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calisthenics strength vs lifting weights strength

i weigh 70kg and can bench 1 and a half times my own weight for a set of 4-6 which works out to be about 105kg. Squats ive dropped my weight to 90kg for better technique and my favourite the deadlift where ive worked up to 120kg with no straps or back brace yet dont worry technique is good:) i useually only do 100kg with 3 sets of 10 i havent tried any power cleans or really got into military press yet but its on the cards.
 
Both make you strong, but different. I see guys at the gym who do heaps of callestenic work, and they all have that light, lean muscular build, like martial arts guys. Those who do weights tend to add more bulk. Just like people who use the Pilates reformers- it is all body weightwork, so there are limitations as to how much you will grow and the type of movement tends to mean your muscles look longer. Weights people also tend to not stretch, so get that tight, shorter muscular look. Like Kyle said, callestenics takes control. Have to say, the big difference is that if you have callestenic strength you can do way more cool tricks.
 
yer thats true and definatly stamina and flexability not only muscular but joint flexibility, they are 2 different strengths the more you train one you lose the other... so it would be best to find a happy medium i think because whats the use in being super strong and lifting weights if you cant even lift your own weight to save your life
 
Kyle Aaron said:
How are his squats, deadlifts and so on though?
Click to expand...

Honestly never seen him do them.The guy is close to 50,looks 40,ex very highly ranked boxer.Qualified for Olympic selection is his uni days.He has a very good physique but being a boxer I imagine he wouldn`t do a lot of hardcore lower body work.
A little of track but he owns a bar and loves getting his shirt off when the chicks goad him into it.He can get away with it with the build he has.
 
HAHA.

This is the good shit. I'd prefer this strength over lifting strength any day if you ask me.

[youtube]KCpK7GZR700[/youtube]

Although I would like to have a better lower body.
 
Josh, check out BodyWeightCulture, it may interest you. Not many of the people pictured seem to be terribly buff and big, but lots of them are at early stages, and of course they may be more interested in that sort of control rather than being big, I don't know - I haven't looked into it in great detail. But it may give you ideas.
 
I mean I still enjoy having some size and being able to push well above my bodyweight in the main excersizes. Though I also like to keep agile and flexible at the same time. I guess I was trying to get at the point that I don't see the point in being a man moutain and smashing out massive weights if you can't do a single pull up or wipe your own ass. haha

I like the thought of usable power if that makes sense. In saying that, I still love lifting weights.
 
Nice find, Kyle. I would love to have the same skills as the guy in the vid - imagine how good it would be for climbing?? I can't stay on the roof or any horizontal surface for too long unless I have GREAT footholds - this guy can stay on just with his hands!!

I'm with Josh on the thought of "usable power" if that makes sense. is it a bit like "functional strength"?? ie. strength that actually does something practical.
 
Okay, if we have "functional strength", then what is "non-functional strength"? Makes no sense, does it? All strength is useful.

Lifting heavy weights will give you "usable power". If you can do 10 chins with a 20kg plate on you quite simply you are going to have an easier time climbing rocks than if you cannot do even a single chinup. If you can deadlift twice your bodyweight then you are going to be able to really smash people in rugby, and moving your friend's fridge when you're helping them move house will be a breeze, and if those deadlifts were with bare hands then it won't be your grip failing on those climbs. And so on.

But that is not the same as control, such as gymnasts have. Control is essentially agility; agility and strength are related but different.

That said, I have heard of gymnasts who went on to be weightlifters (not powerlifters), but I don't know of weightlifters who became gymnasts. Perhaps it's easier to develop control first and raw strength afterwards than vice versa? I don't know.

One of my teachers at PT school is a PT (surprise!), and says he's got a lot more into bodyweight work recently because many of his clients travel frequently, so they don't have equipment available.

I think bodyweight work is an excellent way to begin for an untrained and unfit person, it gives them a slow start, some confidence, and lets them develop the habit of exercise. If someone has the self-discipline to do pushups etc for three months at home, then they can be fairly sure that if they sign up for 12 months at a gym, they'll use that membership, not bail after a month or so.

Bodyweight work also looks cool and impresses people a lot. I think that is really what Keen Katie and Josh are responding to. If I can do ten handstand pressups I can show that at a party, benching 100kg is harder to demonstrate :D
 
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Good points there. I think a good balance of both is essential. But if I had to choose between Ronnie Coleman and Usain Bolt, I'd be taking Bolt's physique and conditioning any day.
 
Hmm, I might get shot down for this as I know you guys love your bench presses, but for me, an example of non functional strength is the bench press. I know it's useful in rugby etc where you have to push people away, but I don't do stuff like that. I don't really know why my PT makes me do it, I guess I should've asked next time. Probably to balance out all the pulling exercises that I do to get me better at climbing, I guess.

I'm rambling a bit, as I'm thinking out loud, but sometimes I wonder whether the stuff I do at the gym or with my PT is actually useful. Like bench press for example, or bicep curls or whatever...
 
HAHA, I was saying if I HAD to choose Kyle. I am no where near either of them, so any training is helping. I was just making a point.

Katie, BP and curls would help with overall strength, but I think a main point of doing that is to keep proportion over your body? You don't want to build shoulders without a chest etc.
 
Err, I'm no guy so I'm not obsessed with my chest or biceps :)

But yeah, guess you're right re: overall proportion.
 
First up, you climb rocks, yes that uses mostly back and legs, but don't you ever have to climb down? That uses chest a lot more. There are also times when you do a pullover sort of motion, like heaving yourself over a ledge - that uses chest. The bench press isn't the exact same motion, but it's the easiest way to train those muscles.

As you go on you'll find the different areas of the body help each-other. You notice it when you have more muscle. I mean having more physical bulk of muscle lets you feel more keenly how they work together, get pumped and so on. The chest helps a bit in pullups, for example, the biceps help stabilise you on dips, and so on.

All the parts are connected, and if one area is weak you're at greater risk of injury. Every time your body exerts force or has force exerted on it, that force has to go somewhere. It flows along the chain of muscles until it finds a weak one and tries to tear it. You counter that by ensuring they're all strong, or at least strong in proportion to each-other.

One good resource online is exrx.net, that describes well many exercises and shows how for each exercise there are the actual muscles worked, but also many synergistic (helping motion but not creating motion) and stabiliser (helping keep things steady) muscles.

Lastly, given that you are Keen Katie, we never know when you might find a new hobby which does require direct use of chest strength. Since you're doing all this hard training anyway, you may as well chuck that in there just in case for later. ;)
 
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Very helpful post Kyle. I tried to rep you but apparently I had to spread it round first!

Nope - never have to climb down with climbing - climbing up is the hard work, being let down is the easy part :)

I can't say I am too acquainted with the state of having more physical bulk of muscle, lol, but I do get what you mean. Like doing chinups for example, I can feel my abs contracting and doing their best to "help me up" - poor description but let's just say it's totally different to the feeling of a lat pulldown.
 
I think you underestimate the amount you use your chest, from a purely pushing action , yes chest is an underutilised muscle.
but you use chest to get up off the floor, if lying on your stomach,
you push on the table to stand up, maybe a similar action in rock climbing?
it stabilizes when lifting and lowering things on high shelves,
shutting a door, pushing in a chair, moving objects away on a bench,
digging,
pulling down on a rope, uses chest and lower back,
pulling you arms together, ie wide grip on a wall, while climbing, would be a static stretched action of the pec muscles, also similar is picking up a box with your hands on each side of it, rather than under it.

just a few i could think of.

also as kyle mention heaps of stabilizing action of the shoulder joint.

helps remove that upper chest rib cage look on girls aswell, not a fan..
 
Josh_GTiR said:
HAHA.

This is the good shit. I'd prefer this strength over lifting strength any day if you ask me.

[youtube]KCpK7GZR700[/youtube]

Although I would like to have a better lower body.
Click to expand...
True on the lower body. I got nearly 3 mins in and not once did he use his quads, I guess that's why he wears long shorts. Amazing upper body stregth though. His calves looked puny also.
 
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