Convict Conditioning - Paul Wade

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His physique was awe inspiring, and is still widely regarded now. Rugged and masculine, Grimek
was the ultimate specimen. Unlike today's muscle-bound bodybuilders, he was also a phenomenal
athlete. To finish his posing routine, he flipped onto his hands and did a handstand pushup, before
lowering his feet to the ground in a perfect bridge, and spreading his legs until he was sitting in the
splits. Grimek was an avid weightlifter, but he also claimed that he got much of his upper body
muscle from handstand exercises. He preached the value of calisthenics, but few, it seems, listened.
For indisputable proof that bodyweight training can develop a massive, muscular physique,
take a look at the men's gymnastics next time it comes on TV. Those guys have massive biceps,
shoulders like coconuts and lats that look like wings-all built simply by moving their own bodies
against gravity. The way men used to train.
6. Bo~eight Training Normalizes and Regulates
Your BodJr Fat Levels
Conventional bodybuilding is conducive to overeating. Forget the ripped pros you see in the
magazines-no way do they look like that most of the time. They only do their photo shoots during
the brief competition season, after months of strict and unhealthy dieting. In the off-season,
these men are much heavier, carrying twenty, thirty or more pounds of superfluous body fat. And
that's the top guys. The average bodybuilder is in a much worse situation; the magazines he reads
religiously all tell him he needs way more protein than he actually does (in a cynical attempt to sell
supplements) and as a result he chokes muscle-building foods down himself any chance he gets.
Because the majority of amateur lifters are not on large doses of steroids, their metabolisms just
aren't powerful enough to turn all those extra calories into muscle. The end result is that most
guys become over-nourished and chubby when they begin lifting weights seriously.
Weight-training and the psychology of overeating go hand in hand. Before a hard session, an
athlete convinces himself that if he eats more, he'll lift better and put on beef. After a hard session,
an athlete is artificially depleted and his appetite increases accordingly.
The opposite dynamic occurs when an athlete begins training seriously in calisthenics. If obesity
and bodybuilding are best friends, obesity and calisthenics are natural enemies. If your goal is to
bent-over row 400 lbs., you could overeat as much as you like and probably still meet your goal
despite carrying around a massive gut. But you couldn't set a goal of doing one-arm pullups without
watching your bodyweight. Nobody ever became better at calisthenics by bulking up into a
big fat pig.
The goal of calisthenics is to master lifting one's own body. The fatter you are, the more difficult
this becomes. Once you begin training regularly in calisthenics, the subconscious mind makes the
connection between a leaner bodyweight and easier training, and regulates the appetite and eating
habits automatically. I know this is true-I've seen itmyself on many occasions. Guys who take
up bodyweight training naturally drop flab. Try it and see.