Can I Get Strong?
Jul 23, 2023
I was recently asked if Rocking Hindu Pushups would make someone stronger. I get questions like this a lot. Will crawling make me stronger? Can rolling make me stronger? Can I add muscle size with pushups?
Ok, that last question is different, but at the same time, it’s the same question.
People want to know if they will get bigger, stronger, and better from the exercises they are doing. After all, no one wants to waste their time. But regardless of the question, or the exercise, my answer is always the same: Yes.
Yes, you can get stronger with Rocking Hindu Pushups. Yes, you can gain muscle size and definition by doing pushups or pull-ups. Yes, you can even get stronger and build definition with walking. But it’s a layered and conditional yes, and it also depends on other variables.
Strength has layers. The way rolling, rocking, and Rocking Hindu Pushups build strength is that they lay the foundation for strength. They help you build stability and mobility, the cornerstones of strength expression. When you have your foundation in place, you can naturally express the strength you have, AND you can then add even more strength to your body through other movements and methods of training. Without a solid foundation, “strength training” is pretty much like trying to build a house on sand. It may look good, but it won’t hold up in a storm or when things get rough.
The way pushups and pull-ups add strength is through repetition. Done regularly and often, they build an efficient and proficient nervous system that can easily express those patterns. This is another layer of strength, neural strength.
What about hypertrophy and definition? Even from pushups? Even from crawling? Well, some will disagree, but yes, these movements can also help lead to muscle growth and aesthetics. But as I said, this also depends on other variables beyond the movements themselves. Things like training consistency, volume, load, nutrition, and BELIEF - these things all play a part in the outcome of what you can achieve by doing certain movements.
If your intensity (load, volume, speed, etc.) isn’t there, your size results will be lacking.
If your nutrition isn’t there, your definition or aesthetics will be lacking.
If your belief isn’t there, your mind is sabotaging your body, and your results will be lacking.
Can you get stronger doing Rocking Hindu Pushups? Yes, in all its layers, yes. IF you do them with consistency, intensity, nutrition, and with the directed intention, you can build foundational strength, neural strength, muscular strength, hypertrophy, and definition.
Or, you can just use some movements as springboards for other movements. You can use rocking to build foundational strength. You can add a layer to that foundation by adding just a touch more “load” with Rocking Hindu Pushups. Once that is easy, you can add more load by progressing to regular Hindu Pushups. Once that gets easy, you can add more load by performing inverted pushups with your feet elevated. Once that gets easy, you can add even more load by performing handstand pushups with your feet against a wall for balance. This is a progressive path to strength expression that is built by showing up consistently. It CAN be a progressive path to aesthetic expression, but that has more variables than just showing up.
The point is, you can get stronger doing just about anything if you want to and you are willing to invest in it and explore it. That’s where the joy of real strength is found, in the investment of curious exploration and imagination.
You can get strong. That’s the takeaway from all of this. The truth is you are already strong, but you may not have access to your strength. Yet! To get access, just apply the things I mentioned above. Or, start exploring this: The Rocking Hindu Pushup
Comments (1)
Michael:
Aug 08, 2023 at 07:31 PM
Hi Tim, I love your articles. Do you recommend training every day? For example push-ups, pull-ups etc. What would be a good starting point in terms of sets and reps? Thank you very much.
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