Bodyweight....

So I have always found bodyweight training interesting. Why don't I do it? Not sure, partly because it doesn't feel like I am going anywhere to do it, so I lose focus and maybe wander back to the computer or something.

I do not believe that we are unable to get a good resistance based workout with just our own bodyweight. I am well aware I can get a kick ass workout.

So with this in my brain a friend mentioned something in his training log which I hadn't heard of before. The TRX. I asked what that was. He gave me a link to the item in question, http://www.fitnessanywhere.com/index.php

So my first thought was $200 was pretty pricey. However the guys who have it say it is worth the money. Maybe, but I still have trouble seeing materials and work on the device adding up to that much.

Either way I thought it interesting and worth trying out. I found some rope and a set of old hollow plastic dumbbell handles. I made handles and then every so often I tied knots in the rope. My thought was I could loop the handles through and attach it at different points like you would attach a yo-yo to your finger. So far I have only played with it indoors on door frames where the knots work as stops.

Before I got started I thought it might be an interesting gadget. I got ready to try it to see just how useful it might be. I put the rope over the door and closed it so I could try some push-ups. I can do push-ups so I set the handles so they would be close to the floor. I got down. I put my hands in the handles and attempted to do a push-up. I stress attempted. The fact my hands were able to move in any direction made it essentially impossible. Ok I thought. I moved it so I was on more of an angle and presto I could do chest press exercises. Rows were fine, I could do those as well, which was handy as heck.

You can always do push-ups for chest exercises but sometimes there is just no where you could do any type of back movement. With this device you can. Very cool.

So then I started messing around on-line. I found reverse crunches, hamstring work etc. Roland suggested I try ab roll-outs with it. Roland is a pretty nice guy, at least I thought so, maybe he hates me, those were HARD on my abs. Crazy hard.

The last really cool thing I have discovered is the assisted pistol squat. Essentially the suspension system is used to balance and add assistance in doing a one legged squat. Even with the system I was only able to do 3 or 4 in a row.

In the end I am 100% sold on the idea as a system and will be using it as the basis of my resistance training for the next few months at least while I don't have easy cheap access to a gym. I am still not willing to spend $200 on it though. I will remain with the rope system for now, with the intention of building a "proper" one as well as a few other goodies in the next week or so.

In other news what turned out to be a scouting mission for webbing turned into a 44km bike ride this afternoon (with a short break for coffee). My legs are still tired. The way into town was awesome I felt fantastic and had a great ride. The way out was evil. Lots of hills and I was tired and trying to outrun a thunderstorm. Unfortunately as you can guess, being tired and riding uphill equals a pretty slow progression. The storm however was not moving that slow. About 5km out, ie 20mins or so if caught up to me. By the end of it I was DRENCHED. Was so happy to get into a warm shower!

Shannon and I are also getting along well and chat on-line most days. In a lot of ways this is great and in other ways painful. As I have stated before I care about her immensely and have decided I would rather have her in my life as a friend than not at all. So it is great I get to stay in touch with her and also painful because it is hard to honor her decision about our relationship and just be a friend, and not try to actively encourage her to change her mind about things.

Apparently I have a lot to say these days...