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	<title>BodyWeightStrengthTraining.com</title>
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	<description>Body weight workouts, exercises, videos and more</description>
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		<title>Unique Total Body Ab Exercises Without Weight</title>
		<link>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/05/07/unique-total-body-ab-exercises-without-weight/</link>
		<comments>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/05/07/unique-total-body-ab-exercises-without-weight/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 May 2012 03:17:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Forest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[body weight exercises]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[body weight workouts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[videos]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Most folks think of sit-ups, crunches, leg lifts, and other similar moves when they think of training the abs.  And these exercises are okay &#8230; but there are a few major problems with them &#8230; One is that they&#8217;re not-so-good &#8230; <a href="http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/05/07/unique-total-body-ab-exercises-without-weight/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Most folks think of sit-ups, crunches, leg lifts, and other similar moves when they think of training the abs.  And these exercises are <em>okay</em> &#8230; but there are a few major problems with them &#8230;</p>
<p>One is that they&#8217;re not-so-good for your back.  Another is that they&#8217;re just not very <em>functional</em> &#8230; in other words, there aren&#8217;t a lot of times in real life that you do a crunching-type movement (think about it).</p>
<p>So &#8211; a better way to train your abs, to lose your gut and get a flatter stomach, to do it in the safest manner and in the least possible amount of time, is with<strong> total body ab exercises</strong>.</p>
<p>A <strong>plank</strong> is a perfect example of a total body ab move. Your abdominals and other core muscles are forced to contract and stabilize the muscles in your trunk when you&#8217;re holding a plank (and using good form) &#8211; and this has transfer to <em>tons</em> of every day movements &#8211; like carrying a heavy suitcase through an airport, or picking up a heavy bag of dog food and carrying it up the stairs.</p>
<p>Now &#8211; it <em>is</em> key to master your form in basic total body ab exercises like front and side planks, mountain climbers, etc.  But once you&#8217;ve got those down, you can have some fun and further challenge yourself with a few more advanced ones &#8230; and today, I&#8217;ve got a few to get you started.  Enjoy!</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;"><strong>Unique Total Body Ab Exercises Without Weight</strong></h3>
<p><strong>The Dragon Flag:</strong> Lie your back flat against a bench with your arms behind your head, gripping the edge of the bench.  Bring your knees into your waist so your thighs are at 90 degrees and pull up with your hands keeping your whole body rigid until it rises up and your torso points directly towards the ceiling. Hold the position for 1-2 seconds and then lower your body back down in a controlled movement until your butt is just a couple of inches from the bench.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object width="350" height="267" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mjCMq2zkbOo?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed width="350" height="267" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mjCMq2zkbOo?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" allowFullScreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" /></object></p>
<p><strong>Suspension Trainer Knee Tuck:</strong> Start with feet in foot cradles, knees and hands on floor. Start your timer then place forearms on floor and extend the legs straight making sure to keep the body flat like a board (butt down, hips not sagging, head aligned with spine). Contract the abs hard as you tuck the knees in towards the ribcage. Your butt should pike up towards the ceiling a bit and your head should come down towards the floor a bit.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object width="350" height="208" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/25aumXflDAQ?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed width="350" height="208" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/25aumXflDAQ?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" allowFullScreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" /></object></p>
<p><strong>Suspension Trainer Pendulum:</strong> Start with feet in foot cradles, knees and hands on the floor. Extend the legs back so you&#8217;re in a suspended pushup then contract the abs as you swing the knees toward the right elbow. Release the abs as the legs swing back to center then contract the abs again as you swing the knees in towards the opposite elbow<strong id="internal-source-marker_0.20011351583525538">.</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object width="350" height="267" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iHnBYa3la_A?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed width="350" height="267" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iHnBYa3la_A?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" allowFullScreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" /></object></p>
<p><strong id="internal-source-marker_0.20011351583525538"></strong>We&#8217;ve established that while &#8220;traditional&#8221; ab exercises like crunches and sit-ups are just okay, total body and highly functional ab exercises are really where it&#8217;s at for maximum flat stomach results in minimum time.  The three I covered in this article are a nice starting point for you &#8211; but they&#8217;re really just to get you started thinking about what&#8217;s possible. For more awesome ab exercises and workouts just like these, click <a href="http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/tab">here</a>.</p>
<p>Keep training hard and talk soon -</p>
<p>Forest Vance, MS in Human Movement, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Back Exercises Without Weight</title>
		<link>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/04/22/back-exercises-without-weight/</link>
