Guide to Bodyweight Training Part III – “Big 5″

December 16, 2009 on 10:21 am | In Football Strength Workouts, Muscle Building Articles, Strength Training | 21 Comments

Part III – the final part in the guide to body weight training!  I hope you enjoy, and as always, please comment!
 

What movement should I do?

This luckily is pretty easy and the combinations are almost endless. The basics are always in place, but you can branch off to variations as the basics become too easy or you are looking for variety. For the purpose of this article, I will discuss the 5 basic exercises in detail (squat, push-up, chin-up, sit-up, and dip). Then you can take a look at the variations that can be utilized after you’ve conquered these basic movements first.
Bodyweight Training Basics:

The “BIG 5”

1. Squat- I always start off teaching how to squat properly first. You’d be amazed and shocked on how poor most people’s form is on such a basic movement- but I don’t blame them. Constant sitting all day at a desk job is becoming the norm; add this to the lack of movement and chronic muscle tightness, you get weak glutes, tight hips and hamstrings, muscle atrophy in the legs, and increased chance of joint pain and injury.

To squat properly

• Assume a shoulder-width stance with your feet turned slightly outward.
• Initiate the movement by pushing your hips BACK.
• The eyes should be looking forward, chest up and out, and abs tight (brace them like someone was about to punch you in the stomach).
• The spine should remain in a neutral position. No rounding of the spine!
• As your hips are pushed back, you will then break at the knees and begin to descend slowly and in control until your hips are directly in line with your knee. This is considered “proper” depth but do what your current flexibility and strength permits! If you have trouble “sitting back” or finding a constant depth, simply find a box that allows you to squat properly back and on to it with good form. As you get better, lower the box height. Once this is easy and proficient, remove the box from under you. This could take anywhere from a couple days to weeks. Be patient!
• As you reach the level of depth that is applicable to your ability and fitness level, stand back up! Breathe normally- inhale as you sit down, exhale as you stand up.
• CUES: HIPS BACK, EYES UP, BIG CHEST, KNESS OUT, WEIGHT ON THE HEELS/MIDDLE OF FOOT, FLAT/NEUTRAL SPINE.

2. Push-Up – It amazes me how crappy most people’s push-ups are. Either they are half-ass and don’t go through full range of motion, the elbows flare out wide, or the abs are not strong/conditioned and the hips start to sag. Here are some good tips to improve your push-ups now!

• Your hands should be placed about shoulder width apart, hand are directly under the shoulders.
• The eyes should be looking down in order to maintain proper neutral spine position. Abs are kept tight and braced, and the glutes should be squeezed together to prevent the hips from sagging. Turn this into a full-body exercise!!
• The elbows should stay close to the body to keep undue stress off of the shoulder joint.
• If you have wrist problems, you can perform this with dumbbells in the neutral position (palms facing each other).
• Your chest should touch the floor! If you can’t do this without falling over, either do them on your knees or perform them on a surface the inclines your upper body, i.e. barbell push-ups in the power rack.
• CUES: HANDS SHOULDER WIDTH, HANDS UNDER THE SHOULDERS, EYES DOWN, ABS TIGHT, SQUEEZE YOUR GLUTES, CHEST TO FLOOR.

3. Sit-Up – This is a fairly straight-forward and well known exercise. I know I might get a lot of slack for this, but sit-ups can be a beneficial exercise if they’re done right and correctly.

• You can use a partner for these to hold your feet in place. Your knees should be bent at about 45 degrees.
•  Hands are placed across your chest. Putting them on the back of your head may increase the tendency to “wrench” the neck and use momentum, not muscle.
• Firmly place your feet on the ground. Tighten the muscles of your stomach and begin to draw your chest towards your knees.
• Come up all the way- this is a sit-up, not a crunch.
• Lower yourself in control; the shoulder blades should touch the floor before you begin your next rep.

Top: Notice the head/neck is not in flexion!

4. Chin-Up/Pull-Up – One of the greatest exercises out there, but simply are not done enough. If you cannot perform 1 pull-up, you’ve got work to do. If you are an athlete and cannot perform 10 strict pull ups (20 for the lighter dudes less than 200 lbs.), you’ve got LOTS of work to do. Females should shoot for 5 strict pull ups. If you cannot do them properly or lack the proper strength, you may utilize assistance in the form of a partner, jump-stretch band, or jumping. You can also work on holding your chin over the bar for a given time-frame (flexed arm hang), as well as utilizing eccentrics (lowering yourself slowly as possible). This will carry over to your pull-up strength if you are consistent and diligent with this!

• A pull-up is done with palms facing away from you. A chin-up is done with palms facing towards you. Neither is “better” than the other, but a chin-up will be a bit easier because of the larger involvement of the biceps. It amazes me how many people want big arms but cannot perform 20 chin ups! This is one of the greatest arm builders there are!
• Hand placement can vary, but beginners should start with hands placed just about shoulder width.
• The arms must be completely straight prior to beginning. This is considered strict and proper technique.
• To complete the rep, pull your body until your chin is over the pull up bar. Lower yourself until your arms are straight again. That’s one rep!
•  This is one of the more challenging bodyweight movements, so be patient and just keep working at them! Always try to do better the next time around, even if it’s one more rep, another set, shorter rest periods, or lowering yourself a second slower than last time. Progress is progress!

