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Hi everyone, I have been doing a lot of reading on the subject and I'm really excited to start CBL. I've stopped weightlifting these past few months due to a recent injury and moved towards more bodyweight oriented workouts, specifically calisthenics. My workouts focus on pull-ups, dips, pike presses, and push-ups. I do more difficult variations of these movements so that I keep the workouts within the hypertrophy range of 8-12 reps. I'm worried because I was reading about CBL on SilverHydra and this is what I saw:
You must do some form of resistance training to allow the excess muscular energy stores to be put to use at protein synthesis. If you do a metabolic circuit or some muscular endurance event, these mechanisms can blunt fat storage and help replenish glycogen, but they’re not going to build muscle. If you do this strategy after low intensity cardio, you’re just looking for excuses to binge eat.
My workout isn't exactly circuit-oriented though. I do all my movements at a controlled pace so I rarely lose breath but I sweat a lot. What I'm asking is, can I stick to my current routine or will I have to go back to the gym and toss some weights around?
There is definitely the opportunity to utilise the mechanisms of CBL with calisthenic exercises. As long as the movements are challenging. So if you could not do more than the 12 reps you are saying you are aiming for then this will work! There is a great book "Convict Conditioning" available that details the "big 6" exercises and great workouts to make them progressively harder.My example here is strict hand stand push ups. These are very challenging for shoulders, so a workout incorporating these with Pistol squats, chins and 1 arm push ups would be a super full body muscle building workout, well worthy of a big Carb BackloadHowever there is a limit, if the workouts are done P90x style then the mechanisms have become an endurance exercise rather than a hypertrophy/ strength exercise.If you utilise exercises that keep you getting stronger (3-5rep range) mixed with some that are slightly higher (8-12) you should have a great workout for CBLHope this helps
Yes! Glad to hear this and it is indeed a relief. But where exactly do you draw the line between resistance training and circuiting? I give myself 90 seconds of break between each sets and 2 minutes between each exercise. Definitely much more time than a p90x style circuit designed keep the heartbeat up where the workouts are often supersets with little to no break.
There is a great book "Convict Conditioning" available that details the "big 6" exercises and great workouts to make them progressively harder.
This is GREAT advice and a good resource, and if I may add, so is Brooks Kubik's Dinosaur Bodyweight Training.As alluded to in the last podcast by Molly Galbraith, I think that being able to perform bodyweight exercises is not only recommended, but necessary before embarking on any weight-training regimen.FWIW, I think you are doing yourself plenty of justice, not only as applies to CBL, but in general. Even though you came to it through misfortune in terms of an injury, you will come out better for it in the end.In terms of classifying something as a circuit, it has more to do with how the exercises are programmed vs. the rest between sets. A circuit takes all the programmed exercises for the day and performs each in succession without repeat until all are completed, then going through the cycle again for however many cycles (circuits) as programmed. Traditional training would have one perform one exercise for several sets of repetitions before moving onto the next exercise with no exercise repeated after the prescribed number of sets are completed. For example, if you are doing Bench Press, Pull-Ups and Military Press, a circuit would be Bench => (rest or not) => Pull-ups => (rest or not) => Military Press => (rest or not) => Bench => (rest or not)=> Pull-ups => (rest or not) => Military Press => (rest or not) => Bench... and so forth, whereas a traditional scheme would be Bench => (rest or not) => Bench => (rest or not) => Bench => Pull-ups => (rest or not) => Pull-ups => (rest or not) => and so forth. This would be regardless of the rest interval between sets and exercises, or in the case of the former, circuits. Now, the rest intervals come into play turning the bout of resistance training from strength or hypertrophy more toward HIIT/Metabolic Resistance Training the shorter they become, e.g. 0-30s. Not sure the exact threshold, but it's a safe bet that you are not in this range with 90s - 2m rest intervals.
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