Let me describe how it happened. The last couple of days it has rained quite a bit where I live. In fact, it poured for most of the weekend. Yesterday (Saturday), I went to watch my son play baseball at college so it left only Sunday to get my grass cut. Unfortunately, it rained most of the day. Finally, I was able to get outside in the late afternoon to cut what was a pretty wet yard. But when you have only certain times to get it done you need to take advantage of what you are presented with.

Now I am cheap. All of my neighbors have riding lawnmowers. I do not. I still give it a go with my old standby push mower. I have no intentions of changing either. I don’t have a huge yard. It normally takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to cut my grass.

Well when I went out to cut the grass about halfway through it began to rain lightly again and dinner time was just around the corner. So I had the great idea of jogging while cutting grass. My 17 year old daughter was watching through our large window that overlooks the back yard and was laughing at her dad looking rather weird running with a lawn mower.

Now this is not something you would do everyday unless you want to run with your lawnmower off through your yard each day. If you do that then your neighbors may wonder what caused you to go crazy. But jogging while cutting grass is quite challenging. Your heart rate will elevate and I guarantee that you will burn quite a few calories and burn fat in the process. Since you have to cut grass each week anyway you may want to give it a try. If you have a riding lawnmower then maybe you want to put it away every now and then and break out the push mower. It will provide you a great workout and burn some fat in the process. You will even get your grass cutting duties done quicker. Give it a try.

If you have access to a Smith Machine you can set the bar about four feet off of the ground and drag a bench over to place your feet on. Placing your feet on a bench increases the amount of weight you are rowing. Of course, if you don’t have a bench then lower the bar and place your feet on the floor. In the absence of a Smith Machine you will need to get creative by putting a bar across a couple of stools or something that is about three feet off the ground. Look around the house to see what you might be able to use.

The best tool for doing the bodyweight row and many other bodyweight exercises is the TRX Suspension Trainer. Its versatility is unmatched. If you are serious about getting stronger through body weight exercises then this is a must. Check the video out.

To perform the exercise grab the bar with a shoulder width grip and pull yourself up to the bar so that you touch the bar with the middle of your chest. Do not take your face to the bar; it should touch your chest.

If you perform these are part of your regular back workout you will find that if favors comparably to a workout with weights. If you want to add weight you can always lay a weight plate on your stomach when performing the exercise. However, I would just be inclined to do more repetitions. Give it a try if you have never used it. It is one of the best bodyweight exercises you can do.

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.

The ab wheel that I have is almost as old as I am. Yes, they have been around that long. It was originally my parents and I can remember using it as a young teenager (about 30 years ago). I absconded with it when I moved out on my own. I enjoyed using it then and I enjoy using it now.

When you begin using the ab wheel you will most likely have to begin on your knees. While on your knees, grab each handle with your hands and slowly begin to slide it away from your body. You want to reach the position where your arms are extended fully over your head and your body is virtually touching the floor. Now slide it back up. You can see how well this works your abs. Trust me you will be sore the next day.

When you master this part of the ab wheel you can begin to try the advanced version by performing the same exercise from a standing position. I am not going to mislead you. This is tremendously difficult but I am confident you can find success if you work at it. You will probably think I am crazy the first time you try it.

In order to build up to the point where you can do this you will probably need to take it in stages. Perform the exercise and just before you feel as if your are going to collapse to the floor roll back to your feet. In time you will be able to get lower and lower until you are able to perform it without problem. Don’t give up.

There are fancy ab wheels on the market that allow you to hook your feet into straps on the wheel and present you with the opportunity to perform more advanced exercises. I do not have one of these yet but I am quite interested. If you want to learn more about it you can click on the picture below.

You don’t need fancy treadmills or stair climbers or elliptical machines; you just need a good set of stairs. One of the best places to do this is your high school football bleachers or a park that has a good set of stairs. Get your sneakers on and get to stepping. If you happen to work in a building then you can run the stairs in your building. I would recommend doing this at the end of your work day since most workplaces don’t have showers that you can use and your co-workers don’t want to get periodic sniffs of your aroma during the day. If you do it at the end of the day then you only have to put up with yourself on the ride home.

Running stairs can provide a number of benefits. It can get you in shape very quickly. The act of running up and down stairs is much more difficult than it sounds. It will ramp up your heart rate and enable you to burn calories at a rapid pace. Running stairs is one of the best ways to burn body fat no matter if it resides in your belly, your thighs or some other place. You will build great endurance and strength in your legs. Your aerobic capacity will increase. The list of benefits could go on and on. If you have never tried running stairs then you should give it a shot.

There are a tremendous variety of workouts that you can perform. There is a pretty thorough program that has been developed called the Ultimate Stair Exercise Program. It has been created by Virgil Aponte. Virgil is a personal trainer and physical education teacher in New York City. He has served as conditioning coach for the New York Mets Baseball Academy and as an assistant on the WNBA’s New York Liberty’s strength and conditioning staff.

So check out the Ultimate Stair Exercise Program and see what you think.

The thing that drew me in more than anything else is that they had a different opinion of what real fitness was all about. Most of us have imbalanced views of what fitness is. If you have a running background, you might think that being fit means you have the ability to run 10 miles at a 5 – 6 minute pace for each mile.

