I can’t think of two sports that require high levels of strength more than Football and…. Gymnastics. Sorry, were you expecting me to say Baseball, Hockey or some other main stream sport instead?

If you’ve ever seen a gymnastic event like the rings, you’ll see competitor after competitor subject himself to moves like the Iron Cross (see pic below) or the Lever and think he won’t be able to dress himself the next day without copious amounts of A535, then you know what I’m talking about.

Strength is the key in both sports but you probably couldn’t find two activities that go about achieving it in more different ways.

Football players spend their winters in the gym throwing around massive amounts of iron. Thousands of reps later and callous sweaty hands generally gets the job done for them.

What about Gymnasts?

Gymnastics requires power. However, weightlifting often decreases your flexibility and in a competition that requires you to repeatedly bend yourself into positions that would lead the average person down a corridor in a hospital, that’s a problem.

So instead of pumping iron like Arnold or Dorian, they climb ropes without using their legs. I repeat, no legs, just arms. Up and down and up and down, sometimes four times in a row.

Or how about hanging from a chin-up bar with your elbows bent at 90 degrees for 45 seconds followed by 20 chin-ups?

Sounds sadistic doesn’t it?

There are also things they call killer situps, ab busters, dip swings and a variety of other thoroughly unpleasant movements in the repertoire. Capped by perhaps the worst of all: Pushups done without your lower body touching the ground. Go ahead and give it try without falling flat on your face!

SOLD! I want the body of a gymnast, tell me how?

Their strength is achieved using body weight resistance only. No plates, weights, dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells or taco bells (sorry, couldn’t resist) necessary.

Finding the Cadbury secret would be easier than finding an ounce of fat among these folks. Bowling ball shoulders and biceps and triceps and six-packs are natural and common effects of their bodyweight training.

So many people think you need to push, pull, curl, and lift crazy poundages to attain these physiques. But clearly all the above is possible using your own bodyweight.

Craig Ballantyne, Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, suggests trying the following exercises and benchmarks to wet your appetite for bodyweight training.

Men	Women
1 set of 80 pushups	1 set of 40 pushups
1 set of 20 chin-ups	1 set of 5 chinups
1 set of 20 one-leg squats	1 set of 10 one-leg squats
1 set of 40 dips	1 set of 10 dips
1 set of 10 pull-ups	1 set of 5 pull-ups

Still wanting more? Check out Turbulence Training from Craig Ballantyne. His program utilizes a full array of bodyweight exercises that have been featured in Men’s Fitness magazine and helped men and women everywhere lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less time.

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