body weight workout

[southpaw2884]

i know there is some scientific name for it but i have been thinking bout getting into a workout routine just using bodyweight and i am havin a hard time finding different workouts anyone can help?? i know bout push ups, pull ups, squats and lunges.

[Joey Giardello]

i know there is some scientific name for it but i have been thinking bout getting into a workout routine just using bodyweight and i am havin a hard time finding different workouts anyone can help?? i know bout push ups, pull ups, squats and lunges.

I do 3 sets of pull ups, 3 sets of push ups and 3 sets of dips. It doesnt matter how mamy reps you can do just build your way up. Remember do this every other day! not every day cause if you do it every day your musles become tired

[Gloves2Glory]

hmmm agreed

[brody07]

your workout consuming

To build muscle consistently you are going to need to get a minimum of 1 gram per pound of your lean body weight everyday. That is the minimum and if you are really serious about building muscle fast I would suggest at least 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. There are a variety of proteins to choose from but you will find that after your workout consuming natural whey protein is by far one of the best muscle building foods.

[Devils Advocate]

To build muscle consistently you are going to need to get a minimum of 1 gram per pound of your lean body weight everyday. That is the minimum and if you are really serious about building muscle fast I would suggest at least 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. There are a variety of proteins to choose from but you will find that after your workout consuming natural whey protein is by far one of the best muscle building foods.

Be careful on them protein shakes Whey for one can cause body fat to store around the stomach area. Just additiona feedback

[TheNegation]

Be careful on them protein shakes Whey for one can cause body fat to store around the stomach area. Just additiona feedback

This is completely false. If anything adequate protein intake can speed up metabolism, and thus the fat burning process.

Secondly, there is no telling where anyone's bodyfat will end up being stored. Everyone's genetics and body is different and certain foods don't store fat in certain places. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

[EzzardFan]

Equipment wise you need:

A floor. Access to different surfaces is good. Some exercises are easier on concrete, and some are easier on carpet.

Two chairs.

A table.

A pull up bar.

It's also worth getting hold of a set of gymnastic hoops you can source these on-line for less than $40. The hoops allow you to work pull ups from more natural angles that place less stress on your elbow joints. I cannot recommend these highly enough.

The best time to train calisthenics is before your evening meal… but you can even train them throughout the day in stages. It's not like weights - different rules apply. If you want you can split the following workout over 6 days.

For boxing you should train calisthenics explosively. This means that you do the movements as quickly as possible to build a fast twitch muscle response.

There are 6 basic categories of calisthenic that I perform. The only leg cals I do are hindu squats. Most of my leg work is done running up stairs or really steep hills, and power walking. I totally shun sit-ups and crunches because these have been pretty well discredited as being of little benefit. I have a good set of abs for someone of 39 so really don't worry about sit-ups. The exercises are divided into:

Handstand
Pull up
Hanging Knee Raise
Push up
Dip
Squat

Unlike weights you train the entire body during each session. that's because there is plenty of crossover effort between cals so no point in splitting anything up. It's a bit like circuit training in this respect. It's also great for building muscular endurance.

The other thing that it's very important to stress is variety. Change your grip, vary the position on your hands and feet. Do things a little differently every time.

With calisthenics you train each set to absolute failure. If you fail after 1 rep then that was your set - next time aim for 2 reps. This makes them safe even for people who are really unfit. If you reach 100 reps on anything then stop increasing the reps and instead try and improve the form. If you can crack 100 reps with prefect form then believe me there won't be many people that can touch you. If you ever get to this stage then you'll have to rethink things, but that's never happened to me LOL!

Each workout I perform:

1 set handstands
3 sets pull ups
1 set hanging knee raise
3 sets push ups
1 set dips
1 set squats

In addition I perform 6 moving isometrics and 4 static holds.

It's very important never to perform more than 1 set of a specific calisthenic in the same week. To get around this I work 3 forms of handstand, 9 forms of pull up, 3 forms of HKR, 9 forms of pushup, 3 forms of dip, and 3 forms of squat.

Every so often I replace an existing form with a new one. There are books and webpages that provide details of hundreds of forms, from memory I can list around 30 type of push up. The "barmasters xtreme" ids on YouTube are really good for new ideas.

When performing an calisthenic you either breathe in on the easy phase and out on the effort phase, or you breath in at both the top and bottom and out when moving. Never hold your breath! Ever! The same goes for the moving isometrics - you must keep breathing or you risk death

Yet another thing to take note of. I make Monday incline and wide day, Wednesday flat and regular day, and Friday decline and narrow day. Those terms will make more sense once you see the routine.

