That way your muscles also are under tension for a long time.
I think I understand why these might be less popular. If you go into athletics, you are dedicated at improving certain movements and in that environment there is room for education. In the gym however, I don't think personal trainers will risk making you do certain exercises very fast because it can be dangerous and because the learning curve might be too steep. It requires more focus and better technique imo to execute certain movements really fast. Going really slow might be easier in that regard and you see it more in gym videos on youtube.
Hey glad it's been working for you! There is definitely to rep speed, I've pretty much always trained with the idea that concentrics should be as fast as possible while maintaining good form, and it's worked! That's a good point about the gyms too
Another way time can be used to prorgessive overload is by adding more time. When you get to the end of a certain exercise inatead of instantly coming back hold for a few more seconds then end the rep.
That can be tough!
Great video as usual Cody. I do something similar with my small number of exercises in my routine, work out a baseline for ten mins EMOM then slowly condense it into less time.
I also like what Strength Equals does with his sandbag training, sets a timer for one minute and goes all out shouldering and then try to better it next time.
Keep up the good work!
Thank you! EMOMs are great, I forgot about Strength Equals, I watched a few of his videos way back, I remember him lifting some pretty massive stones!
I paused the video at 1:20 to go ahead and write this. I've used "time" plenty, and it makes sense, just like a runner tries to beat their time you can do an isometric hold for as long as possible and next week try to beat that time. Not sure if this is what he'll get to later but it's an awesome form of progressive overload.
It works! Thanks for the comment :)
Mark Wildman also uses an interesting timed approach in a few of his 1 handed kettlebell programs:
Sets of 5 reps each side emom from 5 rounds until you do 20x5 then increase the reps per minute while keepint total reps around 100 until you reach 10 rounds with 10 repetitions
First increasing the duration of the work then increasing density of the work
That's an awesome way to do it! Sounds brutal
I find that I’ve been making gains doing HIT with calisthenics.
Great way to do it!
I have been doing EMOMs at 80-85 percent. 3 reps each set for 20 minutes. Then moving to 4 reps, then 5 reps, then increasing weight. Brutal and effective. Great take on time as a variable
EMOM training is awesome I like your setup!
Awesome content as always, with the addition of these videos about circuit training. Could you do a video or post about your current actual split? I know you have the sandbag hypertrophy video but that doesn’t include any of this style of training and is missing some of the other lifts we see you do.
Hey that's actually the subject of my upcoming book! I'll be releasing a video on the program when that comes out too, shouldn't be much longer now! 🙂
Great stuff brother. I've been doing this on my own sort of but I'll start tracking the time now.
Love and blessings!
Hey thank you!!
Training against the clock is definitely a great method. Especially for those who might be short on time no pun intended. Using calisthenics makes it even more doable since theres little to no equipment. Do it anywhere or anytime and get out of there. Great video 🫡
Thanks! And for sure that's one of my favorite parts about it, get a great training session in no time at all!
Great video man, you deserve to have a bigger following
@noahbriones7199 thank you I really appreciate it! Just gonna keep making the best videos I can 🙂
All my friends and many people I know are fighters not bodybuilders, and ive always trained the normal way, I think this is something i should switch to because everytime I spar i realize the difference in our cardio.
It really does take your conditioning to the next level!
Greqt insights! I use Bryce Lane's old 50 reps in 20 minute protocol whenever I need to break out of a rut. Lets me keep a good weight for strength, focus on form, and improve conditioning. The time element makes it fun (brutal fun) and challenging. It is amazing how focused you can get when there is only one exercise to perform.
I love that style of training too! Hitting one exercise for a bunch of singles or low rep sets has to be the most fun in the gym!
Interesting approach and a great explanation of how to utilise time as a form of progressive overload. Will definitely be implementing this with my calisthenic and wrestling workouts.
Thank you I hope it goes well!!
This might be a better way to do things for myself, I've always had trouble stopping myself from pushing too far during my first set of an exercise - I love the feeling of squeezing them out. I fail too early afterwards to consider it a satisfying workout and then I give up my routines.
I get that completely, I think you'd like this style of training! Doing a 30 minute circuit is like one giant first set haha
I’ve been doing a EMOM 5 pull-ups, 10dips, 15 air squats. I have slowly added a minute every few weeks. I love this type of training.
I also do a EMOM rotation of three exercises for 39min - Kettlebell swings minute one, pulllups minute two, dips minute three. Add reps as you improve.
Sounds awesome!
Great, so far what are your numbers in 10 mins, 30 mins and 60 mins?
Calisthenics and that sandbag are all you really need to become a monster
So true!
I’d add gymnastics rings for a pull up/dip bar almost anywhere for not much
@@Deimos_the_Autist rings are awesome 💪
Density enjoyer here! have done it for calisthenics, kettlebell and sandbag. I do it in some way every week since I got my sandbag in February. I like to start by dividing the time into rounds and gradually increasing the rounds, or adding reps to the rounds, depending on how taxed my cardio got last time. For instance: one I worked on for a while was 5 L sit ring chins and 5 Ring dips + 2 pistol squats per leg. It started with a round every 5th minute, then every 4th, then every 3rd. Some times I repeated the previous workout and focused on getting more of the pull ups with a perfect false grip or a higher pull, and more of the dips with a hard RTO lockout. The process visibly got me beefier.
For sandbag, I worked up to 2 shoulders per minute alternating shoulders for 20 minutes before I switched up the training when I got a coach, and I'm pretty sure I can do way more now. We still try to keep things dense and we do things in rounds and complexes a lot. Recently I have been overhead pressing the bag for singles and I can shoulder it from the floor with no lapping in one almost fluid motion.
Tangentially, Cody - you ever done a sandbag getup or a sandbag complex? My coach uses these a lot and I enjoy it tremendously
Heck yeah this stuff works so well!
Also congrats on the one motion those are seriously so fun to do!
I've done a few getups and I was pretty bad at them haha, definitely needs more work
@@thestonecircle progressing these feels kickass - it's as full body as it gets haha
Timed training and density training doesn't have to take that long. When I did CrossFit I found some of the most effective timed work outs to be less than 5 min. One of the very best was 'max total load back squat in 3 minutes'. For this you choose how much weight you want to have on the bar. You put it in your back and start the timer. Then you just add up by doing reps to see what sort of tonnage you get
Sounds brutal! I've been working towards 50 pullups and 100 pushups in 5 minutes, big part of the upper body gets totally fried in no time at all!
Cody- You got me wanting to put calisthenics back in the mix! I am thinking it would be good for my old beat up joints.
Heyy great to hear from you! Spreading some motivation is my favorite thing about making these videos :) You have even more experience with timed training than I do, It'd be awesome to see what you could come up with!
Thanku for enlightening me in this topic... Thanku for the value in this vid.... Keep going!
Hey I'm really glad you liked this one!
this is exactly what i started doing in november! its been over 25 yeats since ive last utilized it, and just like then its working out fantastic.
Heck yeah glad it's been working for you!!
Definitely, man. My home workouts are KBs, so time as a variable is one of the main ways to progressively overload, since you can't simply add weight.
Really lets you get a lot out of that weight for sure!
Brilliantly explained. I always learn something I never knew i needed to learn 😆
Good point about crossfit Physique. It gets sh*t on often but the results are definitely something worth studying. I love looking at the Physiques at crossfit games and learning what exercises they do to get those abs, or shoulders, or legs. Obviously it ends up ultimately being the sane with crossfiters, but its still something to bank for a later date. Maybe performing the exercises at different intensity to create the desired effect.
Im sure i sound stupid right now haha.
Another great video Cody! Ive got a stone session in 7 hours! See you later!
Haha definitely not stupid those CrossFit guys are something else! Some of it is really dumb to me like the kipping pullups and doing full snatches for time, but one thing they have over pretty much everyone else is insane conditioning. I think that's a big part of why they look so good, they're just lean AF! Glad you liked this one man, I can't wait to watch the stone vid!
