Body Exercise Ideas

[TopHatFox]

I'm trying to integrate more exercise into my life, sans fancy equipment. I've taken to:

1. Running or cycling to get to places instead of walking or busing
2. Doing push-ups if I'm waiting for the bus or bored
3. Doing pull-ups and chin-ups using doors
4. Using tables or chairs to do tricep dips
5. Doing squats while carrying a heavy thing (spare tire in roommate's storage)
6. Doing head stands and headstands

Any other ideas, or maybe a book on exercises using body weight?

[stand@desk]

I previously posted about the chin-up tax. Plus I run a fair but..7-10k 3x a week. walking lunges around the apartment..walk to work and to errands...

[TopHatFox]

Oo, what about standing instead of sitting on a desk! I wonder if that's actually healthful for the body.

[jacob]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75UvL6vseKM --- but also scoot yours legs through your arms for an "inverse plank" after the push up. Sorry couldn't find a video. Pay attention to the dude in the front ;-P

The deck of cards/prison work out is a good way to introduce variety. Pick 4 about equally hard exercises (push up, sit up, squat, pull up) and assign them to hearts, clubs, ... the number indicates reps. Then just do the entire deck.

[bad_LNIP]

Oo, what about standing instead of sitting on a desk! I wonder if that's actually healthful for the body.

wonder no more. There have been studies that suggest that just standing or even walking slowly 1-2 mph is immensely beneficial and that if you sit for more than 4 hours per day, you get "sitting disease"

http://www.juststand.org/tabid/674/lang ... fault.aspx

There are elevated work stations and slow moving work treadmills that are available. I bought an elevated work station on Amazon for like $50 or less.

[bibacula]

Try "You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises" by Mark Lauren. It's an excellent source of ideas by a special forces training officer.

Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Your-Own- ... 0345528581

[Chad]

You could do lunges instead of squats. Then you wouldn't have to find something quite as heavy to carry.

Body weight exercises (pushups, pullups, lunges/squats, planks, hand stands, etc.), plus a kettlebell or two is just about all you need for a great workout. I'm sure you could probably find some old ones on Craigslist and there are tons of kettlebell workouts on youtube.

A recent article on Mens Joural for the only 8 moves you need to be fit:
http://www.mensjournal.com/expert-advic ... t-20140306

[stand@desk]

http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Bigger-Bicep ... ur-Muscles

I liked this one..for the minimalists out there..

[IlliniDave]

Used to be you could download this ebook without registering (maybe an older variation). Still looks free. It is a decent source for a number of bodyweight style exercises with some ideas for building up a program

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-b ... z3WffdGACJ

[theanimal]

I do the Insanity DVD program which is all body exercises. No equipment necessary. It's HIIT and there is a lot of cardio involved. My endurance levels are insane when I do it consistently. The only thing it is lacking is upper back exercises (there are no pull-ups). Although, I believe in the newer versions that changes.

You could pick it up on ebay for around ~$50. It's been money well spent for me. I've been doing it off and on for 5 years.

[DSKla]

I can go on for days about this. It depends on whether you want to:

1) integrate simple movement more into daily life. If this is the case, I like starting with simple, repeatable practices that are meant to be done several times a day and are intended to increase mobility, joint prep, and movement complexity.

Wave training - https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLFB45 ... ode=NORMAL (simple, all-range movement of every movable joint, incredibly scalable in complexity. See his intermediate series after mastering the beginner one.)

Hanging - http://www.idoportal.com/blog/hanging (for upper body. Again, incredibly scalable. See the other hanging blog posts on the same site once you master the beginner stuff.)

Squatting - http://placeofpersistence.com/30-30-squ ... do-portal/ (for hips. Don't be afraid to do less than the prescribed 30 mins per day, which is a lot for a beginner.) You don't have to sit still. Do this stuff: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lbozu0DPcYI

2) develop an advanced, diverse practice of moving your body in every way possible.

Check out the aforementioned Ido Portal (he costs a lot, but his youtube channel is free), along with folks like Yuri Marmerstein, Kit Laughlin, and Christopher Sommer's Foundation series.

Perhaps my favorite of these is Kit. He and a lot of his students seem to live an ERE life beyond just movement practice, and they're very open to learning from anywhere (open system). Yuri is a handstand expert who works with Kit and vice-versa. Ido and Sommer used to work together, but for political reasons now seem to strongly dislike one another. Ido is a great resource, and his interviews on youtube are very inspirational. Sommer seems to me egotistical and takes a closed-sustem approach (he has banned the other three from his forums) but nonetheless has some good stuff if you're willing to pay for it.