If you are a weightlifter you might believe that being fit means that you can bench press in excess of 400 pounds, squat nearly 600 pounds and deadlift about 500 pounds.

If you are a bodybuilder you might believe that being fit is easy to determine. If you have built large muscles and rippling abs, then you have arrived.

The point is that we have a tendency to define fitness by the standard defined by the fitness area that we gravitate towards the most. Although, all of the above things are positive and beneficial they don’t necessarily define fitness. What good is it if you can run 10 miles but struggle carrying two gallons of milk in from the store?

It is nice to be able to lift heavy weights but if you are tired after walking a couple of flights of stairs then I would venture to say that your overall fitness level is not too great.

Crossfit looked at this problem and developed a workout protocol that attempts to build proficiency in all areas of fitness. They focus on endurance, strength, and flexibility. They incorporate running, body weight exercise, olympic lifts, kettlebell training, medicine ball training, etc.

Here is Crossfit type workout that I have modified slightly. It will kick your butt and have your heart leaping out of your chest. Give it a try and let me know what you think of it.

50 Body weight squats
40 Push-ups
30 Sit Ups
20 Pull-Ups

This list above is meant to be performed in succession without any rest in between the exercises. As soon as you are done with the squats fit the ground and move on to the push-ups. At the end of the entire set you can rest for 3 minutes. Repeat the set five times. At the end you will have done 150 body weight squats, 200 push-ups, 150 sit-ups and 100 pull-ups.

Good luck and let me know how it went and how long it took you to complete it.

I suspect that as you first begin to attempt this exercise you will need to add a little bit of a kick to it to get you going. Once you have mastered that you can then work on mastering going slower so that it requires more strength since all momentum will have been removed.

So lets start looking at the muscle-up with a kick.

Grab a bar suspended over your head in a normal pull-up position. Your palms should be facing away from you. As you begin to pull up to the bar, keep in mind that you do not want to perform this like you would a normal pull-up. In a normal pull-up you are in essence pull yourself up from underneath of the bar. This may be difficult to understand but you need to move yourself away from the bar as you rise. This is where the kick comes in handy. The kick will give you the swing you need to move away from the bar.

Try to keep your hands away from your body and only partially flex your arms. If you flex your arms too much you will end up pulling your chest to the bar. If this happens you will not be able to get over the bar.

Kick your legs up as you are nearing the top and then kick them back. This should give you enough momentum to move away from the bar. Continue to power yourself up over the bar. As you start to get over the bar shift your weight forward so that you don’t fall back. Also remember to rotate your wrists from below the bar to above the bar. If you have such a tight grip on the bar that your wrists are still below as you get your upper body above the bar you won’t be able to hold your positions. At this point all that is left is to power yourself up with the strength of your triceps.

You have just completed one rep. Keep up the good work until you can do several reps. I know this will be very difficult as you start but don’t give up. Keep working at it until you get it. Once you get the first the others will seem easier. At least until your fatigue. Never give up. You will succeed.

The stronger you get the smaller the kick that you will need. So get to work and try some muscle-ups. If you don’t have a straight bar then buy one or build one or head off to your local park.

I have also included a training video from Crossfit on performing the muscle-up. He does his muscle-up on rings. Once you have mastered the straight bar buy or make yourself a pair of rings and try these out.
Enjoy the video.

I do have 700 lbs of weights in my garage to go along with a bench and squat rack. I no longer use it all that often due to the wear and tear on my tendons. Body weight exercise allows me to continue to train and gain strength without having to lift weights. However, I do not have it in for weight lifting like some.

One of the things that I love about body weight exercise is that you don’t require much else to get a great strength training workout. It removes that excuses that you couldn’t get to the gym or that you didn’t want to spend the money on weight equipment.

Some of the fittest people in our country are our military. They just about exclusively use body weight exercise for building muscle and for improving their overall fitness levels. I figure that they must know something. On top of it all they are functionally fit. They are equipped to handle the fitness rigors of military service and everyday life not merely equipped to perform a barbell curl.

You body will build muscle if you put a stress on your muscle. You body will adapt. You heavier load that you place on your muscles that more they will grow to handle that load in the future. Your own body weight is sufficient to stress your musculature to the point of growth.

And if you have never done body weight exercises then I suggest that you do them. You will find out that they are not easy to perform. Your heart will begin to race and your muscles will begin to quiver. Give them a try. You will be glad you did.

I remember in elementary and junior high school that rope climbing was a part of our physical fitness training. I never liked getting to the top of the gym since I was not a big fan of heights but it was a great body weight exercise. Today we seem to have gotten away from it.

Many people are caught up with the idea of big biceps. The guns look good in a short sleeve shirt. But for the most part the bicep curl is a mostly worthless exercise. It doesn’t really mimic anything we do in real life. I am a firm believer that you can build huge biceps without ever doing bicep curls. Climbing rope is one of the ways to do it and not only are you working your arms but your back as well. You will also be working your core also.

So if you have never considered rope climbing before in your bodyweight exercise workout then give it a shot. Make sure you buy a quality rope. They are a little pricey but well worth it over the long haul. After all you will use it for years. Just attach it to a sturdy tree limb in your backyard and get to climbing. Below you will find a rope on Amazon if you need to purchase one.