Squats... exactly how should it do them for maximum gain?

[Stigma]

Apart from the 3 Capoeira training sessions (ca 2hrs each) each week, i try to get atleast 2 home training sessions done to supplement my muscles, wich have severely athropied over the years since i stopped my Tae-Kwon-Do.

My usual routine is something like:

- 25 pushups (flathand)
- 50-60 situps (traditional full-motion against chair)
- 240-250 squats (full range, from locked knees up top, to full sitting position where my ass is as near the ground as possible)

Massage legs to prevent cramps. 5 min rest including the massage.

Then repeat, with 5 less pushups, 10 less situps, and ca 40-50 less squats.

Before you comment on the seemingly dispropertionate leg/arm work, let me just say that i have naturally very powerful legs-muscles compared to my spiny arms, but thats something i would like to improve on, since Capoeirap needs a lot of arm strenght for handstands, walking on hands ect.

(1) My question is: Should i be doing my squats in intervals instead for better effect? Should I spend time after this for stretching the muscles? (beyond just the normal stuff to prevent aching the next day)

(2) And also: Please give me suggestions to improve my workout schedule. This is something i just put together myself, without any sort of research or special knowledge (beyond my 5 years of Tae-Kwon-Do), so im sure it can be improved. The only limitation is that it should not require much more time than 30-40 minutes. I just don't have a lot more time than that availiable for the noncapoeira days.

(3) And lastly, do you have any good advice on setting up a training routine that would help me noticably be able to do more pushups over time? (pushups would just be a means to be able to measure the improvement of general arm-strenght in this case). I seem to be stuck at about 25-30 consecutive since i started training again about 1,5 months ago. But if i wait 2-3 minutes, i can usually do allmost as many as the first time again. Should i perhaps do intervals in order to build my sorely lacking arm strenght?

Sorry for the long post, I have abd habit of writing too much
-Stigma

[grubbogoppoly]

Before I answer this I have to know what your goals are(ie, strength, endurance or size). Second, is it just your arms you are looking to strengthen and if so why?

[Stigma]

Thanks for answering,

My main goal is strenght (since flexebiliy and control are handeled in the traning-days). Some endurance would also be good, but I assume that i cannot build strenght without atleast gaining atleast a little endurance also. I want the home practices to cover all the main muscle groups, but i feel that my arms are what needs the most work. I am a lot more confident in my leg strenght than my arms, and capoeira uses a LOT more arm strenght for a lot of moves, compared to my old TKD (wich is mostly kicks).

So.. i want to (1) find a way to build my arm muscles relatively quickly to be able to do handstands, and other similar moves with less exaustion and more power. And at the same time (2) maintain and build general body strenght. Doing JUST arms would get a bit boring.

PS: Capoeira, if you are not familiar with it, uses a lot of moves that are allmost similar to break-dance in some cases, if you are wondering about "handstands". Its very acrobatic in style.

PS2: I Don't have easy access to machines at home, and if possible i wuld like to keep the home excersices to body-weight only. However, i am prepared to get some manuals or similar minor weight equipment, if i get a lot of positive response from the forum about its effectiveness. I have never used weights befre on a regular part of my traning program, so I am unfamiliar with them.

[Stigma]

I just noticed, the topic name is way off from what im actually asking about now. I guess i wandered of my planned question when i was typing it. Sorry about that =)

[grubbogoppoly]

Hey. .
First off, if you want strenght then such high reps on pushups will not be as good for you. GENERALLY the lower amount of reps you do the more you are working on strength. I personally like pull ups in developing upper body strength more. You work almost all of your upper body.

I also would say that free weights are vital if you want to produce strength gains. The key is proper form and intensity in all your exercises though. There are a lot of people out there that do lots of weights and don't get any results because they use improper form and intensity.

If you decide that you want to do the pullups I would suggest doing at least 30. Don't worry about how many sets it takes you. If it takes you 10 sets to get to that number then do that.

