Body Weight Exercise

The Best Bodyweight Exercises to Build Muscle

Written by thegang on March 08, 2010 under body weight exercise, Muscle Building

Many people acknowledge that you can get a great metabolic workout with bodyweight exercises, however, many of these same people are reluctant to say the bodyweight exercises are effective at building muscle. I will dispute this thought process. Bodyweight exercises may not make you a power lifter but they are definitely a help when you are trying to pack on slabs of muscle. So let’s take a look at some of the best bodyweight exercises to build muscle.

Push Ups. There are many different variations of push ups that you can do. All of them are effective at building muscle. I remember from years ago that Herschel Walker attributed his physique to hundreds of push ups each day. A push up uses about 60% of your body weight when you perform one. If you were to elevate your feet you would be using an even higher percentage of your body weight.

You can use many different variations of the push up to build muscle. Wide grip, narrow grip and a staggered grip will each give you a different feel. Narrow grip push ups are quite challenging for not only your chest muscles but you triceps as well.

If you want to not only add muscle but are looking or a bodyweight exercise to build strength then you might want to consider performing plyometric push ups. To perform this you will set a platform on each side of your arms. Then you will explode up so that you raise yourself off the ground and catch yourself on the platforms. Then perform a depth drop and propel yourself off the platform and back on to the ground. You can view the video below to see it in action.

Adam Archuleta attributed his great strength gains prior to attending the NFL combine back in 2001 to this type of training. He benched over 500 pounds at just of 200 pounds of body weight.

Pull Ups. Pull ups are not only the best bodyweight back exercises you can perform they may be the best back exercises you can perform period. Arnold Schwartzeneggar stated that the wide grip pull up was in his estimation the best exercise to pack slabs of muscle onto his lats. Not only will pull-us give you that “V look” or “cobra loo.” to your upper back but it will also provide a great workout and build muscle for your biceps.

You will find out that if you do a lot of pull ups that you will never have to do another bicep exercise in your life. And peope will still walk up to you and ask you how you got such big arms.

There are many different variations that you ca do for push ups as well. Wide grip, narrow grip, overhand grip and underhand grip will each hit you back and biceps in different ways.

One-legged squats (pistols). This is one of the toughest bodyweight exercises to perform. Not only does it require balance but an incredible amount of strength. This exercise will build muscle in your quads.

It is a very challenging exercise to perform at first and you may need the aid of some object to help you get up initially. The TRX Suspension Trainer is great for this. If you don’t have one of these you may want to use a door knob or some other object that you can grab onto to get you past the sticking point in the squat.

Handstand push ups. The last of the best bodyweight exercises to build muscle that we will cover here is the hand stand push up. It is quite difficult. You will place your hands about 2 feet from a wall and kick up into a handstand. Then lower yourself to the ground till your head touches and raise yourself back up. As I said, this is quite a challenging exercise but it is a great bodyweight exercise for shoulders.

You may want to do this on a carpeted floor. The first time I ever tried one was outside on concrete and I ended up with a scab on the top of my head when I contacted the ground a little hard. You can walk your arms away from the wall to lessen the amount of weight you are trying to push up. The closer to the wall you are the more of your bodyweight you will be using.

These four exercises are what I would consider to be the best bodyweight exercises to build muscle. Give them a try and see what you think.

The No Gizmo Workout

Written by thegang on October 29, 2009 under body weight exercise

The benefits of body-weight exercises
By Perry Gil S. Mallari, Reporter

In the realm of physical culture, there are practitioners who prefer the exclusive use of body-weight exercises to condition their bodies and to gain strength. By definition, body-weight exercises are physical workouts that use the weight of the practitioner’s body as resistance in training the muscles.

The greatest advantage of body-weight exercises over other fitness programs like weight lifting is that it requires zero equipment and it can be done almost anytime and anywhere.

There are certain things that body-weight exercises can and can’t do. While it is capable of building and increasing muscle mass, body-weight exercises can only do such task on a limited basis. Since the body weights of full-grown adults are more or less fixed, the intensity of the resistance cannot be increased. So if the goal is continuous build up of muscle mass, a person is better off using weights training where the intensity of the resistance could be adjusted as desired.

Body-weight exercises have a long and honorable history. Warriors and combat athletes have used it through the ages because of two reasons: potency and practicality. A good example is the training regimen of wrestlers of old India. Physical culture is part and parcel of Indian tradition for thousands of years. India was known for traditional physical training implements such as heavy Indian clubs, gadas (maces) and nals (stone weights). But a staple in a traditional Indian wrestlers training program were two body-weight exercises: the Hindu pushup or dand and the Hindu squat or baithak. The execution of the dand is different from the simple upward and downward movement of a regular pushup. The Hindu pushup is done with a downward scooping motion that ends with a backward arcing of the spine. Its purpose is to build upper body strength and endurance. On the other hand, the baithak is meant to develop leg power and cardiovascular stamina. The Hindu squat is characterized by an upward and downward squatting motion coordinated with the raising of the heels and circular swinging of the arms.

