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You might believe that strength training is only for muscular young men. But in reality, because you can make the weights as light and heavy as you want, it's for every level. Because you don't need much strength, fitness or technique to start with, it is especially useful for people that are completely out of shape.
I have seen men in their 80s lift weights, and they certainly didn't look ridiculous (in fact they made some younger guys look weak).

One way to start strength training are resistance bands.
I can buy a 25 kg resistance band for 5 Euro that I can easily use for a year, if I don't mind that it gets a little weaker in time. Even if you just use it 10 times it's already great value for money.

Some professional trainers over 40 years, that sell resistance bands, claim that they're better for strength training than "normal" weights. This is of course complete bull$hit. You simply cannot gain muscles as fast with bands as you can with weights.
If you're younger than 30 and serious about bodybuilding or fitness, you should continue training with weights (maybe doing some things with bands for a little variety). But for anybody else they are a serious alternative.


Here are some of the advantages of strength training with resistance bands:
1) They are so small and light that you can carry a set of bands with you and can literally train anywhere. You can sort of do all the exercises in a professional gym with these!
2) You can switch between exercises literally in seconds, which makes them ideal if you want to do multiple exercise with little or no rest in between (for example for a superset).

3) While it's easy to get injured with weights, it's difficult to get inured with resistance bands. One of the possible problems when training with weights to the point of muscle failure (which is the most effective way of training) is that you lose control over the weights, and can get a serious trauma-related injury. With bands this risk simply doesn't exist.
4) It is quite common to lift weights in bad form, diminishing the results of an exercise. I don't really understand how, but resistance bands automatically correct poor form.


The most important care instruction is to not use anything with rough edges for an anchor point. Anything sharp can cause cuts in the band, and it could snap after only a couple of uses.

I don't like the friction of the "loop" resistance bands on my hands when I stretch them, so I use some gloves.
This isn't absolutely necessary though.

It's difficult to give a clear indication of what strength resistance band somebody needs. If you're not used to strength training a 15 kg band should be enough.
When I started training with a 25 kg resistance band in May 2021, it was for exercises that I could do with 40/50 kg weights. Now I do many of these exercises with a 35 kg band (on both sides this is potentially 70 kg), but I haven't added weight to the "normal" versions of these exercises. The only progression I made in the weighted versions is that I now perform these exercises with better form...


The added value of James Grage's videos on training with resistance bands, is that he gives some good tips on how to use them.
The following video shows Grage doing some exercises with bands illustrating that you can do a serious training anywhere...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X4T6WetSIA

If you're simply looking for exercises with resistance bands, the following video shows 63 exercises you can do anywhere, without attaching.
You can also do most of these exercises with anchor points, which I prefer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L08vWPkMftQ


There are some strange things about bodybuilding, basically the objective of bodybuilding muscles is the opposite of strength training in many (other) sports.
In most sports, you want to become stronger without becoming (much) heavier, but in bodybuilding they want to simply get as muscular (and heavy without becoming fat) as possible. One strategy in this is "peak contraction" in which the bodybuilder holds the weight at the end of the movement, and contracts his muscles at the peak. This creates the effect of bulging muscles, but doesn't create much strength.

Serious bodybuilders need so much energy to feed their muscles that it's quite "normal" for them to eat 5 or 6 meals a day.
Another interesting thing to note is that when bodybuilders take the stage for a competition they have an extremely low bodyfat percentage, of below 5%. They achieve this by eating not enough to maintain their weight for 6 to 8 weeks.


Lifting huge weights can take a heavy toll on the body. Arguably the greatest bodybuilder of all time, Ronnie Coleman, who won Mr. Olympia for a record 8 times, had to undergo surgery 15 times. He isn't even that old, born in 1964...
At his peak he weighed an impressive 149 kg offseason at only 1.80 m length.
Since 2021 sitting in a wheelchair maybe never to walk again, but still training: http://bars-time.com/ronnie-coleman-now/


Basically "expert" bodybuilders use many of the same (simple) exercises that beginners use, but with much heavier loads of course.
What sets these high level bodybuilders apart (besides using steroids) is their training strategies. They constantly invent training methods to maximise muscle growth.

What really contrasts to my way of training is the huge amount of rest. Basically doing a set of 30 seconds followed by 2 minute rest, before another set.
The result is more than 45 minutes of rest for 15 minutes of active exercises...

