`Jonathan Pawlowicz
Terril
English 250
10 April 2017
What’s Behind the Push Up?
The fitness world is a world controlled by the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs start companies that promise quick results and large increases in strength. Youtube channels have become one of the newer culprits of this fitness takeover. Many of these youtube channels are now businesses that focus on selling their products to the bodybuilding crowd that is susceptible to their selling techniques. These channels sell their workout plans or equipment that promise better results. One common belief about working out is the importance of how your testosterone levels affect your strength. Testosterone is believed to improve your experience at the gym. Furthermore, how long should a workout last and how accurate are these youtube channels? This essay will consider how the common beliefs about weightlifting and calisthenics compare to professional opinions in the athletic fields.
One of the many youtube channels that talks about workouts is the ATHLEAN-X channel. The ATHLEAN-X channel covers their opinion on effective workouts, sporting their own series of get stronger quicker workouts. Looking at their channel page, it seems very similar to many of the other workout channels that I have seen before. The first pointer was that they have workouts aimed towards people with busy schedules and do not want to spend an hour at the gym. Many of their videos are sporting titles such as “quick 10 minute full body workout.” ATHLEAN-X’s ‘quick fix’ videos include “ Chest Workout (SORE IN 6 MINUTES!) as well as Fast, Brutal Leg Workout (SORE IN 6 MINUTES). This use of setting a designated time to complete a workout aimed to give you quick results is used very widely in workout channels. For example, another Youtube channel called Pigmie does the same but in intervals of 5 minute training lessons instead of 6. The second pointer was the countless number of motivational videos found on these channels. These motivational videos attempt to motivate you to workout. You now have almost everything you need to stay in shape. you have workouts, you have motivational videos to keep you motivated, now all you need is a workout plan or fitness product. Luckily for you, that workout plan or fitness product is advertised at the end of every video on this ATHLEAN-X channel. Now that you’ve experienced a taste of their workout plan or watched their motivational videos and are now ready to leave for the gym, the channel tries to sell you a better solution. This is not a special occurrence, many youtube channels follow suit in this endeavor. The previously stated Pigmie channel attempts to sell you their own training regimen which they call Bodyweight Beast. Another Youtube channel called OFFICIALTHENX tries to sell you their pre-workout powder called THENX Ignite.
This trend of short but intense workouts begs the question, how long should a workout last? According to Todd Schroeder, PhD, on webMD, the length of a workout does not matter as much as how much recovery time you take. The only mention towards time is that he recommends that you have shorter rest periods during your workout. However, you should not push yourself too hard. “Overdoing a workout could backfire. Elite athletes (and amateurs who overtrain), can see a drop in their testosterone level, which is a sign that they’re doing harm to their bodies. In these cases, they tend to have low testosterone and high cortisol, a stress hormone”. He also notes that a rise in cortisol can be linked to a fall in testosterone. Therefore, while the time period in which you lift does not matter to boost testosterone, the intensity and rest period during workouts can increase or decrease your testosterone levels.
After concluding that testosterone can increase or decrease due to intensity and rest periods during a workout, we need to explore the relevance of testosterone to your workout. According to a journal written by many authors, including Philip E Knapp, a boost in testosterone results in increases in strength and well-being. “Leg press strength increased significantly in testosterone-treated (P = 0.027), but not placebo-treated, men. Men receiving testosterone demonstrated significantly greater improvements in mental health and quality-of-life scores than those receiving placebo and improvements in fatigue/energy and mood scores that were not significantly different from those receiving placebo”(Knapp). Testosterone improves muscle growth, improved mental health, and better quality-of-life. Overall, the period of time in which you workout is not important as long as you do not workout too intensively as well as keep the rest periods during your workout minimal.
According to a youtube video called “Calisthenics Workouts: Pros and Cons (TOP 4!)” by ATHLEANX, Calisthenics have a handful of advantages and disadvantages. The first advantage the video mentions is that Calisthenics is the cheapest option compared to lifting weights. One quick search showed me how expensive some weight lifting equipment could be. You could buy equipment for as cheap as $2 for a single weight or as high as $12,000 for an all purpose machine. For reference I have chosen a $50 40-lb dumbbells as dumbbells are one of the most used pieces of equipment used in weightlifting. A person who works out at home will spend $50 for a set of 40-lb dumbbells, or that same person could subscribe for a gym membership. According to their associated websites, Lifetime Fitness costs $121 monthly for 2 All Club Access Memberships, Planet Fitness costs $20 monthly, and LA Fitness costs $30 a month. While these seem hefty prices for gyms, you will have access to countless machines and free weights that you will have access to. As for Calisthenics, all the workouts use minimal external pieces of equipment. The most common piece of equipment is a pull-up bar, most commonly attachable to a door frame. On amazon.com, a higher-end pull-up bar that can be attached to a door frame will cost $50 while a basic pull-up bar can cost as little as $20. In accordance with the video’s first advantage, it can be seen why Calisthenics is known to be less expensive. Calisthenics does not need an expensive gym membership or pricey equipment to get a full workout in.