Both the dand and the baithak were part of the training regimen of the legendary martial artist and actor Bruce Lee.

The Great Gama (Ghulam Muhammad), known as the greatest of the Indian wrestlers, was said to crank thousands of repetitions of dands and baithaks on a daily basis. If his professional record would be the sole basis, then it looks like body-weight exercises worked pretty well with Gama. With a career spanning 50 years, he is the only wrestler in history to have died undefeated.

People whose dwellings have limited space for exercise equipments and professionals who travel frequently can benefit a lot from body-weight exercise. Demanding only a few square-feet of space to practice, one can achieve muscular and cardiovascular conditioning with body-weight exercises. As in any other fitness program, a doctor’s evaluation and prudence are essential for safety in practicing these exercise routines.

Original article at: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/lifestyle/4770-the-zero-gizmo-workout

Bodyweight Lunges with Dumbbells

Written by thegang on October 28, 2009 under body weight exercise

Here is a great instructional video of a dumbbell walking lunge.

‘Boot Camp’ style workouts gaining popularity in fitness world

Written by thegang on October 27, 2009 under body weight exercise

By Randy Young, Chapel Hill News Columnist

“Shock and awe ” is a military term for rapid domination of an adversary, a strategy employed in the confrontation in Iraq based on a doctrine espoused by the National Defense University.While its efficacy over the past decade has been debated, the use of such aggressive tactics where our physical complacency is concerned — our vegetative states, the monotonous hum of our repetitive workouts, and the soothing ease of “sameness” — is gathering fervor.

No fitness professionals pretend to offer the demanding routine of the armed forces’ actual physical training, but many are emulating a few of the military’s tactics in America’s war on obesity.

The product of this amalgamation of gleaned wisdom has been gaining more and more popularity under the banner of boot camp-style training.

“Everything we do is slightly different,” said Rod Clayton, owner and personal trainer for Basic Training Fitness, which offers classes through the Triangle SportsPlex in Hillsborough. “It’s almost always body-weight exercise, where one’s own body weight is the resistance. Much of it is really play: we’re moving the body, we’re running, we’re climbing, and we’re jumping. We also do some plyometrics, which uses explosive body weight exercises.”

“It’s simply exercises that are based on those used by Navy Seals,” said Kelly Sikes, Triangle SportsPlex’s executive director of sales and fitness development. “It’s a great idea, and I guess it’s a little like the P90X workouts … on steroids.”

Confound The Enemy

Like the P90X system, military physical training tends to confuse different muscle groups through widely varied exercises, introducing new moves and routines so as to keep the muscles guessing, thus shocking the body off of its comfortable plateaus.

What’s new to fitness center menus is old news on military training sites, however.

“I ran across an old book about Navy PT Training and started doing it, and I had a great time,” Clayton said. “I got a couple more friends doing it, and it was recommended that I start a class … about 10 years ago. The first class, we maxed out.”

The workouts are based on exercises from BUDS — Basic Underwater Demolition Seal –the Navy version of boot camp for specialists, Clayton said. He also incorporates from other Special Forces operators, like parachute jumpers, who’ve given us ideas on water exercises we can do.

“We’re always looking for new ways to challenge people. I’ve been in fitness for more than 20 years, and this is probably the most effective workout I’ve ever seen,” he said.

Clayton strongly emphasized the difference between military-style workouts and actual military training, renown for its rigorous methods of focusing the mind and reshaping the body.

“This is nothing at all like that. This is purely about fitness,” Clayton asserted. “We try to concentrate on the positives without any harassment or negative things.

“We do get some people who come in and expect a military-style program, and it’s not that. We even get some folks who tell us, ‘Hey, you need to yell more.’ I suspect many of our people would leave if we did.”

Clayton re-emphasized that the image of the derisive drill instructor does not translate into fitness center settings.

“No, because, after all, they are paying us,” he said, chuckling. “This is a workout, not a true boot camp.”

Too Early

Jordan Albertson, of UNC’s Ram’s Head Recreation Center, said the notion of a pre-dawn run with 40-pound packs isn’t on the agenda through UNC Recreation’s boot camp fitness workouts, either.

“With our program, it’s not the time of day,” Albertson said. “We did offer a boot camp style workout at 6 or 7 a.m., and it was really poorly attended.”

“It’s more about the style of the workout,” he added. “I’m sure that someone who had been in the armed forces would say that this training is not much like their training. … It’s just a lot of back-to-back exercises without much rest.”