One standard way to reach maximimal results is a training split, in which on different days other muscle groups are trained, with the result that the muscles get more time to recover before they are trained to the maximum again.
The training days are often split in 3 muscle groups, something like:
Day 1, 4, 7, ...: triceps, shoulders, chest.
Day 2, 5, 8, ...: biceps, upper back.
Day 3, 6, 9, ...: legs.


Jim Stoppani is one of the best Youtube bodybuilders.
In the following video Stoppani shows resistance band training, including combinations of weights and bands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlNEOlpf044

In the following video Stoppani shows drop sets, doing a set till failure, immediately followed by another set after dropping some weight.
He also answers some questions from his fans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuVvDH3D-ZI

Technically speaking any exercise where you use your bodyweight for resistance can be called calisthenics. But I think about calisthenics as pull-up bars where they perform (variations of) pull-ups and handstand push-ups.
Doing push-ups or squats doesn't make me a real calisthenics enthusiast does it?

Because you can't isolate your muscles, as when training with weights or bands, the training is both more and less efficient, and a lot more difficult.
They constantly need to "progress" to new exercises, where in regular bodybuilding you can simply continue doing the same exercise with more weights.

What goes against my way of training is that in getting stronger they often aim for a slow and controlled movement, often even keeping certain poses for ten seconds or more.
When I get stronger I try to perform the exercises faster...

While bodybuilders often look the most impressive from the front (biceps, shoulders, chest and quadriceps), calisthenics enthusiasts often have a more muscular back.

In general men seem to train their arms and upper body much more (heavier) than their legs, in calisthenics they don't even seem to have exercises as heavy for their legs as for their arms.
Are there exercises for legs as heavy as for example one-arm pull-ups?

In calisthenics they often use resistance bands.

Chris Heria is one of the most popular calisthenics youtubers. What makes his videos educational is that he shows good progression in exercises. This progression strategy is really how calisthenics change their training in time.
In the following video, Heria shows how resistance bands can be used seperately or in combination with bodyweight exercises. They can both be used to make calisthenics exercises lighter or heavier...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ2lHMP4kco

The following video shows progression in dips. This includes variations that I thought are impossible (a 180 degrees dip, you have to see it to believe it!).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8C3d9Gcdk0



Just about any training for whichever sports is one-sided. The problem with doing only strength training is that I won't give you speed, agility or a good heart and lungs health.
It seems that cardio fitness is a good addition to (only) strength training.

You can combine the 2 by first doing a strength workout program followed by some cardio or you could one day do bodybuilding session and on another cardio.
You can even combine strength training with cardio in something like crossfit.

The most used "hip" name for cardio training is HIIT. My problem is that it insinuates "high intensity" by its name, when really (in most situations) it isn't.
When I look at HIIT workout videos, they are mostly people fitter, younger and lighter than me doing some exercises for 20 to 30 minutes with little or no rest, without going to their limit. This is really "medium" intensity, and while it's great to workout this way for heart and lungs health, it isn't a good way train muscle strength.

The following is a good example.
He even takes scheduled rest breaks that he really doesn't need (or shorter).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxyUhe7IkJM

I prefer the following video over the first, because it trains muscle speed. When you have already reached a peak in heart and lungs health (like the man in the previous video), you can still improve how fit you are by increasing (fast) muscle speed.
When your muscles act faster, with more intensity and have more endurance you get less tired in a match. You could compare this to doing strength training with the same weight after getting stronger, in which situations you can do much more repetitions even though you don't have healthier heart and lungs.

I like the following a whole lot better because this is more about training muscles, instead of almost only cardio (like the previous video).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KHMl4VmGTI


Here's an example of tennis star Novak Djokovic doing some high intensity training. Short explosive outbursts, most some 10 seconds long, that are more for his muscles (mostly legs) than to get his heart rate racing.
https://youtu.be/nGjWhJ0_k_s

The surprising thing about Dutch kickbox champ Rico Verhoeven isn't that he trains hard, but that he does so many sprinting exercises.
Of course he isn't as agile as Djokovic, but he's much faster than I would expect from a 1.95 m, 120 kg giant...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soA3zMCOuIA



There are different ways of progression, the classical weightlifting progression is simply adding more weight.
For me the ultimate progression in strength training is building explosive power.