		<comments>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/04/22/back-exercises-without-weight/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 2012 14:39:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Forest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[body weight exercises]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[videos]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/?p=339</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Master the basics of body weight training, and you really can get a killer workout any time, any place &#8230; HOWEVER, if you&#8217;re at home, on the road, etc., and have access to ZERO equipment, there are a couple of &#8230; <a href="http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/04/22/back-exercises-without-weight/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Master the basics of body weight training, and you <em>really can</em> <a href="http://nogymnoexcuse.com/special">get a killer workout any time, any place</a> &#8230;</p>
<p>HOWEVER, if you&#8217;re at home, on the road, etc., and have access to ZERO equipment, there are a couple of unique challenges that body weight &#8211; only training presents.</p>
<p>See, without weights, you can easily work muscle groups like your chest, shoulders, tris, abs, and legs &#8211; with exercises like push ups, squats, lunges, planks, and other body weight basics.</p>
<p>If you have access to a pull up bar, you&#8217;re in business.  But if you don&#8217;t, hitting those back muscles can be a bit tricky.  In the video below, I show three of my favorite <strong>back exercises without weight</strong>.  Watch the video first, then read the recap below:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object width="350" height="267" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8SGe1ePAns0?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed width="350" height="267" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8SGe1ePAns0?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" allowFullScreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" /></object></p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;"><strong>Video Recap</strong></h3>
<p>These are my favorite <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SGe1ePAns0">back exercises without weight</a> &#8211; you can do them at home, if you&#8217;re on the road, or if you have little/no available equipment.</p>
<p><strong>1) Push Ups</strong></p>
<p>You might think of push ups as a chest, shoulder, and tricep exercise &#8211; but they are actually a great move for your back as well.  Especially if you use these two technique tricks:</p>
<ul>
<li>Get that &#8216;mind-muscle&#8217; connection and engage those lats!</li>
<li>&#8216;Corkscrew&#8217; your arms into the ground as you push yourself up &#8211; try to get the inside of your elbows to finish facing forward &#8211; and you&#8217;ll get some extra lat involvement.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>2) Band rows &amp; variations</strong></p>
<p>A band is a portable, versitile, and cheap piece of equipment that is <em>awesome</em> for working the back on the fly.</p>
<p>Just a couple of band row variations include the bent over row, the one arm attached row, and the standing squat pull.</p>
<p><strong>3) Wall slides</strong></p>
<p>Wall slides, or stick ups, do a great job of working those mid-back muscles.</p>
<p>Get &#8216;stuck&#8217; back against the wall.  Get your heels, butt, back, elbows, and hands in contact with the wall &#8230; and stick &#8216;em up!</p>
<p>In summary, the back is a tricky part of the body to work without weight &#8211; but the three exercises I covered in this video should solve your problem!  Keep training hard and talk soon -</p>
<p>Forest</p>
<p><strong>PS -</strong> Remember &#8211; these are <em>exercises</em> to help you with your at-home/on-the-road/equipment-<wbr>free workouts - <em>not</em> a complete workout plan.  Please make sure to work them into a solid and well-thought-out comprehensive program.</wbr></p>
<p>If you know how you&#8217;re going to work these moves into your existing routine, awesome!  But if not, click <a title="" href="http://nogymnoexcuse.com/special/" target="_blank">here</a> for a great program based around the same body weight training, &#8216;no-equipment&#8217; principles used in this post/video.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>How To Do More Push Ups &#8211; 5 Tips</title>
		<link>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/04/08/how-to-do-more-push-ups-5-tips/</link>
		<comments>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/04/08/how-to-do-more-push-ups-5-tips/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:51:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Forest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[body weight exercises]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tips and tricks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[videos]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/?p=331</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Whether you have a specific reason for doing more push ups, or you&#8217;re just going for increased workout efficiency/ultimate bragging rights, I think you&#8217;ll get a lot out of this article.  Enjoy! How To Do More Push Ups &#8211; 5 &#8230; <a href="http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/04/08/how-to-do-more-push-ups-5-tips/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Whether you have a specific reason for doing more push ups, or you&#8217;re just going for increased workout efficiency/ultimate bragging rights, I think you&#8217;ll get a lot out of this article.  Enjoy!</em></p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;"><strong>How To Do More Push Ups &#8211; 5 Tips</strong></h3>
<p><strong>1. Do LOTS of push ups</strong></p>
<p>The principle of Specificity implies that to get better at a specific exercise or skill, you must <em>perform</em> that exercise or skill.  This is the skill-based component of exercise &#8211; the more of a specific movement you do, the better you get at it.  You could liken it to swinging a golf club or throwing a ball.</p>
<p>With this is mind, you also need to program your workouts properly, get proper recovery time, etc. That&#8217;s why it&#8217;s so important to follow a logically and soundly designed program -and not take the &#8216;shotgun approach&#8217; (you can read more about that concept <a href="http://fvtcoachingclub.com/">here</a>).</p>
<p><strong>2. DON&#8217;T train to failure</strong></p>
<p>If you&#8217;re trying to up your push up numbers by going all-out and doing as many push ups as you can at every workout, stop!</p>
<p>Among other things, when you train to failure, you put a tremendous stress on the central nervous system.  The nervous system takes much longer to recover than your muscles do &#8211; and it ends up being impossible to train with enough frequency to make push up number gains.</p>
