enjoyment or more complete development?

[tony84]

Hey guys i got a question for you. Do you think its better to do a rouine that you enjoy the most or one that you know will give you better development. For example, lets say you enjoy a stand alone push up routine more then anything else, lets say you love it. But you know doing push ups with chin ups and lets say bodyweight squats will give you more complete development. What routine would you do? What do you guys think is more importmant, a so called more balanced routine or a routine that you truly love to do? Thanks for your thoughts guys.

Tony

[John Peterson]

Hey Tony84,

Do what you enjoy most! Make that the core of your training and throw other exercises in only as Icing on the cake. Forcing yourself to do exercises that you don't enjoy is not going to give you better development because you won't do them with focused attention. Besides you don't know for sure that doing the other exercises will absolutely give you better development.


---John Peterson

[tony84]

Thank you for the reply Mr. Peterson. A stand alone push up routine is what i enjoy the most by far. And your absolutly right about the focused attention. When im doing my routine, and im done with my push ups and im moving on to the chin ups, my excitement about exercising just melts away. And if i save the push ups for the end, the whole time im thinking how i cant wait to get to the push ups and get everything else over with. I cant wait till im good enough for the power ts. I figure once i can do fifty push ups in a set ill buy them. Thanks again Mr. Peterson.

Tony

[Hank_Z]

Nice Q & A.

John's focus on doing what you love puzzled me at first. I'm so used to looking for the "correct answer." For a few weeks, I really wondered why John didn't get more specific about what a given person should do to get certain results.

After working with the exercises for some times, I've grown to love the VRTs/DVRs and push-ups. And many of the Iso's in John's book.

So I'll go with the VRTs/DRVs, push-ups, and the Iso's that I enjoy.

- Hank

[Viking Dan]

I've often found that the exercises I dread the most are the ones that are the most productive. OTOH, a routine you wont stick with is worthless.

[Kevin Nickerson]

The key word is enjoy as John stated,otherwise our workouts become no more than new years resolutions,and we all know what happens to most if not all of them,just my thoughts-Kevin

[Andy62]

Unfortunately many of us have experienced exercise used as punishment in school, in athletic training, and in the military. Thoughout life we go though many changes in circumstances and in ideas and attitudes. The reason that we should always seek out the type of exercise that we like to do is because that keeps us interested and keeps exercise as a normal growth path in our life. Exercise, particularly Transformetrics, doesn't just build muscle and physical strength,but also internal strength, creativity, intuitiveness, and adds to the enjoyment and adventure of life in many ways. In many cases what you like to do is an internal message of what you should do to move on to the next level.

[ezekial1925]

Follow your bliss!
Leave it up to our fearless leader John, to give such a sage, wise answer.
Aloha,
Jim

[tony84]

Very well put Andy. Thanks again for the posts guys it means a lot. This forum and the people who are a part of it really are something special. I really cant explain why but i just love stand alone push up routines. I love the push up. I was thinkin about Johns advice about the icing on the cake; So im considering making high volume push ups the backbone of my routine and then at the end, do one set of chin ups and one set of squats to failure as the icing. But for the time being i think ill just do the push ups until i get back into the swing of things. When i see people like superbeast who have put on lots of muscle just doin push ups, i say why not me too. And since its what i enjoy it just makes sense. I often wonder what i would be doing right now if i hadnt seen Johns book and decided to buy it. That was my first introduction to the power of push ups. Theres nothin like doin push ups on the patio with your shirt off on a nice summer day. Thanks again guy.

Tony

[divebomber]

tony, I'm a little late but I hope you'll still hear me out.

The important question is WHY you enjoy pushups more than any other exercise. Is it because some exercises give you pain, or are too difficult at this point? Or is it because the cosmetic benefits of the pushup (building up chest, shoulders and arms) are most important to you at this point?

Once you know the answer, you'll be able to take a more informed decision:

If pain/difficulty level is an issue, then you're definitely right not including the exercise giving you trouble. But your problems may point to a structural weakness or muscular dysbalance that needs to be fixed in order to save you from even more trouble in the long run. So you should look for an easier exercise, or DVR, stressing the same muscles.

If it's rather about your aesthetic preferences, you should also be fine because the pushup is a functional compound exercise. Only when you start doing more advanced pushup variations you may find your shoulders start giving you trouble. Therefore, I would advise including chins and rows even now in order to avoid these problems in the first place. As a short term benefit, they will also improve your posture, showing off a well developed chest to much greater effect.