The start of training for explosiveness isn't really different than for other forms of strength training. It is only when you progress beyond the beginner level that there are distinct differences.
Training for explosive power isn't about training to the point of muscle failure, and even worse is doing an exercise for a certain amount of time (for example 30 seconds). If you train like that you're conditioning your body to decrease intensity, so you can pull out another couple of repetitions. This could make you stronger but slower (less explosive) at the same time...

Many people think that sprinting is "explosive". While it is true that you need explosiveness to be good at sprinting, it is really only the first 10 meter accelaration after the start that is explosive.
For me the ultimate explosive leg workout is jumping. Ironically sprinters can become faster by jump exercises...
You need a good heart and lung health before you're capable of training explosive.

One of the strange things about my "progression" towards training for explosive power is that I decrease the number of repetitions of basically the same exercises, but with more speed and intensity.

This is sort of how progression in getting explosive through strength training looks.
1) Building muscle through "normal" (islolated) muscle building exercises (basically the same as the start for other strength training).
2) Increasing the speed of motion (ballistic) when doing muscle building exercises (sometimes with less weight, so they can be performed at higher speed).
3) Plyometric exercises, like jumping or hand clap push-ups.

When you already do plyometric exercises without getting injured (or a heart attack..), you are already fit.
At this point you can simply increase the intensity of the exercises, for example by jumping higher, or sprinting faster. At one point you will reach a plateau, and can only get even more explosive by adding "contrast" exercises to your training.

Contrast training is sort of a way to "fool" your muscles that to get even stronger.
In this type of training you combine relatively slow exercises, for example weighted squats, with an explosive outburst, for example jumping or a short sprint.
Another way to still make progress is by training your muscles in ways that they're not used to, for example moving around in different directions on hand and feet as fast as you can (never mind how silly you look!).

The following trainer doesn't look very explosive himself, but he has a good understanding and training method for explosive power.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56WvX29KG7U

If you want to take your jumping to the next level, this is the kind of training that you could try (you don't need any equipment).
Training in the sand makes this much harder...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sgtlesh7LHw

In 2020, I noticed that my muscles were getting stiff (almost like they had shortened), so I started stretching, including some movements that are considered "yoga".
This has worked as well as I hoped, except for my shoulders that still don't have the mobility they had.

I get frustrated with these meditation exercises and awful music, but yoga can be a good alternative also for strength training.
The only important thing missing in this type of training is cardio...

Here are some examples of yoga poses that also build strength (some of the exercises are also used in calisthenics).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkWiAIkLKvs


There is another aspect to consider when stretching. That is a combination of stretching and flexing the muscle: isometric stretching (or the similar PNF). It's basically stretching the muscle and then flexing the muscle, sort of to get it out of the stretched position...
This is not recommended for young people whose bones are still growing.

You have to take similar precautions with isometric stretches as "normal" strength training, first warm up and do not target an injured muscle.
The results aimed for are, increased - 1) range of motion, and 2) strength in stretched positions: https://www.projectswole.com/flexibilit ... tretching/


Men's Health has a huge collection of instructional articles and videos on strength training, and even the following on yoga poses: https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/g227 ... s-for-men/

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The problem with bodybuilding training tips is that we all look to the top, Mr. Olympia winners. What works for professionals with their balloon steroid muscles, for most amateurs does more harm than good. For professional bodybuilders it's probably good to take every single set to muscle failure.
But for the overwhelming majority of "normal" people this will actually slow the gains they make and can lead to injuries.

The best "smart" way to train is to leave roughly 1-3 repetitions in the tank, instead of taking every set to failure. And doing only a couple of sets to muscle failure towards the end of your training.
Of course going too easy and stopping 5 repetitions or more short of failure won't bring you maximal results either.
https://youtu.be/Smcam1clx-I
https://builtwithscience.com/training-to-failure/


When you're training for explosive power, instead of muscle mass, it's even more important to NOT go to muscle failure.

Firestarter wrote: ↑Fri Apr 08, 2022 5:14 pmTraining for explosive power isn't about training to the point of muscle failure, and even worse is doing an exercise for a certain amount of time (for example 30 seconds).

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One way to increase the amount of bodyweight exercises you could do are rings (or TRX). I've seen people attaching their rings over a big tree branch, so it could also expand the places where you can train.
One strange thing about push exercises on rings, is that they become much heavier because you also have to stabilise yourself.
Because you can higher or lower the rings (by adjusting the length of the rope or angle), you can make the exercise lighter or heavier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHHw3tjEho0

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Probably the best-known upper body bodyweight strength exercise is the push up. Even reasonably high-level calisthenics freaks often do a couple of fast sets of push ups in their workout.
While these calisthenics experts know how to do good form push ups, most people don't do them correctly. They're a lot harder than most people know.

