Building The Biceps Through Suspension Training

 Bodyweight Training can be very interesting when it comes to certain aspects of it. The pushing, pulling, squatting and all its variations can have an impact on how you apply things in everyday life. It's really one of the GOATs of Exercise you can do anytime and anywhere next to Isometrics. 

A solid form of doing Bodyweight work is through Suspension Training or Suspension Calisthenics where you can hook or hang a strap and do many more exercises than if it was just you alone. It opens a gateway to another realm of fitness and conditioning. For Strength Training purposes, its important to note that like with weight training, Suspension work is most effective when you can control the movement and utilize tension or in other words Muscle Control to target certain muscles. Because it's bodyweight, you're the true engine and driver as opposed to moving a inanimate object like a Barbell or Dumbbell.

It's interesting that with a Suspension, you can switch from one exercise to the next by placing your feet in a certain position or lean back a bit more to make certain exercises harder or easier depending on what you're shooting for. For instance, targeting the biceps and forearms in this format would be to lean back enough to where you can have a good grip on the handles, turn the palms towards your face and Curl the arms until the full movement reaches eye level like so here.

Working the arms this way gives off different vibes of control and technique despite it being a low-skilled movement. Within your control, put the tension into the biceps as you move and feel as you pull into the handles. curl your wrists as well which can also target the forearms as well. Now remember, although you're specifically targeting a body part, you still need to stabilize yourself within your foot placement, keeping your core and back tight and bring the hips within alignment in order to make the movement as bad ass as possible. 

Will this movement give you cannonball 24 inch pythons? Most likely not but you can build some solid natural strength and muscle doing this particular move. Because of movements like these along with rows and pull-ups, you can have some powerful arms that are not only functional but can keep your joints, tendons and ligaments strong as well. You don't even need to do a ton of reps to get results. As a matter of fact, don't focus so much on the number of reps themselves unless you have a specific goal in mind, focus on the tension you put into it and work the technique. Don't even go to failure, once you hit a certain point where you may have 2-3 reps left in you, hold the top of the movement in an isometric fashion for a few seconds to end a good set. 1-2 sets is more than enough. Train to stimulate, not annihilate.  

Strength comes in many forms and when you can control your strength, you can control other aspects of your being. Have fun with these, check out Suspension Calisthenics and be amazingly awesome. May your journey bring you much success and keep killing it. Have a great Sunday.  

A Long Training Day That Was Quite The Thrill

 Yesterday, I decided to head over to the gym down the road and mess around with stuff for a bit. The walk by itself was around 45 minutes or a bit longer. Once I got there, got what I needed and went into the area with the sandbags and the gymnastics mat.

Started out with some stretching, mainly my legs, low back and shoulders. Got my Dopa Stretch Band and did some stuff for my shoulders and back to loosen things up a bit more. After that, got onto the Bench Press and didn't go stupid heavy or anything, just wanted to keep focus on technique and control with some good weight. Hit 135 for 15, 205 for 10 and then went to my weight 225 for three sets. My style of hand placement was closer to the middle of the bar so I was doing a close grip bench. Managed 3 sets of 6 reps and stayed in control the whole time which was what I wanted to do. Even one of the guys saw me working even came up to me and said how solid my form and technique was. Took it as a compliment, for me it was just having fun.

Moved onto Pull-ups for 4 sets of 3. Getting a little better but there's always room for improvement. Chin Over Bar man. Almost every time I go in there now I end up doing pull-ups one way or another. Sometimes I'll do chin-ups but not today. Went to the rack next to the pull-up bar so I can get some shrugs in. Managed 225 for 20, 295 for 10 and then went to 3 plates (3-45 lb plates each side) and got in 5 solid reps. No straps or anything to assist me, picked that fucker up and moved my trap muscles. Last set was another 10 pounds for 325 and got 5 reps in that one too. One of the heaviest lifts I've done in many years. Ended the weight training session with Dumbbell Curls using Fat Gripz, just a couple sets of low-medium reps with 35 and 45 lbers. Nothing special really but that wasn't the end of my workout.

Threw in a finisher for some added conditioning (along with burning off more calories) by doing my 500 Rep Dopa Circuit with my band I brought with me. 5 Exercises, 10 reps each for 10 rounds with the only rest was marking it off and/or adjusting the band since one of the knots came undone and fixed it up. I had the energy but holy shit I was sweating profusely, breathing heavily but hey, that's all part of the game right, finish strong and kicking your ass. I think I had a larger smile on my face than the Joker after all that shit. Packed up, walked all the way back home. Going to and from the gym, it was about 34 out, maybe 32 and although it was cold, it actually helped balance out my body temperature since I built up a lot of heat in that place. Walking back felt smooth and calming. My breathing was back to normal within a couple minutes or so after heading out the door.

Overall, it was a good 2 1/2 hours or so out of my day and I feel great. Today is most likely going to be band training and maybe isometrics. Might throw in a few squats and push-ups who knows. All I know is, in a long time, that was a pretty damn long session and that's including the walking. When I got back home, I weighed in for shits and giggles and went down to 234 even. I was 237.8 on Sunday. Ate a couple tuna sandwiches and some tortilla chips since it was my first meal of the day and didn't eat until after 2. Had some Pina Killada Liquid Death to help wash down the food. Fell asleep for about an hour or so and then went about the rest of my day. It was a thrill and maybe I'll do that again next week, who knows, you never know what will happen.

Be amazingly awesome and hope you all have bad ass sessions as well and killed it.