“Hey, we’re not here to kill you or make you sick,” Sikes said. “We’re here to make you better and to push you to where you don’t think you can go.”

With the derisive element excised from exercise, “boot camp” style fitness has become wildly popular over the past decade.

“It actually still seems to be gaining popularity,” Albertson said. “The program filled quickly the first time I taught it, and this semester it filled up super quick.”

One of the major reasons for the popularity of the basic training-style workouts is their efficiency.

“In four weeks, people will drop 5 to 6 percent body fat, lose up to 10 pounds, and reduce their mile time sometimes by two minutes, according to www.WebMD.com.

Human Nature

Another reason for the popularity with fitness centers and instructors is the low overhead involved. Whereas some fitness regimens use weights, equipment or large amounts of space, boot camp workouts use participants’ own body weight as resistance and competition with fellow participants as motivation.

“It’s human nature to challenge yourself against other humans,” Florida fitness coach Tom Rayhill told WebMD. “Not everybody is athletically inclined, but by hanging out with those more driven people, you’re naturally going to want to do better.”

Still, without a challenge, the system falls flat, results fall short, and popularity falls off. As such, workouts must be sufficiently rigorous.

“Typically, the people coming in are already in pretty good shape, and that’s how we market it,” Albertson said. “We tell people it’s going to involve tough workouts. It’s a fairly advanced class. It works out the entire body. There are a lot of body-weight power exercises involved, and that drains the system a lot.”

“It’s a hardcore course,” Clayton said. “We bill it as being for people of medium to advanced fitness. It’s not for the faint of heart, and we see everyone from cancer survivors who are battling back to athletes who’ve been to the Olympic trials.”

An elevated challenge makes for an elevated sense of accomplishment and self-esteem.

“I think the challenge itself is the reason for the popularity,” Clayton said. “We started our class before the real boot camp craze, and what we’ve heard from the start is that participants found themselves doing things they didn’t think they could do.”

“We get a lot of triathletes doing all-season training,” Clayton added, “and it’s the perfect complement. We also get a lot of former athletes who’ve been sitting at a desk for too long and need a program to get them motivated again.”

Tours Of Duty

Trainers see participants translating that sense of accomplishment into other areas. Rayhill said the classes also offer a way to reconnect with others from within lifestyles that are increasingly separated.

“Most of what we do all day is very isolating,” Rayhill said. “We’ve got iPods, cell phones, and computers. We’re not connecting with other people. No computer can make you feel better. No, not like the connection to other people.”

For those interested, basic training style classes are offered locally through fitness facilities including UNC Recreation and the Wellness Center at Meadowmont, as well a three-month tour of duty running from November through the Holiday season into January at the Triangle SportsPlex in Hillsborough.

“It’s in keeping with the idea of ‘maintain, don’t gain, ‘ through the holidays,” Sikes said. “People can get off schedule during that time of year, so we offer a choice of just one month (December) or for all three months.”

The SportsPlex classes will be offered twice weekly during the mornings and twice more during evenings, with an 8 a.m. Saturday session as well. The program, administered by Clayton’s Basic Training Fitness ( www.basictraining.biz) begins Nov. 2 and runs for 12 weeks. The cost for SportsPlex members is $60 per month or $160 if paid in full in advance. Non-member rates are $75 a month, or $200 if paid in full in advance.

“Our motto is, ‘don’t limit your challenges; challenge your limits, ‘” Clayton said. “That’s really what it’s all about. The challenge is not just physically, but to mentally go past where you thought your limits were.”

However shocking the tactics may be, most fitness experts are agreeing that the results have been nothing short of awesome.

Randy Young at chnsports@nando.com

Original article can be found here: http://www.chapelhillnews.com/sports/story/53007.html

Bodyweight Exercises Do Bodybuilding Good!

Written by thegang on October 27, 2009 under body weight exercise, Bodybuilding

By Hugo Rivera

Bodybuilding training is composed mostly of weight training exercises. For the best results possible, your bodybuilding training should be composed of mostly free weight exercises that use dumbbells and barbells for resistance. However, I often get asked the questions: “What about bodyweight exercises? Are these useful for bodybuilding?”

Truth of the matter is, that bodyweight exercises are the best exercises for the fastest bodybuilding results! Examples of such exercises are the pull-ups, chin-ups, push-ups, dips, squats, lunges and calf raises. Any exercise where you have to move your torso through space and that can be done just by using your body as the resistance is a bodyweight exercise.

These exercises provide the best bodybuilding results because you have to activate the most amount of muscle fibers (since they provide the most neural stimulation) and use several stabilizer muscles (in addition to the main muscles being targeted) to accomplish the task of moving your body through space. In addition, these exercises are excellent for creating functional strength; in other words, strength that can be used to any task in your daily life.

