I was a little pressed for time yesterday, so I did a quick bodyweight circuit workout. Check it out:
[Bodyweight workouts are great - you can do them anywhere. This girl is doing pushups at the beach near where I live in Cayucos, CA. Photo by mikebaird]
I adapted this workout, switching a few things up from one in Craig Ballantyne’s bodyweight workout course, Turbulence Training.
Check it out:
- 60 Jumping Jacks
- 10 Hindu Pushups
- 10 Walking Lunges for each leg
- Towel Pullups (stop 1-2 reps before failure)
- 10 Bodyweight Squats
- Plank Hold for 60 seconds (for sets 2 & 3 do side planks)
- 10 Burpees
- 50 Mountain Climbers
Rest 60 seconds, then do the circuit two more times.
(In Craig’s version, there is an optional 15 minutes of intense cardio after these circuits, which I didn’t do. LAZY!!!)
This was a pretty good total body workout for fat loss and just staying in good shape in general.
The pullups add a pulling movement (you can do body rows with your DIY suspension trainer mounted on a sturdy door if you don’t have a pullup bar or a place to throw a towel over). The legs get hit with lunges, squats, and jumping jacks. The core gets worked from the front and side planks. By the end of the circuit, your whole body has been worked and you have to finish strong with two intense total-body exercises, burpees and mountain climbers.
My heart rate was WAY up by the end of it. Go hard and yours will be too!
Body weight circuits are tough. I use them when I travel for work ( when I can’t get to a gym) or a in a cycle .. a few months I do weights the next metabolic conditioning like the one you described above.
And Hey I do my own version of crazy 8 above and am always too fatigued to add in the intense cardio at the end as well.
Raymond
Raymond-
Yeah circuits like this are tough, especially if you go hard.
Personally I like to mix it all together: a day of strength training, next day circuit, next day intervals, next day rest, repeat.
After a few weeks of doing circuits like this regularly, I am always surprised at how much better shape I am in. Climbing long sets of stairs doesn’t wind me as easily, and doing maintenance/landscaping work outside, I feel like I can go hard for quite a while before getting tired.
-Ian
I’m a big fan of bodyweight exercises. They have been a huge part of my fitness routine these days. Definitely something you don’t want to neglect.
Definitely love bodyweight training. Starting in September, I’m switching to a bodyweight only routine. You outlined a great intense circuit. Thanks!
Ian great workout. Hindu pushups are one of my favorite. I used to do them daily and add 5 reps per day. Good stuff.
Darrin- Yeah I love bodyweight exercises too. Although I must admit that half the reason I like them so much is that you don’t have to deal with the hassle of setting up equipment!
Dave- Thanks man. I am excited to see what you come up with for your routine. I hope to see details on your website.
Yavor- Thank you. Hindu pushups, dive bombers, elevated pushups, tricep pushups, etc. There are so many options, it’s hard to get bored.
[...] is another post I did on a bodyweight interval circuit that I really [...]
is this routine suitable for teens ?
Ahmed-
This routine is definitely ok for teens to do. I have heard experts recommend that kids younger than 15 should not lift weights. But in the case of bodyweight exercises, all these movements are multi joint, compound movements that are generally very safe, not to mention, very effective.
What sort of fitness goals are you looking to accomplish?
Thanks for your reply,
-Ian
First, thank you for your reply,Ian.
secondly,am trying to lose fat and increase functional strength.
Ahmed –
For losing fat, the most important thing is to eat a bit less than you usually do. There are many ways to do this – intermittent fasting, various types of diets, or simply eating, until you are “no longer hungry” rather than eating until you are full.
In my experience, exercise DOES help, especially when it’s timed properly:
Try 3 or more high intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts per week in a starved state (when you haven’t had anything to eat for the previous 3 hours – in the morning before breakfast is a great option)
Here’s an example of a HIIT workout – jump rope sprinting (high knees) for 30 seconds, then 30 seconds of slower, easier jumping. – Repeat this sequence for 12, 15, or more minutes. Follow that up with a brisk walk for 20 minutes or so if you have the time.
(check out this link for more details on this type of workout.
The key with these workouts is to not wear down your body over the course of the week. If you are new to jumping rope and try to do this jump rope workout 4 times a week, guess what – your calves, feet, and ankles (and probably your wrists and shoulders too) will be HURTING after a week!
So for that reason, Mix it up. So, one day, try the jump rope workout outlined above. Another day, do 10×40 yard sprints, walking back to start after each, then sprinting immediately. Maybe another day, do a similar routine on a bike – try going hard for 30-60 seconds, then resting for 30-60 seconds, repeating for around 15 minutes. You can also mix in some burpees intervals as well. The key is to do INTENSE intervals, followed by brief rests. This activates the fat-torching hormone HGH.
As for functional strength, here’s my recommendation: do a couple strength workouts per week, focusing on:
lifting something heavy off the ground (can’t get much more functional than that, right?) – try deadlifts if you have a weight set, or make your own training sandbag and do some cleans.
Upper body pushing motion – two of my favorites are weighted pushups (throw a sandbag in your backpack), and the overhead press (the press part of the clean and press – use a sandbag if you don’t have weights)
Upper body pulling motion – Try towel pullups (add weight if you need to – see the free ebook I gave you – homemade workout manifesto to see how to easily and cheaply add weight). And also do some horizontal pulling motion, like bodyweight (or weighted) rows.
Just focus on 3 exercises per strength workout.
-Here’s an example-
–clean, weighted pushup, weighted pullup circuit-
—use a weight (again, use sandbags, if you don’t have standard weights) that you can’t lift more than 4-6 times before failure.
–then do the following circuit 8 times:
deadlift or clean, 3 reps
rest 30 seconds
weighted pushup or overhead press, 3 reps
rest 30 seconds
weighted row or pullup, 3 reps
rest 30 seconds
Then start again until you have performed the circuit 8 times.
For the other workout during the week, do something like the above, only doing 5 rounds, with 8 repetitions of each exercise.
Anyways, I hope this helps!
Thanks for your response,
-Ian
That seems really interesting. I will give it a try as soon as possible.
Thanks,
Ahmed