CARVE Out Killer Back Muscles with Body Weight

 
 
By Chris Wilson, Head Strength Coach

If building muscle and getting ripped is your goal BUT you don’t have access to a gym, you prefer to workout at home or you just prefer to do body weight only exercises, you’re in luck.

But let me be clear, building muscle is simple, it’s just not easy as they say.  Simple meaning you A. need to workout consistently, B. eat a healthy, high protein diet and C. get some quality Zzzz’s every night.

In theory, if A, B and C are dialed in, you’re going to see some terrific results.  But as I said, simple, just not easy.

So let me make this as “easy” as possible for you and focus only on building a better back.

Guys in particular hold a significant amount of fat in their back (especially after they hit 30) yet the back can be the most aesthetically pleasing part of the human body. Think of all the musculature in the back and how amazing it is to see definition in a man or woman.

A sculpted defined back usually translates to everything looking better and giving you that tapered look so many elite athletes have and top level physique competitors strive for.

The question then becomes: Is there any way to build the strong, muscular back you envision without weights?

Well, there is one routine in particular that I can think of that will help you get into excellent shape using just bodyweight only exercises to help you get leaned and strong with developed back muscles.

Several years ago a Dr. Frank I. Katch and his brother Victor (both of whom hold EdD, and PhD in exercise science and physical education respectively) developed a unique formula as it applies to bodyweight only exercises.

The formula is based on the Exercise / Rest principle and it goes something like this:

As a starting point you must pick out a non-apparatus exercise(s) such as the bodyweight Pull-up. I’ve chosen the pull up because it’s a compound movement targeting a large number of muscles and joints at once and is super beneficial for all people in life.

Note: You can also do this with Push-ups, Dips, Deep Squats, Pistol Squats, Sissy Squats, and Hand Stand Push-ups to name a few more bodyweight only exercises that target a large number of muscles at once.

STAGE I

Using the Pull-up as an example, begin by performing these exercise for as many ultra-strict repetitions as possible within a 10 second time frame. Now rest for exactly I0 seconds; after the 10 second rest, immediately begin to perform some more Pull-ups for I0 seconds, then take another 10-second rest. Continue this pattern of I0 seconds of exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest for 9 more complete cycles, for a total of 10. On each of the succeeding five days you increase the number of cycles by two.

STAGE 2

This stage, as well as stages 3, 4, and 5, consists of 6 workout days and begins with 10 cycles of work and rest, increasing to 20 cycles by day six. The noted difference in this stage and the stages to follow are varying degrees of rest between each cycle. Within this stage (2) you will perform 15 seconds of exercise and take 10 seconds of rest per cycle,

STAGE 3

At this stage you switch to 20 seconds of exercise and take 10 seconds of rest per cycle.

STAGE 4

Now you do 30 seconds of exercise and take 10 seconds of rest per cycle.

STAGE 5

In the last stage you do 30 seconds of exercise and take 5 seconds of rest per cycle.

To summarize, here are the steps for successfully completing the FIVE stages of the exercise/rest principle.

1. Each individual stage (I-5) consists of 6 non-consecutive workout days in a two-week time frame. The workouts could be performed on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Rest days include: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

2. Begin each new stage on Day 1 by doing a minimum of I0 nonstop sequences of the exer­cise/rest principle, then on each scheduled workout day thereafter be sure to add 2 non­stop sequences (as in the detailed stage 1 example).

3. Always do as many ultra-strict repetitions as possible during the work phase.

Follow the Exercise/Rest Formula as described and you discover a renewed interest in performing Bodyweight Only exercises especially as it applies to Pull-ups and the development of the musculature of your back.

If you get GREAT at doing pull-ups applying the Exercise/Rest principle, here is a Challenge for you!

 

Grab this FREE Report – 10 Best
Body Weight Exercises of All-Time

Fisheye Wrestling Wins State Championship – Interview with Coach Jeff Fernandas

Fisheye Wrestling Wins State Championship – Interview with Coach Jeff Fernandas

As told to CriticalBench.com by Steve Konopka

I’m here with Jeff Fernandas the head coach of FISHEYE WRESTLING in SIMSBURY/GRANBY CT

Q: First off congratulations on one heck of a season! Let’s go over all the state and New England placers from top to bottom because it’s pretty impressive!

Thank you…the team put in a lot of work to earn their success.

We started with 19 wrestlers at the qualifiers in Southington. 14 qualified for the state championships (top 16 in each weight class). Out if those 14, 7 made the finals. 9 state place winners in all that qualify for New England’s.