[EyeDoc]

The important question is WHY you enjoy pushups more than any other exercise. Is it because some exercises give you pain, or are too difficult at this point? Or is it because the cosmetic benefits of the pushup (building up chest, shoulders and arms) are most important to you at this point?

Once you know the answer, you'll be able to take a more informed decision:

If pain/difficulty level is an issue, then you're definitely right not including the exercise giving you trouble. But your problems may point to a structural weakness or muscular dysbalance that needs to be fixed in order to save you from even more trouble in the long run. So you should look for an easier exercise, or DVR, stressing the same muscles.



I think that's a good point. I would not do exercises that you hate or dread doing, but I would look for exercises that work the same body parts that you do like. The easiest way to do this I think would be to add some isos to the push up routine. If you just added like 10 minutes of different powerflex isos a day to the push up routine I think it would balance things out, hit body parts you're not working now, and not be at all time consuming.

[EyeDoc]

Strange. It now says I joined the forum in April 2008 and this is my second post though I've been a member of the forum for like 3 years or so. I love computers.

[omad0n]

We moved forums and so lost our post counts and join dates Eyedoc. Also to the guy who is thinking of getting the T's once he can do 50 consecutive pushups, I say get them now. Working on stabilizing yourself in just various position will consume some time while you get your numbers up.

[jan]

Tony,

I second John´s answer here: stick with what you enjoy most. It is hard to keep a routine going, anything you do for that matter, when you can´t put your heart and soul in it.

Jan

[tony84]

I was thinking about getting the Ts as a christmas gift, but then i decided to wait until my strength was back up to what it used to be. But we'll see maybe i will get them. To answer your question divebomber, i guess i just like how i feel when im doing push ups. I also love how many variations there are, so you can change your routine everyday if u wanted. But most of all i like the simplicity of a stand alone push up routine. I like things simple. I definitly dont hate other exercises tho, i just like this routine. I have two days before my next workout so i got sometime to think in over. Your reply posts were a lot of help everybody, thanks for taking the time.

Tony

[Andy62]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned in this discussion so far is the emotional state that your exercise program puts you in. How do you feel after you work out? I find that after doing DVR/VRT, Isometrics and Isometric Power Flexes that I am in a Positive Mental Attitude that lasts long after the exercise session is over. Over time these exercises also give me increasing control over my mental attitude and my emotions in addition to the physical benefits. Once you have developed these abilities you can put yourself into a positive attitude to help deal with challenges relatively easily and quickly. Frank Rudolph Young mentions doing tensing before an important interview and Alois P. Swoboda mentions doing the same thing periodically for sessions as short as 2 minutes.

[kelbiz]

It seems to me that the two choices, enjoyment and complete development, are connected. If you enjoy working out you will achieve more complete development and as your development is more complete you will enjoy the fruit of your labor.

Two sides of the same coin
Yin and Yang.
Dualistic.
Transformetric Nirvana!

Jack

[divebomber]

tony, you bring up some points I didn't think of when I wrote my above post (e. g. preference of simplicity, enjoyment of a particular movement pattern). I agree to all the other posters that psychological preferences need to be taken into account to ensure long term compliance to any routine.

On the other hand, I know about myself that I prefer those exercises which I belive will get me closer to my training goals. Let's say I feel that my arms look like spaghetti and I desperately crave bigger ams:
> If I believe isolated arm work is the key, I will like DSR and DVR curls best
> If I believe arms need to be worked in compound exercises, I will prefer chins and diamond pushups
> If I believe the largest muscle groups need to be activated to stimulate hormone release and overall anabolism, I will squat and lunge all day long, etc...
You see that my "psychological preferences" are the product of my aims, combined with my (possibly erroneous) beliefs what the best way of achieving them is.

Assuming that you are wired in a similar way, I suspect that you regard pushups as the no.1 exercise to realize your fitness goals. And without question, pushups are a fantastic exercise, maybe even the king of all BW movements. Doing pushups alone, you can achieve fantastic shape, as exemplified by the pushup fundamentalist Ted Skup.

Still, I think regardless of what your fitness goals are, it is virtually impossible that the fastest and safest way of getting there is doing nothing but pushups. You will always benefit by including the right assistance exercises.

In order to develop the necessary stick-to-itiveness to perform these exercises you initially may not like, it is important to analyse how exactly they help you to realize your aims. Once you have a firm belief that doing these additional exercises will get you there sooner, lack of motivation won't be an issue any more.

In order to identify exercises which are worth doing on top of a basic pushup routine, you need to clarify your fitness goals, and tap into your knowledge of how to realize them. A cookie-cutter routine won't do for you.