I wonder if i could have that kind of conditioning, and continue to het strong. It seems possible. Id have to factor in my age, im sure. Although i haven't factored it in to anything yet lmao@@thestonecircle
@unknownstrongman haha screw the age you're in the prime time for strength!! I bet you'd do really well at it if you wanted to, some of those crossfit athletes are ridiculous, shouldering 300+ like nothing then repping out handstand pushups haha
@thestonecircle for sure sure! I refuse to do the pull ups though haha
@@unknownstrongman hahah yeah screw that 😄
problem is, trying to speed up may cause form errors (unless the action is simple)
For sure that's why I don't recommend it for everything (I made a note about that at the end)
@@thestonecircle love your channel btw, keep up the good work!
@@TheFreddieFoo thank you!
That before and after is freaking nuts
Thank you! If you can believe it I had already been training for about 6 years at least 3 times every week with no breaks in that before haha
You never thought of trying the abs wheel rollout standing on your feet? I think you have the strength to perform it.
Hey thank you! I never put much effort towards it in the past, always just did high reps with the kneeling version. I have started working at it recently though!
Density Training is boss, and great for learning.
It's so effective!!
Been doing 30-downs, 20 down workouts with a timer. Deck of cards routine go through the deck 52 cards Face cards 10 repo. Ace 11 reps.. 380 total reps.. EMOM workouts. LOTS OF VOLUME IN LITTLE TIME...Increasing my work capacity. ..BEAT YOUR NUMBERS BEAT YOUR TIME!!!
Hell yeah!!
What is EMOM
Really enjoy your calisthenics content. Very high quality videos.
Hey as always thank you for the support! I realized it had been a little while since I made something about calisthenics, it was time 🙂
Commenting for the algo since this is gold
Hey thank you!
interesting, the wholly new idea that ive never heard of in over 20 years in the game.. def another layer and it does make some sense to why crossfitters are jacked. people should just maybe note that it does not mean you should speed and use bad technique but rather resting for shorter periods. rushing with bad technique and using momentum to do reps will be very bad
Hey I definitely recommend the 'escalating density training' book if you want to know more, its great! And you're absolutely right, exactly why I wouldn't use this technique with more skill based exercises. Even though some guys get away with it, I don't think it's worth it
Outstanding- Gold
Thank you glad you liked it!
I agree. although I don't use this approach very often bc it has to be one of the hardest methods to enhance fitness. I use this method usually for the pullups. Instead of doing straight sets with the goal to add reps over time, I set a number amount of reps like 50 and just try to beat the previous time by a few seconds.
Let me tell you it's f*cking hard looking at the stopwatch knowing I need to do the next set soon if I wanna beat the previous session. However, the feeling of winning the order version of myself after is priceless. I wouldn't say this is for beginners but if you have solid techniques for the exercises, racing the clock is a lot of fun
I get that 100% haha. Bodyweight circuits are awesome but they really take a lot of willpower to get through! I go through periods of doing straight sets myself for that same reason. That feeling of accomplishment though, exactly!
I apply this rule to EVERY easy isolation. It's a simple rule: Go to failure, that do an "attempt rep" that is performed at maximum effort even though you know you can't get it up, THEN do 5 more reps that are cheated as slightly as possible at maximal effort
No doubt it leads to growth!
Thought the thumbnail was Tom Hardy from Warrior. Awesome traps!!
Such a badass compliment thank you!!
@@thestonecircle no worries pal, keep on killing it, support from the UK!! 🇬🇧💪
I experimented with time based routines a while back with great success. EMOMs in particular where my favorite to get a lot of volume in, in a short space of time. Ladder sets too, are amazing.
Heck yeah!
This channel is highly motivating! I really want to be able to do this, but dont know how to get started. I am what can be called skinny fat, with barely any muscle and no gym experience whatsoever. But i want to change that.
