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Train Anywhere Anytime
Train Anywhere Anytime!
The quiet hum of the furnace pumping heat into the room is a common sound for me to hear daily. 2 am is often the time I get the chance to sit down write, read, and catch up on everything I am behind in and the other day it proved to be an opportunity for me to catch up with my friend via Skype. (awesome piece of technology that allows you to make international phone calls) It was about 7 pm in South Korea when I got the call from my friend.
We caught up on everything from work, friends, and international women but also got on the topic of working out. I used to train this guy back in the states and we would do everything from high intensity workouts outside, flexibility & mobility work, and even speed & agility training. We were making tremendous progress, until he left for Korea.
“How is your training and working out going in the motherland?” (I am Korean by the way)
“Not so good, there is no gym near me and not too much to work with”
I could sense the utter pain of him pushing those words out of his mouth as he knows I wouldn’t approve of that response. Don’t worry we are best friends and I know he expects me to motivate and push him harder then others.
“Hmmmmm, interesting!” I knew my response would make him a little nervous, as I said “Gotcha, you moth*rFuc&er!” to myself.
I always love to hear this from people, no gym no workout. Right? Wrong! I am a firm believer in incorporating bodyweight work into training to achieve a great workout and see results. My trips, although not so frequent anymore, into larger commercial gyms always reminds me of the absence of bodyweight work with trainers ordering clients to bench press excess weight when they can barely do 10 pushups. For those clients who can’t move their arms to wipe their own ass for the next 2 or 3 days, I truly feel for you and I hope your bathroom responsibilities get easier.
The masses of meatheads who also ignore bodyweight work probably doesn’t motivate you let alone make you feel comfortable next to a tanned, hair gel addicted freak, to knock out some pushups. Don’t worry these guys are just doing what they know, which isn’t much but to look in the mirror after every set to make sure their cubic zirconia’s are angled correctly and that their sleeveless t-shirts are in the perfect position to show off their biceps. Does Jersey Shore ring a bell!
The advantages of bodyweight work is tremendous and again I will resort to bullet points to avoid my rambling and making this a long read, since I know I wouldn’t want to sit here and listen to me talk about the intricacies and science behind it.
• You won’t need a gym or any equipment, meaning it’s Free 99.
• It gives you the opportunity to truly focus on form allowing you to prevent injury when you do start to load excess weight for these exercises.
• The 1 hour workout can be condensed into a 30 minute, fast & furious session that allows you to see similar results if not more and opens up time for you to do more of things you need to be doing. (eating healthy, reading, work, talking to international women)
• You can see fast results in increased strength, fat loss, and overall fitness levels.
• The variety of exercises can be fun and challenging despite you will probably be alone in your apartment or hotel room with your neighbors banging on the walls.
The Beginner Workout
Bodyweight Squat x 12 reps
Pushup x 8 reps
Reverse Lunge x 8 reps each side
Jumping Jacks x 25 reps
Lateral Lunge
Burpees x 10 reps
Varied Pushup x 8 reps
V sits x 10 reps
1st Program version: Perform in coupled supersets 2-3 sets per superset. Ex. Squat than pushup, rest. Repeat 2-3 sets. Then next superset of Reverse Lunge and Jumping Jacks in similar form.
2nd Program version: Perform all exercises from Squats to V sits then rest. Rest 1-2 minutes than repeat for 2-3 sets.
Points for form:
Squat: This vital lower body exercise can easily be done wrong especially when you move into loading excess weight on you. So practice these good form techniques as it will ensure you work the right muscles and prevent injury.
- Make sure you maintain a straight/neutral spine.
- Learn to retract your hips backwards like your about to sit in a little chair behind you.
- This pointer goes hand in hand with retracting your hips. If you see your knees fall over the top of your feet or even worse come past your stop. The position of the knee should stay over the heels allowing for full range of motion in the hips and no acl/mcl/tendon injuries.
- On the movement up/concentric make sure you are pressing through your heels and not the balls of your feet. Balancing will take some practice.
- Make sure you complete the full movement at the top by returning to a complete standing position with hips locked forward. Squeeze the butt cheeks at the top.
Lunge:
- Again watch knee position in the front leg, it should be directly over your heels and should not pass over or onto the foot.
