Bodyweight Exercises

What's the first thing you think of when someone says "bodyweight exercises"?  Probably pushups and squats, right?  And when someone else says "sit ups," you say "Ugh! I hate sit ups!"  Because everyone hates situps.  They're hard.  They hurt.  They're embarassing (depending on what you ate, and when).  And they aren't all that effective.  But you have to do abdominal exercises, because a big chest and big shoulders with a big belly still looks FAT.

So how can you work your abs without doing situps or using equipment (because that's one of the focuses of this blog: bodyweight exercises without equipment).  Well, one of my favorites - and the one that has given me consistent and quick results - is the V-up.  This is also called the Jack-knife.  I like it because it hits all the muscles of your abs AND throws balance in the mix.

The exercise itself is simple to describe:
    1.  Lie on your back, with your arms extended over your head
    2.  Keeping your legs straight, raise them up.  At the same time, pull your chest up, keeping your arms straight.
    3.  Keep bringing legs and chest up until legs and arms are both pointing straight up, and only your butt is on the floor.
    4.  You should now look like a V or a folded Jack-knife.
From this:

     |_______o___

To this:

       |   \  

        \    o

          \   /

            =

    5.  And back down, to repeat over and over, to flatness.

Like I said, I especially like the fact that this exercise requires you to maintain your balance, so the obliques and the small muscles up and down the back come into play.

This is a pretty advanced exercise.  If you can't do it right away (don't feel bad - it's an exercise the Navy SEALS use during their training!), build up to it:

    1.  Lie on your back in position #1

    2.  Keeping your legs straight, raise them up 6 inches off the ground and hold for 10-20 seconds.
    3.  Lower and repeat.

I try to do these every day.  Talk about igniting the "fire in the belly!"  The V-up is an exercise that will hit your abs hard, but won't wear them out for the rest of the day.  And it is easily integrated into your daily fitness routine.  Plus, I am sure there is a component of setting your chi in motion (if you believe in such stuff.  The V-up is ideally situated to stimulate your tan tien and start the flow of chi.  But I digress...)

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Six pack abs are all the rage.  Everyone wants to be able lift up his or her shirt and get that "gasp!" when a fabulous set of abs appears.  A six pack is supposed to signify health, fitness, conditioning.  But, just like people used to think that a good tan showed health - and now realize it just means pre-leatherous skin damage - a six-pack alone simply shows a low-caloric diet.  What's actually more impressive is a powerful core, achieved by using the proper bodyweight exercises.

Everyone has his or her favorite abdominal exercise, and most aren't even situps!  The traditional situp is always being attacked.  Some people say it is just a hip flexor exercise.  Others say that are more efficient exercises.  Some say that they don't exercise the abdominal muscles properly.

I recently came across an exercise called the Janda situp that is supposed to be either the most difficult abdominal exercise or the pefrect exercise, depending on what website or book you are reading.  The theory behind this exercise is that, by contracting the hamstrings and the glutes, the abdominals are isolated and therefore work more efficiently.  It seems that it is virtually impossible to perform this exercise without using either a partner (who holds your legs about 2/3 of the way up your calves) or a piece of equipment adapted to press your legs back into it as you are performing the situp.  But, either way - since it requires something other than bodyweight alone, I don't feel like doing it!

Besides, I had read way back in the day that the key to obtaining a flat and strong set of core abdominals is to exercise the inner oblique muscles, which run diagonally across your gut underneath the muscles that make up the "six pack."  These inner muscles are primarliy involved in twisting the trunk.  But exercising them has the advantage that they pull all the other muscles in, which is how a flat stomach is achieved.  And, since they are deep under the skin and outer muscles, strengthening them provides the strong muscles to resist punches and such.

So, how does one exercise these muscles?  The best way is the oblique twisting crunch.  Put your feet up so your thighs are perpendicular to the floor and your shins parallel.  Put each hand near an ear with your elbows pointed toward you knees.  Now, put each elbow on the opposite knee, alternating between sides. That's it.  You can do this exercise either quickly or slowly.  This exercise won't pop your six pack out.  That's achieved by proper diet and a good fitness routine.  But this exercise will give you a powerful core, which is just as noticeable and just as impressive.

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