Hey glad you like it! The easiest place for most to start is with basic calisthenics, just working with the basic exercises improving reps over time. You could use this time approach but it might not be necessary yet. At this point you'll see great gains just improving with the basic stuff
monday - 30 pushups or 30 burpees with perfect form as fast as you can (write your time)
twesday - 20 pullups or pull form under a table if you dont have a bar, perfect form as fast as you can (write you time everyday)
wensd - 50 squat perft form as fast as you can (write..)
thursday - same as monday (push day)
friday - same as twuesday (pull day)
SAturd - Same as wends (leg day)
Sunday - 50 situps perfect form as fast a you can (sunday abs day)
Write everyday your times so you keep track and compare and see the evolution, once you can do this exercises in less than a minute, increase the number of reps 10 more or just switch to a more difficult variation (for example pushups with your feet elevated on a chair, or pushups with close or open hands)
Always do a pair of minutes of yoga to warm up your body, you will be getting strong at home in sessions that last just minutes!! And you can do it for years and years, you will not want to quit.
Then when you get strong you can increase reps but i mean, 60 pike pushups or 60 pullups as fast as you can will destroy even strong athelets, you need no gym.
Love this content Cody!
Although, for myself, the deeper I dive into lifting methodology in that search for the most optimal way to train... I realise there is a million ways to do it...and a million ways to fuck it up!
Now, I've done Stalley's Escalating Density Training. I liked it. I did 3 supersets for 12min each. The first was a low-rep-set for strength on two opposed compound lifts like Squat and OHP for instance. I kept it low rep for the strength benefits and to ensure there was less likelihood of form breakdown.
The second "zone" as Stalley refers to them was usually a machine seated set for higher reps on antagonistic leg groups like leg extension/seated leg curl.
Then my third and final zone was an upper body antagonistic grouping usually of a variation of pressing or pulling either on cable machines or dumbbells. I'd have an A and B workout (Squat+OHP centric and Deadlift+Bench centric) and gym it 3x a week so that there'd be a fluctuation in the frequency and hence recoverability of the muscle groups.
I found I got swole during the sessions and my cardiovascular fitness rocketed! However, I also found when you're racing the clock that my form on those last few sets were turning to crap as I was driving to beat last week's reps before the clock ran out. And although I never received any injury, I can see how the potential exists for it.
I'd certainly do it again, but currently I'm doing 2x full body a week and I'm seeing good returns, so I'm reluctant to change at this moment.
Funnily enough though, I'm using a Stalley inspired rep scheme of 10x3 rather than the usual 3x10 bodybuilding staple for a couple of my heavier lifts.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks for sharing your firsthand experience! The training style really is tough :) I love 10x3 too!
Idk if you would be interested in making a follow along workout or explicit examples of workouts but that would be really cool! Thanks for the inspiration either way man!
I have a couple goals I've been working towards, hopefully I can make a video like that once I reach them!
@@thestonecircle looking forward too it dude!
Big fan of a time based method of progression, I regularly use volume/density cycles from Mark Wildman (you two would be an interesting colab) essentially, a volume cycle uses a fixed load (say a kettlebell) for a fixed amount of reps (say 5) for a specific movement (say kettlebell cleans), you operate in an EMOM style so say begin at 6 minutes EMOM 5 reps, next week 8 minutes, next 10, next 12 etc etc to say 20 minutes EMOM of 5 reps with the same weight and movement.
Simple and highly effective and I have found it allows great recovery while dealing with 2 kids and working shifts
Someone else mentioned that Mark Wildman approach too, sounds really awesome! I like how it naturally waves over time, that's a lot of good work in little time!
Using timers and density training changed my own training as well.
It's so effective!
Density training is also very popular in kettlebell training. Since most of the time the weight is fixed and jumps are too heavy, training with the same weight and number of reps but decreasing time is often used.
Those kettlebell workouts get intense quick!