Zach johns – Intermediate Divison – 80 lbs-State Champion...also voted by the coaches as the OW (outstanding wrestler) of the tournament of that division. Season record 49-4.

Alexis Adams aka Lulu – Intermediate Divison – 75 lbs- 4th place 1 of two females to place at the State Tournament Season record 44-15

Ryan Finn – Novice Divison – 60 lbs 5th place..Season record 27-25

Ty Finn – Novice Divison – 75 lbs Runner upSeason record 42-8

At 95 lbs we had an all FishEye Final between Liam burnette – Novice Divison – 95 lbs runner up

Season record 36-13

Logan Fleming – Novice Divison – 95 lbs 6th State Champion..Season record 37-10

Hunter Adams – Novice Divison – 100 lbs State Champion – also voted by the coaches as the OW

(outstanding wrestler) of the tournament of that division. Season record 57-5

Miguel Gonzalez – Middle School Divison – 136 lbs-runner up Season record 49-7

Cooper Fleming – Middle School Divison – 112 lbs-runner up Season record 42-14

New England’s – held in North Andover mass. Top 5 in each state qualify. 6 of our 9 that qualified, placed.

Zach johns – Intermediate Divison – 80 lbs-runner up ..

Ryan Finn – Novice Divison – 60 lbs 6th place..

Ty Finn – Novice Divison – 75 lbs 5th place

Hunter Adams – Novice Divison – 100 lbs – 4th place

Miguel Gonzalez – Middle School Divison – 136 lbs 5th place

Cooper Fleming – Middle School Divison – 112 lbs -4th place

We also entered two girls in to the girls state championships . Both were champions.

Gabby johns
Alexis Adams

We entered 4 wrestlers into the mighty might state championships (5-7 years old) and had two place winners.

Max Konopka 2nd place

Gabby johns 3rd place

High school division these are kids that work with us thru out the year in their offseason and before end

of the season tournements.

Canton

Dylan Houle canton. – 174 4th place class s

37 -8 as a senior

2014 4th Class S State

Skylar lang – 220 class s state champ, 3rd at opens, 3x state place winner. With me 5 years

43-3 as a senior

109-41 career record

Simsbury

KJ Fernandes 138…2nd in class LL state championships as a sophomore

31-7 as sophomore

51-18 overall

Undefeated in the CCC west 6-o

Vinny Palermo

74-29 as a jr Captain

Academic all league my sophomore year

Suffield

Stuart Adams – first year wrestler- 6 th place class m 132

KONO: That’s some serious hardware your team has taken in this year! I especially like the two for two in the ladies state championships. The two OUTSTANDING WRESTLER AWARDS in one state tournament is remarkable. Zach Johns in the intermediate division and Hunter Adams in the Novice division!

Q :Give us little history on yourself with your wrestling background.

I grew up in Derby CT and attended Derby high. I wrestled for buster Jadach. Buster pretty much learned to wrestle from books, never wrestling himself. He was a football star. He is currently a member of the wrestling hall of fame and holds the record for most wins all time in the state of ct.

I’m a 4 time state place winner, including a state title.

I think what’s makes derby a special place is that you grow up with one word drilled in to you from the time your 7…Pride. When I was that age I played football.

We were allowed to use the varsity locker rooms for our home pop warmer games. As you walk in, there’s a poem at the top of the stairs in large red writing titled Pride. I, As well as all of my friends can still recite it today. That one concept had the 2nd smallest high school in ct winning housy title after housy title…state titles and even a couple over team rankings all the way up until moved away. Well, you can take the boy out of derby but you can’t take derby out of the boy.

Q: Let us know about the FISHEYE program and how it started.

The program started in 2009. I had been an assistant at another program and then was asked to run Simsbury youth wrestling. I did for one year. We were based in shs and could not practice if it snowed or if there was a play etc. the wrestlers were just not getting everything they needed. It was also based through parks and recs as a club team and that’s not who I am. I wanted serious commitment..I wanted to make champions and a park and rec club wasn’t the right fit for that goal.

We left the school in April of 2009 and ran our first session in southwick mass. It started with 8 wrestlers. In typical FISHEYE fashion we went to work. The practices are grueling at times but that’s what it takes to be great. There were complaints that it was too hard and three people quit. I was questioned as to why I just wouldn’t lighten up to grow the program. It’s my goal is to make champions,

if your quitting, you weren’t a wrestler to begin with. The wrestlers that stuck it out had nothing but success. We finished that session with 5 wrestlers. The original 5- My son KJ (finished at 32-7 and took second in LL this year as a sophomore) Dan Calzerette (he finished his junior year at 22-18 never placing.

