Your Favorite Full Body Exercises (With No Equipment)

[tominbkk]

I enjoy my Fitness First, but can't always get there. So after a quick 5K run in the 'hood, I like to finish off with these three exercises:

The Burpee:

The Body Weight Squat:

The Crunch:

What's your guys' favorites?

Edited April 2, 2013 by tominbkk

[robblok]

I dont do only body weight exercises, they are not for me as i build muscle i need to progressively load my muscles you can only do that with body weight exercises if your not too strong.

I do weighted squat and dead lifts, weighted dips ect ect.

Edited April 2, 2013 by robblok

[tominbkk]

I dont do only body weight exercises, they are not for me as i build muscle i need to progressively load my muscles you can only do that with body weight exercises if your not too strong.

I do weighted squat and dead lifts, weighted dips ect ect.

Oh yeah I am back to free weights now three times a week - I have a great complementary routine. But sometimes it isn't feasible for me to get over to the club. Instead of not doing anything at all, these work great to stretch you out and keep you toned. Better than nothing! And for beginners, I would say these three exercises area good start. Not everyone is looking to be all bulked out.

[robblok]

I dont do only body weight exercises, they are not for me as i build muscle i need to progressively load my muscles you can only do that with body weight exercises if your not too strong.

I do weighted squat and dead lifts, weighted dips ect ect.

Oh yeah I am back to free weights now three times a week - I have a great complementary routine. But sometimes it isn't feasible for me to get over to the club. Instead of not doing anything at all, these work great to stretch you out and keep you toned. Better than nothing! And for beginners, I would say these three exercises area good start. Not everyone is looking to be all bulked out.

Even if you don't want to be bulked out but just a few muscles you need to apply progressive strain on the muscle within a certain rep range 5-18 or so. If you can do 18 reps easy (already real high for muscle building) then you wont get any muscles at all. So its not about being bulked out or anything just waste of time if you want to get any kind of muscle.

It can be a good calorie burn or a beginner exercise to build a little strength but you soon progress past its effectiveness for muscle building.

[robblok]

Sorry after watching the clips i now see they are not for muscle building but for at burning as i thought. My apologies i got mixed up when talking about full body exercises and mixed them up with compound exercises. Plus the squat there got me going to thinking about weights and such.

My mistake.. so no I don't have those sorry they are just not for me as i got a home gym with all I need so I don't have to improvise.

Think those exercises you mention there are nice after a run to burn a bit more and do something different.

[tominbkk]

I dont do only body weight exercises, they are not for me as i build muscle i need to progressively load my muscles you can only do that with body weight exercises if your not too strong.

I do weighted squat and dead lifts, weighted dips ect ect.

Oh yeah I am back to free weights now three times a week - I have a great complementary routine. But sometimes it isn't feasible for me to get over to the club. Instead of not doing anything at all, these work great to stretch you out and keep you toned. Better than nothing! And for beginners, I would say these three exercises area good start. Not everyone is looking to be all bulked out.

Even if you don't want to be bulked out but just a few muscles you need to apply progressive strain on the muscle within a certain rep range 5-18 or so. If you can do 18 reps easy (already real high for muscle building) then you wont get any muscles at all. So its not about being bulked out or anything just waste of time if you want to get any kind of muscle.

It can be a good calorie burn or a beginner exercise to build a little strength but you soon progress past its effectiveness for muscle building.

Yep I aim for a set of 3 reps of 8, max 12. I just got back into lifting about a week and a half ago, starting slow to ease muscles into it but expect a fairly rapid gain.

I have been using Fitness Buddy, a great weight training app. Has 1700 exercises in it, all with animations and/or vid. Lots of pre-set workouts or you can build your own. Quite a steal for 70 Baht!

[tominbkk]

Sorry after watching the clips i now see they are not for muscle building but for at burning as i thought. My apologies i got mixed up when talking about full body exercises and mixed them up with compound exercises. Plus the squat there got me going to thinking about weights and such.

My mistake.. so no I don't have those sorry they are just not for me as i got a home gym with all I need so I don't have to improvise.

Think those exercises you mention there are nice after a run to burn a bit more and do something different.

