Bodyweight Exercise Workout for Muscle Mass

This video demonstrates a bodyweight exercise workout for muscle mass as well as fat loss for beginners .

Top 5 Push-ups You Can Do Almost Anywhere

Here are five different types of push ups you can do in the gym or at home.

Bodyweight Exercise Program to Build Muscle and Lose Fat

Bodyweight exercises are strength training exercises that do not require weights for resistance. Your own body weight is enough resistance to build an amazing level of muscle, and bodyweight exercises are definitely challenging enough to chisel away any extra fat. If you want to build more muscle and burn more fat, then this bodyweight exercise workout program is for you.

The 4 Basic Bodyweight Exercises

• Pull-ups
• Squats
• Push-ups
• Sit-ups 

These four exercises provide everything you need for a fit and functional body. You have a pull movement (pull-up), a squat movement, a push movement (push-up), and an abdominal movement (sit-ups).


How This Bodyweight Exercise Program Works
You will perform these four exercises as a circuit using a “pyramid” format. That means you will start on the bottom “level” of the pyramid and “climb” your way up it. Then when you hit the top, you’ll “climb” back down. Because four exercises are done consecutively on each level, you are getting a sufficient rest period for each exercise. Additionally, when you get to your top level on the pyramid and start to get fatigued, you start going down it, doing fewer repetitions per level (set). That means you can still keep good form and concentrate on doing the repetitions perfectly.

Bodyweight Exercise Pyramid

Level	Pull-ups	Squats	Push-ups	Sit-ups
1	1	5	3	5
2	2	10	6	10
3	3	15	9	15
4	4	20	12	20
5	5	25	15	25
6	6	30	18	30
7	7	35	21	35
8	8	40	24	40
9	9	45	27	45
10	10	50	30	50

How to Do the Bodyweight Exercise Workout Program
Go to the column labeled "Levels." Think of each exercise at each level as a set. So, you start on level 1 and do 1 pull-up, then 5 squats, 3 push-ups, and 5 sit-up with no rest between the exercises. Then you go to level 2 and go across, then level 3, and so on until you get to level 10, or until you start to fatigue, and you feel like you won’t complete the next level of the pyramid. When this happens, you’re going to start going down the pyramid.

For example, if you get to level 7 and feel like you just barely completed it, then you start going down the pyramid again, by going to level 6, then 5, 4, 3, etc. When you reach level 10, you will be doing 100 pull-ups, 500 squats, 300 push-ups, and 500 sit-ups, which should be completed in about 60 minutes.

How to Determine Your Starting Level
The simplest way to determine your starting level on this bodyweight exercise workout program is to just begin with level 1 and go up each level until you start to fatigue, and you feel that you won't complete the next level of the pyramid on any one of the four exercises. Then start going back down the pyramid. If you make all the repetitions, then that's your starting level.

How to Progress on this Bodyweight Exercise Workout Program
You are ready to progress on this bodyweight exercise workout program when you can complete all the repetitions at a particular level or half-level with perfect form without needing to pause or rest to complete any set. When you can do that, move to the next half-level, which only adds one set per exercise. If you went straight to level 6, you would be adding two sets, which is too much. 

For example, if you started at level 5, your maximum repetitions would be 5 pull-ups, 25 squats, 15 push-ups, and 25 sit-ups. Your next level is not level 6. It's doing level 5 twice. When you can complete all those sets, then you move to level 6.

Moving up a half-level every 2-4 weeks would be excellent progress if you do the program three times a week. Reaching level 7, which is just about one-half the maximum repetitions at level 10, would be a challenging goal to begin with.

If you can follow simple instructions, then you can build a HEALTHY, HIGH-PERFORMANCE, ATTRACTIVE body in the comfort of your own home using ONLY bodyweight exercises. To discover the REAL reason you've failed to reach your fitness, fat loss and physique-building goals (and what you can do about it), click here!

Hobart Personal Trainer's Playground 250 / 500 Rep Challenge

Hobart Personal Trainer demonstrates the playground 250/500 rep challenge - a simple, effective, fat loss workout using your body weight, some playground equipment, and a bit of desire!

