Everybody who has watched the Olympics knows that the gymnasts have great bodies and can also put on one hell of a show. One thing that really stands out is they’re incredible core strength. It is extremely hard to do a Maltese or an Iron cross. These feats of strength take a lot of dedication and decades of practice to really master. We try to promote bodyweight training as often as possible to remind people that there are no excuses. There are many bodyweight masters out there and the gymnasts are very high on the list. We can learn a lot by watching the gymnasts perform and looking at their lifestyles as well. Many gymnasts don’t even touch weights and some of them have upper bodies that will make bodybuilders want to jump off a bridge. Here are 5 reasons that I came up with as to why gymnasts have such great upper body development.
1) They compete
Competing is a healthy part of life and it can also increase your standards when you are against others. Competition can also increase your testosterone and push you to your limits. I’m not telling you to start competing in gymnastics (although it wouldn’t be the worst idea if that’s what you are into), but understand that people who compete could be stronger than people who don’t because they are fighting for the first place. When you train and don’t compete, it’s a different ball game. Of course, there are many different ways to compete, I used to have a gym partner and we would always go head to head and try to out lift each other. Competition is healthy and it makes me feel alive.
2) They practice a lot and treat strength as a skill
Practicing a lot is similar to the GTG (Greasing the groove) which is great for getting good at movements while also building up a lot of frequency and volume throughout the week. Also, if you want to get good at something like a handstand, one day per week like in the bodybuilding magazines isn’t going to cut it. If you are trying to get better at pull-ups, then practice them often and follow the next tip below as well.
3) They don’t train until failure
Similar to the Olympic weightlifters, gymnasts aren’t training until failure which helps them train more frequently in a fresher state. Training to failure is very popular in bodybuilding circles, but it could also make you very sore which wouldn’t benefit the gymnasts because they are trying to train and practice as often as possible in a fresh state.
4) They perform different forms of bodyweight exercises which are proven to build muscle
Bodyweight training is generally easier to recover from than weights in most cases. You can’t do close grip bench presses every day, but gymnasts do a lot of dips on the dip bars and are able to recover just fine from session to session. Top that off with the fact that bodyweight exercises are great proven muscle builders and that they aren’t going to failure, this is a great recipe for upper body strength and size. No wonder the gymnasts have such nice arms.
5) They follow the bodyweight progressions
I recently wrote an article called “The reason why most people don’t get much out of Calisthenics” and mentioned how people don’t follow through with the progressions and eventually give up. It’s a lot easier to grab a heavier weight than it is to progress into a more advanced bodyweight exercise. Remember that the results will be amazing if you are able to follow through with the progressions, not to mention that you will have a bulletproof core to show for it.
Conclusion:
Gymnasts are just a small piece of the puzzle, there are other people who have amazing bodies without even touching weights such as Calisthenic street trainees, rock climbers, some sprinters and the list goes on. This article was just to shed a bit of light on the fact that you shouldn’t underestimate the importance of bodyweight training. You may say that some gymnasts are lacking lower body size and strength and that you can’t get nice legs without weights, but a quick look at the legs of sprinters will change your mind. Weights are great, but at the end of the day resistance is resistance and you can still get great results with your own bodyweight. Start applying some of the gymnast principles to your training and watch your body grow.