Re: Hindu Pushups v. Dive Bomber Pushups ... Which Is Better?
I tend to disagree, Benches involve Pactoralis major, anterior deltoid and triceps and no other muscle or muscle group, if you daily do 200 benches and do not jog you wont be able to run 5 kms in a single run, while a person who do Dand-Baithak (Hindu pushups) will find it rather easy.
:bs:
First of all, no one does 200 benches. The aim of doing bodybuilding is to lift as much weight as possible in the shortest amount of time to provide maximum stimulation to your muscles. If someone's trying to do 200 reps, they don't know wtf they're doing.
Second, you may be doing 2000 Hindu pushups every day, but it will do little or nothing to help you run 5 kms. Why? Because besides endurance, running requires strong leg muscles and all the dand-baithaks in the world will not help you there. You will suffer from muscle fatigue before you run out of breath.
Dand Baithak and Dive bomber pushups involve many muscles e.g. pactoralis major-minor, deltoid major-minor, abdominal muscle, lattissimus dorsi muscle group of back, hip muscles, leg muscles etc. so it gives an overall workout for the all body in a light manner hence people do it in more counts, if a person who has a good natural body shape and he wants to gain strength and endurance and is not interested in bulky muscles then he should do Dand baithaks:-
You don't go overnight from being skinny to being Hulk Hogan if you're doing bodybuilding. It is a slow process which takes years of hard work to get "bulky muscles". You can stop going to the gym once you get a nice V shape. Depending on your current fitness level, that may take anywhere from 1 to 3 years of hard work and dieting. Just doing one exercise-pushups, whether they be "Hindu" type or whatever doesn't help. Most of the Indian professionals I see are pot-bellied, losing hair and have twigs for arms and legs. Hence they overcompensate by keeping nicely trimmed mustaches as a sign of their "manliness".
If you read the 1st post carefully you will find that this thread is about strength and endurance of military-men, I was not talking about particular muscle group. It is just about the Dand baithak or I could have mentioned Nals and Gar Nals (weight lifting exercises in Hindu Akhadas) and gym weight training as well.
Well, not many of us here are military men, so if dand-baithaks are projected as a substitute for weightlifting for normal people, then I do have to object. Military men already do lots of weight training...in addition, they may add "Hindu" pushups or similar exercises for endurance training or Yoga for flexibility. However, these are add-ons to the main course, they can never replace it.
Well ! Dand Baithaks are, unlike bench press or push ups, not a single muscle specific exercise, Dands involes many muscle and muscle groups of the whole body, hence it adds to the overall body strength ad endurance, it provides a good foundation for the muscles you are talking about but I agree with you that Dands do not develop any of the muscles you mentioned in a popular fashion, yet it gives them a solid foundation. It all depends on you what kind of body you prefer of a bodybuilder's or of a gymnasts, I prefer the later. I do not like bulky muscles but a slim body of a gymnast who has developed all the major and minor muscle groups to a certain level.
Name one gymnast who exclusively does dand-baithaks instead of weightlifting.
As I said I am not talking about the weight training method of the strength training or I could have mentioned Nals and Gar Nals or weight trainings of a modern gym, however I agree that weight training is better than bodybuilding as it focuses on strength rather than just particular muscles, but still it needs instruments. While Dands provide an overall good fitness for a person who doesn't want bulky muscles and has a good shaped body.
@pmaitra there is a very good book available on the Internet named "Bodybuilding Anatomy" by a doctor Nick Evans who himself is a bodybuilder, buy it or ...
Weightlifting and Bodybuilding mean the same thing. In order to give "shape" to your body, you need to do many different types of exercises for many different muscle groups. For example, there are 10+ different variations of a single exercise, the bench press. Why? Because each variation hits the various muscles in a different way, some emphasize a certain group of muscles or a part of a muscle while some emphasize others. Hence on chest workout day, you do 2 or 3 types of benches, flyes etc.
Similarly, on back day, there are at least 15 different exercises you can choose from. The point is to keep changing the exercises to get your body out of its comfort zone. That's the only way you will achieve overall muscular development. The bodybuilder shape is the natural shape of the body when the muscles are developed to their fullest extent. There is nothing artificial or unnatural about it.
Hence the only way to get this natural body shape would be to subject your muscles to tens of different permutations and combinations of exercises so that you minimize any weaknesses. Doing just 2 or 3 or 4 types of exercises will strengthen the muscles involved in those particular movements while keeping all the other muscles, tendons and CNS weak.
In the end, you are only as strong as your weakest link.