<p>Every once in a while, you CAN go all-out &#8211; but you have to be very careful. PUSH yourself  hard (no pun intended <img src='http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> ), but leave one or two reps in the bank 90% of the time.</p>
<p><strong>3. Use perfect form</strong></p>
<p>It drives me CRAZY when I see folks doing push ups with a partial range of motion, with a &#8216;chicken neck&#8217;, with a soft core and collapsing hips, etc.  They&#8217;re not only increasing the likelyhood of injury and perpetuating muscle imbalances, they&#8217;re not doing anything to get truly better at push ups &#8230;</p>
<p>Check out this video for some basic push up form tips:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object width="350" height="267" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xZVbuwdch1M?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed width="350" height="267" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xZVbuwdch1M?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" allowFullScreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" /></object></p>
<p><strong>4. Use the appropriate progression(s)</strong></p>
<p>If you can&#8217;t do a legit from-the-feet push up, it&#8217;s all good &#8211; accept it and work on progressions that work up to it.  Just PLEASE don&#8217;t do 1/4 reps and claim you&#8217;re doing full push ups <img src='http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>Here&#8217;s an example of a basic progression for your push ups, moving in the direction of easy to hard (I cover this in much more detail in the <a href="http://nogymnoexcuse.com/deathbybodyweight/">No Gym? No Excuse! Body Weight Strength Manual</a>):</p>
<ul>
<li>knee push up</li>
<li>regular push up</li>
<li>feet elevated push up</li>
<li>lever/shifting push up</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>5. Use a progressive, periodized routine</strong></p>
<p>Again, it&#8217;s critically important that you don&#8217;t just go out and do whatever you feel like for the day for your workouts.  You want to systematically increase the total number of push ups you do with each workout until you reach your push up goals.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s say you can currently do 20 standard push ups non-stop, and your goal is to work up to 50.  Here&#8217;s a simple push up ladder that illustrates this concept of systematic progression:</p>
<ul>
<li>week 1 &#8211; Do 10 push ups.  Rest as long as the set took you to complete.  Do 9 push ups.  Continue in this fashion all the way down to 1.</li>
<li>week 2 &#8211; Same ladder routine, starting at 11.</li>
<li>week 3 &#8211; Same ladder routine, starting at 12.</li>
<li>week 4 &#8211; Same ladder routine, starting at 13.</li>
<li>week 5 &#8211; Same ladder routine, starting at 14.</li>
<li>week 6 &#8211; Same ladder routine, starting at 15.</li>
</ul>
<p><em>If you feel like you still have &#8216;gas in the tank&#8217; after one of these workouts, you can also work your way back up the ladder.  I would do this workout 3-5 times per week.</em></p>
<p>In summary, push ups are a fantastic body weight exercise.  I&#8217;ve written lots about them on this site, but today&#8217;s article specifically addresses how to do more.  I hope it&#8217;s a great starting point to get you going!</p>
<p>- Forest</p>
<p><strong>Additional Recommended Resources</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://nogymnoexcuse.com/deathbybodyweight/">No Gym? No Excuse! Body Weight Strength Manual</a> &#8211; Learn how to get super strong using just your own body weight</p>
<p><a href="http://nogymnoexcuse.com/special">No Gym? No Excuse!</a> &#8211; My original body weight &#8211; based training system</p>
<p><a href="http://10x10kettlebells.com">The 10&#215;10 Kettlebell Solution</a> &#8211; A program to transform your body in 10 weeks using just 10 workouts and 10 kettlebell and body weight exercises</p>
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		<title>Body Weight Challenge Workout</title>
		<link>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/03/31/body-weight-challenge-workout/</link>
		<comments>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/03/31/body-weight-challenge-workout/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 31 Mar 2012 03:25:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Forest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[body weight workouts]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/?p=325</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last chance to get in on the FVT Spring Cleaning sale today (when you grab any of my programs priced at $37 or more before 11:59 pm on Saturday, March 31st, I&#8217;ll send you a complimentary physical copy of my &#8230; <a href="http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/03/31/body-weight-challenge-workout/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Last chance to get in on the <a href="http://nogymnoexcuse.com/springcleaningsale/">FVT Spring Cleaning sale</a> today (when you grab any of my programs priced at $37 or more before 11:59 pm on Saturday, March 31st, I&#8217;ll send you a complimentary physical copy of my book, No Gym? No Excuse! &#8211; get more details on the sale by clicking <a href="http://nogymnoexcuse.com/springcleaningsale/">here</a>) &#8230;</em></p>
<p><em>Here&#8217;s a body weight (and kettlebell) challenge workout from the 2011 FVT Challenge Workout compilation (included with your <a href="http://fvtcoachingclub.com">Kettlebell Basics Weekly Workouts membership</a> - sign up earns you a free copy of NGNE) &#8211; try it at your own risk!  And let me know how you do -</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Challenge Workout #1</strong></p>
<p>10 Push Ups (knees for gals, standard for guys)<br />
20 KB Swings<br />
30 Walking Lunges (30 total steps)<br />
40 Cross Body Mountain Climbers (one knee-to-elbow move = one rep)<br />
50 Body Weight Squats</p>
<p><em>Do as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>PS -</strong> With a Kettlebell Basics Weekly Workouts membership, you&#8217;ll get access to a <em>ton</em> of my workout, meal planning, and video/audio content, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>The Kettlebell Basics Swing Manual</li>
<li>The NGNE Body Weight Training Manual</li>
<li>NGNE 5 Minute Abs</li>
<li>The FVT Best Fat Loss Diet Plan</li>
<li>55 Healthy Meal Ideas special report</li>
<li>The PreHab Warm Up video series/special report</li>
<li>4 Steps to Kettlebell Success video</li>
</ul>
<p>And much, much more!  Get more details and sign up now here: -&gt; <a href="http://fvtcoachingclub.com">Kettlebell Basics Weekly Workouts</a></p>
