Topic: Some probably generic questions

[LittleKey]

Hello everyone; I have some questions about fitness. I've read a few of the stickied topics, but they didn't seem to help very much. Also, I know some of these would be easily answered by Google, but I'd rather have opinions from you guys/girls, because I trust you much more than Random Internet Dude.

1. What is hypertrophy?

2. I read this article (http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/229/) and bodyweight training seems pretty awesome. However, everyone here seems to prefer weightlifting; barbells and stuff. Some people also said that it's good to do both. If so, how much of each should I do?

3. The one you probably all saw coming; what do I do? With my lack of knowledge, I don't really know how to specify my goals. I want to be strong (not gigantic buff strong, but... lean) and I want to have endurance. I have a pull-up bar in my house and buying a gym pass is definitely possible. I specifically want to be in excellent shape for parkour of course. What do I do as far as actually working out?

I know I'm being vague with that last one, but once I know more I can probably specify.Thanks everyone!

[arpwer]

ok, i'll answer with what i know, hoping that someone with better knowledge will contribute.......
1. Hypertrophy is one of the two ways your muscles grow. Basically, you muscles cells increase in size as opposed to hyperplasia where they increase in cell number. from what i know(which isn't much rly), hypertrophy is what really happens.
2. Weight training>bodyweight training IF what you're aiming for is increase in strength. If you're doing parkour, I'd say 60% of weight training vs 40% of bodyweight. But that's just me.
3. Well, obviously you're doing parkour right? So say you wanna improve climb-ups, then do weighted pull-ups!
If you wanna improve your jump distance, squat and deadlift! Basically find out where you want to improve and do excercises that target those muscle groups. It's not so hard really.

Hope this helps.
and a tip.....it helps to do your own research instead of simply coming on a forum and expecting ppl to answer questions for you.

[Chris Salvato]

Read this for info on how to set goals:  http://www.eatmoveimprove.com/2009/05/setting-and-achieving-goals/

[LittleKey]

Thanks arpwer; and I know I could find out some of this stuff through my own research, but I wanted to get opinions from people whose opinions I know I can trust (so, people here).

I read the article Chris, it was very helpful and well-written, thanks! The eatmoveimprove article I mentioned in my first post recommended a program that uses only 5 exercises: the squat, deadlift, power clean, bench press, and press. Is this really all I need?

So I guess my goals at the moment would go something like this:
-Be able to run 5 miles at one time by June 21st (end of the school year)
-Be able to do 50 pushups at one time
-Do planche and front lever exercises (vague because I'm not sure how to do sets of bodyweight movements)
-Develop a visible six-pack from eating better, running and core exercises
-Work on lifting (Not sure what exercises I should do for that)

Some of those goals don't have numbers because I don't have a benchmark set for them yet. Once I start, I could add specific details.

One last thing: I noticed on the section where you outline a list of possible goals, under the lifting section you make a distinction between strength and power. Why are those terms different? Thank you very much!

[Steven Low]

bodyweight is superior for strength for the upper body IMO. This does not mean that you shouldn't mix and match barbell and bodyweight work however.

Weights are superior for legs.

If you're aiming for pure mass then weights are superior for both upper and lower body.