Your last point on big movements like clean and presses, you can do that 100% however you need to have build the skill on the movement already if you are already very skillful at that or like say a log press you can do it. However you do need to be very skillful at those movements, strongman mitchell hooper does log press EMOMs as an example.
Time and intensity is what you need to "Shock da muskle" However I'm seeing some studies of some HIIT like training but with weights, not so often for growth. Seems be based more on recovery and eating like a lion tho.
Yeah it really seems like most anything will work if you try hard enough at it and get that recovery down!
Love this video 👍
OK, this may be the older guy's perspective 😄, but in contrast to doing more reps or lifting more weight, doing the same overall workload in less time is also the only way to improve your performance without putting more stress on your joints.
So far, I have always been experimenting and trying to find an even more interesting circuit instead of doing exactly the same one but faster. But maybe I'll get to that point eventually.
As for the questionable compatibility of heavy compound exercises, so far I am quite pleased with sandbag bearhug squats in that regard. They may be very tough, but the technical difficulty isn't that high. And other than a barbell a sandbag usually won't cause trouble if you just have to drop it from whatever height.
Just saw you uploaded a new circuit I'm excited to watch it!
Do you train calisthenics everyday? You’re a beast
Hey thank you! I train with sandbags 2-3x a week and it's calisthenics every other day!
Thank you for the video! I love the notion of using time is it measure for progressive overload, but struggle to find a way to incorporate it into a functional plan.
Can anyone provide a basic outline on how you would structure your workouts using the demsoty training approach?
Hey glad you liked it! It could be as simple as taking one of your exercises for the day and doing as many reps as you can in 5 minutes rather than counting sets and reps. Usually somewhere near a 15rm works well. Over the weeks you can try to increase how many reps you can do in that time, and at a certain point add weight or go back to straight sets. (I did exclusively density training for a while and found 50 reps in 5 mins was a good goal to aim for before adding reps). You could leave it at that or use it for multiple exercises, you can superset them together. It's pretty versatile
I love this channel!!!
Thank you! :)
Have you considered getting a weight vest? I’d be really curious how your general training + Walrus style (531 Forever) would play out.
I have a weight vest and I used to use it a bit with my circuits, but it was made for skinny calisthenics guys and my neck is too wide for it now haha, chokes me out. I'll probably get anohter one at some point!
@@thestonecircleI know this isn’t a direct continuation of this conversation - have you considered testing your traditional barbell 1rms, doing this calisthenics circuit for a year (plus sandbags), and testing maxes again? I’d be very curious how your maximum strength in traditional lifts would shift in relation to your work capacity, aesthetics, etc. If you could hold or improve your strength levels while getting the calisthenics and cardio benefits, that’d be huge.
@a_colby Yeah I'd like to try! All my stuff is in storage at the moment but I'd like to try again at some point. I miss barbell squats more than anything!
Hi, I really appreciate your videos! They've convinced me to make a 100 lb sandbag and try some calisthenics circuits, it's been a fun way to spice up working out and I've really enjoyed it :)
If you don't mind, can you help me with some of the questions i have about circuit training?
I've been trying an 8 down workout with sets consisting of 8 wide pullups, 16 pushups, 8 neutral grip pullups, 8 pike pushups, and then working down to 1 wide pullup, 2 pushups, etc.
I've been doing these down workouts by going into the next set (ex: 8->7->6...) without resting, which results in a lot of the exercises turning into a sort of rest pause. For example, after doing the 6 rep set group, I try to do the 5 rep set group but only get 3 wide pullups instead of 5, so I have to wait for about 15 seconds before doing more reps to meet the rep quota. Basically, every set is done to failure.
Is this the right way to be doing these circuits? It's the most pumped I've ever felt but I get extremely sore afterwards and have to wait 3-5 days before working those muscle groups again, and I'm wondering if rest pause is reaching diminishing returns in terms of stimulus to fatigue. Or maybe, I don't have the muscle endurance and I should just tough it out? Not really sure what I should be doing.
Once again, thanks for all the quality information you provide and hope the book writing is going smoothly!
