BODYWEIGHT BASICS - Bodyweight Training - Functional Fitness Without Weights

With a barbell it's easy just add another plate to the bar and you're set -- but what do you do with bodyweight? Make no mistake about it though, regardless of how you are training if you do not train progressively, youll just be wasting your time. You see, your body can only grow in direct response to the demands placed upon it. And those demands must increase in intensity over time for an adaptation to keep taking place ie for you to keep getting stronger. For some movements, its simple, just add weight -- like having a weight belt for chins and dips, a very worthwhile investment if you ask me. For others, not so easy - for example, how would you increase the intensity while doing say, burpees, jumping rope, rope climbing or monkey bars? Theres a couple different methods -- some of which depends on the particular exercise, some of which depends on the context the exercise is performed, and some of which depends on the style in which the exercise is done. For something like jumping rope, if you need a little "kick in the pants" try jumping rope in between bouts of hill sprints - or, alternately, you could do high knees, jump on one foot or "double up." -- which are all in-tense ways of training. And with something like a climbing rope, its just a manner of moving on to more challenging variations -- with the feet, without the feet, climbing two ropes, climbing upside down and once you master all of those, you can move on to a thicker rope. Every exercise can be made "harder" in some way -- but you have to keep at it and keep improving. Train hard, John Wood P.S. Need a few ideas? Maxwell can definitely show you how to make your workout tougher... try a few scorpion pushups or one-arm extension pullups for a new challenge... find out how to do em here: Maxwell's Pullup Workout

Labels: Body Weight Training, Bodyweight Progressions, Bodyweight Training, Jump Rope, Progression

The 300 Spartan Workout

With the popularity of his first DVD, The Ultimate Upper-Body Pull-Up Workout, we just had to release the next video in Steve's line of great bodyweight training DVDs: The 300 Spartan Bodyweight Challenge Maxwell takes simple bodyweight exercises and augments them into very intense and effective routines that you can do at your home or gym with little or no equipment. These drills will improve your strength, endurance, athleticism and promote fat loss and cardiovascular strength as well. Train like a Spartan warrior and take on the ultimate bodyweight training routine: The 300 Spartan Workout.

Labels: Bodyweight Training, bodyweight workout, Cardio, Endurance, Flexibility, Gymnastics Rings, Progression, Pullups, Spartans, Steve Maxwell, Upperbody Workout, warrior training

We recently received a note from a few folks looking to make their bodyweight workouts more challenging. It seems that what they are currently doing just isn't getting it done so today I will go into a few techniques on how to do so.

You see, the nature of progressive resistance training is just that -- progression -- you must keep progressing for it to work and if it isnt "challenging enough" simply pick a variable and build from there.

Heres a few examples:

Reps: real simple, do more than you did last time. If 100 bodyweight squats is "easy" shoot for 150, believe me, you'll start feeling that one very quickly. Etc etc and so on.

Time: holding certain poses for time is a very effective method of training. In fact, it is more than possible to do a killer workout without doing a single rep. Make sure you have a stopwatch on hand to mark your progress.

Form: Every bodyweight exercise isnt just "one" exercise but infinitely many when you factor in all the different variations. To progress, it may be necessary to adjust your form to a more challenging variation (with respect to the previous two examples) - such as going from regular squats to jumper squats or regular pushups to one arm pushups.

Less rest: without getting too technical, consistent training will
lead to certain aerobic and anaerobic adaptations allowing you to make better use of your available oxygen. Cutting down on the rest periods in you workout is one way to increase difficulty.

Ill leave it up to you to notice the one thing in common with all of the things that I just mentioned...

Now, Ill tell you a highly underrated exercise that is surprisingly challenging and that is the "vacuum" as outlined in Combat Abs.

You wouldnt think a simple breathing exercise would be so difficult but this exercise will work you in a way that no other exercise will -- it's difficult to explain, almost from the inside out since you are strengthening the diaphragm.

Due to this unusual development, and the fact that it can be done anywhere, makes the vacuum is an exercise that I feel should be in every program,

In any case, these ideas will make any workout as easy or as challenging as needed.

Train hard,
John Wood

Labels: Bodyweight Squats, Bodyweight Training, Breathing Exercise, Combat Abs Vacuum, Matt Furey, Progression, Workout Tips