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Bodyweight Workouts: The No-Equipment Method for Fitness

jon

New member
Bodyweight Workouts: The No Equipment Method for Fitness

No gym,? No equipment?, No Money ? No Worries!!!. You are equipped with everything you need for a fitness program. While Bodyweight workouts are commonly referred to as a poor mans fitness program, which is not the case, many people from all walks of life use bodyweight exercises to provide the resistance for a great way of getting in shape.

The great thing about bodyweight exercises is that there is no need to stock up on equipment spending many hundred or thousand on equipment to do strength training. Your body is its own self contained fully prepared free free weights exercise machine. In some area it is even better then the restrictions that weight machines have, with body weight exercises you can train all the muscle groups.

There are many great exercises that you can do with your bodyweight , here is just a small selection of bodyweight workouts there is many other bodyweight workouts that you can do like :Hindu pushups, lunges, bridges, planks, calf raises and many others, but for this article we will look at Pushups, Pull-ups and chin-ups, Inverted Rows, Triceps Dips, Reverse Crunches and Squats

Pushups: These would have to be most well known type of workout for bodyweight workout , pushups work the arms and also the upper body.
In relation to free weight exercises pushup would closely resemble that of the bench press. There is many different variations of pushups one style of pushup is what is known as a Decline Push-up: to perform a Decline Push-up put your feet up on a stair or something similar like a chair or bed and put your hands on the floor now keeping your body straight commencing doing a pushup lowering your body till your chest is a few inches off the ground then push back up. Continue doing this till you can't do anymore then throw in a few extra. Do as many reps as you can.

Pull-ups and chin-ups can be done anywhere where there is a strong horizontal bar available be it on monkey bars down at your local playground(in this day age i wouldn't recommend due to the strong paranoia of pedophiles) or by using a doorway bar, at some recreation reserves you might also find dip stations that you can use. . A lot of people think that Pull-ups and chin-ups are the same exercise,while they are similar they are also a lot different pull-ups are done with the palms out, and chin-ups are done with palms toward you.

Inverted Rows: also go under the name of horizontal pull-ups,Inverted Rows or horizontal pull ups work your lats, traps, and upper back. To perform Inverted Rows or horizontal pull ups lie down under a low bar and, reach up and grasp hold of the bar lift up under your chest touches the bar at all times keep your body straight.

Triceps Dips: This exercise is another favorite among those that use bodyweight training exercise. A tricep dip again uses a doorway, for this you will need a doorway chip up / pull up bar this time put at the bottom of the doorway to target the triceps. Another useful feature of this setup is that you can use it lock your feet into position for crunches and sit ups

Reverse Crunches: These are a variation on sit-ups and crunches reverse crunches target the abs. To perform Reverse crunches get your trusty doorway bar out again and let it up down low now Lie down on your back, reach up and take hold of the bar,have your knees bent and lift them up to your head, Keeping your head on the floor and your thighs vertical.

Squats are a great workout for the legs. Squats are an outstanding exercise overall,they incorporate many different muscles and muscle groups. there is countless number of variations to the squat

This is just a partial list you can do many more bodyweight workouts including Hindu pushups, lunges, bridges, planks, calf raises, and many others.

If you are just starting out in the world or bodyweight training or any form of fitness training like bodybuilding remember that you need to start somewhere rome wasn't built in a day , if you start off and can only manage to do one pull-up well all i can is congrats for the start of , you have started off on the journey each day try and do and extra pull-up push yourself , if pull-ups seem like a little bit too hard for start with chin-ups are a lot easier to do but like anything in like it is not good to take the easiest option but at the same time you don't want to do any damage to yourself , you can also cheat a little by doing what is known at negatives that is where you jump up and start at the top of the bar and then lower yourself down. You wont pack on the muscle overnight it all takes time one pull-up this week then next week you might be able to manage two and so on and so on .

The good thing about bodyweight training is that once the exercises become a little to easy you can make then harder by doing variations to the exercise.
The best thing about bodyweight exercises is that they can be done anywhere without a lot of fancy equipment. Overtime you can buy things to aide in your workout such as balls , kettle balls and resistance bands and of course doorway pull up chin up bar
 
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This is what I have been saying for a bit, as you can see here.

However, I think most people want to get bigger and stronger than bodyweight exercise will allow, unless they have a gymnastics coach to push them, and/or many hours a day to train.

So I see bodyweight work as excellent for someone who is very unfit and weak because of years of doing nothing. Along with walks and runs it prepares them for being able to make good use of a well-equipped gym, or their own kettlebells, etc.

It's also a good backup for maintaining some size and strength when you're travelling, or when you can't afford a gym, etc.

Do you do bodyweight work, Jon?
 
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