When the ‘rona hit and that scruffy excuse for a leader mandated we all hide under our beds for fear of catching a cold, the first thing I said to Jess was how this was going to have a diabolical effect on people’s health.
I was not wrong.
For example, I got to talking with a pair of PE teachers during the brief window gyms re-opened between the first and second lockdowns, and they were shocked by how much their kiddos’ health had declined.
Significant weight gain across the board, reduction in cardiovascular fitness – not to mention their complete inability to concentrate on a task for more than a few minutes (at most) from spending the balance of the last few months superglued to TikTok.
The adults didn’t fare much better.
Pretty much everyone I spoke to mentioned how they’d gotten fatter, lost strength, and were struggling with joint pain they never had before.
Keep in mind, these were conversations I was having in the gym. I.e. with people who take their health and fitness more seriously than most.
I daresay the slovenly and greedy types who enjoyed lockdown, despite the demonstrable misery and harm it caused to the less, fortunate because it gave them an excuse to sit on their (large) backsides got off a lot worse.
Not that they’ll ever put two and two together, mind.
Anyway.
I just about managed to stay in shape during the tyranny, despite only having access to a length of old shipping rope I used for various conditioning work when I had a personal training gym. (I didn’t even own a pair of trainers because I always trained in olympic lifting shoes).
How did I do it?
Bodyweight work and running.
Lots of bodyweight work and running.
Specifically, a lot of pushup variations (including supported handstand pushups), squats (mainly single-leg using a low wall), and chinups (by slinging my length of rope around a sturdy branch of the tree outside my house).
On top of that, I’d run to the beach and back (about 5km) three times per week and would do battle ropes (again, using the tree) at the end of my bodyweight sessions.
The lesson?
Bodyweight training is without a doubt the best way to maintain your results and, in some cases, make new progress when you can’t maintain your usual gym routine for whatever reason.
Be that a pandemic or because it’s shut for maintenance. (The council gym near us is closed until 2026 for upgrades).
Certainly something you need to have in your arsenal if it isn’t already.
Fortuitously, July’s issue of “The Phil Tyreman Letter” explains in exacting detail how to get stellar results using bodyweight training.
Subscribers also receive “virtually unlimited” access to me for assistance with whatever I am qualified to assist them with amongst other things.
Go here to subscribe:
https://philtyreman.co.uk/information
Thank you,
Phil Tyreman
Here’s a smattering of what you will discover in July’s issue:
* The most deadly time of year for your results (it’s not when you think)
* The correct way to approach bodyweight training for building muscle and strength. (As with everything I teach, it’s not glamorous or exciting – but it is essential if you want your bodyweight work to be more than a fruitless and potentially injurious waste of time).
* How to slip bodyweight exercises into your existing routine to unlock progress that has hitherto dangled tantalisingly out of reach.
* Why most men should avoid trying dramatic bodyweight exercises that look great on social media like dragon flags and muscle-ups.
* Ways to spice things up with bodyweight training to keep you engaged and training with discipline and intent (perfect for men who bore easily).
* A “bodyweight-only” training system inspired by “The Great Gama”, Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt, of India – an undefeated wrestling champion whose success was likely, at least in part, due to his curious bodyweight training regime.
* Three (and, in one case, four) “modes” you can select from to instantly manipulate the difficulty of your bodyweight exercises.
If you want in, go here before the deadline: