Bodyweight Exercises : Progression

Felt this was out of the scope of the "post a workout thread", got reminded of it from Rohde's question about bodyweight exercises.

Bodyweight Workouts Link

This is a great resource (skip to page 36), from the primal way of life (similar to paleo with less restrictions).

It defines 5 essential movements:

Pushups
Pullups
Squat
Overhead Press
Plank

And has a ton of variations on each for progression, from easier versions of each to more difficult (the 5 essentials are around Level 4 of 9 Total Levels)

I'm going to do a workout each day based on this while I am away for xmas the next two weeks.

Hope this helps someone!

Link?

Originally Posted by jmcdolej

Link?

haha wow. thanks, added it

Skimmed through it. This is perfect for me. I will read in detail later. I will be adding the plank to my workout. I can do most of the others at a high level.

This is good for vacations. I will be in Spain for 3 weeks and will be doing these a couple of times a week. Thanks for the post.

It is my opinion that BW stuff will become extremely boring over the long-term. It also will not "show" as much progression from a muscle density standpoint as a weight lifting program. I used to be a BW guy (..and I have good genetics), and the only time that I was satisfied with the way that I looked was when I had a REALLY GOOD pump (..which wasn't representative of what I looked like during normal day-to-day activity). I was strong, but that wasn't enough. I guess it just depends on what you're looking for. Yes, it could be utilized when you're on vacation, but there are gyms almost everywhere, so even vacations don't truly advocate for a strict BW program. I'm not saying that they aren't effective in building strength/muscle, but your world isn't going to be rocked upside down from the gains either.

From the guide

Put another way, if you can do two sets totaling 100 pushups, 12 chinups, 12 pullups, 24 shoulder press pushups, 100 full body squats, and a total of 6 minutes of plank variations, you're fit-period. I'd venture to say that you are a 1 in 1,000 physical specimen!

I agree with this, I think once you achieved mastery of bw exercises you'd be very well suited for most sports and activities, except for bodybuilding. For those who want to be more than just "fit" (the words "ripped" or "huge" come to mind) then heavy progressive weightlifting is much better.

I know personally I'd be happy with that! (Master of your own body, decent muscle mass to support it, and low body fat).

Edit: My plan is to accelerate my strength gains with heavy lifting, while incorporating a few bodyweight type exercises. I think this type of program would take a significantly longer time period to realize the same gains you could have from working out with weights in a gym

Put another way, if you can do two sets totaling 100 pushups, 12 chinups, 12 pullups, 24 shoulder press pushups, 100 full body squats, and a total of 6 minutes of plank variations, you're fit-period. I'd venture to say that you are a 1 in 1,000 physical specimen!

This just seems like an exercise regiment that will differ in effectiveness from person to person. The overweight guys in my office would really benefit from a lot of this but I could do the above right now without and need for a build-up-period... primarily because I'm naturally lighter.

Originally Posted by 2000_328CI

This just seems like an exercise regiment that will differ in effectiveness from person to person. The overweight guys in my office would really benefit from a lot of this but I could do the above right now without and need for a build-up-period... primarily because I'm naturally lighter.

Did you look at the actual workout? That's just an excerpt, the workouts range vastly in difficulty and I guarantee would challenge you

Originally Posted by 2000_328CI

This just seems like an exercise regiment that will differ in effectiveness from person to person. The overweight guys in my office would really benefit from a lot of this but I could do the above right now without and need for a build-up-period... primarily because I'm naturally lighter.

You can do 100 consecutive pushups and 24 handstand pushups. If so, I am extremely impressed!

Originally Posted by Glight

You can do 100 consecutive pushups and 24 handstand pushups. If so, I am extremely impressed!

Its actually two sets, so 1 set of 50 pushups and 12 handstand pushups. Which I know personally I still cannot do, let alone 100.

i might be able to do 50 pushups and i know i can do 12 hs pushups. let me try right now

i did 12 pushups. i have a bruised bone in my elbow and that shiet hurts. haha

i dont do a consecutive number of pushups ever really. but ive done 40 consecutive a year or so ago

Originally Posted by BreakMyWallet

i did 12 pushups. i have a bruised bone in my elbow and that shiet hurts. haha

i dont do a consecutive number of pushups ever really. but ive done 40 consecutive a year or so ago

I know I can get around 25-30... A year ago I drunkenly accepted a bet that if I could do 50 consecutive pushups my buddy would have to drink a beer out of his shoe... and if I failed I would have the same fate.

Around 27 I realized I had no hope

Originally Posted by dabears

Its actually two sets, so 1 set of 50 pushups and 12 handstand pushups. Which I know personally I still cannot do, let alone 100.

I can do 2 x 50 push-ups easily. Hspu my best is 15, 8, 4.

Originally Posted by dabears

I know I can get around 25-30... A year ago I drunkenly accepted a bet that if I could do 50 consecutive pushups my buddy would have to drink a beer out of his shoe... and if I failed I would have the same fate.

Around 27 I realized I had no hope

I got to like 65 or so once. I haven't tried in a while though.

Originally Posted by Glight

You can do 100 consecutive pushups and 24 handstand pushups. If so, I am extremely impressed!

Yes. I could do two sets of 50 and could likely (I can try if you'd like) do 100 straight. But at 6'3 160 pounds, I have a feeling it's far easier me than most.

And I'm not saying bodyweight exercise is bad.. it's just not going to help me with my personal goals (I do weighted dips, pullsup and find them extremely helpful)

Originally Posted by 2000_328CI

Yes. I could do two sets of 50 and could likely (I can try if you'd like) do 100 straight. But at 6'3 160 pounds, I have a feeling it's far easier me than most.

And I'm not saying bodyweight exercise is bad.. it's just not going to help me with my personal goals (I do weighted dips, pullsup and find them extremely helpful)

post video and impress me. I would really like to see this now.

Yeah, I'd like to see it too. 50 I can see, but each pushup would get much, much harder after that. I'd be interested to see your form as well.

Originally Posted by DylloS

post video and impress me. I would really like to see this now.

Haha seriously. Ill set the over under at 17