Bodyweight training is the perfect choice for athletes. Most sports require you to be fast, strong, and powerful. Heavy weight lifting makes an athlete slow and bulky. However, bodyweight training teaches an athlete to better control his or her own bodyweight for better performance.

When I was lifting heavy using bodybuilder workouts the biggest problem was that I would gas out quickly. My sport is Karate. So during sparring (practice fighting) sessions, I may have been bigger and stronger than my opponents, but I would get tired really quickly.

Hence, my opponents would just dodge my slow punches until I was tired, then hit me with everything they got. That’s how I lost a lot of sparring fights. The day I gave up on bodybuilder workouts, I started reading into the way Indian Wrestlers used to train.

Hindu Squats and Pushups

The two common exercises used by these magnificent ancient wrestlers are the Hindu Pushup and Hindu Squat, made popular by Matt Furey. Honestly, I don’t think these exercises are the BEST bodyweight exercises out there. They are simply two variations out of hundreds of different bodyweight movements.

However, just by replacing these two movements with all my heavy weight training gave me some great results. I already had the bulk, now it was time to teach myself how to move the bulk (my own body). The workouts I used were very basic.

It’s time to peer into my old training diaries and show you a sample of the primitive, but powerful stuff I used to do.

(Before I continue, let me just state that I have shared my old workouts in the past. I used to do a lot of stuff, but this particular post revolves around Hindu Squats and HinduPushups and their relationship to improving my Karate training.)

Back to what I was saying before: I stuck to mostly density training, which is something I shared with you a few days a go. However, my density workouts were much shorter, since my conditioning was very poor.

The Poorly Designed but Powerful Workout

So, instead of using 15-20 minute time intervals, I was using 5 minutes intervals, with around 1-2 minute breaks. So here is what a sample workout would look like:

5 minutes of:

• 5 Hindu Pushups
• 10 Hindu Squats

I would alternate between these exercises for 5 minutes straight through, and decided if I could do anymore. A lot of what I was doing before was extremely random. I didn’t even know about the terminology “density” training. It was just training to me.

But…it worked! I was moving faster and lasting longer on the mat. I even started winning some fights. Some of the kids started getting scare of fighting me since now I was not just a bulky guy, but a bulky guy who could move!

Take Home Point

Now, how can you take what I used to do to your own sport? Well, the simple answer is take a look at how you move in your sport. Karate involves a lot of high intensity techniques for a short period of time (such as a barrage of punches) followed by a short rest period (where you’re just bouncing on the mat and blocking your opponents attacks).

Hence, interval and density workouts were perfect for Karate training. But, you may need a different method of training for your particular sport.

If you’re ready to incorporate bodyweight training 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.

My Sensei (Karate instructor) used to do a circuit training workout with us once a month. This workout was for the hard-hitters: a group 10 – 15 guys (and a few girls). The Circuit Training workouts were the type of workouts I enjoyed and looked forward too. They were painful and I loved the feeling of my entire body covered in sweat. By the time your were done, you would have sweat pouring into your eyes. Many times, when it was cold outside, the windows would fog up due to all the heat being generated in the dojo.

Image by IndyWeek.com

Yup….those were the days.

Circuit training at the dojo was very simple. You stick to one station for about 3 minutes, then move onto the next station. In the middle of the workout, Sensei would make us drop and do about 20-30 push-ups. His words were, “You improve when you’re tired.”

Following the same principles of dojo circuit training, I have come up with the following workout:

• Station One: Perform any variation of push-ups for the time allotted
• Station Two: Alternated between bent-over rows, and push press, 95lbs
• Station Three: Jump Roping
• Station Four: Free Standing Heavy Bag Punching

You are to perform three rounds of this workout in the following manner:

• Round One: 1 minute at each station
• Round Two: 2 minutes at each station
• Round Three: 3 minutes at each station

Try it out and get back to me!