Getting lean with bodyweight exercises is actually quite easy. There are dozens of different ways you can set up a quick, fat burning bodyweight training routine. I will go over a few of these methods:

Tabata Intervals

Tabata Intervals are a unique interval scheme which requires performing 20 seconds of high intensity exercises, followed by 10 seconds of rest. You repeat this for 7 cycles, or 8 cycles.

That’s 4 minutes of exercise. Most Tabata workouts include 3-6 exercises, which comes out to a 12 to 24 minute workout. Beginners might need to do just 1 exercise per workout.

One of the best ways to help you with your intervals is to use the GymBoss Interval Timer. It costs just $19.95, and you can program it to help you keep track of any sort of intervals you may use. Click here to grab yours today.

Circuit Training

Circuit training can be as intense as you want it to be. The main idea is that you alternate between four different exercises with little to no rest in between each set. The more rest you take between each exercise, the less intense the workout will be.

Try to choose movements that target different muscle groups. If a particular muscle group is lagging, for example if your chest muscles are dramatically weaker then the rest of your body, then you can create a circuit with allpushup variations.

Tabata Circuits

Here’s a training method I’ve been experimenting recently. It basically combines Tabata and Circuit Training. What you do is choose 4 exercises. Perform the first exercise for 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds, then move onto the second exercise.

Here’s a sample template to help you understand how to perform Tabata Circuits:

• Exercise #1, 20 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Exercise #2, 20 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Exercise #3, 20 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds,
• Exercise #4, 20 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Go back to exercise #1

In the beginning, you will not be able to perform 8 rounds of this circuit. But start off with 3-4 rounds, and slowly build yourself up to 8 rounds. For more interesting workout techniques and bodyweight exercises, checkout Workout Without Weights.

Click here for more information.

One of the best ways to help you with your intervals is to use the GymBoss Interval Timer. It costs just $19.95, and you can program it to help you keep track of any sort of intervals you may use. Click here to grab yours today.

We all know how much I love bodyweight training. When I first began this blog, I was going to focus my training specifically on portable equipment such as dumbbell, kettlebells, and resistance bands. My bodyweight training consisted only of push-ups, pull-ups, squats, and sit-ups.

My bodyweight workouts began to change when I started looking into bodyweight solutions for beginners. Questions such as, “What kind of workouts can I design for people who are unable to perform a single push up?” plagued my mind.

In my search for these answers, I stumbled up on an eBook titled “Workout Without Weights.” After purchasing the eBook, I was impressed by the variety of exercises for both beginners and advanced trainees. And unlike most eBooks, Author Coach Eddie Lomax actually teaches you how to design your own training programs and Continue reading

Image by Crossfit Westside

It happens to the best of us. There are times in your life where you just stop working out. For one reason or another, you find yourself a few months later looking in the mirror and thinking to yourself, “How did I let myself go?”

Well, I feel this sometimes even after a one-week lay off from training. Yes, I’m addicted to training, and I know what it feels NOT to exercise and eat healthy for a long time. I’ve done it before and I don’t want to do it again. Call it paranoia if you will, but I have never taken more than a week off from training in the past three years.

But even with a one-week layoff, I take it easy when coming back into training. The first workout is not as intense as my normal workout.

The best advice I can offer you is to steadily move back into your training program. The following are some tips based how long you’ve been away from exercising:

One- Week

After one week off, the first week should be light, but not too light. A good idea is to take your last workout and tone it down a bit. For example, lets say your last workout was:

Two rounds of:

• 4 Tabata rounds of Burpees
• 2 Tabata rounds Squat Jumps
• 2 Tabata rounds Pushups
• 2 Tabata rounds Leg Pullin

Instead of 2 rounds, perform just one round. And instead of a 20/10 Tabata scheme, try an easier, 30/20 or 30/30 scheme.

One-Month

If you’ve been away from the gym or exercising for close to one month, then you’ll probably need one-two weeks just to ease back in. Aim to have no more than one extremely intense workout per week, and one to two moderate intensity or light workouts. Your first priority should be consistency. Don’t worry about intensity level for now. Just workout at least 3 days a week. Once you are back on track with regular workouts, you can start pushing yourself with the intensity.

One-Year or More

If for whatever reason you’ve been out of action for a year or longer, it’s best you started from scratch. Try to find a basic beginner program, and steadily work on strength, consistency, and intensity. Try the beginner burpee program from my Burpees article .

Getting back into shape isn’t really as hard as it seems. The main thing you need to work on is getting back on schedule. This is where keeping a training log is extremely beneficial. Take a look at the last few workouts that you performed before your layoff, and start from there.

Do you have any additional tips on how to get back into shape after a long layoff?

Image by sallycrochets

Burpees are an intense exercise, no doubt. When you combine Burpees with an intensity technique such as interval training, what you get is incredible, puke-inducing, fat burning workouts. Here are few you should try out:

Burpees Tabata Interval Workout: Continue reading

I’m not a bodybuilder!

I’m not a Crossfit athlete!

No matter how many times I try to tell people that I do not belong to a particular category of fitness, people still tend to categorize me!

“Oh but you’re a bodybuilder,” says a customer at my Dad’s store while we’re talking about nutrition. “You’re a CF (CrossFit) athlete,” writes my bodybuilder friend on AIM.

Why do we Categorize?

Human begins use categories as a way to store information. It’s a great way to organize information, but a dangerous way of living your life. If you call yourself a Crossfit athlete, or a Bodybuilder, you will forever be a part of a stereo type of training methodologies and will inadvertently disregard anything that does not fit into the Crossfit or Bodybuilding methodology.

I feel that there are certainly things that bodybuilders can learn from Crossfit athletes, and vice versa. Each method has a particular flaw, and the best way to fill in the gaps is to “reach across the aisle” and try something new.

I think people should follow some sort of hybrid of a variety of fitness programs. Use the following guide to create your own unique program:

High Intensity Training

• Crossfit, Heavy Duty, Tabata
• Pro: Exercise can be done in a short period of time.
• Pro: You can improve strength and mass dramatically (depending on program)
• Pro: Can drop fat and improve athletic conditioning dramatically (depending on program)
• Con: May not be suitable for beginners
• Con: Can easily lead to over training and fatigue if there is poor focus on diet

High Volume Training

• German Volume Training, The Russian Bear, Traditional Bodybuilding,
• Pro: Great for hypertrophy
• Pro: Simply program for beginners
• Con: Added size comes with minimal gains in strength
• Con: Workouts take a long time

Strength-Based Training

• Stronglift’s 5×5, Starting Strength, Westside Barbell
• Pro: Can put on size and strength extremely fast
• Pro: Can drop fat due to an increase in metabolic rate
• Con: Beginners need more time to learn movements
• Con: Workouts are boring

There you have it. Try each program out for a few months.

Then:

• Choose one program that you really like and know will stick for the rest of your life
• Identify the strengths and weaknesses of that program
• Fill in the weaknesses of the program using principles from other programs.
• Now create your own website and brand your program!