For many people complete push ups are too heavy. You can make them lighter by putting your hands on an elevated surface.
To make things heavier there are other exercises, but you could do also add a resistance band behind your back while doing the push up.

Most people don't go down low enough for their push ups.
You have to go down as low as possible, until your chest (or in my case, upper thigh or lower belly) almost touches the ground.

Most people put their hands too wide on the ground and flare their elbows out when they go down.
Your hands should be just outside shoulder-width, with your elbows tucked in instead of flared out.


Jeremy Ethier also argues that you should slow down your push ups, as this increases the time your muscles are under tension. He seems to not understand that there are good reasons to go fast, for example if you train for explosive power.
The only good reason to not speed up your push ups, is that it increases the risk of an injury: https://builtwithscience.com/perfect-push-up-form/


The best grip to bench press for building muscle, is very similar to the perfect form push up.
Grab the bar with a grip a bit wider than shoulder width (150% the distance between the acromion, the bony points on top of your shoulders). Keep your elbows tucked in at 30-60 degrees from your torso.

You should bring the bar down to your chest, to about your nipples or even lower, and push it upward to just above your shoulders.
I do NOT advise the dangerous "suicide grip" though, unless you have a good spotter...
https://youtu.be/qS9fVRrmyVY
https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/th ... press.html


One thing that surprises (frustrates) me is the incredible amounts of (I guess one rep max) "average" bench presses for bodyweight and age. Even when I use all the excuses I can think of, I still don't come close. Furthermore I've seen people train at the "outside gym", most of these aren't very serious, but hardly anybody comes close to the beginner averages listed on the web (see the link)...
Although there are also stories of "A person in their 40s should be able to bench press 80 percent of their body weight" (which I can on a good day).

As my bodyweight is almost 100 kg, and have been seriously training for 3 years and 5 months, or intermediate, I should be able to bench press 111 kg. I have done sets with maximum weight of 75/80 kg (including the bar that weighs I guess 5/10 kg): https://www.strengthlog.com/bench-press ... ndards-kg/


Another explanation is using some sort of "special technique" (I don't know how better to describe this in 2 words), where you place your hands wide on the bar, put your feet on your toes on the ground towards your butt, and then arch your back.
This is the form used by powerlifters that train to push as much weight, including using secundary muscles (legs) to push up the weght.

When you're training for muscle strength this is not the best way of training and this probably increases the chance of an injury.

The following shows 14 year old girl Maryana Naumova, bench pressing 140 kg (310 lb) with an overarched back. While I find it hard to imagine that this girl is stronger than me, I couldn't do this.
They do cheat a little, and she wears one of those special bench press shirts, but it is still very impressive (more than double what I see many men doing that have been weight training for years).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvepqm1NrJI

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There are all of these theories about perfect proportions, while there are many, many stories praising the "golden age" of bodybuilding, compared to the current crop of steroids balloon muscles that get bigger every year. There is one part of the body nobody wants big - the belly.

In the 1990s, the ever expanding muscles reached the waist, with the Palumboism, bubble gut phenomenon as the result, with massive shredded six-packs over a bloated and inflated midsection (this isn't fat!).
Bodybuilders can suck their belly in to still look impressive, but sometimes they lose control.

See Kai Greene and Phil Heath (7 time Mr. Olympia, I'm almost sure) on stage.

https://archive.ph/P9Glf


Also when the abs separate on the vertical centre line and deviate to the sides (which also happens to women during pregnancy), diastasis recti, isn't good...

See Ronnie Coleman, 8 time Mr. Olympia, with a bad case of diastasis recti.


It not only happens to bodybuilders (and pregnant women) but also to men with a big "beer" belly (but you won't see it here for obvious reasons): https://dc-dermdocs.com/diastasis-recti ... nd-causes/

I could have expected that my right knee would get injured... training like a madman. But it does seem odd that I didn't really do anything different, and suffered a serious knee injury in early September anyway that is still troubling me. Obviously I tore a tendon (not ripped all the way through though).
The only thing I did was increase training intensity...