In regards to form. You can do several different types. One way to do them: Grip the bar slightly wider than shoulders with fingers pointing away from you and pull yourself up(WITHOUT SWINGING YOUR LEGS!!). Concentrate on pulling your self up with your lats. They are the wing looking muscles under your arms that give people that V-shape. Make sure that you pull yourself all the way up to your sternum though. If you can't get to the sternum then stop, rest and start another set.
Another way to do them: Palms facing your body with a narrow grip(maybe six inches and this one will burn the bis a little bit more) Same motion as in the previous one. Remember to do handstands though. .It is not just biceps but a lot of shoulders as well.

Hope this helps. .Tell me if you have any other questions. But, like I said, for strength you should be doing some sort of weight training with lower reps

[Stigma]

I'm nmot sure if you misunderstood me somewhereaong the way. I usually just do around 3 sets (in intervals between the other excersices, like described earlier). But i cant really do more than around 25-30, as that seems to be my limit for now. I remember in my active peak a few years ago i did around 70-80 in a single rep, and i want to regain that power.

I'l try what you said about pullups, though i dont know if i can even do 3 of those in a single rep . I guess the biggest problem is to find a place to do them, but i can probably improvise something.

Say I did get some manuals, what kind of weight should they be, and what sort of exersices should i be using to get good results?

[grubbogoppoly]

First off. I guess I should define a set and rep for you. It seems you may be a little confused on that point. If you do 5 pushups then that is five REPETITIONS. If you do 5 pushups rest and then do 5 more push-ups then that is 2sets of five pushups. Get it?

Another thing I want to make sure I get right is when you talk about power. You say you used to be able to do 70-80 reps per set. But, this is more muscular endurance. Not really power. Power is being able to move a larger mass.

Again. .Like I said, don't worry about how many pullups you can do at a time. Just try and get to 30 with however much rest you need. I know it is hard. But, just work at it. Soon you will be able to reach those 30 reps in no time.

As far as weights go: Since you haven't done any before, do not overwork yourself. Your muscles need time to recover. So if you do decide to do the weights then give yourself at least a day or 2 of rest.

Go to http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm. They show lots of great exercises. Just try and pick out one or 2 exercises for each body part. I would suggest at least one or two compound exercises(exercises which use more than one muscle group). This should give you a good idea of where to start.

Again before I suggest weight. .I need to know your goals very clearly. Are you just looking to be able to push a lot of weight? Do you want to be able to use your muscles for long periods of time? Tell me your goals in these types of terms, so that there is no confusion. Hope this is helping you out.

[Stigma]

Your right, i was using the definitions of sets and reps differently (wrongly i guess, your definitions make more sense hehe )

I guess I need both power and endurance, but when i talk about power, im not talking about the kind of power weightlifters need. Basicly the highest power-putput I will ever need (for the forseable future) would be to lift my body weight in hand-stands. Over longer periods with 2 hands, and very short periods on a single hand (usually as part of some motion where i have momentum). Basicly, if i had the power needed to do a pushup while having ALL my body weight on my hands (such as doing a handstand pushup) then that would be enough for a very long time. I guess pull-ups would require a similar powerlevel too...

After that, i guess it would all be endurance, so i wouldn't collapse after walking on my hands for more then 5 seconds

So what excersices would you suggest then for the arm-part of my training? Or do you need more info? (in that case, please specify what i havent told you enough about)

BTW: sorry about the poor typing and english, its way too late for me to bother to spell/gramar check this ^_^

[grubbogoppoly]

No prob on the english or length of the post. You have to give info to get some. After you said all that I think that you don't really need weightlifting. However I would suggest sticking with your pushups and adding in the pullups for additional upper body strength. You may want to try different variations of the pushups just to work the muscles a different way as well. You can do them with feet on a bench or experiment with width of hands while doing them(closer the hands are together the more it isolates the tris.). Hope this gives you some good ideas and good luck in your training

[Stigma]

Thanks for the advice. I think i will experiment by modifying my pushups by having my hands closer together, and elevating my legs a bit, from a chair or something. This seems to target the same muscles that i feel I am using the most when i train a lot of handstand moves. I'l throw in a few pull-up sets just to mix it up, if i can just find somewhere to do them at home

Again, I appreciate your help grubbogoppoly.

[grubbogoppoly]

No problem. I always try and be as helpful as possible to the people who are actually looking for it. For the pull ups you can just buy a bar to attach to a ceiling. I have never really had to look for one myself. But I am assuming it wouldn't be too hard to find.