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		<title>Body Weight Shoulder Exercises &#8211; Pike Handstand &amp; Horizontal Push Ups</title>
		<link>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/03/25/body-weight-shoulder-exercises-pike-handstand-horizontal-push-ups/</link>
		<comments>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/03/25/body-weight-shoulder-exercises-pike-handstand-horizontal-push-ups/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Mar 2012 16:51:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Forest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[body weight exercises]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/?p=318</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve written a lot about the push up in the last few years &#8230; variations of this simple body weight move are seemingly endless, and that&#8217;s one of the things that makes it so great. A couple of weeks ago &#8230; <a href="http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/03/25/body-weight-shoulder-exercises-pike-handstand-horizontal-push-ups/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 250px"><img src="http://www.globalbodyweighttraining.com/wp-content/uploads/Pike-Push-Up-1.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="181" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Body Weight Shoulder Exercises</p></div>
<p><em>I&#8217;ve written a lot about the push up in the last few years &#8230; v</em><em>ariations of this simple body weight move are seemingly endless, and that&#8217;s one of the things that makes it so great.</em></p>
<p><em>A couple of weeks ago at local training workshop, I participated in a roughly 100 person boot camp workout.  We were somewhat limited in equipment and space, and so to hit our shoulders, the leader had us do pike handstand push ups.  This was a push up variation that I&#8217;ve used in the past, but&#8217;ve honestly gotten away from &#8211; and I have to say, my shoulders ended up smoked!</em></p>
<p><em>Thing is, full handstand push ups are great, but they&#8217;re just too advanced for a lot of folks.  Here&#8217;s a great article that shows you two body weight shoulder exercises &#8211; the pike handstand and horizontal push up &#8211; perfect for if you haven&#8217;t mastered the HSPU quite yet.  </em><em>Enjoy!</em></p>
<p><em>- Forest</em></p>
<p><strong>Pike Handstand Push-Ups and Horizontal Push-Ups &#8211; Bodyweight Exercises For Your Shoulders</strong></p>
<p><em>By Nick Nilsson</em></p>
<p>When it comes to shoulder training, nothing beats the handstand push-up for sheer shoulder-building power. To do the handstand push-up, you need to kick up into a handstand (generally with your feet touching a wall), lower yourself down like a shoulder press, then push yourself back up. All of this performed upside-down with your entire bodyweight for resistance!</p>
<p>But the bottom line is, as effective as it is, the handstand push-up is also one of the hardest and most dangerous exercises to perform! If you don&#8217;t have the strength to perform it correctly, it&#8217;ll drop you right on your head, which is rarely a good thing.</p>
<p>So how do we harness the shoulder-blasting power of the handstand push-up while not only keeping it safe but also adjusting the resistance so you can perform it (or variations of it) no matter what your strength level?</p>
<p>Two ways. The first is the Pike Handstand Push-Up (for intermediate to advanced trainers). The second is the Horizontal Push-Up (for beginning trainers).</p>
<p><strong>The Pike Handstand Push-Up</strong></p>
<p>This exercise is performed almost exactly like a regular handstand push-up with one major difference&#8230;instead of going up into a full handstand, you set your feet on a bench and bend your body in half at a right angle (pike position). In that position, you perform the push-up.</p>
<p>To get into position, all you need is a bench, a chair or some steps. Set your hands on the ground a little beyond shoulder width apart and about 2 feet in front of the bench. When your hands are planted, step back and up and set your toes on the bench. Bend only at your hips so your body forms an upsidown &#8220;L&#8221; shape.</p>
<p>When doing this exercise, your fingers should be spread wide for best stability. Look directly back and underneath the bench in order to keep your torso vertical. If you try and look forward, you&#8217;ll change the focus of the exercise and possibly plant your nose into the floor.</p>
<p>Lower yourself down just like you were doing the negative of a shoulder press. Touch your head lightly to the ground then press yourself back up.</p>
<p>Because your lower body is supported on the bench, this reduces the resistance that your shoulders must work against, allowing you to reap the benefits of the handstand push-up movement without being forced to use your whole body as resistance.</p>
<p>As you get stronger with the movement, you can set your hands on two push-up handles or on the handles of two dumbells (use hex dumbells so that they don&#8217;t roll out on you). This will give you a somewhat greater range of motion and further develop the shoulders.</p>
<p>Even though this exercise is an easier variation of the handstand push-up, you still need to be careful about balance and about being upsidedown while exerting yourself. Do only a few reps the first time you try it and stand yourself back up slowly.</p>
<p><strong>Horizontal Push-Ups</strong></p>
<p>This exercise is ideal if you&#8217;re not strong enough to perform the Pike Handstand Push-Up but are looking for a good bodyweight shoulder exercise. This one of only a very few bodyweight exercises available for the shoulders, especially if you are newer to training.</p>
<p>The Horizontal Push-Up utilizes a similar movement pattern to the handstand push-up but with a horizontal body position instead of a vertical body position. This means you&#8217;re moving primarily forward and back, not up and down.</p>
<p>To perform this exercise, it&#8217;s best to use two pieces of equipment (e.g. two benches) or furniture (e.g. two chairs). The reason for this is that ideally you want to have room for your head to go down the middle so you get a full range of motion. It is possible to do this exercise using the edge of a single bench by ducking your head under the bench as you do it.</p>
<p>Note: normally I don&#8217;t recommend exercises that put resistance on the shoulders with this &#8220;behind-the-head&#8221; position but in this case, because it&#8217;s a bodyweight exercise with small resistance, you can very easily adjust your shoulders to accommodate the movement without a problem. You can also simply touch the top of your head to the bench edge instead of going under it and do a shorter range of motion.</p>