- Maintain a neutral and straight spine. Placing your hands directly over your head will allow you to practice this.
- On the return up, make sure you are pressing off the heels. It is a common mistake to roll of the ball of your foot.
Lateral Lunge:
- The lateral lunge combines techniques of the lunge and squat.
- The bent leg should maintain a position where the knee stays directly over the heel of the foot and not out in front or to the side.
- The hips will have to retract for this exercise to be performed correctly so again, pretend you are sitting in a little chair behind you. This may be difficult if you have tight hip flexors, which will probably be the case.
- Try to position your chest directly over the bent knee.
- The other knee will maintain a locked out position.
Pushup:
- Position your arms about shoulder width on the ground.
- Lower to the ground with your elbows tucked close to your body and not flaring out.
- Pretend you are pushing the ground away from you as you return to the upward starting position.
- Contract your abs to maintain rigid form.
Burpee: What the heck is a Burpee? A burpee is a movement that incorporates strength, flexibility/mobility, and cardio vascular training. I will break it into steps for you below.
1.) Start in a standing position
2.) Lower down and place both hands on the ground in the similar stance as if you were going to do a pushup, next and outside of your feet about shoulder width.
3.) With your hands firmly positioned, kick your feet back as if you were assuming a pushup position.
4.) Next kick your feet back up into the position prior to kicking your feet out, with your hands placed outside of your feet.
5.) Explode up into a small jump from the ground.
V sits:
- This is an abdominal exercise that will force you to work both the concentric, isometric, and eccentric movements.
- Laying flat on the ground with your hands fully extended above your head you are going to fold into a v shape.
- Drive your hands to meet your feet then slowly in a controlled movement return to the starting position.
The Intermediate Workout
Bodyweight Squat x 15 reps
Narrow grip pushup x 5 reps before failure
Front Lunge x 10 reps each side
Burpees x 12 reps
Regular pushups x 2 reps before failure
Mountain Climbers x 12 each side
Isometric Lunge hold 30 sec x 3 reps each leg
V sits x 12 reps
Mountain Climbers:
- This exercise will require you to start in a pushup position with your butt hiked up slightly in order for room for your knees to drive up.
- Next drive one knee up towards your chest and return it to starting position while simultaneously driving the other knee up.
- Remember to drive the knees high into the chest and all the way back into an extended position.
The Advanced Workout
Jump squats x 10 reps
Narrow grip pushups x 5 reps before failure
Jump lunges x 6 reps
Pushups x 5 reps before failure
Bodyweight Squats x 20 reps
Burpees x 12 reps
V sits x 12 reps
Mountain climbers x 15 reps each leg
Jump Squats:
Exercise Variations to increase Difficulty
Pushups: Once the pushups get easy in both narrow, regular, and wide forms. Don’t worry! There are endless variations to this exercise and don’t be afraid to get creative.
- Try elevating the feet to different levels. Use a chair for one level, than go to a higher elevation like the end of the bed, you can even use the wall to achieve an even higher elevation, almost to a handstand position.
- You can also incorporate explosive pushups, where you are exploding off the ground to increase difficulty. No need to clap quite yet, just try to maintain intensity exploding off the ground and controlling your landing.
- The t pushup is one of my favorite variations of this simple exercise. Simply go down into the pushup and while maintaining this position slide your body without moving your feet to each hand, making a T than come back up. You want to aim for getting your nipple to your hand positions, you may want to position them a little wider than shoulder width, before you come back up.
- Lastly, if you master all these variations, get your Bruce Lee on and start working the one arm pushup. Maintain a wider foot stance and position your plant hand at an angle underneath the middle of your chest. Let’s just say when you get here, email me and I will show you the technique.
Closing:
Considering the time of the year, Christmas and Holidays, I have had a number clients do some traveling. This meant missing workouts. But does it really. Despite being stuck in a 6X6 hotel cell, you can incorporate all of these workouts in your room. I know a lot of you are saying, “Albert! Would you really be doing these workouts on vacation, ummmm Yeah! I would! “
So, I am advising yet pushing you right now in the middle of holiday mayhem to get on your horse and really ride through this season. I know there are tons of distractions including Christmas parties, vacations, family visits, shopping, but don’t be the cliché New Years resolution victim to say, “I am going to really get in shape this year!” Get off your ass and start NOW! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
