What type of training is the most effective

[roc]

What type of training is the most effective? Band Training, Free Weight Traing, Tube Training such as (Bowflex) are the only the im aware of. I have been thinking lately that Free Weight training might not be the most effective way to train as most say because if you were to take a gorilla for example they would be able to bench press 4000lbs or a monkey which is 4 times strong than a human the type of our human training is not even close to their strength. Yes i know they have different lifestyles but if anyone knows which is most effective please reply.

[jonathan]

Free weights without a doubt.

 

Jonathan

[VeganEssentials]

A 2nd for free weights.

 

Bands, tubes and other things of that nature can never mimick moving a real object to anywhere near the degree that a barbell or dumbbells can, and unfortunately the carryover strength won't be too great from such things as well. Being able to deadlift a 500 lb. barbell off the floor will help you to be able to move a big-screen TV quite a bit, but pulling against tubes that may be 200 lbs. of resistance at the start and 400 at the finish won't be the same. If you've ever pulled on a band of sorts, the resistance at the start when there's no tension is nowhere near the same as when you finish the full pull, and since when in real life is anything going to give an assist at the start of trying to move it? There's a place for everything, but if you can only pick one thing, weights are the absolute way to go, no question about it.

 

Just look at information about any of the strongest people who have lived. Either they trained with weights or had extremely demanding physical labor jobs where they moved thousands and thousands of pounds of various items each and every day. Both will work, but I don't feel like being a dockworker so I'll take the weight set any day!

[bronco]

3rd for weights here then .

 

In addition to the points above, did you ever hear of a gorilla trainng with bands or bowflex ?

[Kathryn]

Freeweights, most definitely.

But I'd have to add functional fitness workouts as well (in addition to more traditional strength training). FF workouts train your stabilizing muscles and core to support your body, reducing the risk of injury, and also allowing you to lift heavier in more traditional strength work.

 

And I don't see the point in comparing human strength to that of a Gorilla. We are similar species, but are built differently. Gorillas naturally have proportionately more upper body strength than humans.

[roc]

Freeweights, most definitely.

And I don't see the point in comparing human strength to that of a Gorilla. We are similar species, but are built differently. Gorillas naturally have proportionately more upper body strength than humans.

 

Yes you are right we are built differently i wasnt trying to say get the same amount of strengh but something that will be the most effective at gaining strengh. The reason their strengh is so different is like i said before they have different lifestyles and their strength comes in thier genetics and lifestyles.

 

BRONCO you are correct they also dont go to the gym and squat and press barbells so im wondering what the best mimic might be.

[VeganEssentials]

There's not really a "best mimic" for lifting weights. Just like anything else, the things that give the best results are those that require the hardest work, and with a barbell there's no shortcut but you'll unquestionably get the most return for your time and energy invested.

 

I mean, you could ask someone to sit on your shoulders while you squat them and it'd be more awkward than a barbell of the same weight and you'd build better overall strength for it, but does anyone really want to have to find people or other odd objects to lift each and every single time they train?

 

Besides, the gorilla may be able to lift 1000 lbs. simply due to genetics, but if that gorilla hit the gym and trained weekly to do the same movement, I bet he'd lift twice that amount after a number of years. You can't keep getting stronger unless you progressively add resistance to your training, so that's where everything else other than a weight set or odd heavy objects will fall short. No amount of playing with bands, pulleys or anything else will give you the overall strength from head to toe that a simple barbell set can because nothing hits so many muscle groups at once and builds pure, quality strength.

 

Like I've said, you can build SOME strength with gimmicks and gadgets, but if you want to be truly strong, there's a best way to do it, and that's with free weights.

[willpeavy]

It just depends on what you're training for. You can get really strong without using any weights, bands, machines, etc if you train using bodyweight exercises similar to how Shaolin monks and gymnasts train (anyone who doesn't believe me should try doing a one armed handstand pushup!)

[Kathryn]

This is the best way to train:

http://www.warriorforce.com/thehomegym.wmv

 

(Though I think this guy is pretty wimpy, not doing a "one-arm/one-leg" roll-out).

[roc]

(anyone who doesn't believe me should try doing a one armed handstand pushup!)

 

ill have to try that.

[sirdle]

This is the best way to train:

http://www.warriorforce.com/thehomegym.wmv

 

[xChrisZx]

I would have to say freeweights and using your own body.

 

My brother is in the army and after his 3 months of bootcamp he came out swole as hell and they don't use weights or anything. They push their bodies to extremes that you could not even imagine.