Don’t Underestimate the Power of Your Bodyweight

If you exercise for the long-term benefits on health and strength as well as wanting to look good naked, bodyweight movements should be an integral part of your training plan.

By getting the ability to move your body through space in a range of different motions, planes, and exercises, you’ll have a huge advantage over those who only train with weights.

Use these challenges as guidelines to get more able and athletic, while looking like someone who can carry a couch of a flight of stairs with ease

Beyond Bodyweight Training Basics .

This is where different forms of advanced bodyweight exercises come into play.

A great way to enhance your training and make it more advanced is to make it into a single limbed uni lateral movements from your typical bilateral Movement.

Bodyweight Standard Tips and Tricks

#1 Pistol Squats

Foundation: 3 reps per side

Advanced: 10 reps per side

• Coaching Notes:

A big predictor of success in this exercise is ankle mobility, so if this is an area you struggle with, make sure that you’ve done some mobility work before going right into the move.

If you’re still struggling with balance, put a five pound plate under your heel, or hold a plate in front to give you a slight counterbalance.

Common Mistakes:

Make sure to control this rep as you lower, and avoid ‘falling’ to the bottom position.

#2 How to Do Single Arm Push Ups

Foundation: 3 reps per side

Advanced:10 reps per side

Coaching Notes:

Start off with both hands on the ground at your bodies midline, and the legs wide. Lift one hand and put it on your thigh.

Lower slowly, making sure to keep tension through the whole body at all times.

If starting on the ground is too hard, make these easier by doing them on a bench or a smith machine.

Common Mistakes:

As with many other exercises, this one breaks down if the total body tension is lost. Most of the time you’ll feel sore in the obliques the day after attempting these for the first time, so ensure that your ribs are locked down to your pelvis, and that you don’t shift weight side to side during the rep.

#3 Flags aka ‘Rock-Abs

Foundation: 10 midway reps

Advanced:10 full reps

Coaching Notes:

Start off by lifting the legs and pressing the hips up into a shoulder stand position. Make sure that the shoulder blades are pulled back like a row to support and protect the neck in this position.

From here, tighten the core, glutes, and quads hard and begin to lower yourself.

Lower to a point where you have control before bringing yourself back up to the top position. Repeat, adding extra range of motion each time.

Common Mistakes:

Don’t let your hips sag here. Keep the glutes engaged at all times.

Often trainees will try to go too low to fast, resulting in a sloppy rep or loss of control. Instead, Only go to a position where you have complete control, and progress the exercise by generating more internal tension from knees to shoulders.

#4 Front Lever

Foundation: 20 seconds single leg

Advanced:20 seconds

Coaching Notes:

Start off with the single leg version with one knee tucked to your chest. Hold a hollow body position, and think about pulling your arms down to meet your body just like you would with a straight arm pulldown.

If holding for any length of time is too difficult at first, you can start by doing reps. Hold for one count at the top of the movement before lowering under control.

Common Mistakes:

Make sure that the full body is held in tension, and that there is no ‘sag’ in the hips.

When first starting off, it’s easier to begin with some tension in the lats and upper back, so don’t start from a dead hang.

#5 Handstand Pushups

Foundation: 5 reps


Advanced:12 reps

Coaching Notes :

Keep tension through the whole body as you press by squeezing glutes and quads through the whole move.

These are often best done in a cluster set. This means you set up and do 3-5 reps before taking a 15 second break. Then do another 3-5 reps. Repeat.

Common Mistakes:

Don’t overarch your back as you press up.

Since this is such a difficult move, there’s a potential to do more “grinding” type reps on this exercise. Avoid doing that by terminating the exercise before you get to technical failure.

Avoid this by doing sets of “cluster sets”. Do about 50% of your maximum reps, drop down and take 10 deep breaths, and repeat the set.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when young athletes or new clients come into my gym and they get frustrated when I don’t quickly put them under a heavy barbell to see how much weight they can lift.

Some of my clients (and even advanced athletes) have HORRIBLE form and technique when they first come in; this is totally normal, and quite frankly, all too common.

I’ve always made it a point to go bodyweight training first and to make my clients prove to me and themselves that they are strong enough to handle their own bodyweight correctly and efficiently before using other strength tools extensively.

Bodyweight Workout Program for Strength and Conditioning: Bodyweight Standard

**As from our upcoming ANYWHERE ANYTIME MINIMALIST PERFORMANCE TRAINING

Duration: 30-40 minutes

Frequency: 3x per week

Exercise Type: Strength training

Intensity: Steady, deliberate

Repetitions: Varies by workout

Rest: As needed

The rule of thumb I have for my clients and athletes is that they have a solid level of bodyweight strength before they go on to any external types of resistance. You should easily be able to perform the following:

1. Standing Poses – Build leg strength as well as flexibility in the hips and hamstrings.

2. 25 “Ass to Grass” Bodyweight Squats.

3. 5 Chest-to-Bar Pull Ups (any variation).

4. 25 Chest-to-Deck Push Ups

5. 25 Lunges per Leg Non-Stop.

6. 3 Handstand Push Ups OR 5 Pike Presses.

7. 20 Recline Rows.

8. 10 Hanging Knee Tucks.

9. 90 sec Basic Plank Hold.

Bodyweight training is all about the basics and the truth is, no matter how advanced you are, your body will always fall back on its base level of strength. Your overall bodyweight strength will always serve as the foundation and bridge to your other strengths.

When it comes to the basics of bodyweight training, you should be familiar with all of the essential movements: squats, lunges, push ups, pull ups, rows, and plank variations. You should also have the ability to climb, crawl, sprint, and jump.

These are primal movements.

Bodyweight training serves as your foundation and is the driver of all of your other strengths and skills. Strength tools such as kettlebells, dumbbells, barbells, and sandbags are useless without having the proper bodyweight strength and conditioning foundation.

One of the best types of tests that I like to put my athletes and clients through challenge their general bodyweight conditioning and strength levels is the Bodyweight Gauntlet. If you haven’t seen the gauntlet testing standards then here they are below.

I’ve always been a huge believer of training aggressively and pushing your body to the limit in order to take your results to the next level.

Try it out and take the test to see where you’re at. Are you a WARRIOR, Soldier, or just a Manimal? Leave your comments and score!

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