3 Barely Known (But Bona Fide Badazz) Bodyweight Moves
I’m a big fan of bodyweight training. You probably are too if you’re reading this.
I talk a lot about it because I think that — along with kettlebells and — it really can’t be beat for a fast, efficient workout that gets you the results you’re after without some of the “side effects” of traditional strength training. For example:
#1: Bodyweight training is less fatiguing
Heavy weight training (particularly with barbells) tends to be very fatiguing on the nervous system. Not necessarily a bad thing, since that’s just par for the territory of that sort of training, but the drawback is that if you overdo it even a little, it can end up being a lot. With bodyweight workouts, even if you “overdo it”, odds are you won’t suffer much the next day (apart from a little soreness )
#2: It helps you hit every nook and cranny
Traditional strength training usually limits you to a few regimented movements, but bodyweight training allows you to safely get introduced to a variety of both traditional and “in-between” movements that improve your head-to-toe strength, flexibility, and resilience (particularly the moves I’ll show you in a second)
#3: It’s easier on the joints
This is a big one, because most of us out there have some mileage on our bodies, and unfortunately our joints just seem to take the brunt of the abuse, since they don’t heal up the same way that muscles do. Better yet, bodyweight workouts can help strengthen the volatile connective tissues like tendons and ligaments, which are often susceptible to injury due to muscular strength out-pacing the strength of your other tissues. Bodyweight workouts can help bridge that gap and strengthen the tendons, ligaments, and cartilage as well as your muscles.
Sure, the list could go on, but this is a pretty good start in terms of hidden bodyweight benefits. The other (probably) more obvious ones include convenience (you’re never gonna forget to bring your body with you on vacation!), adding natural shape and size to your muscles, and straight up fun, but since you already know them, we can skip right to the meat of this email: the workout!
Three of my favorite unsung bodyweight moves are new twists on old faves — namely:
Hindu Pushups
Assisted Sissy Squats
Jackknife pullups
Each of them is familiar enough to you to have a short learning curve, but tough enough to get you a good workout and allow you to get in plenty of volume (i.e. reps) in a short period of time so you don’t have to clear your schedule just to get in a good workout. How about that?
So here is a sample workout with these buggers. Set a timer for 20 minutes and do as many rounds of the following, resting as little as possible but as much as necessary.
Workout
Jackknife pullup — 8
Hindu pushup — 10
Assisted sissy squat — 5
Trust me, after a few rounds of this you’ll be checking your phone to see if your time is up!
But do this a few days a week and watch as the changes start rolling in — changes like:
- More muscle
- More strength
- Greater stamina
- Improved flexibility
In short order you just might wonder how you ever did without these oddball moves.
On that note, if you like training that:
- Gives you more strength than it takes from you
- Improves your stamina and resilience simultaneously
- Powers-up every nook, cranny, crevice, and corner of your Soft Machine
Then you just might like my 9-Minute Kettlebell and Bodyweight Challenge.
As the name indicates, it’s just 9 minutes long, and it’s designed to be done WITH your current workouts — NOT instead of them.
Even cooler:
Many find that it actually amplifies their strength in their favorite kettlebell and bodyweight moves, like presses, squats, pullups, and more.
And best of all, it’s free.
How free?
I’m talkin’ freer than the 4th of July, my friend.
Get thee thine own copy here => http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com
Have fun and happy training!
Aleks Salkin
