Bodyweight exercises are cool, effective, and even fun. And hey, they may even make you stronger. Just ask two-time Olympic weightlifting champion Ilya Ilyin, who’s having no problem knocking out some bar dips at 105 kilograms.
Ilya’s comment in Russian mentions the wobblyness of the bars he’s using. Note the old school medicine ball in the bottom right and unmistakably Soviet/1980’s TV den wood paneling in the training center. If you can’t get strong in an environment like that, you’re probably hopeless.
We’ve seen Ilya incorporate bodyweight movements into his training before; after each Olympic cycle, he’s also been known to take some time away from the platform to swim, run, and occasionally play some other sports. One of those is breakdancing, and while he’s probably not making the cast of Step Up 7 anytime soon, Ilya’s actually got some moves. Watch to the end of the below clip. Risky for a weightlifter looking to win his third Olympic gold? Sure. But cool to see in the middle of a weightlifting gym? Totally.
A video posted by Илья Ильин (@ilyailyin_official) on
Yes, it’s a lot more fun to watch the world’s best weightlifters lift things heavier than themselves, but in many schools of training, bodyweight and core-isolation movements are crucial components of daily training. Check out the video below, where Olympic silver medalist Apti Aukhadov demonstrates some of his favorite ab exercises.
It might not be beach body branding, but don’t knock Aukhadov’s six pack; clearly he’s doing something right. He’s also putting your Tabata Hollow Rocks to shame.