<p>Brace your equipment against a solid object or wall for support and you&#8217;re ready to go!</p>
<p>Kneel down about a foot in front of the equipment. The two pieces should just a little outside shoulder width apart. Set your hands on the corners of the two pieces and set your torso horizontal. Now use your legs to push your body forward.</p>
<p>This mimics the lowering phase of a shoulder press. When you get to the fully stretched position, use shoulder power to press yourself back to the start while using pressure from your quadriceps to resist the movement.</p>
<p>To increase the resistance on this exercise, get on your feet! Instead of kneeling down, set your feet about a yard away from your apparatus then perform the exercise exactly as above.</p>
<p>This exercise is ideal if you&#8217;re just starting out in your training and working out either at home or in a gym.</p>
<p>The full Handstand Push-Up still reigns supreme as the king of the bodyweight shoulder exercises. But these two variations will go a long way towards helping you develop the shoulders you want, whether it be giant barn-door shoulders or tight, toned shoulders with great definition.</p>
<p><strong>Nick Nilsson has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been innovating new training techniques for more than 18 years. Be sure to grab your FREE copy of Nick&#8217;s 30-day &#8220;Dirty Little Secret Program for Building Muscle and Burning Fat FAST,&#8221; available at <a href="http://www.fitness-ebooks.com">http://www.fitness-ebooks.com</a>.</strong></p>
<p><em>Forest here again.  Hope you enjoyed today&#8217;s article &#8230; one more thing before you go &#8230; I have a SWEET deal for you coming in the next day or two &#8230; make sure you&#8217;re signed up for my email newsletter (see the top right of the page) and keep an eye on your email inbox for details &#8230;</em></p>
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		<title>Advanced Body Weight Training Methods to Compliment Your Kettlebell Workouts</title>
		<link>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/03/10/advanced-body-weight-training-methods-to-compliment-your-kettlebell-workouts/</link>
		<comments>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/03/10/advanced-body-weight-training-methods-to-compliment-your-kettlebell-workouts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 10 Mar 2012 14:40:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Forest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[body weight exercises]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[body weight workouts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tips and tricks]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Body weight training and kettlebells are like a match made in heaven. A few reasons why: Training with kettlebells provides many of the benefits body weight – only training does … but also compliments and adds to where some body &#8230; <a href="http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/03/10/advanced-body-weight-training-methods-to-compliment-your-kettlebell-workouts/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://kettlebellbasics.net/2010/05/25/kettlebell-routines/"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-306" title="iStock_000013534655Small" src="http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/iStock_000013534655Small-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /></a></p>
<p><strong>Body weight training and kettlebells are like a match made in heaven.</strong></p>
<p>A few reasons why:</p>
<ul>
<li>Training with kettlebells provides many of the benefits body weight – only training does … but also compliments and adds to where some body weight exercises come up short</li>
<li>Using kettlebells, you can get a super efficient, amazingly effective workout in a very short amount of time</li>
<li>Kettlebell exercises are largely full-body and highly ‘functional’</li>
<li>The balistic nature of kettlebell training provides benefits that body weight – only workouts – or most any other type of training – cannot</li>
</ul>
<p>In short, if you&#8217;re a body weight training enthusiast and you haven&#8217;t incorporated kettlebells in your training mix, you&#8217;re missing out!</p>
<blockquote><p>BTW, if for some crazy reason you haven&#8217;t started with kettlebell training yet, here&#8217;s an article to get you started (it&#8217;s the all-time most popular post on my Kettlebell Basics blog).  It&#8217;ll point you towards literally <em>dozens</em> of ready-to-go (and totally free) kettlebell workouts: <a href="http://kettlebellbasics.net/2010/05/25/kettlebell-routines/">Kettlebell routines, exercises and more at KettlebellBasics.net</a></p></blockquote>
<p>Today&#8217;s article actually assumes you&#8217;re <em>already training</em> with kettlebells &#8230; it&#8217;s an article I wrote originally for another site that I&#8217;ve decided to re-publish here for your benefit.  I hope you learn something new from it to add to your body weight training arsenal!</p>
<p>- Forest</p>
<p><strong>Advanced Body Weight Training Methods to Compliment Your Kettlebell Workouts</strong></p>
<p><em>By Forest Vance, MS, RKC, CPT II</em></p>
<p>Kettlebell training is fantastic for building strength, cardio conditioning, and overall athleticism. But we all know that we can&#8217;t train with kettlebells <em>exclusively </em>- other strength training implements and modalities are a great addition to your training program. Here are three advanced body weight training methods to take your training program to the next level:</p>
<p><strong>1. Tabata Intervals</strong></p>
<p>This is a high intensity interval protocol. The &#8216;Tabata&#8217; method, just for a quick review, is a simple interval protocol. It involves twenty seconds of all-out work, ten seconds of rest, and is repeated eight times. Then puke, fall down, pass out, etc. It works great with a variety of body weight exercises, like Squats, Push Ups, and Sit Ups.</p>
<p><strong>2. Static Holds</strong></p>
<p>Here&#8217;s a somewhat unorthodox technique for building strength. A static hold is, at it&#8217;s most basic level, where you simply hold an exercise at a particular point in its range of motion. It&#8217;s a great way to make exercises that are easy when you reach a certain fitness level &#8211; like Push Ups &#8211; more difficult.</p>
<p>As an example, to use this technique with a Push Up, you could do three static holds of 30 seconds each at the bottom, middle, and top of the range of motion of the exercise.</p>
<p><strong>3. Using Body Weight Exercises For Cardio</strong></p>
