I’ve been prioritizing handstand pushup work lately, finding reps with a shortened range of motion (two books from the floor) to be quite the tricep builder just as I’ve found with the military press.
The overhead pattern activates my triceps strongly, and this activation carries over to my nightly pushups.
Recently in conversation I said this work consistently will change my proportions.
When you think about it, that’s the effect of working out.
You change your proportions, and the human body is an extremely modifiable organism.
Somatotypes?
Endomorph?
Mesomorph?
Ectomorph?
Your type will change given the time and stimuli.
Adult height may be set mostly in stone by childhood/young adult nutrition and activity, but adult build has a huge margin of play.
Do you think every 16 year old entering a sumo stable is already 300lbs?
Nope, many are normal thin teenagers.
At 14 I was an endomorph.
A glowing hatred of remaining fat saw me lose 40lbs fast with obsessive compulsive stationary bike riding and a bunch of pushups.
At 15 I was an ectomorph.
I’d changed my somatotype.
I’ve changed it since.
All the weights have me at what I’d define as a meso-endo or endo-meso hybrid that for the most part shifts more and more meso as I keep with the weights.
The prioritization of calisthenics causes an interesting body type shift.
My track pants are more loose now at 250-260 than they were when I force fed up to 197 at 16 years old.
Heavy weights really do make the body bigger.
I’m always thought to be 20lbs lighter than I am.
The crazy thing is between 230 and 260 I don’t see much of a difference visually, though I can feel it.
Bonkers on bent rows and hc&p then eating saw me noticably break into the 270s leaner with the mass gain being mostly in my traps.
Calisthenics make for a more sleek, animalistic look.
At 215lbs (21yo) I felt primal walking around. I did pushups and hindu squats.
It was after six months of tight food budgeting, and little variation.
Lately I’ve been ravenous. While my proportions are changing into the calisthenic sleek animalistic look again.
Occasionally I’ll press or overhead squat.
The majority of my training is pushups, burpees, handstand pushups, bw squats, pullups, machine curls, dips.
I swear I look smaller, yet don’t think the scale has moved. Maybe it’s an optical illusion.
I could be underfeeding.
Sucked in.
It could entirely be the training.
I’m looking more calisthenics built than weights which reflects what I do.
I’ve been ramping up the Cardio Calisthenics™.
If I was to go get rack and barbell access I could partial front squat my way to barbell built in look and feel within weeks.
I’ve even found that military presses and overhead squats alone for barbell work tend to keep with the more sleek hungry wolf calisthenics build.
The overhead pattern just builds more and more triceps.
That minimal lifting on top of calisthenics gives a more and more dense build.
The body is highly changeable.
You can get fat.
Just eat a ton, and quit exercising.
You can starve yourself to skeleton status.
Though once the muscles have been built in the past there are hints when you look at skeletor.
My buddy still had biceps and quads though he’d went from a healthy solid 220 to a sickly looking 160 in a short period of time.
I’d still have a massive chest.
You can get jacked.
The simplest way is 5000+ calories and frequently lifting heavy things.
The human body will move between all the possible variations according to what stimuli your life entails.
It’s an amazing thing.
And it’s always possible.
Everyone has God given genetics, the potential is within you.
Persistence & Tenacity