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

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.

My daughter takes a cardio class on Wednesday nights. I usually finish my workout before she is done so I sit down and read through a few of the magazines. Last week I flipped through a Muscle and Fitness magazine and two days ago I looked through a Men’s Health (I think) magazine. Each magazine has an article or more on body weight exercise routines.

The article I read two days ago broke up his routine into 5 different group of exercises containing 3 – 5 exercises each. He then randomly chose an exercise from each group and performed them without rest until he had completed the five chosen exercises. That constituted one round. He then rested two minutes and then performed 2 more rounds.

This gives good flexibility to your routines. There is a tendency to perform the same exercise routine over and over. When you do this your routine get boring and your body adapts. By choosing different exercises each time you keep your body off balance and keep yourself interested.

The article that I read in Muscle and Fitness discussed a body weight workout with plyometric training, sledgehammer training and the like. I almost fell out of my chair as I read it. What has the world come to when M & F includes an exercise routine that is more athletic in nature and doesn’t involve a 280 pound giant throwing plates of iron around the gym. It was good to see that even they are beginning to acknowledge the benefit of body weight training.

Well, I will try not to let it be too long between my next post. Actually, I have a review of an inexpensive product that I want to do. I will try to get to that in the next couple of day. Until then, stay healthy.

This is a great training concept that I’ve been using recently that I came up with as a way to get mass-building effects out of bodyweight exercises that I could do a lot of reps with.

It’s a type of training you could easily build a more comprehensive program on simply by extending the concept.

Basically, it’s kind of a cross between my Compound Exercise Overload training (where you take a weight you can do 6 reps with and do 3 rep sets until you can’t get 3 reps anymore, then you drop the weight and keep going) and Escalating Density Training (by Charles Staley – you might recognize the name …it’s basically where you take a 15 minute timeframe and do as many reps as you can within that timeframe).

Time/Volume Training is relatively simple. I’ll use back training for my example (chin-ups, specifically).

For working back, I use a 15 minute block of time (this will vary according to bodypart – less time for smaller parts – e.g. 10 minutes for biceps).

First, start by doing a set of 3 reps. Then stop and rest 10 seconds. Now do another set of 3 reps. Stop and rest 10 seconds.

Keep going using 3 rep sets and 10 seconds rest until you can’t get 3 reps anymore. When you hit this point, now starting taking 20 SECONDS rest in between 3 rep sets.

Keep going using 3 rep sets and 20 seconds rest until you again can’t get 3 reps anymore. then take 30 SECONDS rest in between your 3 rep sets. If you have to increase again, go to 40 seconds, and so on.

Keep going in this fashion until your 15 minutes are up.

It’s just that simple! Basically, the idea here is not to go to failure on any of your reps but to manage your fatigue so that you can maximize your training volume (i.e. more reps and sets).

And, because I originally worked up this technique to go with bodyweight training (where you can’t change resistance), instead of decreasing the weight (like in Compound Exercise Overload), you will instead just increase the rest periods, which gives your body a bit more time to recover in between sets, allowing you to keep doing sets with the exact same resistance.

But just because it’s originally designed for bodyweight training doesn’t mean you can’t use it with free weights and machines as well – it’ll work like a charm for that, too!

You’ll find when using this technique with different exercises (especially bodyweight exercises, where some tend to be a bit easier than others), you’ll be able to go longer before having to increase rest. For example, when doing chins, you’ll probably have to increase rest sooner than you will with push-ups.

But rest assured, even if you can 50 push-ups, you’ll STILL get to a point where you’re not able to do 3 reps sets on 10 seconds rest and you’ll have to bump up the rest periods.

It’s a great way to work bodyweight exercises without resorting to high-rep endurance training. With the 3 rep sets, you’re still hitting the power-oriented muscle fibers, which is what allows you to make this type of training work for mass building.

You can take a few minutes in between bodyparts for a bit of recovery as well.

Here are the time intervals I’ve been using for this type of training:
Back 15 minutes
Chest 15 minutes
Thighs 15 minutes
Hamstrings 10 minutes
Shoulders 10 minutes
Biceps 10 minutes
Triceps 10 minutes
Calves 10 minutes
Abs 10 minutes

I’ve also changed up some of the bodypart blocks so that I’m actually doing 2 bodyparts at once. Here’s a split I’ve been using (based on bodyweight training) but you can definitely come up with your own.

Just be absolutely sure to keep your total workout time to under an hour (I’ve been shooting for 40 to 50 minutes).

This type of training concept is simple enough where you can simply insert it into whatever your favorite training split is.

My preference is for a 2 day on, 1 day off, 2 day on, 2 days off type of training split here. e.g. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday.