Yeah lots of burning going on there! I would say the crunches will help you develop your abs though, especially if you start getting into the variations on them.

[Morakot]

[robblok]

@tom

http://exercise.about.com/cs/weightloss/a/toning.htm

This is what i think about toning. For me there is getting bigger muscles and loosing fat. You can only enlarge muscles you cant change the shape of them. So there is only getting bigger muscles and less fat that is toning.

@morakot

Wow impressive display must be some good coordination and strength in him. Though there is a reason why he is so lean (id say a bit skinny) because else he would not be able to do it as muscles weigh a lot. But real impressive display.

[robblok]

I dont do only body weight exercises, they are not for me as i build muscle i need to progressively load my muscles you can only do that with body weight exercises if your not too strong.

I do weighted squat and dead lifts, weighted dips ect ect.

Oh yeah I am back to free weights now three times a week - I have a great complementary routine. But sometimes it isn't feasible for me to get over to the club. Instead of not doing anything at all, these work great to stretch you out and keep you toned. Better than nothing! And for beginners, I would say these three exercises area good start. Not everyone is looking to be all bulked out.

Even if you don't want to be bulked out but just a few muscles you need to apply progressive strain on the muscle within a certain rep range 5-18 or so. If you can do 18 reps easy (already real high for muscle building) then you wont get any muscles at all. So its not about being bulked out or anything just waste of time if you want to get any kind of muscle.

It can be a good calorie burn or a beginner exercise to build a little strength but you soon progress past its effectiveness for muscle building.

Yep I aim for a set of 3 reps of 8, max 12. I just got back into lifting about a week and a half ago, starting slow to ease muscles into it but expect a fairly rapid gain.

I have been using Fitness Buddy, a great weight training app. Has 1700 exercises in it, all with animations and/or vid. Lots of pre-set workouts or you can build your own. Quite a steal for 70 Baht!

Of course you will gain fast because of muscle memory and at first you always gain fast. I am now happy if i feel stronger and do some more reps I dont expect weekly weight improvements.

I have seen that I am getting stronger again and gained some muscle (also natural after a year of diet and now eating a bit more).

I am "lucky" that i got a good home gym, i started it years ago when there were no good gyms around here and slowly build it up. Now recently i did some purchases that really helped.

Recently sold a multigym and bought a professional lat pully.. big difference in how smooth it goes. But my home gym keeps me going and its easy to just do a bit of training.

[tropo]

Not everyone is looking to be all bulked out.

Very few people can get "all bulked out" with muscle. Just a look around any public gym will attest to that. It's easy to get "all bulked out" with fat though.

In many cases it is genetically determined. The skinny yoga guy in the video is so slight, he would find gaining muscle very difficult. It's not easy for ectomorphs to gain muscle.

I mentioned this primarily because people seem to have the idea that if a person merely picks up weights they are magically going to become "bulked up", as though it is a certainty and easy.

Edited April 2, 2013 by tropo

[tropo]

Regarding bodyweight exercises. Chin-ups are a very intensive exercise that can result in good muscular gains. How you go with these will be dependant on your body weight. Heavy people could find these very difficult.

You can do them palms facing to stress the biceps more.

[tominbkk]

Regarding bodyweight exercises. Chin-ups are a very intensive exercise that can result in good muscular gains. How you go with these will be dependant on your body weight. Heavy people could find these very difficult.

You can do them palms facing to stress the biceps more.

At my club they have the chin up machines with the assists....I've been meaning to add some into my routine.

[tropo]

Regarding bodyweight exercises. Chin-ups are a very intensive exercise that can result in good muscular gains. How you go with these will be dependant on your body weight. Heavy people could find these very difficult.

You can do them palms facing to stress the biceps more.

At my club they have the chin up machines with the assists....I've been meaning to add some into my routine.

They have one at my club too - a Life Fitness one. It's one of my favourite back exercises.

[robblok]

Regarding bodyweight exercises. Chin-ups are a very intensive exercise that can result in good muscular gains. How you go with these will be dependant on your body weight. Heavy people could find these very difficult.

You can do them palms facing to stress the biceps more.

At my club they have the chin up machines with the assists....I've been meaning to add some into my routine.

