This can be a difficult one to master, but it's likely to be much more valuable than two-legged, weighted squats as a training tool for sports because it forces you to maintain stability and balance. Couple of videos here showing how it's done and some tips for progressing. For most people it's going to be a while before they are easy enough that you need more than your own body weight, so the beauty of pistols is you can do them anywhere. This is my favourite hotel-room exercise.
Basic Pistols
Here's a video of Steve Maxwell making it look easy.
Assisted Pistols
There are a couple of ways you can do this - putting something under your behind...
...or holding onto something with your hands. Steve Maxwell is using something he rigged up here, but you could equally use any stable object at waist height to steady yourself, such as a bed.
Weighted Pistols
If you get good at pistols, maybe you would want to make things harder to bring the reps down. I think the best way is to use a weighted vest (or chains round your neck) - but you can also hold dumbbells or kettle bells in your hands. I am not good enough to have tried any - but here's someone who is...
This is the natural partner to the planche, and uses primarily the upper body 'pull' muscles as opposed to the upper body 'push' muscles used by the planche. You need a horizontal bar (or gym rings!) at least at waist height and at least as wide as your shoulders for this. The front lever has a number of progressions - too many to show in the videos - so I show the easiest and the hardest. The easiest form, the tuck front lever is not too hard. Also included are some links to good tutorials where all the intermediate progressions can be seen.
Tuck Front Lever
This is not the greatest form, but it gets to the point and shows how my tuck planche looked when I got started. I suggest looking at some of the tutorial links to get an idea of the perfect form.
Full Front Lever
...and here's where we're aiming to get to. I picked this video because once again, it gets to the point - but it also illustrates that you can really improvise! It's pretty clear that this dude has spent so much time practising his front lever that he had no time to tidy his bedroom.
Dragon Door: tutorial on progressing through the front lever and planche. PowerAthleteMag.com: tutorial on progressing through the front lever.... Read more
The video shows me using barbell plates to create a defined point I can lower my head to. This makes it easier to gauge progress. You can use anything you like - you may prefer to find something softer if you are not confident about lowering yourself slowly!
Push ups and their many variations are a great addition to a flexible training program. I've never been in a hotel room where you couldn't find room to do this exercise. There are many variations, which can be as easy or as hard as you want. Some of these are shown by these videos and links - I will post a wider variety in due course.
Basic Push Up
I have removed the basic push up video because it now includes an annoying commercial at the start. Instead, take a look at the weighted push up video in the next section. This shows how a correct push up inludes a full extension at the top - something people rarely do, but which really adds to the value of the exercise. This last bit of extension is sometimes done in isolation, and called a 'scapula push up.'
Weighted Push Ups
Close-Grip Push Ups
These emphasise your triceps. Also known as the 'triangle push up', apparently.
Inverted (Decline) Push Ups
You can do these by elevating your feet. There are two variations I have used.
Inverted 'Pike' Push Ups - where you flex at the hips to place more emphasis on the shoulders. With this approach it is actually possible to use a flat wall, maintaining your feet in place by pushing backwards with your hands.
Normal Inverted Press Ups - where you maintain the rigid body position as with a regular press up. This isn't the best form I have ever seen, but I like the fact he's doing it outside rather than in a gym.
Plyometric (Explosive) Push Ups, with a Clap
This guy has good form, I reckon. I have seen videos of people doing 2 and 3 claps, or even claps behind the back - but in most cases they appear to flex at the hips to obtain the height (and therefore time) necessary to do this. I am not sure what the point is - I would rather do fewer claps and leave the hips out of it.
You can work your abs pretty hard with this one, especially if you maintain good form. The guy in this video has it pretty well nailed. The important thing is to avoid swinging - a wide grip helps with that, but it also takes a lot of additional effort from the abs to control the downward movement. If you just let your legs drop under gravity, you will swing wildly.
Engaging the lats is also important with this exercise, as you can help to stabilise your body and power your hips upwards by squeezing them and also use them to control the hips on the way down.
How straight you keep your legs affects how hard this is - I find I must keep my legs at least slightly bent to do even one rep - and to do 10, significantly bent. Simply bend your legs as much as you have to for the number of reps you want to execute. When you are very tired - as this guys is towards the end of his set, you can pretty much move to knee-raises. Or if you prefer, just raise your legs only as high as you can get them.
I think this exercise, strictly speaking, should be done using gymnastic rings. I will find a video of this being done, but for now am focusing on the version that uses a bar, since that is what I do.
Using a Bar
This is the basic form using a bar - he does swing a little bit, but not enough to classify this as a 'kipping' muscle up (see lower down.)
Jump-Assisted Using a Bar
I don't have a video of this, but essentially this involves standing on a box under a bar and jumping into the movement so I can provide additional momentum to allow me to perform the muscle up. By reducing the size of the box, then the extent to which I rely on a jump, I hope to progress towards the unassisted version.
Swing-Assisted, Uneven Muscle Ups Using a Bar
This was how I achieved my first muscle up - by swinging and then doing an uneven muscle up so that my strongest arm took priority. In other words, I just did my damnedest to get up there. Now I can work backwards from here and try to tighten up the form.
Partial
These are a lot like dips - you start in the normal end position - arms straight. Find a wall or other platform and then get yourself into the position as if you had just done a successful muscle up on it. Then lower yourself as far down as you can go whilst still comfortably then pushing back to the straight-armed position. To progress, increase the depth to which you go before pushing up.... Read more
The plank is simple: lie on your front, then raise yourself up onto your elbows and make your body rigid, so that you are straight - like a plank. Remaining in this position requires your abs to remain under tension.