After about 5 1/2 weeks of slow progress I injured my knee again, this time it became very swollen, which has since been one of the most important symptoms. The swollen knee is sort of like a symptom, but in turn causes more knee problems than the original tendon injury (which as far as I can tell has healed by now).
It's strange that strength exercises would help, as knee mobility is the biggest problem. But it seems that strength exercises are very important to recover knee mobility and strength.


Cycling - swelling
It seems that cycling is the best remedy against swelling.
With the exception of the first week after I re-injured my knee, when it was too swollen up, I could always ride my bike (although only short distances and slow at first). This makes (and keeps) the swelling go down.


Progression - bodyweight exercises
For the first week after a serious knee injury you cannot do any real "training". You have to endure the pain and keep moving to prevent it stiffening up.
After that strength exercises are about the first exercises you can do (besides cycling). Progression with these bodyweight exercises is mostly going down lower.

Wall sit is a good first strength exercise.
Squats, with 2 legs, come next. You can hold on to something when this is too heavy.
When squats become "easy", you can do lunges.


Quick fixes
Progression over 12 weeks (and counting!) has been frustratingly slow. Sometimes when I optimistically think, maybe in 2 weeks I can already do some normal running, the knee gets swollen up again, and I think that it could take another 2 months before I'm fit.
There have only been a couple of instances, when suddenly 1 or 2 days after I try a "new" exercise, my knee is a lot better. Unfortunately after this quick "fix", progression slows down.

Lying hamstring curl - bending leg
After about 2 1/2 weeks of the original injury, I could only bent my leg about 15 degrees, unassisted. I could however, using my hands, easily bend it more than 90 degrees.
One day I did a hamstring curl, lying on my belly without any weight, not being able to bend my leg more than 15 degrees. Then I assisted my injured (right) leg with my good leg to easily bend it 90 degrees. After this, surprisingly, I could do another set bending my injured leg without assistance. After a few more sessions, I could bend my injured leg, lying on my belly, without the previous assisted set, to 90 degrees.
Suddenly I could also walk a lot better (with bending only 15 degrees, you walk with almost a straight leg).


Leg press - cycling
After about 7 1/2 weeks of the original injury, I did leg presses with a resistance band, lying on my back.
The next day, suddenly cycling went a lot better.


Lying hamstring curl - extending leg
While there has been progress most days (except when my knees gets swollen again, and when I injured it again) in bending my knee, knee extension hardly progressed at all. I tried to solve this by stretching, pushing my knee down to straigthen my leg. This only resulted in knee pain...

After about 10 weeks of the original injury, I tried resistance band hamstring curls lying on my belly.
The next day I could suddenly extend my leg a lot further. Once again after that progress slowed, but I could walk a lot better in a day.
My injured leg is still much weaker than my good leg in this exercise (with leg presses the strength is almost the same).

The following video shows how to do resistance band hamstring curls.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb5HSvWcS-w


Calf raise - extending leg
Today I did single-legged calf raises for the first time in a long time, and immediately I could practically fully extend my leg and can walk almost normal...


I hope that in 2 weeks I can train "normal" again, needing another month to get completely fit (training like a madman once again...).

Firestarter wrote: ↑Sun Nov 27, 2022 8:49 pmI hope that in 2 weeks I can train "normal" again, needing another month to get completely fit (training like a madman once again...).

I sort of expected that it would take a little longer, but not so terribly long.
In February my knee deteriorated, not drastically but troubling nonetheless, so I took more rest days, quit running and jumping altoghether, and since then I only do slow, controlled strength exercises for hamstrings and quadriceps, besides the usual walking and cycling.

On good days, my knee feels good enough to start running again.
On bad days, it feels like I have to wait another month.

As this was (is) evidently a serious injury, I think I can better wait too long than start too soon.
So I will wait a little longer before resuming the high intensity cardio workouts that I was used to before my knee injury...

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Firestarter wrote: ↑Sat Oct 08, 2022 7:59 pmThat is a combination of stretching and flexing the muscle: isometric stretching (or the similar PNF). It's basically stretching the muscle and then flexing the muscle, sort of to get it out of the stretched position...

It is also possible to do isometric strength exercises, where you flex your muscles without movement. You can do these types of exercises with just about any strength exercise, whether bodyweight, weights or even restistance bands. The main advantage seems to be that you can still train your muscles with an injury, and the biggest problem is that it can get boring.
Adding a pause during an exercise (often at the beginning or end of the movement) is a variety of isometric exercises.
I do static holds as a finisher of a workout, going to muscle failure.