As you get stronger, resistance can be added by using a weight belt for exercises like the pull-ups, chin-ups and dips, while barbells and dumbbells can be used for the squats, lunges, and calf raises. For push-ups, you can have a partner provide you with the resistance.

So be sure to incorporate plenty of bodyweight exercises in your bodybuilding routine and watch your bodybuilding results soar!

How To Incinerate Fat with Body Weight Exercises

Written by thegang on June 02, 2009 under body weight exercise, burn fat

I am going to make a bold statement. There is no better way to burn body fat than to perform body weight exercises. I firmly believe this from personal experience and from the results of those who have dedicated themselves to bodyweight exercises. Is it any wonder that some of the most fit individuals in the world (our U.S. military) primarily use body weight exercises to achieve their fitness level.

I have a health club membership (although I am not sure why other than it gives me someplace warm to perform certain exercises in the winter) and I watch in amazement how people can show up week after week and never lose fat. It is kind of sad. They are paying their money faithfully and they get on the treadmill or elliptical machine and go through the ritual. But at the end of the week when they step on the scale the numbers are all too familiar. It is no wonder that they give up after a couple of months.

If this has been you, I am here to tell you that it does not have to be that way. You do not have to train with weights and you do not have to do cardio for an hour a day for seven days a week. You do not have to spend $40 per month on a health club membership. You do not have to embarrass yourself by stepping on some goofy BOSU ball.

You are frustrated and you are not sure where to turn. If you have trainers at your gym like I do at mine you probably don’t want to ask them because it is quite obvious that they haven’t practiced what they preach. They are not exactly the image of thriving fitness and you surely don’t want to pay them extra for their “expertise.”

Maybe you are like me and your body is now suffering the effects of weight lifting and your joints are no longer capable of lifting heavy weights. Or possibly you have tried every fad diet known to humankind and you still are disgusted every time you look in the mirror.

You have tried everything else now why don’t you try what actually works. Instead of going to out-of-shape “personal trainers” at your gym why not lean on the expertise of someone who has been in the fitness industry for 30 years. And by the way, he has the physique of someone who has been in the fitness industry for 30 years (lean and mean).

Emile Jarreau has created the Naked Commando System of exercises that you can do at home, in the park, behind closed doors in your office, or even in your hotel room while you travel. If you want to see fat begin to melt away with as little as 3 intense workouts per week then this is the program for you. You will build strength, increase endurance, increase your metabolism and improve your heart with his time-efficient circuit workouts.

You will avoid boredom in your workouts as he keeps it spiced up with 69 challenging and dynamic body weight exercises. Your stamina will increase, you will begin to understand the meaning of the word slim again and you will cut a major chunk of stress out of your life.

He will provide you with complete fat burning workouts with instructions, pictures and everything you will need to be successful. And you can get all of this for less than what you are paying for one month at a health club. I could describe it in detail for you but he does it so much better. So click on over to learn more about Naked Commando System.

Body Weight Exercise Revolution

Written by thegang on June 01, 2009 under body weight exercise, Exercise, Fitness

I have run across an exercise program that I believe will be just the thing that some of you are looking for. Many have been searching the internet for some sort of body weight exercise program. You are aware of many different types of body weight exercises but you aren’t sure how to put them all together in a program. That is where Body Weight Exercise Revolution comes in.

If you are like me then your hectic schedule often sabotages your exercise goals. That today as an example. I left the house at 5:45 am and did not return home until 7:15 pm. The local gym in my small hometown closes at 8:30 pm. So often I do not have a gym at my disposal even though I am paying for a membership. I haven’t made it to the gym in four days because of my schedule.

Training at home is the perfect solution if you find yourself running short of time like I do. But many are put off by the need to buy expensive home exercise equipment, weights, etc. The nice little home gym can set you back a pretty buck.

As I have shared with you before, however, is that you don’t need a gym membership or an expensive home gym to get in the best shape of your life. You have everything that you need already to get an incredible workout day in and day out. By using your own bodyweight and utilizing a little specialized knowledge you can whip yourself into a state of peak fitness.

This program, Body Weight Exercise Revolution, is not merely a regimin of push-ups, pull-ups and sit-ups. It consists of innovative bodyweight exercises and movements to help you reach your goals.

If you are looking for any of the following then I encourage you to check it out.

# Increased energy
# Improved pain-free range of motion
# Peace of mind from knowing that you’re working towards your exact and personal goals
# Fat loss
# Greater strength
# Muscle gain
# Longevity
# General athleticism
# Fun-to-learn bodyweight exercises

I could go on and on about it but they can describe it better than I can. Give them a look. You will be glad you did.