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Bodyweight Exercises for Massive Strength, Endurance and Abdominal Conditioning!
As you will know by this stage of the game, I am a hard core advocate of using bodyweight exercises to build strength, endurance, superb abdominal and total body conditioning.
Bodyweight exercises begin with your basic push-up and squats, and then move on to a higher and more intense and effective levels. They are the ideal complement to any fitness regime and are suitable for all from the most out of shape beginner, to your Gold Medal Winning Olympic athlete. Think Olympic rings, or hanging rings for pull-ups, the horse etc
In a break from the norm, bodyweight exercises combine both the ability to develop phenomenal strength and endurance simultaneously by challenging you with workouts that hit every part of your body, thereby boosting your heartrate so that you are working both your lungs and your muscles.
Consistent practise of bodyweight exercises will shred the fat from your body, and make you lean and muscular, especially around the torso.
You will recognise some of these exercises, but I suspect were never shown any particularly useful routines or programs that are necessary to give you a total body workout.
Why not test the following routine, and see what it does for you. It could be the beginning of a new you.
Begin with a few deep breaths -
1) Squats – stand with your feet shoulder width apart, and squat down as though sitting on a chair, pause at the bottom, and rise powerfully. Remember to look up and forwards during the motion to ensure proper alignment. Aim to perform 20-30 repetitions,
2) Push-ups/ press-ups – assume the standard push-up position and go for 20-30 repetitions. If you feel that this is difficult, bring your knees to the floor and do the assisted press-up.
If you feel that this is too easy, do your press-ups super slow ie count 4 going down, and 4 going up, and go to exhaustion. This is guaranteed to shake up your normal push-up routine.
3) crunches – lie on your back on the floor, and curl your upper body from the floor using abdominal strength only. As you curl down, gently lower your back shoulders and then head to the floor, and then curl back up again, incorporating a neck workout into the routine too. Again aim to do 20 repetitions.
Do this set of exercises 3 times, and remember to enjoy – the harder you work the more you’ll enjoy it!
Finish with a couple of minutes of light stretching.
Muscle Gain
Strength Training Versus Aerobics – What is the Difference?
Strength Training
Strength training is typically weight bearing exercise or resistance training. It does just what the title suggests, it builds strength. Weight lifting and exercise machines are examples of strength training devices. However, pilates and yoga can also be methods of strength training. You don’t necessarily have to hold free weights to use a machine to strength train. You can use the weight of your own body to provide resistance and increase your strength.
It is a good practice to strength train one set of muscles (such as the upper body) one day and another set (such as the lower body) the next. Most muscle groups need time to rest and recover after exercise. So while you can work out every day, you should work out different muscle groups each day to give worked muscles time to rest and repair. This will give you optimal results.
Aerobics
Aerobics is a cardio exercise that gets your heart rate up and keeps it up. This can be anything from walking to riding a bike. You can run on a treadmill or take an aerobics class. If it gets your heart rate up, it is an aerobic activity. You generally move a lot during aerobic exercise.
You can do aerobic exercises every day because they do not focus on specific muscle groups. Where strength training makes you strong, aerobics makes you lean. It also strengthens your heart and respiratory system, giving you increased stamina. With regular aerobic exercise, you will find that you can run faster and longer as well as perform better.
Interval Training
Interval training is a combination of weight training and aerobics and is attributed to effective weight loss and conditioning. During interval training, you do your regular weight training, but intersperse with brief spurts of aerobic exercise. For instance, you do a set of curls, then walk on the treadmill for five minutes. Next, you do a bench press and then ride a bike for seven minutes. In short, you do an aerobic activity such as jumping rope, walking on the treadmill, running or riding a bike for short bursts in between each set of weights or nautilis machines.
Interval training is very popular among athletes because it builds stamina and strength. With people who want to lose weight, it can bring about fantastic results. Interval training utilizes the best results of strength training and aerobics.
What is a Total Body Workout?
A total body workout involves both strength training and aerobic exercise so that your entire body is worked. You get the benefits of being stronger as well as having enhanced endurance. A typical total body workout consists of working one muscle group (such as the upper body) for thirty minutes or so a day three times a week – Monday, Wednesday and Friday, then the other muscle group (such as the lower body) for thirty minutes or so three times a week – Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Aerobic activity is practices every day for about thirty minutes. Some workouts differ in times, some go longer and some are shorter, but that is the basic total body workout.
Nutrition
If you are working your body with strength training and aerobics, you need to have the proper nutrition to fuel your body so that is can perform at an optimum level. You should eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean meats. You need a lot of protein to fuel your muscles, muscle growth and loss of fat. The various fruits and vegetables give you the vitamins and minerals that you need. Whole grains like brown rice and quinoa also offer protein, fiber and minerals. If you are training intensively you may find that you need nutritional supplements. This is very common for people who train vigorously.
There are specific differences between strength training and aerobics. Actually, these two types of exercise work together to form a total body workout. When you combine the two you will find that you body is stronger, leaner and have better stamina. If you want to tune your body to an optimal level, strength training and aerobic activity are the way to accomplish it.