<p>In the same vein as Tabata intervals &#8211; if you hate doing traditional cardio (like I do), you can do a body weight circuit instead. You simply need to string together a series of body weight exercises and make sure that they:</p>
<ul>
<li>Keep you moving non-stop for a period of time</li>
<li>Keep you heart rate up</li>
<li>Aren&#8217;t overly intense &#8211; you should be able to maintain the flow for at least 15-20 minutes</li>
</ul>
<p>As much as we all love kettlebell training, you gotta switch it up every once in a while to keep yourself from getting bored and to ensure continued progress with your fitness program. So here you have three body weight exercises to add a new dimension of intensity to your kettlebell workouts. Keep training hard and enjoy!!</p>
<p><strong>PS -</strong> If you liked the advanced body weight training methods I covered in this article, I have a resource for you that I think you&#8217;ll <em>love</em> &#8230; it&#8217;s a complete six week, advanced-level body weight training program &#8230; and includes written/picture exercise demos, body weight cardio &#8216;n&#8217; abs videos, and much more.  Check it out here:</p>
<p>=== &gt;&gt; <a href="http://nogymnoexcuse.com/deathbybodyweight/">No Gym? No Excuse! Death by Body Weight</a></p>
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		<title>Death by Push Ups and Sit Ups</title>
		<link>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/03/06/death-by-push-ups-and-sit-ups/</link>
		<comments>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/03/06/death-by-push-ups-and-sit-ups/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Mar 2012 20:20:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Forest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[body weight workouts]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Maybe you’re stuck in a hotel without a workout room. Maybe your car broke down and you can’t get to the gym. Maybe you’re trying to increase your Push Up or Sit Up numbers and you just need a shock &#8230; <a href="http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/03/06/death-by-push-ups-and-sit-ups/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://kfitlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/pushup-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></p>
<p>Maybe you’re stuck in a hotel without a workout room. Maybe your car broke down and you can’t get to the gym. Maybe you’re trying to increase your Push Up or Sit Up numbers and you just need a shock to your system to catapult you back into progress mode.</p>
<p>In any case, here’s a great workout based on two of the most rudmimentary, ‘no equipment required’ exercises around – the Push Up and the Sit Up:</p>
<p><em>(This workout is a sample from the original No Gym? No Excuse! Body Weight Training Manual &#8211; included in the new <a href="http://nogymnoexcuse.com/deathbybodyweight/">Death by Body Weight workout/video package</a>):</em></p>
<ul>
<li>10 Feet Elevated Push Ups</li>
<li>10 Super Slow Sit Ups (5 seconds up, 5 seconds down)</li>
<li>10 Hindu Push Ups</li>
<li>10 Bicycle Crunches</li>
<li>10 Close-Grip Push Ups</li>
<li>10 Sit Ups – feet unanchored</li>
<li>10 Push Ups With Twist</li>
<li>10 Sit Ups – Feet Anchored</li>
<li>10 Regular Push Ups</li>
<li>10 Floor Crunches</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Rookie Version – repeat sequence 1 time – 100 reps total</em><br />
<em> Vet Version – repeat sequence 3 times – 300 reps total</em><br />
<em> Extreme Version – repeat sequence 5 times – 500 reps total</em></p>
<p>This workout is a great ‘shocker’ you can do every once in a while, but it <em>will</em> break you down (if you choose the right version for your fitness level). So please don’t do it more than once a week – if not less often than that.</p>
<p>And if you liked this workout, don&#8217;t forget to check out the Death by Body Weight workout/video pack (that you can still get a deal on if you act quick) here:</p>
<p>=== &gt;&gt; <a href="http://nogymnoexcuse.com/deathbybodyweight/">The No Gym? No Excuse! Body Weight Strength Manual</a></p>
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		<title>Body Weight Cardio Workout</title>
		<link>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/02/26/body-weight-cardio-workout-2/</link>
		<comments>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/02/26/body-weight-cardio-workout-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 26 Feb 2012 23:52:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Forest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[body weight exercises]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[body weight workouts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[videos]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[I finished up an at-home weekend workout today with this neat body weight cardio workout &#8230; it was a killer session and smoked me in about 15 mins.  So I thought I&#8217;d shoot a quick video going through the workout &#8230; <a href="http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/02/26/body-weight-cardio-workout-2/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I finished up an at-home weekend workout today with this neat <strong><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-9e-vhL410">body weight cardio workout</a></strong> &#8230; it was a killer session and smoked me in about 15 mins.  So I thought I&#8217;d shoot a quick video going through the workout &#8211; it&#8217;s <em>great</em> for when you&#8217;re 1) in need of a full-body cardio blast and 2) short on time.  Enjoy!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object width="350" height="267" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/I-9e-vhL410?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed width="350" height="267" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/I-9e-vhL410?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" allowFullScreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" /></object></p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;"><strong>Video Recap</strong></h3>
<ul>
<li>This is a quick body weight cardio workout you can do anywhere.</li>
<li>Simply pick a body weight &#8211; based pushing, pulling, and squatting/lower body exercise and circuit through them for 15 mins. (see the video for exercise examples/demonstrations)</li>
<li>Stick to the 10-15 rep range</li>
<li>Keep the intensity at a &#8216;medium&#8217; level so you can keep your heart rate elevated for the entire workout with minimal rest</li>
</ul>