5. Parallel Bar Dips – This is probably the most challenging along with the chin-up/pull-up. It takes a great deal of relative strength and stability to perform dips PROPERLY with full range of motion. This is one of the best exercises you can do for strong and powerful triceps, shoulders, and chest. If you have shoulder problems, I wouldn’t recommend doing these until the problems clear up as it can aggravate them further. If you don’t have access to a dip station, you can do these between two chairs, or place two bars in a power rack. Again, if you aren’t strong enough to do multiple reps, use a partner and place your feet in their hands- push off as much as you need for assistance and gradually lower yourself until you can reach full range of motion. Full range of motion for most is when the upper arm breaks 90 degrees. I personally go until the biceps nearly touch the wrists, but that’s only because my strength and flexibility allow that.

• Place your hands on the bars/chairs/handles.
• Begin from the “up” position where the arms are straight and feet are off the floor.
• Lower yourself in control until you’ve reached a proper depth. Inhale as you descend.
• Push against the handles as you come up. It will take a bit of strength from the triceps, chest, and shoulders to finish this exercise.
• Again, there is a machine that assists this movement if you aren’t strong enough. If you don’t have access to this, use a jump-stretch band to assist the concentric portion of the exercise, or a partner. Use a similar strategy of eccentrics with this if you lack the strength to do a complete rep; you can also perform partials and gradually increase the range of motion over time.

Top: A properly performed dip; one of the best upper body exercises!

Bodyweight Training- Exercise Variation

There are lots of variations for the above exercises. Once they get too easy, experiment and figure out some new ways to incorporate these movements into your training. If you aren’t sure what these are, go to YouTube and give these a search. You can probably find a demo on there in less than 10 seconds.
Squat Variations: Box Squats, jump squats, walking lunges, forward lunges, lateral lunges, pistols, step-ups, Hindu squats, reverse lunges, split squats, Bulgarian Split Squats, jumping variations (broad jump, box jump, vertical jump, bounding, lunge jumps).

Push Up Variations: Decline push-ups, weighted push-ups, hand-walking, handstand push-ups, hand-walking with push-ups, push-ups with added range of motion, plyometric push-ups, barbell push-up, neutral grip push up, chain/banded push-ups, medicine ball push-ups, one-arm push-up, blast-strap/ring push-ups, diamond push-ups, wide grip push-ups, close grip push-ups, “tripod” push-ups.

Band Push Up Progression

Hindu Push Ups

Sit-Up Variations: Front plank, side plank, weighted sit up, roman chair sit up, ISO-hold sit ups at midpoint, Glute-Ham raise sit up, decline sit-ups, banded sit ups, hanging leg raise, oblique side raise, knees to elbows (basically any abdominal or lower back exercise that can be performed with bodyweight and lots of repetitions).

Straight Bar Sit-ups

Chin-Up Variations:Wide grip pull-up, close grip pull-up, mixed grip pull-up, kipping pull-up, jumping pull-up, muscle-up (pull-up/dip hybrid), ring/blast strap chin-ups, weighted chin/pull-up, neutral grip pull-chin up, eccentric weighted pull/chin up, explosive/plyo chin ups, towel pull/chin-ups, rope climbing, rope pull/chin-ups, recline rows, inverted rows, supine ring rows, 45-degree ring row.

 

Dip Variations: Upright dips, lean forward dips, weighted dips, close grip dips, band-resisted dips, muscle-up (dip/pull up hybrid), ring/blast strap dips, L-Seat dips, dips with knee raise, 1 ¼ dips.

I probably left some out, so feel free to add to the list if you don’t see something on here! If you simply implement these into your training and are constantly rotating, you can supply endless amount of variation to your current training?

Putting it all together

Again, assess where you are NOW, and where you’d like to be 4, 8, and 12 weeks from now. Be very specific. Write down your goals. Don’t get frustrated! If you suck at these, do them A LOT. The more often you practice a skill, the better you get! Don’t be afraid to do something you aren’t very good at 3, 4, or 5 times a week!

Herschel Walker, one of the greatest running backs ever to play football grew up without access to weights, yet he was able to perform TONS of push-ups, sit-ups, dips, chin-ups, and squats (and I’m sure he threw in lots of these variations as well!)

He was able to crank out thousands of repetitions on many of these bodyweight movement every single DAY; his speed, strength, conditioning, and physique were something to be admired by most athletes. Was this just a coincidence? Hardly! Imagine how fit, strong, athletic , and conditioned you would feel if you could perform 100 push-ups, 500 squats, 20-30 chin-ups, 40-50 dips, and 200-300 sit ups; ALL in ONE SESSION: Something to shoot for, right?

Once you are capable of something like this, you can aim higher and higher- and watch your conditioning, endurance, and strength soar!

I hope you enjoyed this guide to bodyweight training. Get creative; I’ve done these sessions to build strength and endurance in young athletes and used these as part of a conditioning/work capacity session for more experienced trainees. You really can’t go wrong utilizing your own bodyweight for resistance.

Example:perform 10 reps of each of the “BIG 5” exercises without stopping for 30 minutes. Sounds easy on paper but trust me- IT’S NOT! This can be done in place of “cardio” and be much more effective and fun to spice up your conditioning!

COMMENTS:  WHAT’S YOUR BIG 5?

Here’s to your newly found strength, health, and performance!

Remember: HAVE FUN AND ENJOY YOURSELF! OPEN YOUR MIND AND THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX. YOU’LL BE GLAD YOU DID!

Thanks again, Joe, for allowing me to be a part of the Synergy-Athletics community!
John Cortest, YFS.

- Joe Hashey, CSCS -

Reference: John Cortese is a full-time college kinesiology student at Cal Poly-SLO. In the extra time he does have, he works hard to transform his athletes and clients into strong, fast, and explosive machines! Sign up for the CortesePerformance.com Newsletter and get 3 FREE gifts that will take your training to the next level! For more information, visit http://CortesePerformance.com