Day 1:

Back – 15 minutes of chin-ups – I was using a regular underhand, close grip for these, coming all the way up and down to full extension.

Chest – 15 minutes of dips – I was using two chairs with the back facing each other. I would set my hands on the tops of the chair backs and do dips in between the chairs. Works like a charm!

Combination of Calves and Abs – 10 minutes – NO rest in between bodyparts or sets. I would just go straight from one-legged calf raises (5 reps on each leg using no weight) then right into Abdominal Sit-ups (5 reps on that exercise, too) then back to calves. Because they’re such unrelated bodyparts, their getting rest while you’re working the others, so you don’t need specific rest for them.

Biceps – because I was doing 15 minutes of Chins, biceps already got a lot of work. I would just finish the workout with one set of flexed arm hang. Click here for more info on that.

Total workout time: 45 minutes

Day 2:

Thighs – 15 minutes of Bench Step One Legged Squats – Click here for info on how to do this one. Basically, this exercise is a one-legged squat done standing on a chair or bench. Because you’re standing up off the ground, you can drop down a lot further, increasing the overall workload. I also recommend hanging onto something for support. This exercise for this long will really beat the crap out of you.

Hamstrings – nothing for me here – the deep bench step squats were PLENTY of work for the hamstrings, believe me. In a normal split, you would do 10 minutes of hamstring work for this type of Time/Volume training.

Shoulders – 10 minutes of Pike Handstand Push-Ups. Click here for info on how to do this exercise. This is a great exercise for shoulders – it’s a bodyweight exercise, making it very effective for functional strength AND it’s easy enough where if you’ve got decent shoulder strength, you should be able to get good training volume. In that same link above, you’ll also find Horizontal Push-Ups, which is an easier version of it.

Triceps – 10 minutes of Close Grip Push-Ups – even though I can normally do about 40 to 50 of these in a row, after about 8 straight minutes on 10 seconds rest, I had to increase to 20 seconds rest. The fatigue catches up to you and you’ll really be feeling how effective this training is.

I again finished with one set of the Flexed Arm Hang here.

Total Workout Time: 40 minutes

That’s the scoop with Time/Volume Training! Like I mentioned, you can insert this methodology into pretty much any training split and any program. It’s one of THE best ways to get a mass-building effect out of bodyweight training (when you can get high reps with an exercise) that I’ve ever found.

Give it a try in your next workout to test the concept then try a couple of complete workouts with it. Then take the concept with you next time you travel and apply to some bodyweight training. You’ll look at the hotel gym (with the stationary bike with no seat and the squeaky hydraulic resistance machines) and LAUGH!

About The Author

Nick Nilsson is the Director of Online Operations for Staley Training Systems. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing powerful new training techniques for more than 17 years.

Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks (listed below) all available by clicking here and has written for a variety of publications including Men’s Fitness, Reps, Musclemag, Bodybuilding.com and many others. He can be contacted at nick@staleytraining.com.

* Muscle Explosion! 28 Days to Maximum Mass
* The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of
* The Best Ab Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of
* Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss
* Gluteus to the Maximus – Build a Bigger Butt NOW!
* Hybrid Training
* Specialization Training

One Leg Squat

This is often referred to as “the Pistol.” It is a pure strength exercise. Many people are not able to do this exercise due to the strength required. Others get excited because they were able to do it one time. Of course, I am talking about being able to do it 10+ times for 3 – 5 sets. Now as I mentioned many of you will not be able to do this initially. Therefore, you will have to find something to assist you. I would recommend standing beside a pole or a chair that you can grab onto to give yourself the needed boost to get out of the bottom of the exercise. Possibly the best way is to use a piece of rope attached to the ceiling of your garage or secured in a door that you can hold on to.

One Arm Push – Up

This is another exercise requiring great strength. Make sure to widen the base of your legs when doing this exercise or you just may tip over. Again the goal here is not to just be able to do 1 or 2. The goal is to perform this body weight exercises for multiple set of 10 – 15 reps. If you can work up to this you will find your strength increasing.

Pull – Ups

Pull ups are a fabulous strength exercise. If you want a big and strong back then pull ups are essential. If you get to the point where you can knock out 20 – 25 pull-ups in one set without a problem then go to the store and buy yourself a cheap backback. Load the backpack with 20 – 25 pounds of weight, strap it on and jum back on the pull-up bar. The added weight will make it more difficult. By the way, when doing pull-ups set yourself a goal and don’t stop till you reach it on matter how many sets it takes you to achieve it.

Handstand Push Up

This is another tremendous strength exercise. Kick your feet up against a wall with your back to the wall and lower yourself until your head touches the floor then raises yourself back to the starting position. If this is too difficult to start you can always do the tent version with your feet on the floor or a chair.

