Without a doubt, the largest gap I see in most people’s training is a lack of good, old fashioned bodyweight work.
I have my pet theories as to why this is.
Certainly in my case, it was because I was too fat, deconditioned, and uncoordinated to manage enough volume and intensity to get results (despite being able to squat, bench press, deadlift, and overhead press respectable loads).
It was so bad the instructor on my personal training course laughed his head off at the sight of me trying to do lunges.
Problem with this is (aside from it being downright embarrassing for a grown adult to be unable to manage basic exercises), it’s a sign of a yawning chasm in ability that will come back to bite you in the backside at some point.
Example:
Remember how I said I was squatting, benching, and whatnot with relatively heavy weights?
It was causing me a lot of pain (particularly in the back) because my form in these core movement patterns was suboptimal. And the reason it was suboptimal was because I hadn’t yet mastered the bodyweight basics and then performed many thousands of repetitions of those basics to “grease the groove”, condition the joints and muscles, etc.
It took a few years for me to wake up and bite the bullet, but when I did the pain went away… and… I got noticeably leaner and fitter (in the cardiorespiratory sense) very quickly.
Same happened to Jess just this year when I got her into doing a lot more bodyweight work. Likewise the lengthy list of clients I’ve trained over the years, many (perhaps most) having done little or no bodyweight work for a long time, if ever.
I think that makes the point.
For more on bodyweight training, consult November’s monster-sized issue of The Phil Tyreman Letter.
It contains a complete training system (of which bodyweight work is a core component) called:
“Operation: Winnow”
This is a special issue of the newsletter that I will be selling as a standalone book at some point next year most probably, and when I do, it’s going to cost a heap more than you can nab it for as a subscriber provided you get in before the deadline.
If you want it, and you want it inexpensively, subscribe before the deadline at the below URL:
https://philtyreman.co.uk/information/
Thank you,
Phil Tyreman