Houston we have touchdown - Houston, TX USA

[crashnburn]

Hey guys.. I am late 20s recovering from an exercise hiatus over the last 3-4 years. I used to be a big fan of Bodyweight exercises and I think they are the best thing for fitness. I do need your help and advise in going back to the fitness level from before and get even better.

At my peak I used to be able to do:
Pullups (Front hand hold): 12 - 10 - 8
Dips (Parallel bar): 10 - 8 - 6
Hindu Pushups (Dunds): Lots.. I think I was at 40 or so for a set.

I know if I had continued back then I could've been so much better by now. I hope I can really push things on more stuff now.

PS: A friend who has been regularly doing weight training for the last 2 years (spent $500 in PT) was telling me that I need to stay off BODYWEIGHT STUFF.. until I GRADUATE to a certain level of FITNESS & ABILITY.

I just want to make sure I do not kill myself or injure myself while trying to get back to this stuff.

[hara_12]

So was your friend telling you that lifting weight and overloading the body is better before doing unloaded bodyweight exercises? Or was the PT saying that bodyweight is bad? Either way, I don't agree with them. I always start with bodyweight for teaching correct mechanics, especially with the squat. If you can't squat your body correctly, how are you going to squat weight correctly?

BTW...I am a PT as well.

[crashnburn]

So was your friend telling you that lifting weight and overloading the body is better before doing unloaded bodyweight exercises? Or was the PT saying that bodyweight is bad? Either way, I don't agree with them. I always start with bodyweight for teaching correct mechanics, especially with the squat. If you can't squat your body correctly, how are you going to squat weight correctly?

BTW...I am a PT as well.

Lovely, I'd love to get your advise on a fitness plan. I'll post more information about myself.

Note: I do front hand pullups i.e. Outside of my forearms would face ME when I come up. (not like the back hand pullups that is shown in the picture)

I think what he was trying to say was when I was trying to do pullups on the 'Door Gym' bar in my place, he was of the thought that I need to bring my body to a point where I can lift my entire body weight as such.

The other point he was making was that it was not good for my elbow joint if I did not place my hands wider than my shoulders.

e.g. http://store.everlastboxing.com/everlast-multi-function-home-gym-bar.html

http://www.amazon.com/Everlast-Multi-Function-Chinning-Bar/dp/B00091RXN2

This is the one I have. If you look at the main length of the bar, there are 6 foam covered areas (3 pairs). The end two support against the door frame, of the middle pairs I use the OUTER ONE.

He definitely was not of the favor that I used the INNER ONE as that might stress my elbow in a not so good way due to angle & trajectory of motion.

Also the other 2 pairs of holds that are perpendicular I used the INNER of those two at times...(kind of like a SWORD hold v/s a BAR hold).

I hope I was clear enough.. Let me know your thoughts.

[hara_12]

Those are all good exercises to do.

Talking about your elbow problem, the human body has a very good built in mechanism for telling the body when not to do something: it is called pain. If you have pain, don't do it. If you don't have pain, you are not hurting yourself. If it has been a while since you hurt your elbow and you haven't been having any compications with it, go ahead and test it out.

Curl ups are a good exercise like pull ups. They put more emphasis on you biceps as opposed to the brachialis with pull ups or the brachioradialis with neutral grip pull ups. With the pull up bar that you have, you can work all three positions and get a great elbow/shoulder workout with it. And if you don't have pain, you are improving your condition and not hurting yourself. (by pain I mean whatever you felt when you had your elbow problem)

btw...what was wrong with it?

[crashnburn]

Actually, I did not have any elbow pain. He said that because of the width of the HOLD not being wide enough I would / might damage / stress my elbow. Thoughts?

[hara_12]

When I get my hands in close, I do curl ups instead of pull ups. I don't think there is much of a difference in elbow stress, not that it will damage the joint.