While considering equipment, ATHLEANX’s video brings up a valid point about calisthenics. Calisthenics can be done anywhere. The producer says in the video, “On my yearly trip to Canada over the summers, I wind up finding myself with no access to anything but my surroundings. I have incorporated stones and rocks into my training if need be”(ATHLEAN-X). I have seen this in my personal life as well as others. The most common Calisthenic workout is the pushup and you could do pushups almost anywhere. Bench dips are more difficult, however they can be accomplished by simply incorporating a chair into your workout.
One of the disadvantages in the video is that calisthenics become much more difficult with an injury. “One of the assets of them being that they’re compound in nature can also be one of their detriments in that they don’t allow you to be very specific or joint specific if you’re trying to train around an injury.” Let’s say you hurt your tricep on your left arm. According to healthline.com, “In the standard pushup, the following muscles are targeted:
- Chest muscles, or pectorals
- Shoulders, or deltoids
- Back of your arms, or triceps
- Abdominals
- The ‘wing’ muscles directly under your armpit, called the serratus anterior”
Therefore, anytime that you hurt one of these muscles, it refrains you from doing many workouts such as pushups. Following with the story of a hurt tricep, all forms of: push ups, dips, pull ups, and planks use the tricep. This results in a complete standstill for almost all forms of upper body calisthenic workouts. Looking at weight lifting workouts, upper body workouts can still be done by avoiding the tricep. For example, the lat pulldown. The lat pulldown is a machine where you sit down and pull a weight from above you. according to healthyliving.com,” The primary muscle worked by the lat pulldown is the latissimus dorsi. This muscle is a large fan-shaped muscle that spans from the middle of the back, wrapping around the side and covering part of the lower three ribs. The lat pulldown also works surrounding muscles, including the teres major and minor, trapezius, rhomboids, infraspinatus and serratus posterior inferior”. All these muscles are part of the upper body while avoiding the use of the tricep. In conclusion, the video accurately articulates this disadvantages that calisthenics are not good for injured people because they can not avoid using a specific muscle like weightlifting.
Another disadvantage mentioned in the video is that calisthenics is harder to progress. “Probably the biggest issue when it comes to bodyweight exercises are that they are going to be harder to progress and it certainly is not going to be as intuitive to you of how to progress so you need a solid understanding about how your body moves.” For example, a progression from a standard pushup can go many different paths: you could spread your hands wider, you could bring your hands closer into a triangle pushup, you can elevate your legs, you can pushup with one arm or one leg. This can become very complex very quickly. A wide grip pushup will emphasize your chest while a T push up targets the whole body. This is a major disadvantage compared to a weightlifting progression that is as simple as adding weight to a bar. During workouts, people who do not want to consider the next progression will choose weight lifting over calisthenics because of the simplicity of the “next step”. In conclusion, ATHLEAN-X is correct in saying that calisthenics has a more complex, and therefore harder, progression to follow.
Fitness is a topic near and dear to many people’s hearts. Many believe that their training method is the best method for increasing in strength and health. The Youtube fitness takeover has resulted in many entrepreneurs to enter the world of fitness through this venue. Many of these channels tell you of the advantages and disadvantages of certain workouts, such as our example with ATHLEAN-X’s video. This new outburst on fitness channels sends us on a fact search to see whether or not the information given to us is valid. The period of time that you workout is not as important as we previously thought as well as the information about testosterone and muscle growth has held its ground. Many of ATHLEAN-X’s beliefs on calisthenics are correct. The common beliefs of many fitness channels stand true when compared to academic opinions in the athletic field
Works Cited
Knapp, Philip E., Thomas W. Storer, Karen L. Herbst, Atam B. Singh, Connie Dzekov, Jeanne
Dzekov, Michael LaValley, Anqi Zhang, Jagadish Ulloor, and Shalender Bhasin. “Effects of
a Supraphysiological Dose of Testosterone on Physical Function, Muscle Performance,
Mood, and Fatigue in Men with HIV-Associated Weight Loss.” American Journal of
Physiology: Endocrinology and Metabolism 294, no. 6 (06, 2008): E1135-E1143,
(accessed April 12, 2017).
Metcalf, Eric, MPH. “Does Working Out Affect Testosterone Levels?” WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.
ATHLEAN-X. Calisthenics Workouts: Pros and Cons (TOP 4!). YouTube, 10 Mar. 2016. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.
Bowling, Nicole. “What Muscles Do Pushups Work?” Healthline. Ed. Peggy Plethcer.
Healthline Media, 19 July 2016. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.
Martin, Ronny Marie. “What Muscle Does the Lat Pulldown Work?” Azcentral.
Healthyliving.azcentral.com, 08 Jan. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.