Finally you need to train within your bodies natural anabolic/catabolic cycle. This is something that bodybuilders try hard to circumvent as doing so enables them to grow huge quan****** of poor quality muscle. Your anabolic phase lasts 3-6 weeks (longer when you are younger and shorter when you are older) and is when you grow muscle. Your catabolic phase lasts 1 week and is when you break down damaged muscle. At 39 I train for 4 weeks then take 1 week off calisthenics. I continue to box right through!

Continued...

[EzzardFan]

...continued.

So here is a basic routine to get you going. Initially I'd recommend getting someone to hold you during the handstands, until you get good at them.

Monday
---------
Incline handstands. Walk your feet up the wall (or have someone support you) until you are at an angle but not inverted. Vary the angle each time. Push up explosively, drop quickly then slam on the brakes before you face plant. Repeat until total fail

Slow handstand. After a rest perform one last handstand pushing up as slowly as possible then lowering as slowly as possible. Your target is 60 secs duration. Ouch! This is know as a moving isometric (which is a contradiction in terms). DO NOT HOLD YOU BREATH. Keep breathing.

Wide grip overarm pull ups. Position your arms far apart with your palms facing away. Pull up explosively. Use full range of motion from a dead hand to as far up as you can pull.

Left before right commando pull ups. Hang sideways with your hands next to each other, and your left hand in front. The inside of your forearms are facing the bar. Your arms are in a letter A shape above your head. Your palms are facing each other. Probably worth googling an image of commando pull up to get the idea. Do these to fail.

Wide grip underarm pull ups. Position your arms far apart with your palms facing towards you. Pull up explosively. Use full range of motion from a dead hang to as far up as you can pull.

Slow pull up. After a rest choose one of the forms of pull up and perform one last slow one. Your target is 60 secs duration.

Wide grip hanging knee raise. Grip the bar with your hands as far apart as possible and your palms facing away from you. Draw your knees straight up to your chest and back down explosively. you want to raise the knees as high as possible. Repeat until fail.

After resting perform a single slow rep aiming for 60 secs.

Incline push ups. Position yourself between 2 chairs with a hand resting on the seat of each chair. Do push ups explosively between the chairs until fail. Experiment with different chair widths and different heights of seat.

Flat wide push ups. Place your hands far apart on the floor and pushup explosively until failure.

Finger pushups. Do push ups on your fingers until fail.

Select one of the above forms of push up and perform a single slow rep. Almost every muscle in your body will be straining by the end.

Parallel dips. You can do these between 2 chairs or if you want to be really hardcore like me you can use the gymnastic rings. Stand between 2 chairs with the chair backs facing in towards you. Place a hand on the back of each chair. Push up and straighten your arms. Lift your feet off the floor. Lower yourself down and back up explosively. Repeat until failure.

Slow dip. Aim for 60 secs.

Hindu squats. These are too hard to describe to please google them. Do a single set to fail.

Slow hindu squat. Aim for 60 secs. This really really hurts!

Static holds. Lookup the gymnastic planche and iron cross and learn to perform them. Make two attempt at each.

This entire routine should take 45-60 mins to perform. Bust a gut!


Wednesday
-------------
Hindu pushups. Repeat until fail. You may need to look these up to see how they are done.

Single rep of hindu pushup performed as slowly as possible.

Regular grip overarm pull ups. Position your arms at their natural distance with your palms facing away. Pull up explosively. Use full range of motion from a dead hang to as far up as you can pull.

Rocky 1.5 arm pull ups PT1. Grip the bar with one arm with the palm facing towards you. Grip your own wrist with your other arm. Pull up until repeatedly until you fall off the bar.

Rocky 1.5 arm pull ups PT2.Switch arms and do the same again.

Regular grip underarm pull ups. Position your arms at their natural distance with your palms facing towards you. Pull up explosively. Use full range of motion from a dead hand to as far up as you can pull.

Slow pull up. After a rest choose one of the forms of pull up (but not the Rocky pull ups) and perform one last slow one. Your target is 60 secs duration.

Regular grip hanging knee raise. Grip the bar with your hands at their natural distance and your palms facing away from you. Draw your knees straight up to your chest and back down explosively. you want to raise the knees as high as possible. Repeat until fail.

After resting perform a single slow rep aiming for 60 secs.

Flat knuckle push ups. Like a classic pushup but with your hands clenched into fists and resting on your knuckles. Repeat until fail.

Diamond push ups. Place your hand together on the floor, level with the centre of your chest. Form a diamond shape between your index fingers and thumbs of both hands. Push up till failure.