There are 2 types of isometrics (besides stretching):

1) Overcoming isometrics is when you are pushing as hard as you can against an immovable object. This is often done by powerlifters. It can be quite taxing, wear you out fast, and can cause injuries.
I stopped doing this, in part because it makes me feel like a complete idiot. Huffing and puffing while trying to move something that won't budge.

2) Yielding isometrics (static holds) is when you’re holding a position. This is often done in calisthenics, 2 of the best-known examples are the planche and wall-sit: https://dannorthfitness.com/2-types-of- ... nd-muscle/


Here are some examples of yielding bodyweight isometric exercises (it isn't very difficult and you can do it with every exercise).
https://youtu.be/_-m-van_h1c


Here are some more examples, including an explanation how isometric exercises can be used for high-level athletes: https://simplifaster.com/articles/isome ... gth-speed/


Like with "normal" calisthenics exercises, there is progression in isometric exercises.
The following includes exercises that are too advanced for (most) beginners, like the L-sit and back lever: https://antranik.org/progression-exerci ... tic-holds/

Firestarter wrote: ↑Mon May 08, 2023 8:15 pmOn good days, my knee feels good enough to start running again.
On bad days, it feels like I have to wait another month.

Since May, I’ve continued to (only) do “slow”, controlled strength exercises for my legs (besides riding my bike and walking), and while there has been continuous improvement, except for some “bad” days, only very slow. Only in November I started doing some “fast” exercises again, including jumping (just about anything not too heavy but running).
What started as a knee injury has caused my leg muscles (mostly quadriceps and hamstrings) to “malfunction” (even though I don’t have a muscle injury). In December, I figured out that my inner thigh is now the most important problem with recovering from my “knee” injury. It could even be that weakness of my inner thighs was the root cause of my original knee injury.

In general it looks like “nobody” in the bodybuilding, fitness or calisthenics fields actually trains their inner thighs. The only “regular” exercises I know of that specifically target this area are cardio and agility drills (of which jumping jacks are the best known). Possible exercises that target this area include moving the knees from side to side like in skiing or kicking a ball with the inside of your foot. But this isn’t strength training. Some bodybuilding morons wrongfully claim that doing (sumo) squats with your toes pointing outwards targets your inner guads.
The Copenhagen plan is the only (not very popular) serious strength exercise that really hits the inner thighs that I found on the internet. But this doesn’t look useful to me at this point as it is too heavy for my leg (my knee!), and even seems like more of a core exercise (than leg). Leg extensions also hit the inner quadriceps, but these give me a knee injury…

When I looked for instructional videos on training inner thighs, I only found a very small amount, and only by female trainers. To make the following video into strength exercises, you could add ankle weights.
I’ve adopted the first “kicking” exercise into a strength builder, using a light resistance band attached to a low anchor point, slowing down the movement and holding onto something for balance. I’m now finally, after months of very slow improvement, making “fast” progress again (finally fit in 2 weeks?!?h).
https://youtu.be/qqUpFHzCzfU



I’ve noticed that most fitness trainers on the net advise to do exercises so heavy that you reach muscle failure within 6 to 8 repetitions. I get better result at 12-15 repetitions, and not going to muscle failure each set. These trainers even advise training this heavy when they refer to studies that show that “light” weights build as much muscle as “heavy”!

To add some variety, I sometimes train “light” for a period of a couple of weeks, fast repetitions at relatively light weight (or “lighter” resistance bands…), so I can do more than 15 repetitions per set.
This training strategy is explained in the following video.
https://youtu.be/QOT8qn0Ag0w



I can do 3/4 chin-ups, which isn’t too bad at 106 kg and 49 years of age, but I haven’t seen much (if any) improvement over the last year. Maybe the strangest is that with a 35 kg resistance band for support, which should make it easy, I can do only 7 pull-ups max. With the not-important problem that I’m embarrassed at this poor performance…
In December 2023, I stopped doing pull-ups (or chin-ups) altogether. I’m hoping for a similar result as with dips on parallel bars, that improved considerably after I stopped doing them for 2 months (that was quite a surprise to me). I already did inverted bodyweight rows and resistance band rows, but I’m now also doing resistance band lat pulldowns, with 60 kg resistance bands (potentially 120 kg weight…).

The following video features resistance band back exercises, including lat pulldown and rows.
https://youtu.be/bLZQ7tBJYQ4