<p>This is a killer body weight cardio workout you can do anywhere.  In fact, if you&#8217;re a little behind with your workouts this week, I <em>challenge</em> you to squeeze this one in in front of the TV, first thing in the morning, etc. &#8230; it&#8217;ll only take &#8216;ya 15 mins., so no excuses! <img src='http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>&#8216;Till next time -</p>
<p>- Forest</p>
<p><strong>PS -</strong> I have a brand new 100% body weight &#8211; based &#8216;Get Strong at Home&#8217; program coming very soon &#8230; sign up for my email newsletter by dropping your best email into the box at the upper right of the page to get first news of its new release!</p>
<p><strong>PSS -</strong> Are you a personal trainer?  Do you work in the fitness biz yourself?  Do you just want to learn more about building a business on(or off)line?  I have a new project going you might want to check out (plus, it&#8217;s 100% free, which is even better <img src='http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' />  ):</p>
<p>FVTBiz.com &#8211; <a href="http://fvtbiz.com/">Forest Vance Training, Inc. online fitness business blog</a></p>
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		<title>Push Up Progressions</title>
		<link>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/02/13/push-up-progressions/</link>
		<comments>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/02/13/push-up-progressions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:27:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Forest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[body weight exercises]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[The push up is the king of upper body body weight &#8211; only exercises. It&#8217;s always a staple of workouts I design for myself, my training clients, and my online workout programs. But odds are that: 1) you don&#8217;t know &#8230; <a href="http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/02/13/push-up-progressions/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_279" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://nogymnoexcuse.com/special"><img class="size-medium wp-image-279" title="boot camp" src="http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/boot-camp-300x188.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="188" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Push Up Progressions</p></div>
<p><strong>The push up is the king of upper body body weight &#8211; only exercises.</strong></p>
<p>It&#8217;s always a staple of workouts I design for myself, my training clients, and my <a href="http://forestvance.com/programs-products">online workout programs</a>.</p>
<p>But odds are that:</p>
<p>1) you don&#8217;t know the exact push up type/variation you should be using for your specific fitness goals/ability level/etc.</p>
<p>2) you aren&#8217;t aware of the sheer amount of push up variations you can use in your workouts!</p>
<p>This post is all about <strong>push up progressions</strong> &#8211; and no matter your current goals, fitness or knowledge level, by reading it I&#8217;ll bet you&#8217;ll learn something new about this seemingly-simple exercise that will help you get better results.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;"><strong>Why the push up is king</strong></h3>
<p>Here&#8217;s a few reasons why the push up is king:</p>
<ul>
<li>Push ups can be done anywhere, in a small amount of space and with no added equipment whatsoever</li>
<li>They work many of your major muscle groups, including the chest, shoulders, triceps, lats, abdominals, lower back, core stabilizers (just to name a few)</li>
<li><strong>Push ups can be very easily progressed or regressed for your specific fitness level/goals/etc.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>A lot of folks have trouble with that <em>last point</em>.  That is, figuring out the best push up progressions for their specific fitness level and goals.</p>
<p>So, in this article, I&#8217;m going to help you solve that problem. I&#8217;ll start by covering the &#8216;easiest&#8217; type of push up a beginner would start with &#8230; I&#8217;ll give you some tips for doing more push ups &#8230; and finish with some really hard push up varieties if you&#8217;re looking for the ultimate challenge.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;"><strong><strong>‘Easiest’ type of push up a beginner would start with </strong></strong></h3>
<ul>
<li><em>Start with Wall Push Ups:</em></li>
<li>Just like with a regular push up, clench your glutes, brace your abs, and set your hands on a wall at a width that’s wider than shoulder-width apart. Walk backwards with your feet until your arms are fully extended and supporting your weight (generally one decent sized step back with both feet will suffice). Keeping the rest of your body in a straight line, steadily lower yourself towards the wall until your nose almost touches the wall, and then explode back up to the starting position (source): <a href="http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/arms/exercises/push-ups/">http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/arms/exercises/push-ups/</a></li>
<li>The knee push up would be the next progression from here, and then the push up with the feet on the ground and the hands slightly elevated on a bench, etc. (BTW, I cover this in detail in the manual and video portion of the <a href="http://lifetimekettlebellfitness.com">Lifetime Kettlebell Fitness</a> program)</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: center;"><strong>Tips for doing <em>more</em> push ups</strong></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.gotstrengthblog.com/?p=217">http://www.gotstreng</a><a href="http://www.gotstrengthblog.com/?p=217">thblog.com/?p=217</a> - 7 Steps: Knee, Incline, Regular, One-Legged, Decline, Spider, Clapping</li>
<li><a href="http://www.livestrong.com/article/346429-progression-to-full-push-ups/">http://www.livestrong.com/article/346429-progression-to-full-push-ups/</a> - Descriptions of various push ups</li>
<li>When performing a set of pushups, move quickly. Gravity is affecting your muscles throughout the exercise, so the longer you take, the more strain you&#8217;re putting on your body per repetition, explains Stew Smith, military trainer and former Navy SEAL. Always go as fast as you can without sacrificing proper form. Having a friend or trainer time you regularly will not only help you keep track of your pacing, but will alleviate any anxiety you may feel about being timed during a fitness test.</li>