Semi planche pushups. Place both hands don near your waistline. You can have the hands facing any way that is remotely comfortable. Pushup repeatedly until failure.

Select one of the above forms of push up and perform a single slow rep. Almost every muscle in your body will be straining by the end.

Between seat dips. Stand between 2 chairs with the seats facing in towards you. Place a hand on the seat of each chair. Stretch your legs out in front of your. Lower yourself down and back up explosively. Repeat until failure.

Slow dip. Aim for 60 secs.

Hindu squats. These are too hard to describe to please google them. Do a single set to fail.

Slow hindu squat. Aim for 60 secs. This really really hurts!

Static holds. Lookup the gymnastic planche and iron cross and learn to perform them. Make two attempt at each.

This entire routine should take 45-60 mins to perform. Bust a gut!


Friday
---------
Vertical handstands. Pop a gymnastic handstand against a wall or door (or have someone support you). Push up explosively, drop quickly then slam on the brakes before you face plant. Repeat until total fail

Slow handstand. After a rest perform one last handstand pushing up as slowly as possible then lowering as slowly as possible. Your target is 60 secs duration. Ouch! This is know as a moving isometric (which is a contradiction in terms). DO NOT HOLD YOU BREATH. Keep breathing.

Narrow grip overarm pull ups. Position your arms next to each other with your palms facing away. Pull up explosively. Use full range of motion from a dead hang to as far up as you can pull.

Right before left commando pull ups. Hang sideways with your hands next to each other, and your right hand in front. The inside of your forearms are facing the bar. Your arms are in a letter A shape above your head. Your palms are facing each other. Probably worth googling an image of commando pull up to get the idea. Do these to fail.

Narrow grip underarm pull ups. Position your hands next to each other with your palms facing towards you. Pull up explosively. Use full range of motion from a dead hand to as far up as you can pull.

Slow pull up. After a rest choose one of the forms of pull up (but not the Rocky pull ups) and perform one last slow one. Your target is 60 secs duration.

Narrow grip hanging knee raise. Grip the bar with your hands as close together as possible and your palms facing away from you. Draw your knees straight up to your chest and back down explosively. you want to raise the knees as high as possible. Repeat until fail.

After resting perform a single slow rep aiming for 60 secs.

Decline knuckle push ups. Like a flat knuckle pushup but with your feet up on a chair. Repeat until fail.

Superman push ups. Place your hands together either side of your head, or even further forward if you can take it! Push up till failure.

Back of hands push ups. Like a regular pushup but on the back of your hands. The first rep hurts the most. Pushup repeatedly until failure.

Select one of the above forms of push up and perform a single slow rep. Almost every muscle in your body will be straining by the end.

Behind seat dips. Sit on a chair. Place your hands behind you and slide forward off the seat and hold the front of the seat with your hands. Stretch your legs out in front of your. Lower yourself down and back up explosively. Repeat until failure.

Slow dip. Aim for 60 secs.

Hindu squats. These are too hard to describe to please google them. Do a single set to fail.

Slow hindu squat. Aim for 60 secs. This really really hurts!

Static holds. Lookup the gymnastic planche and iron cross and learn to perform them. Make two attempt at each.

This entire routine should take 45-60 mins to perform. Bust a gut!

Every so often swap out some of these exercises for new ones. Variety really helps!

Some other resources that may be of assistance to you:

There is a book called "Pushing Yourself to Power" by John E Peterson.

There is a book called "Slim for Life" By Jason Vale.

Both are excellent.

[SplitSecond]

jump squats are killer

[alza1988]

I use bodyweight for strength and conditioning .
http://www.beastskills.com/
The difference with conditioning is you don't need perfect reps like strength as I found out in Rosstraining full throttle conditioning .Only conditioning exercises I strive for perfect rep is burpees and squat thrusts .If I do 10 push ups as part of my conditioning it's just 10 as fast as possible and same on change overs between exercises. Here's my daily conditioning circuit .
http://www.rosstraining.com/forum/vi...587292#p587292
For bodyweight training strength .You want to get to an advanced level and do like pistols .1 arm push-ups etc.This is my vid 1arm elbow in and I can now get alot more power in my shots especially straight right hand because this is the same motion as a punch.

I do about 30 these each arm plus 50 diamond push-ups and deltoit push-ups , wide arm etc .It's quality because I can see my power coming right on in the gym now .Pumping out stiff jabs and ****ing big heavy right hands on the bag .I'm still working on technique but it's coming man. My powers there. You'll have to move your head to the side to see it properly.