If there’s one exercise you should be performing, it’s the bodyweight squat. This movement has numerous benefits for both busy people and athletes. The following are the top three benefits of the bodyweight squat:

Benefit #1: Hip Mobility and Strength

Busy people who work tend to sit down and get up a lot of times throughout the day. When you get older, you start to lose the mobility and strength in your hips. Hence, the bodyweight squat is one of the most important exercises for daily life function.

Basic activities such such as sitting down and getting up and picking things off the floor require squat type motions. And a multitude of other activities such as walking, running, and climbing steps use the same muscles as the bodyweight squat. So why not strengthen those muscles so your hips stay strong and healthy for as long you’ll live.

Benefit #2: More Growth Hormone

The more muscle your engage, the more testosterone and human growth hormone you release. Both these hormones have been linked to fat loss and mass gain. The biggest muscle group in your body are your legs, and squats work a large percentage of your lower body.

This makes the bodyweight squat an optimal exercise to help you burn more fat and build more muscle mass.

Benefit #3: Greater Performance

When I was in Karate, we used to do this drill where we had to kick, drop down to the floor, get back up and do another technique. The drill got more and more complicated, but the main idea was to train our bodies to get up off the floor as quickly as possible.

Getting up off the ground is crucial, especially in martial arts. Because if you get tripped or knocked down, you want to get back up quickly to do a counter attack. And guess whoSensei (Karate instructor) said was the fastest “getter upper” in the class?

Me! It was because I was doing lots of bodyweight squats on a daily basis.

If you’re ready to incorporate bodyweight squats as part of your fitness plan, then you should check out Bodyweight Exercise Revolution. Coach’s Adam Steer and Ryan Murdock show you how to use unique bodyweight movements to lose fat, build muscle, increase strength, improve athletic fitness, and enhance longevity.

Click here for more information.

Split Training refers to the way you organize your fitness program based on body parts, movements, and exercises. There are three methods of organizing fitness plans that I particularly use very often: Full Body, Upper/Lower Split, and Push/Pull/Legs Split.

Full Body

• A full body program is where you train your entire body in one session. The following is a three-day program based on a full body split:

Monday

Push-ups
Squat Jumps
Mixed-Grip Chinups

Wednesday

Incline Pushups
Lunges
Pullups

Friday

Hindu Pushups
Bodyweight Squats
Chinups

• Creating a full body workout simply involves having at least one upper body and one lower body exercise.

Benefits of a Full Body Split:

• Great starting point for beginners to develop a base level of strength
• Muscles will respond quickly due to a higher frequency of work
• Ideal for athletes that need to train their body as one unit

Bruce Lee Trained his Body as One Unit – Image by BeWaterMyFriend

Upper/Lower Split

• An upper/lower split is where you train your upper body on one day, and your lower body in another day. The following is a three-day program based on a upper/lower split:

Monday

Pushups
Mixed-grip Chinups
Incline Pushups
Pullups

Wednesday

Bodyweight Squats
Squat Jumps
Lunges

Friday

Repeat Monday’s workout

* Perform Wednesday’s workout the following Monday. Alternate the program between an upper body and a lower body workout.

Benefits of Upper/Lower Split

• More rest between muscle groups will allow for more focus in each workout
• Ideal for athletes who need to work on either upper body or lower body individually for specific improvements
• Great transition point from beginner to intermediate trainees

Push/Pull/Legs

• Push/Pull/Legs is the most common used split. Push involves any exercise where you “push” away from your body. The chest and triceps are the primary muscles being stressed. Pull involves any exercise where you “pull” towards your body. The back and biceps are the primary muscles being stressed. Leg day is devoted to lower body training. The following is a three-day program based on the a push/pull/legs split:

Monday

Push-ups
Incline Push-ups
Hindu Push-ups

Wednesday

Mixed-Grip Chin-ups
Pull-ups
Chin-ups

Friday

Bodyweight Squats
Squat Jumps
Lunges

Benefits of Push/Pull/Legs Split

• Ideal for athletes who need to work specific weaknesses
• Ideal for advanced athletes who need to work strength training along with other methods of training
• More rest between muscle groups will allow for more focus in each workout

Study the benefits of each training split, and decided which suits best for your goals and fitness level.

Additional Resources:

Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle – This is the perfect resource to check out if you want to explore split training further. Tom Venuto provides with a template for a full body and a variety of other training splits. You also recieve a ton of information on diet and nutrition for fat loss. Check it out here.