Can you get a good workout with no equipment? 8/17/04

Virgil Aponte

 
A question I get frequently is: What is the best piece of exercise equipment I can use to work out at home?

My answer to this question is: You already have this piece of equipment. That piece of equipment is your own mind and body. Before I go on let’s take a look at one the oldest forms of exercise known to man: Yoga. Yoga is believed to be around 4000 years old and centers on using the body to create a workout to improve one’s physical and mental strength. In fact if you look at many of the workout systems used today the exercises are very similar to those found in yoga.

For those who have never tried yoga you may think that it’s a system used to just stretch the body. But the truth is that yoga is used to bring a balance of strength (both physical and mental) and flexibility to the body.

Another great system of exercise which I use and that is not given credit for being a great way to exercise is using calisthenics.

Almost every morning I wake up to 15-30 minutes of bodyweight only calisthenics to start my day. I use exercises like squats, lunges, pushups, sit-ups, back bridging, and side bends. Doing so gives me an early morning boost and kick starts my day on a positive note.

Now you may think that this workout is easy but the truth is this: Some are very easy as I may just want to loosen my body but some can be just as brutal as any workout. It all depends on the progressions used with each exercise and how hard one works.

For example I can do 200 straight bodyweight squats to start the day and it will be pretty easy. For me it will be more a strength endurance aerobic workout and it will really loosen up my body and make me feel great. Now if want to challenge myself and make these squats really hard I can do a few things: How about doing these squats on one leg? This simple exercise is tough enough to challenge elite professional athletes. I myself can only do 15 one legged squats on each leg. Another idea is to do jump squats. Instead of just standing up I will explode from the bottom position and jump as if I were trying to dunk a basketball. I can easily do 200 strength endurance squats anytime but maybe at most 50 jump squats.

This can be said of almost any exercise using just your bodyweight. You can make as them as easy or as hard as you want them to be.

So can you get a good workout with no equipment? Absolutely. In fact any person I work with usually starts with callisthenic exercises. This allows me to see if the person can control their own bodyweight (many people can’t by the way). If they can’t it makes no sense to have them use external weights or machines until they can start controlling their own bodyweight.

So next time you think about getting a good workout just start give calisthenics a try and you’ll get a great workout.

Here’s a sample workout to get you started:

Strength Endurance Squats: 10-100

Pushups: 1-20

Hip Extension: 10-20

Oblique Bridge: 10 each side

Related Links:

Workout Pass: All the bodyweight workouts you’ll ever need!
Turbulance Training: Men’s Fitness Magazine writer, Craig Ballantyne's home workouts with no equipment