Today we feature a guest review from bodyweight exercise blogger Parth Shah:
My name is Parth Shah, and I’ve been blogging about working out at home since February 2007. I started my site, ShahTraining.com, as a way to share my views of at home training—especially bodyweight exercise. Over the years it has become a source of practical home fitness information and has developed a loyal following.
I’m an average guy who likes to work out and write about working out. I’m not selling anything, and I’m certainly not a world-class trainer like Coaches Sonnon, Steer, and Murdock. And after years of training in my home gym—which is outfitted with a 16kg kettlebell, 300lb barbell set, 15lbs medicine ball, makeshift bench, makeshift pullup bar, jump rope, sledgehammer, and push up handles—I thought I’d seen and done it all.
About a year ago I began promoting and reviewing products on my website as a way to continue blogging and potentially to support myself. After purchasing many bodyweight training eBooks, I literally rolled my eyes when I came across Coach Steer and Murdock’s “Bodyweight Exercise Revolution.”
“Not Another Bodyweight Program!”
I rolled my eyes because I’d seen my fair share of bodyweight exercise programs. “This must be just another bodyweight eBook,” I thought, “talking about the same old exercises, and providing the same old routines.”
Before purchasing Bodyweight Exercise Revolution (BER), I had never heard of Coach Steer or Murdock. I had heard of Circular Strength Training® and Coach Sonnon, of course. In fact, I used to read the original version of the RMAX/CST website. It was there that I was first introduced to density training, which I began to implement into my training to improve my numbers in certain exercises.
After downloading BER, I started skimming through it. The first thing that stood out was the exercises—I had never seen anything like them before. I performed the first workout later that week, and I honestly found it quite easy. I probably needed to use a more advanced level of sophistication on some of the bodyweight exercises, but I didn’t know it at the time.
Certain movements, such as the basic leg swoop, were surprisingly challenging. I still haven’t tried every single movement in the Bodyweight Eexercise Revolution manual, but I did realize I had stumbled upon something truly unique. After actually reading the full eBook, I also learned a lot of brand new exercise concepts.
One of the biggest lessons I learned was how to better organize my overall training program. Before BER, all my workouts were performed at a high intensity level. I must say I went through some severe training cycles, but I thought it was just a part of training.
During the summer, I used to train with my buddies in my backyard and garage. We’d go 5-6 days a week. We were training at a super high intensity level using metabolic conditioning workouts comparable to Crossfit and GymJones. By the end of the summer all of us were banged up, tired, and suffering from overuse injuries—especially in the shoulders, wrists, and knees.
The injuries sucked, but we were also a lot leaner, stronger, and bigger than we were at the beginning of the season. The problem was, it didn’t last. We all went into hibernation and dramatically decreased our training when the weather turned cold. We went from a period of extreme high intensity training to being near-sedentary, over and over again, every year.
I’ve noticed a very similar pattern with athletes who go through periods of on-season and off-season training. Many bodybuilders also go through extreme cycles of bulking and cutting. After reading Bodyweight Exercise Revolution and learning how the 4×7 system works, I realized how dangerous these extreme periods of training are.
The Drawback to Extreme Training
There are many drawbacks to extreme training, and I’ve experienced most of them. I’ve also seen them in my friends and in other individuals I trained with. A propensity to injury is the most obvious one. Without paying attention to proper recovery, you’re putting your body at risk of a sidelining injury.
I’m a young guy, so I bounced back from these injuries pretty quickly. But I still experienced a nasty cycle: I went from being fat to lean to fat to lean to fat to lean. Why? Because I would overtrain, burn myself out, and then “rest” for a few months before realizing I had to start working out again.
CST’s 4×7 method of periodization was an eye opener for me. This simple protocol allows you to program both high intensity and recovery sessions within the context of your program.
I learned the hard way that simply warming up with dynamic stretches before each training session isn’t enough. You really do need to devote a full session to your recovery, and it needs to be specifically scheduled within your overall training program. Don’t let your body get to the point of breaking before you start focusing on recovery.
In conclusion, Bodyweight Exercise Revolution and Bodyweight Blueprint For Fat Loss have a lot of great new exercises, techniques, and a training methodology you won’t see in any other bodyweight training manual. But one of the biggest lessons you will learn is this: health and fitness should have a long-term focus.
Don’t just work out for the sake of vanity and to achieve short-term goals. Make it a lifestyle.
About Parth Shah:
Parth Shah is an average joe who loves training in the comfort of his own home. He blogs about bodyweight training and other forms of home fitness on ShahTraining.com. You can read more of his reviews at shahtraining.com
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I just shot Parth an email this past weekend telling him how much I liked his website. That may have been where I first heard about BER. I can relate to the overtraining and injuries, I went through this in my early 20’s in the gym. I’m using BER to get my mobility and flexibility back. It actually seems to be happening pretty quickly.
Thanks for insight Parth. I’ve been where you’ve been. I purchased BER just a few days ago and is now on the first cycle.