6 Ways to Make Push-ups Harder

Push-ups are a great exercise, but beyond a certain point (20-30), you shouldn't try to make progress by doing more of them. Instead, make them harder. Parth of At Home Intense Workouts suggests six ways to make push-ups harder.

... Here are a couple of other ideas to make your pushups harder:

Stability Ball Pushups
Get into pushup position with your feet on a stability ball. Perform the pushup. This is a tough variation, especially if you have poor abdominal strength. To make the movement easier, place your shins on the ball. Read more

12 Pull-up Variations

The pull-up is the king of upper body exercises. (See my post Double Your Pull-ups in Six Weeks or Less.) Different types of pull-ups develop your upper body in different ways. This video gives you twelve variations to try.

Intense Parkour Strength and Conditioning at the Park

Fitness enthusiast/free runner Ramon "Razor" Dickenson performs an intense strength and condition workout to increase speed, strength, and agility. Not every park has a parkour course, but most parks have playground equipment that can be used for dips, pull-ups, etc.

"Thug Workout" at the Local Park

This is a simple version of the popular "Thug Workout" that can be done at the local park. All it takes is ten minutes!

How Did Bruce Lee Get Those Washboard Abs?

Bruce Lee was a legendary martial artist and movie star, who was also known for his washboard abs. Jake Seal describes the training routine that Bruce Lee followed to develop his incredible muscular definition.

Of all the body parts Bruce Lee developed, his abdominal muscles were the most spectacular: rock solid to the touch, deeply cut and highly defined. Bruce believed the abdominals were one of the most important muscle groups for a martial artist since virtually every movement requires some degree of abdominal work. Perhaps more importantly, the "abs" are like a shell, protecting your ribs and vital organs.

Lee was more than merely a fitness fanatic; he was an extremist, always in search of new ways to push his body to the limit, constantly tuning it while striving to achieve maximum efficiency. He felt many martial artists of his day lacked the necessary physical fitness to back up their skill. In his book Tao of Jeet Kune Do, he wrote "Training is one of the most neglected phases of athletics. Too much time is given to the development of skill and too little to the development of the individual for participation."

Black Belt magazine owner Mito Uyehara recalls that "Bruce always felt that if your stomach was not developed, then you had no business doing any hard sparring."

Lee's wife, Linda Lee Cadwell, claims her former husband "was a fanatic about ab training. He was always doing sit-ups, crunches, Roman chair movements, leg raises and V-ups."

According to some of Lee's early training notes, his daily abdominal workout included: Read more

Perverted Punishment Workout

For the Perverted Punishment Workout, you will need a timer, a pull-up bar, and a jump rope. You can check the description of this workout with pictures for each exercise here.

MMA Conditioning Pyramid Circuit Workout

If you're a mixed-martial artist and you want to take your strength and conditioning to an elite level, try this pyramid circuit workout.

Barilla and Hannibal Hood Workout

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Hindu Strength Training

This video demonstrates ancient Indian ground exercises, as practiced by Hindu wrestlers, for strengthening the body. For the most part, these exercises use your own body weight for resistance. They also practiced with Indian Clubs (Gada and Joris) of various sizes and weights, as well as the wrestler’s pole (Mallakhamb).

Bodyweight Exercises for Size and Strength

Can bodyweight exercises build size and strength? They can if you do the right ones, says strength coach Mike Mahler.

I get a ton of emails every week regarding bodyweight exercises. People want to know what are the best bodyweight drills for size and strength.

While, lifting weights will always be the superior way to build brute strength and big muscles, there are several bodyweight exercises that you can choose from to add variety to your workouts or to keep you in shape on the road. My favorites are: Handstand Pushups, One-arm Pushups, Door Pull-ups, One-Legged Squats, Knee Jumps, Headstand Leg raises, and the Mahler Body Blaster.

Lets get into each exercise in more detail: Read more

Advanced Bodyweight Exercise Workout

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Planche Push-ups Training

This video outlines a program to build the strength to do full planche push-ups, which he says took him five months of consistent training to achieve.