His senior year after 6 mos at FEW he finished 41-7, 3rd in LL and a MAWA National all American, wrestled Division 1 at millersville university in pa) Ben Kibby (now in 7th grade and a 2x state champ), his brother Owen Kibby (sophomore, Granby high) and Ben Todd (who earned the most improved wrestler
award at shs that year).

Q: For being such a young club FISHEYE has had some very impressive success. What do you attribute this success to especially compared to some of the other clubs that have been running for 10-15 years?

Sacrifice, hard work and details. It’s an expectation that if you are at FEW that you will attend all practices and all tournaments. You are expected to miss the school dance, ski club, etc if they contrast with our schedule. The wrestlers show up on their birthdays because they know that’s what it takes to
be great..Sacrifice.

Our wrestlers work very hard at practice to become talented. They are pushed past their limits to realize that they can go much further than they ever thought possible. They also realize that talent gets beat when talent doesn’t work hard. At FISHEYE we believe that details wins championships and I provide those details daily.

Q: FISHEYE has such a wide range of talent and age differences. How do you push kids like Hunter Adams and the other New England placers while not got getting the 5 and 6 year olds lost?

Work ethic- that’s the common theme. Put the work in and you will get to your goals. Whether your 55-5 or 0-50, 6 years old or 17, put in the work…there’s room to improve. Our more established wrestlers set an example of what takes to be a champion. They do this by doing the right things at practice and in the outside world. The 5 year olds up to the beginning middle school wrestlers see the work ethic and discipline and they follow suit. If you train like a madman, improvement is inevitable.

Q: I personally think wrestling builds some of the strongest character traits you would want to instill in a young person today. What are some of the traits you see developing in the wrestlers on your team year in and year out?

Words like sacrifice, pride, heart, work ethic, integrity, and self respect are not just tossed around lightly in our room. They are the concepts that we build our wrestlers on. As they grow you can watch it spread out in to their lives…school, family, etc.

In this day and age of “daddy ball” and the “everyone gets a trophy” crowd, our kids know that they deserve what they earn. They battle through losses and huge disappointments to grow and become stronger. They learn to battle through heartbreak and tough times to reach their goals…like in the real world. There’s no boss out there in the real world handing out participation salaries and in the long run they will be prepared for a tough world out there when they grow up. They learn that if they want to be great they have to work for it…not because daddies the head coach.

ONE WORD ANSWERS:

Favorite takedown move?

Whatever’s being given

Favorite pinning move?

Same

Greatest wrestler of all time?

Dan gable/john smith

Favorite head gear?

Cliff keen

Knee sleeves or no sleeves?

Sleeves

You can only do one exercise in the gym to train for next season what is it?

Anything that trains that explosion needed to attack. Kono’s opinion HANG CLEANS!

Favorite food after cutting weight all season?

Chinese

Win Olympic gold in wrestling or a million dollars?

Olympic gold

Steel sharpens?

STEEL

Q: 30 seconds left , state title on the line! Tied score your on top you have been taking this guy down all match but he has reversed you every time! What do you do? Fight the reversal and try to ride him out for overtime or let him up and go down by one and try for the take down.

This actually happened to me. Senior year I was down 4-0 with a minute left. I reversed the kid. He gets banged for stalling. At about 15 secs he gets hit again making the score 4-3..I throw in double legs and turn him. The ref counts 1..2 and the buzzer goes off to win my first state title

Kono: Wrestlers never forget big wins or loses! I remember every single almost in wrestling!

Q: Your son ( a fisheye product) Keith is a pretty accomplished wrestler in his own right. Keith placed second at the class LL championships and made it to the quarter finals at the Ct State Opens as just a sophomore at Simsbury high school. How different is it watching your son from the stands to your fisheye wrestlers from the corner of the mat.

It’s tough. I spent all weekend at new englands. Watching say zach johns in the finals and it is nerve racking. It’s the same feeling I get watching my son idk..wrestle off at practice. Haha. He’s my blood, the person I love most in this world. It’s just different when it comes to him.

KONO : I completely understand! I think I almost passed out three times a tournament watching!

Q: One thing I have noticed at the weekly tournaments is how close the wrestlers and their families are on the teams. I mean the first week of the season my son had 20 kids cheering for him in his first match ever and I was screaming at the top of my lungs for one of the Finn boys and honestly, I didn’t even know his name at the time. Why do you think wrestlers form such a close family type of team?

