Description

We have all seen them on television during the Olympics; these powerfulmen performing amazing skills with ease and grace. Watching them performthe question inevitably arises – are they as powerful as they look? And theanswer is – yes. What will probably be even more surprising to you is thatthey build their strength and physiques almost entirely with variousbodyweight exercises.The list of requirements is long and can be rather daunting to prepare aworld class athlete: passive flexibility, active flexibility, joint preparation,static strength, dynamic strength etc. etc. and is probably only interesting indetail to those of us involved with the physical preparation of champions.There are of course some supplemental exercises where weight is added (i.e.weighted leg lifts), however the central premise remains; these amazingathletes have built the vast majority of their strength and power through theuse of bodyweight conditioning