Outstretched Arms Plank
I invented this one, inspired by Jack Lalanne Push Ups, which I noticed hurt my abs as much as my chest and shoulders. Get into the basic plank position, then raise yourself up onto your hands instead of your elbows and walk your hands forward as far as you can whilst still maintaining your plank-like rigidity.... Read more
This one works mainly the lower back. The two variations I use are floor and machine. The videos show these. If you are using a machine, you can also explore adding resistance by holding onto weights, wearing a weight vest or some other approach.
Machine Hyperextensions
I find using the machine gives the most control, since you can keep your legs stable during the movement. Not always practical though, since it's not the kind of equipment you keep at home.
Floor Hyperextensions
I often do these simply because there is no machine available. It's annoying that the legs also move, but once you get used to the movement it is possible to minimise that, as this guy demonstrates.
This is a great substitute for bent-over rows if you want to workout with bodyweight and/or cannot make it to a gym. Ways to make this exercise harder:
Raise your feet by placing them on something like a bench
Ask your training partner to put a weight on your chest
Any combination of these!
With Bar
This could be a barbell or smith machine bar in the gym (second video) or, as in the first video, any horizontal pole or bar at roughly the correct height.
Under Table
I started doing this version when I was in hotel rooms or at home. Here I am doing it in my apartment.
This is a nice exercise to include in a circuit between harder exercises, but not a good way to build mass or strength. It works the lower abs and feels like it also works part of the upper legs. The short video shows someone sitting on a bench but you can just as easily be on the floor.
The headstand is a basic gymnastic move. There are different variations - I have seen a number of videos showing a yoga version where you rest on your elbows. For now I am posting this single video of the basic headstand because it most closely approximates my approach and I have not yet attempted any other types.
Basic Headstand
This can be done with a wall for support or at least to catch you if you over-balance. You can also move into a and out of the headstand much more slowly - after a few consecutive slow headstands you can certainly feel it on your lower back and shoulders from the effort of stabilising.
The video shows this being done with a Swiss ball, but you can improvise - any method is fine if it allows you to keep your upper body stable and sufficient range of motion for the legs.
I created this circuit because I wanted to do sprint intervals, but also wanted a way to simultaneously challenge my cardiovascular fitness. I find that my legs become fatigued before my cardiovascular system has been really pushed if I focus solely on sprinting.
I pick a single set of light dumbbells - usually 6kg - and use it for all the upper body movements. At this weight, it is fine to do the bent over rows with dumbbells, I find. I like to do all the exercises and the sprinting at maximum effort - as if each one were a tabata interval. The idea is to combine a variety of movements into a sequence of intense but brief efforts, punctuated by pauses as you move into place for the next exercise or sprint. One round usually takes me 2 - 3 minutes.... Read more
Jump up onto something, ideally a box. Then do it again. Box jumps are simple and can be done anywhere you can find a stable platform. They can be very demanding and challenging if you want them to be - just choose a height and rep pattern accordingly. As well as the basic jump, I had to include some videos of more incredible jumping feats!
I love chin ups. Great for the biceps and upper back. To show the basic movement I picked a video that makes me laugh because the whole set-up is about as far removed as you can get from the kind of gym rat scenario normally seen in YouTube videos. Plus, her impromtpu oblique workout on the last rep is highly unusual!
I have not seen this elsewhere, so I have invented a name for it. No video yet - will have to take one of myself doing it.
It's a combination of a hanging leg raise and the tuck front lever. You hang from a bar as if you are going to do a tuck front lever. Slowly move into the tuck front lever by raising your legs. I can only do this if I tuck my knees tightly to my chest. Hold the tuck front lever for a few seconds, then straighten the legs and angle them so they are at an upwards angle of 45 degrees to the horizontal, then lower them as slowly as possible. It should get really hard as they approach horizontal - if you can hold them there for a while before lowering completely, then great. I cannot!... Read more
This first video, of the basic burpee, shows how I tend to do these. Some people seem to think that a proper burpee includes a press-up - and I will post a video of this and other tequniques in due course.
This is a versatile exercise, in that you can do it almost anywhere and you can make it pretty tough if you want to. It's essentially the same movement as a box jump - except that you do it on some steps or stairs. The photo shows the seating in the sports hall at my gym, where there are three large steps and, conveniently, a set of smaller steps for jogging down or doing smaller jumps up.
Using stairs for jumping allows you, in effect, to do many consecutive box jumps, which can be pretty demanding if you find a long enough set of steps. You can try jumping multiple steps at a time to make each jump harder, or perhaps jump each step but do so as quickly as you can.
Set up two barbells - one for bent over row, one for shoulder press and curls.
Do this 4 times.
You can choose how much rest to have between exercises and between sets. I prefer to simply aim to complete the whole thing in as short a time as possible, resting only as much as necessary to cause as much pain as I have decided is appropriate on a given workout day.
It's important to choose a weight that will allow you to execute the movements fast for all 4 sets - to me this is a conditioning circuit, not an opportunity to take my muscles to failure.... Read more
This is a gymnastics exercise. It's a great way to build front upper body strength but can be hard to master. The frog stand is the most basic form, shown here in this video. I will soon post more videos and links to articles that describe how to advance through the progressions.
Frog Stand
Dragon Door: tutorial on progressing through the front lever and planche.
Dragon Door: tutorial on planche for if you are making no progress!... Read more