Respect- they spend their days competing against each other. They know what they go through individually and I think it brings them together. As a wrestling parent, you see firsthand what they go through and how hard they work. It’s tough to not root for kids like that.

Q: At the tournaments you can see such a huge bond with parents and there kids. I have seen parents shed some tears from being so proud of their child taking the mat, getting their first take down, fighting off their back or even winning their match. It must be so rewarding watching all these kids you have coached go out there and compete with everything you have taught them.

It is great to see them succeed. We have all been through a lot in 5 years. Watching the hard work pay off is unbelievable. To see the smiles as a kid walks off that mat as heor she just completed his goal…I mean..nothing compares to it.

Q: Let’s give a few details about how the USA-WRESTLING TOURNAMENTS are run. A lot of parents may not know how the wrestlers are paired up, how long matches are or how tourneys are lined up. I think parents would be surprised how hard the coaches work to pair up kids fairly so every age and skill level gets great matches to grow and develop?

Matches are 6 minutes long broken down to 3 2 minute periods. That doesn’t seem like a lot of time but the energy expended it tremendous. Everything is run by age and weight so it’s as fair as it can get.

There times a first year wrestler may be matched up to a wrestler who has been wrestling for 5 years but they are the same age and weight. Those are the tough matches that make you better! USA CT is doing a great job providing opportunities for our youth to wrestle.

Q: What are some of the goals for the future of FISHEYE WRESTLING?

To grow a bit, to get better, to continue to dominate opponents and give our Fisheye family what they need to succeed on and off the mat.

Q: Because of the hard work and discipline, wrestling isn’t for everyone compared to a game like t-ball. So what do you say to the parents that might be going back and forth on letting their child who is interested join the team.

In this day and age of everyone gets a trophy, wrestling is providing a safe and challenging environment to learn real world skills. Goal setting, work ethic, sacrifice and learning how to get back up and continue to battle when life knocks you down. My question would be, who wouldn’t want their child involved in
that kind of program.

KONO: I agree completely. Seeing kids work hard for something and achieve goals because of their hard work is rare these days! As for the future of FISHEYE, after personally seeing practices and the team wrestling in tournaments I don’t see anything else but a growing dominance by the FEW! Well this was awesome Jeff thanks for your time and all the best in the future for FISHEYE WRESTLING.

Tom Phillips Interview On The Tactical Strength Challenge

Luke Allison of CriticalBench.com Interviews Tom Phillips
On The Tactical Strength Challenge – Podcast

First things first. How does Pavel Tsatsouline define Tactical Strength?

“Tactical refers to small scale military or law enforcement operations.

Strength is defined as one’s ability to exert force under given conditions.

Tactical strength is the ability to perform the combat skills requiring great strength explosively and efficiently in the conditions defined by the mission.

Broadly speaking it is the strength to move rapidly in full kit (running, individual movement technique or IMT, negotiating obstacles), handle heavy weapons, carry the wounded, win in CQB, etc. The ‘mission specific conditions’ include but are not limited to the terrain, the climate, the method of insertion, etc.

One of variables is fatigue. In the law enforcement the fatigue is usually anaerobic. In the military the operator may experience many types of fatigue: anaerobic, aerobic, sleep deprivation, hunger, general fatigue from being in the field for an extended period of time, etc.”

About The Tactical Strength Challenge

The Tactical Strength Challenge (TSC) is a strength competition consisting of three events:

• A three-attempt powerlifting deadlift

• Pullups for max reps

• Kettlebell snatches for max reps in a 5:00 time period

Pictured above: Event 3: Kettlebell snatches

The winner is determined by combined placement in the three events. For example, if Lifter A finishes third in the deadlift, fifth in pullups, and second in snatches, his score is 10 (3+5+2). The lowest combined score wins. In the event of a deadlift tie, the lighter competitor places higher. In the event of a pullup tie, the heavier competitor places higher. In the event of a snatch tie, the tie stands. In the event of an overall tie (two or more lifters get same combined score), the tie stands.

Purpose of the TSC

The purpose of the TSC is to test absolute strength (deadlift), bodyweight-relative strength (pullups), and cardiovascular endurance (kettlebell snatches). The three events test a unique trade-off between these abilities. Heavier participants have an advantage in the deadlift, lighter participants have an advantage in pullups. The kettlebell snatch tests all participants more or less equally.

Thanks to Luke Allison for conducting the interview and ofcourse a huge thanks to Tom Phillips for allowing us to pick his brain. Hope you enjoy the audio mp3 interview!

 
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