<li>Your pushup is only as strong as the weakest muscle, so strength training the muscles involved in the exercise independently will help you do more pushups. Try chest presses or dumbbell flies to work your pectoral muscles, military presses or lateral raises to work your shoulders, and triceps dips or pulldowns to target your triceps muscles. Always give your arms a full day to rest between workouts, including pushup workouts.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/pushup-variations/">http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/pushup-variations/</a> - 14 exercises &amp; improvements that help to increase push ups</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: center;"><strong><strong><br />
Really hard push up varieties</strong></strong></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://kevinlarrabee.com/its-all-about-progression-push-ups/">http://kevinlarrabee.com/its-all-about-progression-push-ups/</a> Scroll down to Phase 4, they have sample videos and then under “Spicing it Up” have more tips.  In the comment section, somebody also posted this video: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z92Za3K4SvY">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z92Za3K4SvY</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.beastskills.com/tutorials/tutorials/41">http://www.beastskills.com/tutorials/tutorials/41</a></li>
<li>Basketball Push Ups: Same as the standard push-up, except you balance one hand on a basketball, medicine ball, or Swiss ball. This works stabilizer muscles.</li>
<li>Deep Push Ups: Same as the standard push-up, except you need three chairs. Place the chairs so your feet are resting on one and your hands are on the others. Now you can go down farther than you could when doing push ups on the floor.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/arms/exercises/push-ups/?page=3">http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/arms/exercises/push-ups/?page=3</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/pushup-variations/barbell-pushup.php#slidetop">http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/pushup-variations/barbell-pushup.php#slidetop</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf30GCx5FMo">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf30GCx5FMo</a></li>
<li>The plyo push up is pictured somewhere in the examples, but here’s a video: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAqSnGWHrxU">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAqSnGWHrxU</a></li>
</ul>
<p>In conclusion, push ups are one of the best upper body body weight &#8211; only exercises around.  They&#8217;re a staple of workouts I design for myself, my personal training/boot camp clients, and my online workout programs.  However, they also can be tricky to progress/regress for your specific fitness goals and ability level.  This article shows you how to make push ups as hard or as easy as you want &#8211; and how to blast your results through the roof using the almightly push up!</p>
<p>- Forest</p>
<p><strong>PS -</strong> I&#8217;ve got a brand new body weight &#8211; only at-home workout program in the works and am a week or two away from finishing it up.  To get first news of it&#8217;s release &#8211; and for some more cool free stuff &#8211; sign up for my weekly email newsletter by dropping your name and email into the box at the upper right of the page!</p>
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		<title>Body Weight Dynamic Warm Up</title>
		<link>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/01/28/body-weight-dynamic-warm-up/</link>
		<comments>http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/01/28/body-weight-dynamic-warm-up/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 28 Jan 2012 03:48:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Forest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[body weight exercises]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[body weight workouts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[videos]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/?p=269</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As you may or may not know, I played football at the college level and &#8220;had a cup of coffee&#8221; in the NFL &#8230; It was a little less than ten years ago that I was wrapping up my college &#8230; <a href="http://bodyweightstrengthtraining.com/2012/01/28/body-weight-dynamic-warm-up/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As you may or may not know, I played football at the college level and &#8220;had a cup of coffee&#8221; in the NFL &#8230;</p>
<p>It was a little less than ten years ago that I was wrapping up my college sports career and getting ready to prep for the post-college and pre-NFL stuff like all-star games, on-campus pro days, etc.</p>
<p>I had the good fortune (and help of my agent) to train with some top-notch trainers at the time &#8230; but I was also reading and learning everything I could about human performance to get every edge possible (a big reason why I eventually got into the fitness business, but that&#8217;s a story for another time &#8230;)</p>
<p>Anyway, I was a huge fan of a book called Core Performance by Mark Verstegen (I still in fact use some stuff from that book today in my workout programming), and I remember him talking about (his version of) the dynamic warm up being the <em>most important part of the entire workout</em>.  He was basically saying that, if you only have time for one thing, to do your body weight &#8211; based dynamic warm up.</p>
<p>That statement has stuck with me for all these years.  And while I may not agree with the idea <em>exactly</em> today, I <em>do</em> agree that a dynamic warm up is a critical and non-negotiable part of your program.</p>
<p>Today I have a video for you that expands on this concept and even gives you a couple of sample exercises to get started (it&#8217;s a sample from the PreHab Revolution pack included in the new <a href="http://lifetimekettlebellfitness.com/" target="_blank">Lifetime Kettlebell Fitness</a> program) &#8211; check it out by clicking below:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object width="350" height="267" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YytGW-xnJns?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed width="350" height="267" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YytGW-xnJns?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" allowFullScreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" /></object></p>
<p>Thanks, and talk soon -</p>
<p>Forest Vance, MS, CPT, RKC II</p>
<p>P.S. Want to get the complete PreHab Revolution video package and special report?  It&#8217;s on sale for only <em>two more days</em> &#8230; click here to learn more =====&gt;&gt; <a href="http://lifetimekettlebellfitness.com">Lifetime Kettlebell Fitness + PreHab Revolution package deal</a></p>
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