Hey that's awesome!! I always love to hear someone has started up with this stuff :)
I know what you mean exactly. First I would say definitely don't worry about diminishing returns. I'd say once you reach the point where you really have to push through that fatigue is when the real growth happens, so embrace that because it's a huge part of what makes these so effective for building muscle!
For your question about the right way to do the circuits, the way you're doing it works great and I do it that way sometimes too.
Personally I like to think in terms of total reps rather than trying to follow the exact 'down workout' outline.
So 8 down for wide pullups,
You could look at that as a set in stone workout that says you need to do exactly 8, then 7, then 6 all the way down to one.
Or you could look at an 8 down as 36 total reps that need to be completed in the circuit, and how you get them done doesn't matter.
When looking at total reps rather than a set workout, you can start splitting things up. In my experience, you will finish the workout in less time if you don't rest pause. Rest pause has its own benefits, but you could also say getting all the reps done in less time has its own benefit as well.
So for example rather than 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 for each exercise (and double for your pushups) you might do something like this
8, 7, 6, (3+2), (3+1), 3, 2, 1.
That would mean once you get to your set of 5, you'd do 3 of each exercise, then 2 of each, rather than rest pausing between one specific exercise. That keeps the workout flowing better and means you never really get any rest at all, makes the conditioning side of things more difficult too. I hope that helps!
@@thestonecircle that helps a ton, thank you! will try that and see if that condenses my next circuit
Man I love this kind of training, really appreciate this video!!
I have a question tho not too related with it haha, but how could I reduce tendon pain in my arms? I know it comes from different parts like the shoulder, neck, etc.. (I have mostly elbow pain). And if I train like fast, I get really sore and painful in that area.. I would appreciate some insights from you man, thanks for everything, salute!!
Hey really glad you liked it! I'm definitely not an expert but I had some elbow tendinitis pretty bad a while back when I tried to do too much at once. What helped me was avoiding the positions that hurt (for me it was switching over completely to neutral grip pullups rather than pronated), and lots of band curls. I make sure to get at least a couple hundred quick reps with a light band before every workout, curling with an underhand, neutral, and overhand grip. It definitely helped me a lot! I've heard rice bucket training is really effective for that too, though I've yet to try it myself
My job is notorious for elbow tendonitis, golfers, tennis and distal bicep. I do thousands of reps a day of a particular movement. I tried everything, was given print offs from physiotherapists pushing bicep curls, wrist curls etc but I just made it worse as I was adding more reps to something which was caused by thousands of daily reps at work.
What cured this after roughly four years of being tortured with it was isometrics.
Get a tie down strap, yoga strap, old seat belt or similar and stand on it and do different isometric holds in various bicep curl positions, watch arm wrestlers training and mimic their pronation lifts etc only do so with an isometric hold. I undone four years of tendonitis in literally weeks doing this.
Also isometrics are the real deal in building strength and also to a degree muscle. They don't get the respect they deserve because there's nothing to sell, it looks boring but it's extremely effective. As you can probably tell I'm very passionate about isometrics especially as I get older.
Give it a try!
Definitely need to try this
It's tough but worth it!
A great way to increase the strength, cardiovascular and metabolic output is by doing ladders of heavy to light weights/hard to easy calisthenics moves, this way we keep the pump, the cardio-metabolic output and can reach a 70-80% strength/power reps also - from session to session we can keep the reps of the ladder but either we increase the weight or increase the difficulty of the ladder calisthenics moves - progressive overload or fiber recruitment.
For sure there are so many cool things you can do!
One thing I would ad is proper technique while trying to do more reps under a certain time. How many times have we seen a video of some one pounding out push ups, but only using 1/4 of the range of motion. "I just did 100 push ups in a minute bro!". No, no you didn't, you did 0 reps.
