My son (18) convinced me (48) to do a 1-year challenge starting January 1, 2017. We picked RR and documented our growth over the year. The biggest highlights for me are that I'm stronger at 48 years old than ever in my life. Also BWF greatly improved my Jiu Jitsu game.
You get the details from our
video (
) and
website (http://bwf1year.weebly.com/).
A quick summary follows.
What I've learned:
One year challenges are hard. No, really. Staying dedicated to something for a year and sticking with it is more difficult than I thought it would be. I'm not sure why this surprised me - I've learned that almost everything in life that is valuable takes work - often hard work. As you may have noticed, my partner in this challenge (my son) who started this journey with me, didn't quite make it. I think that's a testimony to how difficult it was. (By the way, ALL OF THIS was his idea.) Not to make an excuse for him, but I don't think fathers are as motivating as sons. Part of the reason I stuck with it was I made a commitment to him.
My thoughts on RR:
I've been pretty clear that I'm a huge fan. As you can see, I gained a little mass - not much. I put on about 3 pounds (started at 165 and now I'm 168 - not all that weight is muscle). Part of this is because my body type. Part of it is because I didn't go super hard for the entire year (3x+ per week, 1 hour + per workout). And part of it is because I'm 48 - I just don't build muscle like I used to.
The biggest upside is that Body Weight Fitness makes sense for your body. I'm not stressing muscles and connective tissue by lifting huge amounts of weight. I got much stronger and was able to work out even when I had minor injuries from BJJ (this was never true for lifting weights - at least for me). I NEVER injured myself from RR. This is huge. My core strength has significantly increased and my agility is better. I felt and saw the results most noticeably in grappling (BJJ). It's real. It's definitely one of the reasons I got my purple belt so quickly (probably shaved a year off that process) and it's why I did so well at the tournament (that and the grace of God
).
Progression summary:
BODY LINE DRILLS
All the positional holds become easier and my form improved considerably. I can hold them all with good form for 60 seconds easily at this point.
SKILL WORK
Handstand
Start: barely hold a wall assisted handstand for 30 seconds
End: Slight wall assisted handstand for 60 seconds (I can hold for about 10 seconds and then need the wall to reset)
Support hold
Start: barely do a parallel bar hold for 40 seconds. I would become shaky around 15 seconds.
End: parallel bar hold for 60 seconds (I tried the rings, but the changing the set-up took too long. One of my goals was to get the workout down to 40 minutes)
STRENGTH WORK
Pull-ups (the L sit and pull up was the most challenging part of this workout consistently for me)
Start: 3 sets (7, 7, 6)
End: 3 sets (11, 9, 8)
Dips (parallel bars)
Start: 3 sets (8,8,8)
End: 3 sets (10,9,8) - my form, depth and stability improved greatly. I tried rings around six months and decided just to stick with the parallel bars mostly because of time.
Squats (with 35 pound kettle bell)
Start: 3 x 10
End: 3 x 10 - The leg work was never challenging but it was good.
L-Sit
Foot supported 3 x 30 seconds (The first week I could barely get my butt more than a 1/4" off the ground)
L- sit with handle grips 1 x 15 seconds, 1 leg foot supported 2 x 40 seconds (alternate sides)
Push-ups (I saw the most progress with push-ups)
Start: 3 x 10 (regular push-up)
End: 3 x 10 (turned-in using the rings - I moved through diamond, and wide rings)
Row Progression
Start: 3 x 8 (horizontal row)
End: 3 x 10 (wide grip row)
You get the details from our
video (
website (http://bwf1year.weebly.com/).
A quick summary follows.
What I've learned:
One year challenges are hard. No, really. Staying dedicated to something for a year and sticking with it is more difficult than I thought it would be. I'm not sure why this surprised me - I've learned that almost everything in life that is valuable takes work - often hard work. As you may have noticed, my partner in this challenge (my son) who started this journey with me, didn't quite make it. I think that's a testimony to how difficult it was. (By the way, ALL OF THIS was his idea.) Not to make an excuse for him, but I don't think fathers are as motivating as sons. Part of the reason I stuck with it was I made a commitment to him.
My thoughts on RR:
I've been pretty clear that I'm a huge fan. As you can see, I gained a little mass - not much. I put on about 3 pounds (started at 165 and now I'm 168 - not all that weight is muscle). Part of this is because my body type. Part of it is because I didn't go super hard for the entire year (3x+ per week, 1 hour + per workout). And part of it is because I'm 48 - I just don't build muscle like I used to.
The biggest upside is that Body Weight Fitness makes sense for your body. I'm not stressing muscles and connective tissue by lifting huge amounts of weight. I got much stronger and was able to work out even when I had minor injuries from BJJ (this was never true for lifting weights - at least for me). I NEVER injured myself from RR. This is huge. My core strength has significantly increased and my agility is better. I felt and saw the results most noticeably in grappling (BJJ). It's real. It's definitely one of the reasons I got my purple belt so quickly (probably shaved a year off that process) and it's why I did so well at the tournament (that and the grace of God
).Progression summary:
BODY LINE DRILLS
All the positional holds become easier and my form improved considerably. I can hold them all with good form for 60 seconds easily at this point.
SKILL WORK
Handstand
Start: barely hold a wall assisted handstand for 30 seconds
End: Slight wall assisted handstand for 60 seconds (I can hold for about 10 seconds and then need the wall to reset)
Support hold
Start: barely do a parallel bar hold for 40 seconds. I would become shaky around 15 seconds.
End: parallel bar hold for 60 seconds (I tried the rings, but the changing the set-up took too long. One of my goals was to get the workout down to 40 minutes)
STRENGTH WORK
Pull-ups (the L sit and pull up was the most challenging part of this workout consistently for me)
Start: 3 sets (7, 7, 6)
End: 3 sets (11, 9, 8)
Dips (parallel bars)
Start: 3 sets (8,8,8)
End: 3 sets (10,9,8) - my form, depth and stability improved greatly. I tried rings around six months and decided just to stick with the parallel bars mostly because of time.
Squats (with 35 pound kettle bell)
Start: 3 x 10
End: 3 x 10 - The leg work was never challenging but it was good.
L-Sit
Foot supported 3 x 30 seconds (The first week I could barely get my butt more than a 1/4" off the ground)
L- sit with handle grips 1 x 15 seconds, 1 leg foot supported 2 x 40 seconds (alternate sides)
Push-ups (I saw the most progress with push-ups)
Start: 3 x 10 (regular push-up)
End: 3 x 10 (turned-in using the rings - I moved through diamond, and wide rings)
Row Progression
Start: 3 x 8 (horizontal row)
End: 3 x 10 (wide grip row)