[vexed87]

Body weight exercises are all well and good, in my experience they can makes you reasonably fit, but you tend to plateau after a few months unless you add extra weight to the routine, therefore for me home exercises is all about barbells. See why here; http://www.artofmanliness.com/2014/09/0 ... -machines/

The Art of Manliness blog also has some great exercise articles if you are looking for inspiration.

Personally for cardio, I turn my cycle commute to work into a workout when the traffic conditions allow it, safety first of course!

I recently picked up Arnold's Bodybuilding for Men (1986) by Mr Schwarzenegger himself. The book can be had for peanuts (in used condition), not much has changed in fitness in the last 30 years (if you ignore all the crap about supplements and machines as above). I think this was on MMM's reading list who also thoroughly recommends it: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0671 ... LAXVAT5UN6

I was initially put off, as I'm not interested in looking like a body builder, but actually it's aimed at beginners and will have you looking pretty buff in no time. It is a nice little reference book. and has a good mix of body weight exercises and free weight exercises.

[Chad]

...he decided to try to earn a spot in the U.S. Army Special Forces. At Fort Benning, Ga., 145 candidates started Special Forces training. Eleven, including Boyer, made it through. “I was all in,” he said. “In my free time, I did a mile of lunges without stopping.”

http://mmqb.si.com/2015/04/06/nate-boye ... l-draft/2/

That would be a solid body weight workout.

[jennypenny]

MMA and Boxing workouts tend to be machine-free. As a group, fighters are pretty minimalist/frugal. A cheap piece of marine rope can be purchased at HD for a jump rope. An old duffel bag can be stuffed with old/out-of-season clothes and linens and used as a heavy bag. Add some basic calisthenics (planks, crunches, push-ups, dips, burpees) and you're good to go.

I also like the old tae-bo videos, which you can find cheap or free.

[Chad]

I also like the old tae-bo videos, which you can find cheap or free.

As a side note, I played college football with Billy Blanks' (Tae-Bo) brother.

[BeyondtheWrap]

This one isn't strictly just your body, as it requires a sledgehammer, but it's minimalist enough. Basically you swing a sledgehammer around for 14 minutes a day doing movements that mimic manual labor. I did this consistently for several months a few years back.

http://www.shovelglove.com/

[jacob]

I remember shovelglove from the good old days of 2005 when "functional fitness" was still a fringe activity

Also consider sandbag exercises. Effectively filling a medium duffelbag with double ziplock/duct taped bags of sand and lifting it.

[TopHatFox]

Hm, what are some non-weight related quad exercises. squats are useful with weights as muscle training...not so much otherwise.

I've been skulking about my apartment in a crouched/sneaky position, which is kinda fun and a quad workout. Another I've been trying is balancing on one leg in a squat like position. That one actually gets my quads to their limit in about a minute or so.

Any other ideas? Lunges were recommended, but it seems to take a while for my quads to feel strain without weights.

[jennypenny]

Hm, what are some non-weight related quad exercises.

Or these ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCcdf57oZaY

[Chad]

In reality, if lunges aren't enough stress to tax your leg muscles then you probably need some kind of weight. It's going to be almost impossible to increase the intensity unless you just go for super high reps, which will be more aerobic than anaerobic.

One possible variation on the lunge is to find some place (holding wall, etc.) you can let your back/supporting leg dangle in the air. This would add a little more weight and tax the supporting/balance muscles more. But, again, it's probably only going to add a little bit.

Also, try and find some type of weight along Jacob's line of thought with the sand bags. This could be some form of cheap water containers (old plastic milk jugs, etc.), which you could hold and fill a backpack/bag to strap to yourself.

Another option would be to do plyometrics. This would basically be hardcore jumping. By jumping, you are artificially increasing your body weight for a very short time frame, which creates higher stress for your muscles. These exercises are mainly used to increase power, speed, and to a lessor degree strength. I say strength to a lessor degree, as there are better exercises for strength (weighted squats and deadlifts are prime examples) even if plyometrics would improve strength too.

Some plyometric exercises:

Bounding - Kind of like sprinting, but instead of short quick steps you jump as quick and as far as you can from foot to foot going forward. Great video of it below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUIsmLrtVpk

Box Jumps - Basically, just jumping over or onto stuff. You don't need to buy the boxes if you have access to stairs, concrete holding wall, park benches, etc. to jump over or onto. The higher you force yourself to jump the more stress you put on your muscles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoueTJ_RPuQ

Drop or Depth Jumps - Stand on something high and jump off...done. The higher the better. You can even go slightly higher than you can actually jump. To add more difficult explode into a jump immediately after your feet hit the ground.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYG2ziSAOT0