The Merits of Bodyweight Exercise Training for Strength and Conditioning

Bodyweight exercise training is perhaps the best exercise modality system for getting anyone into shape and improving their fitness, strength, cardio and conditioning levels, in terms of convenience and accessibility (see bodyweight training primer).

Bodyweight exercise offers enough variety and options to avoid boredom and stagnation while keeping you interested in pursuing the routines for later workouts.

photo credit: akunamatata

The reason why I say bodyweight training is a superior exercise system and method of training (for those short on time), especially for fat loss, is because the exercises can be incorporated into a circuit and conditioning system using high intensity interval protocols that maximizes exercise productivity and work and minimizes rest periods.

You end up getting an ass-kicking, intense, tough workout that burns more fat, builds strength endurance, and enhances cardiovascular fitness and conditioning.

Body weight workouts may sound easy because you might think it’s mainly just pushups and situps but don’t dismiss something so simple just yet.

Have you ever repped out a set of pushups to failure?  Failure meaning overloading the muscles by cranking out as many full and complete reps as you can do until you can’t do any more reps.  You’ll know that one single set to muscle failure is tough.  You feel exhausted at the end of the set.  Now double, triple, and quadruple that training effort and effect with additional bodyweight exercises to failure.  Add in a set of pullups, situps, squats all to failure.  Then go out to the local football park and do 4 sets of 400 meter sprints at top speed (see interval cardio conditioning).

Do you still need any more convincing?

This is interval training at it’s best.  Intervals can be combined with bodyweight movements to give you a result-producing conditioning and cardio workout to get you in shape fast, while gaining strength and losing fat.   Bodyweight training mixed with intervals is simple to understand and implement.

By definition, interval training is alternating periods of  intense work (bodyweight exercises in this case) with very short periods of rest. It is high intensity exercise following intervals of lighter exercise.  It can be applied to any bodyweight exercise you can think of.

The oxygen debt created from fast-paced body weight conditioning routines will enhance work capacity allowing you to work out longer, harder, and more efficiently for greater fat loss and conditioning benefits.  And this can be achieved in as little as 10 minutes.

You can do bodyweight workouts and routines literally anywhere: at home, in the park, in the gym and fitness center, and even on the sidewalk or streets ( though beware of loitering).  Street training is in fact, the marketing used by the “Thug Workouts” Crew from Ruff Rhyders.

An advantage of bodyweight workouts is accessibility.  Train anywhere and everywhere when necessary.

Check out the bodyweight training primer for a more detailed tutorial of how to set up and implement a bodyweight training program.

Here's a body weight routine based on the density and work capacity approach.  It's simple, minimalist, and intense,

• pushups: do as many reps as you can in 30 seconds

*rest 15 seconds by walking slowly or light jumping jacks

• chinups: do as many reps as you can in 30 seconds

*rest 15 seconds by walking slowly or light jumping jacks

• situps: do as many reps as you can in 30 seconds

*rest 15 seconds by walking slowly or light jumping jacks

• body weight squats: do as many reps for 30 seconds

*rest 1 minute and repeat for 2 more circuits.

That's one circuit of 3 exercises, each with a 30 second time interval with 15 seconds rest in between.  The actual working out is done with 30 second intervals while the lighter activity of rest comes after.  The 15 second resting period is called active rest since you'll still be maintaining some work rate, either by walking, jogging slowly and lightly, or doing light work like jumping jacks.

Overall, rest is minimized to keep work rate high as you'll be pumping out as many reps as you can for each exercise.  Your lungs will be working at a near maximum rate with heart pumping hard.  You'll be breathing even harder than regular running at low and moderate intensities if you throw in additional exercises and lengthen the time of intervals.  You should be able to finish the entire routine in under 10 minutes.

photo credit: army.mil

Here's another more intense example routine done at the park for the more conditioned,

• burpees: continuous reps for 1 minute

• chinups: continuous reps for 1 minute; do as many reps to failure as you can, then hang onto the bar until time is up, this will also train/enhance your grip

• sprint 400 meters; go all-out at top speed

• jumping jacks: 30 seconds; do it fast without stopping or pausing between jumps, try to squeeze in at least 40 reps in 30 seconds

This is one circuit.  rest 1 minute after this circuit and repeat the entire circuit 2 more times for a total of 3 circuits.

Now noticed how both routines take less than 10 minutes to finish.  By the end of each workout, you'll be breathing heavily and catching your breath for a long while before you feel normal again.  You also burn more calories with these type of interval workouts as metabolism is elevated for up to 48-72 hours.  This is actually a better alternative to traditional long, slow, and boring cardio on the treadmill or stationary bike.

Trainer Vince Delmonte from SixPackQuest.com and author of the best-selling "No-Nonsense Muscle-Building" Program demonstrates a simple bodyweight routine using the interval method for fat loss in this video:

Now do you see how effective bodyweight workouts are when combined with interval training?  And pushups, situps, and pullups are just some of the basic movements.  Each main movement has its many variations and options of exercises you'll certainly want to do.

Here are some of the variations:

• pushups: one arm pushups, elevated pushups, ring pushups, perfect pushups, clapping pushups, knuckle pushups, finger pushups, hindu pushups, weighted pushups with backpack or weight vest

• pullups and chinups: one arm variations, frenchies, muscle-ups, weighted variations with weight vest or weight belt, pullups and chinups on rings and 2" manilla rope

• squats: pistol/single leg squats, jumping squats with weight vest

• ab/core/lower back  exercises include ab wheel rollouts, flag, plank hold, situps, crunches done in USMC form, leg raises, flutter kicks, chinnies, V-ups, superman

• variations of burpees

• up-downs

• high jumps, plymetric jumps, jumping body weight squats

• body weight lunges

You see there's over 10 different variations for pushups and 6 variations for pullups and chinups alone.  That's 16 different body weight exercises for two main movements.  This list is not comprehensive.  Bodyweight exercises are more numerous than I outlined above.

By using a variety of exercises, you'll be improving your strength endurance and conditioning levels.  You'll strengthen your tendons, joints, bones, and other associated connective tissues giving you a stronger and healthier musculature and body.  You'll also increase flexibility.

Here's Ross Enamait's "Work Capacity 101's low-tech" routine from RossTraining.com

So the next time you think about skipping your workout due to a lack of time, just grab a chair and/or drop to the floor and truck along with a body weight routine.  It only takes 10 minutes.  Discipline is key to long term fitness.  Don't come up with excuses.

Train Hard. Train Safely. Train Smart.

If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to leave a comment below or email me at ZQH245@gmail.com or ZQH250@gmail.com

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