I like the idea of setting a benchmark for reps in a certain amount of time and trying to beat that time or adding reps within that timeframe, but maintaining proper form with full range of motion. Any advice on over coming that plateau? Let's say my first set is 50 push ups when my form starts to break down, I no longer have full range of motion and it took a minute. Over the course of the next few weeks, I drop that time to 50 seconds for 50 push ups and i can't seem to break 50 seconds. Without cheating on form and range of motion, how would we break that barrier?
Thank you.
Yeah form plays a big part for sure!
In my experience adding some variation helps a lot, like working towards dips or a different pushup variation for a while in the same way. In the long run it definitely helps!
Strength = absolute speed
Example A: The Flash giving stronger people the smackdown at times lol or several times even
Haha good point!
hey man ive been trying to get into working out but it seems like every time i try i just lose any desire to keep doing it after a day or two (calisthenics, not weights, im thinking maybe weights are easier since i hate the feeling of my arms giving out while doing pushups) so im thinking maybe doing sandbag workouts might be a better way to get into it, what do you think?
im thinking i need to do things i like that have hypertrophy as a side effect i.e. splitting wood, rock climbing, etc.
Yeah I think finding something you enjoy is a great way to do it! Sandbags/weight training can definitely be a lot of fun
I learned a lot. In time I'll get passed your level 😂😂 im wayyy behind
Hey glad you liked it! You'll definitely pass me I'm so slow :)
Hi Cody, first of all tks for your videos and dedication you are really an inspiration.
I have a 100 lbs sand bag and after few trainings I ask my girlfriend to see how my back was evolving. She said to me that the right side of my back was more evolved (more muscle) than the left. I wanted to ask if someone has the same situation, if I have to we carefully about that and if it will balance with training.
Hey that's awesome! It depends on how much of an imbalance it is. Pretty much everyone has at least some imbalances, but some unilateral work can usually even it out. Sandbag carries seem to force you into the proper position too so that might help. I'd just make sure if you're doing the sandbag to shoulder you do it on both sides equally.
Your channel is amazing! I am learning a lot.
What is your current split?
Hey thank you! Sandbags 2-3x a week and calisthenics circuits every other day, I went into more detail on it in my recent 'I trained my back everyday for 2 years' video!
I guess it really depends on what you want to reach. If you want to improve your bench by n%, I seriously doubt this approach could help. As far as building muscle and especially strength endurance, it might work much better than a normal "bodybuilding" regime. Anyway, great, thought-inspiring video as always!
Hey thank you! Yeah bench has a big skill component and I wouldn't want to chance developing bad form habits training this way with an exercise like that. Some people seem to swear by it but I prefer pushing with less technical exercises when using time myself. I could see it helping bench if someone kept benching the normal way and did timed pressing workouts on other days, but probably not more than just doing regular straight sets
You can treat bench normally as far as a powerlifting approach with long rests etc, then apply these methods to assistance/supplemental work, that’s one option.
This is true for some type exercises. not all
I agree I talk about it at the end of the vid
If you use four to five body weight exercises is it still good to use for time I usually try that and it seems like it works pretty good what your opinion cuz I like to go every other day plus you some sandbags on the other days
@jakedempsey5943 yes definitely! That's exactly what I do too, I go into a lot of detail on that here if you're interested 🙂 czcams.com/video/LS6diZH83ds/video.htmlsi=6hSd08NMXdb4oiKC
Could you make a Legs specific Video?
I can try to think of something!
Doesnt this contradict with "time under tension" principle in terms of muscle building?
It's a different approach definitely. Most guys who have put in the work for a long time will tell you the idea of time under tension is a lot less meaningful than it's made out to be, but there is still something to be said for it no doubt.
those dips into leg raises are interesting. do you find one part of the movement limits the other?
Ive used density training with squats. usually ill go for 25 reps in 10minutes and i try to leave 2-3rir for each set and typically take 45 seconds between each mini set. ends up being set of 2-5 mostly.