As you progress, I would recommend that you build some parallelettes that will allow you a greater range of motion. You can build them out of 2″ PVC at very little cost.

So try these four exercises and watch your strength grow. Stay tuned for the next two parts of this article.

Below you will find video for a number of different types of push-ups. If you use your imagination you could probably come up with a few other variations. Please make sure that you do your push-ups with good form. Good form would include a straight back and your head up and looking forward. Do not rush them. Perform them generally with a 1-0-1 count. That would mean taking 1 second to lower, no pause at the bottom and 1 second to raise back to the starting position. If you want a little more of a challenge them perform them with a 2-0-1 count.

Standard Push-Up

The standard push-up is a great exercise for developing the chest.

httpv://www.youtube.com/v/If7E4tzhvlE

Close Grip Push-Up

The close grip push-up will work the inner portion of the chest more and will give your triceps more of a workout.

One Arm Push-Up

The one arm push-up is really a test of strength. Spread your legs apart for this exercise since you will probably need the wider base to keep your balance.

Feet Elevated Push-Up

This push-up will work the upper portion of your chest to a greater degree.

Triangle Push-Up

To perform a triangle push-up form a triangle with your hands. Your hands should be located a little more forward than they would be for a standard push-up. When you descend place your nose or your chin inside of the triangle.

Triangle Push-Up Hand Position

Push-Up with Clap

This is an explosive movement. You need to provide a lot of upward force so as to be able to get your hands back into position so that you don’t crush your face on the ground. Do not perform these to exhaustion as it could cause injury to you if you are unable to get your hands back into position.

Twist Push-Up

This push-up works on core stability as well.

Push-Up on Ball

This is similar to a close grip push-up. I would recommend performing it on a medicine ball. My son is performing it on a homemade medicine ball but I would use one that is completely round since it forces you to stabilize while doing the push-up

Push-Up with Handles

Push-Up Handle

Push-ups with handles are more difficult. The hand position is slightly different than a normal push-up creating a slightly different stress on the chest. The handles being used are homemade. I will include a post in the next day or so describing how I made them.

Push-Up with Dumbbell

You can also perform the exercise above with dumbbells. It will have the same effect although the push-up handles will probably give you a little bit more of a stretch for your chest since they are slightly higher.

Push-Up with Dumbbell Row

I love this exercise. It will quickly wear you out. You will need a little wider base with your feet to perform it. Try it out, I think you will like it as much as I do.

Push-Up with One Leg Elevated

This is also an exercise that works on your core stability.

Plyometric Push-Up

This is another explosive exercise that will give you a great workout. It requires quite a bit of strength to perform many of them.

Push-Up with Added Weight

If a standard push-up becomes too easy for you then you can add extra weight. Here my son is performing a standard push-up with a 45 lb weight on his back.

Push-Up with Swiss Ball

My swiss ball was kind of flat. Make sure yours has more air. I included this video for a good laugh. I made my son laugh while trying to perform the exercise and you can see the result. This exercise requires great stability strength.

Push-Up on Fists

Here is a picture where a standard push-up is done on the fists.

Push-Up on Fists

Push-Up with Hold

A great and exhausting exercise is to perform a push-up with a 5 – 10 second hold at the bottom or at the midway point.

Body Weight Exercises with Turbulence Training

The second thing that influenced me was Turbulence Training by Craig Ballantyne. Craig has been a contributing author for Men’s Health for years. He developed Turbulence Training. I began to do some of his workouts and could not believe how much of a workout it provided and how my heart rate stayed elevated. It provided both a gain in muscle and and loss of weight. You can’t beat that combo.

You see I hate running. I have never received joy from running and as I have gotten older now (almost 44) my joints like running even less than I do. So Turbulence Training is right up my alley. And it is effective. I couldn’t recommend it more. When you see the workout, you look at it and think that doesn’t look too hard. Then twenty minutes later after you butt has been sufficiently kicked you have a new definition of what difficult is. It is much easier for me to walk into a weight room and start working out with 200 plus pounds in the bench then it is to go through one of Ballantyne’s body weight exercise routines.

I have been out of commission for a little while do to a damaged tendon in my left wrist (I happen to be left-handed as well). As a result of an inability to even do basic push-ups without pain I have gotten a little out of shape. It is time to crank of the Turbulence Training again. The wrist is still somewhat painful but I am going to give it my best shot. I will begin a blog that follows my progress. As soon as I have the blog set up I will post a link to it on this site and then begin the workout. I will transform before your very eyes.

This site will continue to develop. I hope to make it a great source of information for you about the benefits of body weight exercises. Check back often for the updates.