Great exercise, loved it too in the former cali wow. As i am limited in what i had i have bought a special rubber band for chin ups so I could get assistance but not needed the machine. It did work, was not as perfect as the machine but a lot better as without. I still like chin ups and now doing them un assisted to see how far i can get. But assisted has better form so has pulling down on a lat pull. But still a great exercise, i vary it with deadlifts as both are in my back program but when i do both at the same day one of them suffers.

[Kalbo]

Regarding bodyweight exercises. Chin-ups are a very intensive exercise that can result in good muscular gains. How you go with these will be dependant on your body weight. Heavy people could find these very difficult.

You can do them palms facing to stress the biceps more.

At my club they have the chin up machines with the assists....I've been meaning to add some into my routine.

Great exercise, loved it too in the former cali wow. As i am limited in what i had i have bought a special rubber band for chin ups so I could get assistance but not needed the machine. It did work, was not as perfect as the machine but a lot better as without. I still like chin ups and now doing them un assisted to see how far i can get. But assisted has better form so has pulling down on a lat pull. But still a great exercise, i vary it with deadlifts as both are in my back program but when i do both at the same day one of them suffers.

I still can't stand pull-ups, I only do them as I find they are one of the best exercises for my lats. I can now do 4-7 reps in one go !!!! Deadlifts are the only other exercises I dislike doing, but I do them just because I haven't found a better compound exercise for lower back and legs. And I feel all faint after finishing a set of them.

[robblok]

Regarding bodyweight exercises. Chin-ups are a very intensive exercise that can result in good muscular gains. How you go with these will be dependant on your body weight. Heavy people could find these very difficult.

You can do them palms facing to stress the biceps more.

At my club they have the chin up machines with the assists....I've been meaning to add some into my routine.

Great exercise, loved it too in the former cali wow. As i am limited in what i had i have bought a special rubber band for chin ups so I could get assistance but not needed the machine. It did work, was not as perfect as the machine but a lot better as without. I still like chin ups and now doing them un assisted to see how far i can get. But assisted has better form so has pulling down on a lat pull. But still a great exercise, i vary it with deadlifts as both are in my back program but when i do both at the same day one of them suffers.

I still can't stand pull-ups, I only do them as I find they are one of the best exercises for my lats. I can now do 4-7 reps in one go !!!! Deadlifts are the only other exercises I dislike doing, but I do them just because I haven't found a better compound exercise for lower back and legs. And I feel all faint after finishing a set of them.

Kalbo, i feel the same after doing deadlifts, i hate them and love them as they are a great muscle builder but they are so hard to do on proper weights. I get faint and weak and expend loads of energy on deadlifts even had them give me a headache. But i still do them as they leave my body sore and broken (great for building). Its a raw power exercise.

[Morakot]

there is a reason why he is so lean (id say a bit skinny) because else he would not be able to do it as muscles weigh a lot.

Yes that is part of the philosophy and practice behind this. Too much muscle build-up would put too much strain on the body (and would use too much resources). What the clip shows nicely is how much strength yoga actually requires; people often really underestimate this.

[robblok]

there is a reason why he is so lean (id say a bit skinny) because else he would not be able to do it as muscles weigh a lot.

Yes that is part of the philosophy and practice behind this. Too much muscle build-up would put too much strain on the body (and would use too much resources). What the clip shows nicely is how much strength yoga actually requires; people often really underestimate this.

Yes i figured that much, to each his or her own its not for me i prefer an athletic look instead of this.

[tropo]

there is a reason why he is so lean (id say a bit skinny) because else he would not be able to do it as muscles weigh a lot.

Yes that is part of the philosophy and practice behind this. Too much muscle build-up would put too much strain on the body (and would use too much resources). What the clip shows nicely is how much strength yoga actually requires; people often really underestimate this.

His exercise does require strength, but I'm not so sure the guy is very strong. I'd have to see how much he can pull or push, squat or dead lift in the gym to determine that. It would be interesting.

Edited April 3, 2013 by tropo

[robblok]

there is a reason why he is so lean (id say a bit skinny) because else he would not be able to do it as muscles weigh a lot.

Yes that is part of the philosophy and practice behind this. Too much muscle build-up would put too much strain on the body (and would use too much resources). What the clip shows nicely is how much strength yoga actually requires; people often really underestimate this.

