21 Exercise Ideas (print this out and share)
Ugh, please do NOT do these 3 bodyweight exercises. I saw people wasting their time and hurting their joints with these moves on Monday morning at the local YMCA where I lift weights twice a week.
#1) Bench Dips with hands behind you on a bench – these are terrible for your shoulder joint … use close-grip pushups instead
#2) Crunches – These have to be one of the biggest wastes of time ever…no version of crunches will get you results. Just stop. You’re better off spending that time in the kitchen preparing healthy food…and heck, you’d be no worse off than if you just watched TV instead!
3) Jumping on concrete, pavement, or with bad form – So far this year two NFL players have been carted off the field because they landed awkwardly after a celebratory jump…that’s embarrassing…and if it can happen to them, it can happen to you. Be careful with any jumps you do…or switch to Total Body Extensions. You aren’t getting paid $3-million a year to wreck your knees!
There are also many exercises that you can’t do because you don’t have the right equipment…or maybe you just want to learn some new exercises for the sake of variety.
Learn dozens of bodyweight exercise ideas in these videos
But wait, there’s more…My good friend and nutrition expert, Joel Marion of BioTrust, emailed me on Monday and said:
“Hey bro, can you send me a bunch of exercises for Upper body, Lower body, and Core? I have 2 kettle bells, Powerblocks, and a slam ball.
I’m doing 10-15 min workouts on the pool deck as soon as I get up and I just need a bunch of exercises I can do so I don’t get bored doing the same thing every day. If you can give a list of exercises that are bodyweight or can be done with a kettlebell, Powerblocks, or slam balllz that would be super appreciated! Thank you kind sir!” – Sent from Joel’s massive iPhone 6
Happy to help. Putting together workout programs and sending out exercise substitutions is one of my favorite things to do. Here’s what I told Joel…
Conditioning Exercise Ideas
– KB Swings or Total Body Extensions
– KB 1-arm swings
– KB high pull or DB Power Shrug
– KB 1-arm clean and press
– Burpee or Low-Box Jumps <= but safety first!
– Farmer’s walks
– Rack Walks
– Slamball slams, chest passes into the ground, or throws and sprints
Upper Body Exercise Ideas
– Floor press (lie on ground like a bench and press kb’s or Powerblocks) with a regular or close-grip (palms facing each other, elbows tucked in)
– Overhead press variations: 1-arm, alternating 1-arm, 2-arm and 1-arm push press, strict & controlled 2-arm press (1-arm presses can be done with elbow tucked in or elbow out)
– Pushups: regular, decline, close-grip, spiderman, T-pushup, elevated (one hand on top of the bell part of the KB), close-grip with hands on kb handles, off-set (one hand ahead of the other by one hand length)
– Upper back: KB shrug, KB 2-arm row, KB 1-arm row — rows can be done with elbows OUT, tucked IN, or underhand grip with elbows in
– KB lying pullovers
Lower Body Exercise Ideas
– Squat: Goblet, Front (KB’s racked up at shoulder height), bw, prisoner squat, total body extension
– Split Squat: Goblet, KB’s by side, KB’s in front rack position, bw
– Lunges: Reverse, Forward, Diagonal (Goblet, KB by side, KB’s racked, or bodyweight)
– Step-ups: (Goblet, KB by side, KB’s racked, bw)
– KB Deadlift
– KB RDL
– Jump Squats (done in pool is best, but make sure your swim suit is tied up!)
Core Exercise Ideas
– Ab wheel rollout (including diagonal) <= he has one of these, too
– Mountain Climber, Cross-body Mountain Climber
– Spiderman Climb
– Bear Crawl
– Renegade Row with light kb’s
TRX combos
– He also has a place to hook up his TRX in the front yard…so he could sprint out front and do a TRX move and then run back to the pool to do a KB exercise and alternate, OR he could do the the following TRX circuit on days he gets bored of the kettlebells
— TRX pushups
— TRX rows
— TRX 1-Leg Squats
— TRX Rear-delt Raises
— TRX Bulgarian Split Squats
— TRX Atomic Pushups
— TRX Curls
— TRX Triceps extensions
— TRX Ab Fallouts
— TRX Jackknives
Whew. Now what the heck did I miss?
Probably nothing! Ha.
That was fun.
And if you don’t have a kettlebell or a TRX, just use these:
51 Bodyweight Exercise Workouts
That gives you plenty of options,
Craig Ballantyne, CTT
Certified Turbulence Trainer
PS – Time to get going and stay focused!
Everything you do takes you closer to OR farther away from your goals. Think about that before each and every decision you make.
Focus on replacing your bad habits and thought patterns, one-by-one, over time, with good habits and thought patterns. One step at a time, done over time, leads to powerful changes in your life.
“You are exactly what you believe and think about all day long. Constantly monitor your thoughts.” – Kekich Credo #95
Get rid of the negative. Stay focused on your positive vision.
Believe in yourself. You can do this. Let’s go!