2022-11-23

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My Current Fitness Routine

Long time no see, and I think it is time for another blog entry! Today I will be drifting away from tech related talk, and talk about my fitness routine as that has been my primary interest over the last several months. Back on 2022-04-04 I started my fitness journey with the Convict Conditioning program. To summarize the book it is an old school calisthenics program based around 6 movements:

• Push Ups
• Pull Ups
• Squats
• Leg Raise
• Bridges
• Handstand Pushups

Each of these movements is broken into 10 steps, ranging from simple therapy motions, to very advanced movements. Push ups for example:

• Step 1: Wall Push Ups
• Step 10: One Arm Push Ups

The routine is quite simple, but it has some flaws that several people have found. If you just Google “Convict Conditioning reviews” you will find many arguments against it. Here is what I consider the main flaws:

• Every rep is supposed to take 6 seconds. 2 seconds on the negative, pause for 1 second, then 2 second on the positive, and pause for a count. Then go on to the next rep, this makes each rep far more difficult than needed.
• The rep ranges can be absurd. For example on step 2 of pull ups, your are required to hit 3 sets of 30 reps (3x30 from here on out) of horizontal pull ups/Australian pull ups. I challenge anyone out there to try doing a strict set of 30, let alone 3 sets of these. Not to mention you are supposed to take 6 seconds on each rep, and this is only the second step in the pull up progression series.
• Some of the steps are absurd. The most obvious is the one handed handstand push ups, very few people have ever been able to actually do them in recorded history, so good luck on this one.s
• The Author, Paul Wade, has a lot of mystery surrounding him. To the point where a lot of readers questions his legitimacy. Yet he claims all his finding are the one true answer to fitness, so take what is said with a grain of salt.
• You are only supposed to workout each muscle group once a week (unless you are more advanced when starting this routine)

Now with all those issues, I still think it is as solid program when adjustments are made. I have just recently made adjustments and wanted to post them here. Some of the advice I took from this Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/comments/ualu6/comment/c4trv8z/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3.

Here are the changes I have made:

• Change each progression standard to 3x10
• Workout 3 times a week hitting each group, instead of once a week
• Full squats (squat step 5) proved impossible for me. In CC your thighs are supposed to touch your calves, but for individuals like myself that are tall with small short torsos and long legs, this is genetically very difficult. Here are some links that talk about this anatomy issue:
  • https://cathe.com/3-reasons-you-cant-do-a-deep-squat/
  • https://mind-muscle.co.uk/blog/5-reasons-why-you-cant-squat-with-depth
  • https://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/4-reasons-you-cant-squat-to-depth
• Do to the above, I have recently switched to doing lunges as a replacements for squats, but this means I am essentially stuck at step 5 of the squat progressio
• On my off days I am starting to do flexibility training. In fact, today will be the first time for that, hoping it goes well. The routine I will be following is Bruce Lee’s daily stretching routine. I also own the book: Bruce Lee, The Art of Expressing the Human Body. This is the only other fitness book I own. A great resource, very dense and more useful as a reference book then a straight read through I have found.

All of the above changes I have made within the last week and am already enjoying CC better. Here is where I am at in the progressions:

As for Bridges and Handstand Push Ups I have not started those yet. Paul Wade suggests waiting until you hit step 6 on the first 4 before introducing them. Since I am stopping squats at step 5, I will most likely introduce them when all of the first 4 are on step 5. I may not do the handstand progressions and instead do weight work for shoulders. I am looking into implementing weights to create a hybrid between calisthenics and weight training. There are some interesting pros and cons of this approach: https://www.calisthenics-gear.com/hybrid-weights-calisthenics-program/ . Ultimately I will keep experimenting and working to figure out what works best for me. And I hope you have a good Thanksgiving tomorrow!