Your Favorite Full Body Exercises (With No Equipment)

[wellred]

Wow that's impressive.

[robblok]

It kinda depends on what you want, i like to train my legs back and lower back, you don't train them optimal if your grip is limiting this. If you think your grip is more important then the rest then don't use straps. I am just not that interested in my lower arms, its holding back the rest of the development of the body as your not using those muscles at the fullest.

It's just the difference between powerlifting and bodybuilding. Powerlifters don't train deadlifts as you do.

It should be mentioned that powerlifting is only about competition. It doesn't make any sense to train extremely heavy single and double reps unless you're trying to get your numbers up for competition. 5 reps are a lot safer and build more muscle. I would never go below 5 reps on deadlifts....(except last week when I injured myself on the last rep - so 4 reps only. )

Well, it is possible to just want to set records for one's own enjoyment while at the same time training for more bodybuilding purposes. Once in a while it is fun to see just how strong you are no? Since the vast majority of lifters don't compete, that is what most do anyway. Though sometimes, someone will brag about their massive squat and then when asked to show it, only do a quarter squat

I used to do bench presses at max to see how strong I was, but because I train alone at home I don't do that anymore. Deadlifts could be done to see how strong I am one of my goals is to put up all the weights I have at home on the barbell and lift it. I think its around 230 kg with the barbell included.

I don't see that happening anytime soon, now i just like going up in weight for my normal sessions. Not as much for the weight itself as knowing I am getting bigger. At this point im sure that every extra kg means extra muscle (if you keep form correct). Its easier to measure extra weight on the bar then to measure extra muscle.

[MrHammer]

For me it is just a motivational tool for those times when lifting feels more like a chore. Then I'll just go heavy and try to set a record and it will be a good motivation boost. Never had a problem with 1 rep max attempts. Except for deadlift it isn't even 100% attempt, probably around 90-95%. Like 3 days ago I did 125kgx2 on squat which was a personal best, but I could probably have done 130 or even 135. The only lift I don't like maxing is bench press, since if there isn't a spotter there is some serious risk and people have died that way.

In any case, I don't think 1 rep attempts build much strength or anything, but for me they work as a little extra motivation.

[tropo]

For me it is just a motivational tool for those times when lifting feels more like a chore. Then I'll just go heavy and try to set a record and it will be a good motivation boost. Never had a problem with 1 rep max attempts. Except for deadlift it isn't even 100% attempt, probably around 90-95%. Like 3 days ago I did 125kgx2 on squat which was a personal best, but I could probably have done 130 or even 135. The only lift I don't like maxing is bench press, since if there isn't a spotter there is some serious risk and people have died that way.

In any case, I don't think 1 rep attempts build much strength or anything, but for me they work as a little extra motivation.

I had a nasty shock about 3 years ago on the bench press. I was on my last set well under my max set for the day and on the way down on the 2nd rep I could feel a muscle tear mid pec. I also don't have a spotters and prefer not to have them because they often mess up a set by putting the hands on the bar and lifting too much. I called someone over to take the bar off.

It took a few months to sort out - and stupidly I re-injured it again because I was in too much of a hurry to get back to my previous weights.

The scary part is that this injury, just as my back injury, came unexpectedly with no warning signs that something was wrong. As a result of this I always have some apprehension during my heavier sets. It's going to be hard to feel confident on deadlifts too.

[MrHammer]

For me it is just a motivational tool for those times when lifting feels more like a chore. Then I'll just go heavy and try to set a record and it will be a good motivation boost. Never had a problem with 1 rep max attempts. Except for deadlift it isn't even 100% attempt, probably around 90-95%. Like 3 days ago I did 125kgx2 on squat which was a personal best, but I could probably have done 130 or even 135. The only lift I don't like maxing is bench press, since if there isn't a spotter there is some serious risk and people have died that way.

In any case, I don't think 1 rep attempts build much strength or anything, but for me they work as a little extra motivation.

I had a nasty shock about 3 years ago on the bench press. I was on my last set well under my max set for the day and on the way down on the 2nd rep I could feel a muscle tear mid pec. I also don't have a spotters and prefer not to have them because they often mess up a set by putting the hands on the bar and lifting too much. I called someone over to take the bar off.

It took a few months to sort out - and stupidly I re-injured it again because I was in too much of a hurry to get back to my previous weights.

The scary part is that this injury, just as my back injury, came unexpectedly with no warning signs that something was wrong. As a result of this I always have some apprehension during my heavier sets. It's going to be hard to feel confident on deadlifts too.

Yes, I can understand that. I've had a recurring semi-injury in my left shoulder for 10 years which makes it a bit uncomfortable to bench press as I have to press through and ignore the slight pain. I focus a lot on proper form in all lifts though, but I hear what you're saying and will probably not push myself as much on 1 rep maxes as I get olde.r

[tropo]

I had a nasty shock about 3 years ago on the bench press. I was on my last set well under my max set for the day and on the way down on the 2nd rep I could feel a muscle tear mid pec. I also don't have a spotters and prefer not to have them because they often mess up a set by putting the hands on the bar and lifting too much. I called someone over to take the bar off.

It took a few months to sort out - and stupidly I re-injured it again because I was in too much of a hurry to get back to my previous weights.

The scary part is that this injury, just as my back injury, came unexpectedly with no warning signs that something was wrong. As a result of this I always have some apprehension during my heavier sets. It's going to be hard to feel confident on deadlifts too.

Yes, I can understand that. I've had a recurring semi-injury in my left shoulder for 10 years which makes it a bit uncomfortable to bench press as I have to press through and ignore the slight pain. I focus a lot on proper form in all lifts though, but I hear what you're saying and will probably not push myself as much on 1 rep maxes as I get olde.r

If I want to flat bench press I have to ignore a very annoying clicking I get in the left shoulder which gets worse the heavier I go. It doesn't hurt, but it's really off putting. I've had this problem for quite a few years now. Surprisingly I don't get this problem with the incline bench, so now I don't flat bench press at all. A change in angle can make all the difference. Not being able to handle as much weight in incline could be a distinct advantage too as less weight = less stress on the joints... and it helps to focus on the development of the upper chest - shoulder tie-in which is lacking in most people. I turned my problem into a positive.

Edited June 17, 2013 by tropo

[Benaud]

For body weight excercises you can't go past Burpee's. Very much a love/hate relationship!

[Ajaan]

For body weight excercises you can't go past Burpee's. Very much a love/hate relationship!

Agreed. Burpees are the ultimate. They work so many muscles, and work them hard, especially if you pay attention to proper form and not just go for speed. That's the only workout I do (that and 12 km brisk walking a day), and I'm very happy with the results. For some reason, despite how many people hate them so much (I did too at first), I've come to love burpees, and even look forward to doing them...and this is the longest in my life (I'm 54) I've ever stuck with an exercise program for this long (10 months now).

If you want to see what bodyweight exercises can do, especially for a middle-aged body, see the movie Cape Fear: in order to play a prisoner who had done nothing but body weight exercises for 14 years, Robert DeNiro did a training program solely composed of body weight exercises: pushups, dips, pull ups (don't know if he did burpees). You can see how amazing DeNiro (48 years old at the time) looks in the finished film. And it's that real muscle that DOES stuff, not the show muscle achieved on weights and machines that most actors produce for film roles when they want to look "buff" (Danny Trejo pointed this out in a recent interview--and this is someone who did years of real prison time--how the workouts they put him on for movie roles are all designed just to make you look good on screen, and build nothing of the functional strength you get from hardcore body weight exercises)

Edited November 6, 2013 by Ajaan