Bodyweight Conditioning

This is a page devoted to bodyweight conditioning, a very underrated form of exercise! Too many people assume that if you dont lift weights, you cant build strength. Balderdash! While it is true, free weights build much more power and brute force, too many great fighters have built themselves up with bodyweight alone for it to be ineffective. Dont get me wrong though, while you probably wont build the kind of raw, powerlifting-type strength that lets you deadlift 600 lbs on bodyweight exercises alone. What you will build is a good practical strength base, and heaps of musculer endurance. However, it should be noted there are some souls out there who build incredible, bear-like strength on nothing more then bodyweight exercises and wrestling (like my training partner). Another advantage of bodyweight conditioning, they make you fast and springy, at least in my experiance. Further, they help enforce a good mass/strength ratio. You can eat your way to a heart attack and still be able to bench 400 lbs. No can do with bodyweight exercises. Im not saying bodyweight conditioning is superior to weights, not one bit. What I am trying to say is, they both have advantages. The key is to do what works for you, train for your sport. If your a powerlifter, powerlift. If your a runner, run. If you just want to get in shape, do bodyweight conditioning. If your a fighter, I'd do all three to an extent. On that note, heres some bodyweight workouts for everyone to try.

Workouts and Routines

Workout No. 1 - Simple Bodyweight Conditioning
This is a workout for those of you without access to weights. It is VERY simple, I simply use it to break people in and introduce my friends to working out. It won't build a terrible amount of strength, but it will help. You will however, develop good musculer endurance on it. Enough talk. Here it is.
3x per week, non-consecutive days
5 to 10 minute warm up (jogging in place, etc.)
Push Ups - 2 x burnout
Free Squats - 2 x burnout
Sit Ups - 2 x burnout
Calf Raises - 2 x burnout
Stretch your muscles

Dont rest longer then one minute between sets. Eat plenty of good, high protein meals. Get plenty of sleep.


Workout no. 2
This is a more advanced version of the first program. You can use it to springboard to some of the more advanced workouts I'll post later.

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Pull Ups - 4 x burnout
Jump Squats - 2 x burnout
Push Ups - 4 x burnout
Free Squats - 2 x burnout
Sit Ups - 2 x burnout

Dont rest longer then one minute between sets. Eat plenty of good, high protein meals. Get plenty of sleep.


Workout 3 - The Deck AKA The Killer
This routine looks simple, but dont let that fool you...its a real killer. If you think you have seen it before, its appeared in several good conditioning books. It was also populer among many catch wrestlers, and has appared in "Tietem Brown", a WONDERFUL book by the great Mick Foley. Heres how it is done...take a deck of cards and shuffle them well. There are some variants, but this is the way I do it. Black is squats, red is push ups. Reps are the cards face value. Face cards are worth 12 reps, aces are 15, and jokers are your choice, 20 reps. Start drawing cards, doing your exercises non-stop, till you have ran through the whole deck. It sounds easy, but its a real killer.

Advantages of bodyweight conditioning

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