They're limited by the dips I'd say, but the fun (and sometimes not fun haha) thing about the leg raises is it's really up to you to do them as powerfully as you can. If I'm really worn out I can kinda just throw my legs up without much effort and it still looks like a completed rep, but in a way I'll have failed because I didn't push with everything I have. It's almost like the dips will limit you based on muscle strength, and the leg raises limit you based on mental willpower. Mostly though I like throwing them in as a variation for the variety, and because they push the workout just a bit further in the direction of endurance which is fun on occasion :)
That sounds super intense with the squats!
@@thestonecircle makes sense. reminds me of a burpee almost because its a combination but with an emphasos. what limits me is always the pushup portion of a burpee as i do 2 or 5 pumps or navy seals. ill try these leg raise dips for sure!
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this is a really cool channel, idk if youve been on the flipside or if you know much about weight loss but can you do some type of video for someone whos overweight and looking to build muscle and lose weight, i can do pushups and maybe 1 pike pushups but thats about it for calisthenics, thanks!
Hey thank you! I haven't made a video about that specifically but I can try to think of something :)
@@thestonecircle thanks man it'd be cool to try smth different out
You ever hangout on the Ross training forum?
I can't remember if I've been on the forum but I bought one of his books a while back and it was awesome. He's the real deal!
I can't go to the gym to exercise, but I have dumbbells and I'm starting to get bored. I repeat the same things every week. Can you give me a more creative exercise plan?
There's a lot you could do with a pair of dumbbells but 100% my recommendation would be to get a sandbag! czcams.com/video/eAqzf7jwz4Q/video.html
thoughts on myo reps and how to incorporate into calisthenics?
By myo reps you mean rest pausing for a few seconds after you hit failure and then going for a few more full rom reps right? I think that works great! At a certain point these calisthenics circuits I mentioned kinda turn into one giant myo rep fest haha. Once you're far enough in, every time you repeat an exercise you'll already be pretty close to failure from the start, it works really well.
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Just some more comments and a Like for the algo.
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Stay shredded, brahs (and brahettes).
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Peace.
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Hi
Can i get a training program with sand bags ?
I have done my own working on time
30,40,50 kg 15,10 ,5 reps x 6 sets
End with hanging and dips
Upper body day done
Day 2 lower body
Sand bag hold and squat 10 reps x 10 sets
Will try and do walk 1 hour daily or 12500 steps and once week sprint walk
Any thoughts
Thanks
@naztrecks hey what's firs exercise you did on day one? I have a full program coming out soon!
It's honestly simple physics.
Power=(force x distance)/ time.
Exerting a given amount of force over a given distance is work. Doing a given amount of work in a given time is power. Doing the same work in less time requires more power. More power requires more muscle. or more neural adaptations, but eventually, it requires more muscle.
Simple!!
Hey Bro - excellent content you put out - really one of the best channels on youtube for true fitness and strength gains. This time element is definitely much more difficult than sets and reps or adding weight. The time factor is literally a fight against yourself and your inner bitch and usually the voice of the bitch screams the loudest and forces us to take a longer rest period. To see the effectiveness of such routines one just needs to look to the Iron Wolf's CVP workouts to see how effective simple bodyweight exercises combined with burpees can be. Incredible work once again on your channel, your dedication and passion is a rarity these days. Much love and big respect from Cape Town, South Africa/
Ps id love to see you add some kettlebell content to the channel(i bet you love the kettlebells aswell!)
Also regarding kettlebells much of their usage involves working for time or trying to do as many reps during an allotted time slot. Trying to cram as much as possible into as limited time as possible
Hey thanks so much! It really is a fight against that inner "well....we could probably stop now right?" voice haha. I've actually only trained with kettlebells a few times but I'd love to get some of my own at some point!
Reps is easier to track. Looking at a clock is distracting and you need big one... 😂
Haha I'd argue the opposite! If you do three sets of 5 different exercises you have to write down 15 different numbers on your training log. If you have a set circuit all you have to do is write down how long it took you to complete the circuit. And if you're racing the clock, you don't actually look at it until the end to see how long it took you. You do have a point for the density training approach though, I did find myself checking the time a bit with that one