His exercise does require strength, but I'm not so sure the guy is very strong. I'd have to see how much he can pull or push, squat or dead lift in the gym to determine that. It would be interesting.

Its a different kind of strength and control we are talking about. I am strong you are too but we would not be able to do as he does. The body adapts to the task it is forced to preform.

[tropo]

there is a reason why he is so lean (id say a bit skinny) because else he would not be able to do it as muscles weigh a lot.

Yes that is part of the philosophy and practice behind this. Too much muscle build-up would put too much strain on the body (and would use too much resources). What the clip shows nicely is how much strength yoga actually requires; people often really underestimate this.

His exercise does require strength, but I'm not so sure the guy is very strong. I'd have to see how much he can pull or push, squat or dead lift in the gym to determine that. It would be interesting.

Its a different kind of strength and control we are talking about. I am strong you are too but we would not be able to do as he does. The body adapts to the task it is forced to preform.

It would still be interesting to test his lifting strength to see how the yoga strength carries over.

[tominbkk]

His exercise does require strength, but I'm not so sure the guy is very strong. I'd have to see how much he can pull or push, squat or dead lift in the gym to determine that. It would be interesting.

.

Its a different kind of strength and control we are talking about. I am strong you are too but we would not be able to do as he does. The body adapts to the task it is forced to preform.

It would still be interesting to test his lifting strength to see how the yoga strength carries over.

and then get one of those gym bunnies to try and do his poses....haha.

[robblok]

His exercise does require strength, but I'm not so sure the guy is very strong. I'd have to see how much he can pull or push, squat or dead lift in the gym to determine that. It would be interesting.

.

Its a different kind of strength and control we are talking about. I am strong you are too but we would not be able to do as he does. The body adapts to the task it is forced to preform.

It would still be interesting to test his lifting strength to see how the yoga strength carries over.

and then get one of those gym bunnies to try and do his poses....haha.

Same thing.. wont work.. totally different goals.. i know i would not need to try it but i don't have good coordination. But im sure there are some real muscular guys (not top bodybuilders) who could do it.

[tropo]

Same thing.. wont work.. totally different goals.. i know i would not need to try it but i don't have good coordination. But im sure there are some real muscular guys (not top bodybuilders) who could do it.

Due to the condition of my knees I couldn't even get into the full lotus position. I used to do quite a bit of yoga years ago. I actually started the yoga to improve the condition of my back at the time - it actually made it worse.

[MrHammer]

Yes, I think burpees and bodyweight squats are excellent and can be incorporated into daily life. 3 x 30 bodyweight squats at morning, noon and evening will certainly get you in shape.

[tominbkk]

Yes, I think burpees and bodyweight squats are excellent and can be incorporated into daily life. 3 x 30 bodyweight squats at morning, noon and evening will certainly get you in shape.

I love bodywieght squats. I use the barbell when at the gym to give me a little bit more to squat for!

[robblok]

Yes, I think burpees and bodyweight squats are excellent and can be incorporated into daily life. 3 x 30 bodyweight squats at morning, noon and evening will certainly get you in shape.

I love bodywieght squats. I use the barbell when at the gym to give me a little bit more to squat for!

I have to do barbell squats tonight again. I believe in deep squats at least below parallel, of course my squats are weighted but only 4 x8

[tropo]

Yes, I think burpees and bodyweight squats are excellent and can be incorporated into daily life. 3 x 30 bodyweight squats at morning, noon and evening will certainly get you in shape.

I love bodywieght squats. I use the barbell when at the gym to give me a little bit more to squat for!

If you're into the bodyweight exercises you may want to try lunges. They can work well even at bodyweight and work the hamstrings and glutes quite intensely.

Also, you may want to consider varying the width of your stance (squats). Wide will work the hips and hamstrings more whereas narrow will work the quadriceps more.

.... and what about pushups. They're a great exercise and you can do many variations. They're better for shoulder health than bench presses because your scapula is free to move.

[tominbkk]

[quote name='tropo'

.... and what about pushups. They're a great exercise and you can do many variations. They're better for shoulder health than bench presses because your scapula is free to move.

Yeah I need to do more push-ups.