Two-handed, Single Dumbbell Lift and Press

This is a home-spun exercise, although that's not to say no one else has thought of it before. The video shows me executing a couple of reps. I just invented it independantly. No doubt someone, somewhere has done it before. The key is to be methodical about each step, especially the change in grip on the way up and down.

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Planche

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

Ab Rollouts

This is one of the toughest abs exercises I have ever done, but the good news is that although strict standing ab rollouts are tough, there are many variations that allow a progression. Here are some videos and links showing what you can do.

Standing Ab Rollout - videos (dumbbells and barbell)
From the Knees with Barbell - video
Standing Ab Rollout with Dropped Knees - video
Ross Enamait - homemade wheel and many rollout variations
Basketball Reverse Rollouts - video
Beast Skills - article - using a special ab wheel and some great tips on how to progress

Standing Ab Rollout Using dumbbells

Standing Ab Rollout Using Barbell

From the Knees with Barbell

Standing Rollout with Dropped Knees

Go to 2:00 in the video to see the exercise.

Ross Enamait's Video

Using his homemade wheels and showing just about every variation you can imagine.

Basketball Reverse Rollouts

These can be challenging - the difficulty in controlling the ball forces you to recruit a broader range of core muscles to execute the movement.


Standing Ab Rollout - videos (dumbbells and barbell)
From the Knees with Barbell - video
Standing Ab Rollout with Dropped Knees - video
Ross Enamait - homemade wheel and many rollout variations
Basketball Reverse Rollouts - video
Beast Skills - article - using a special ab wheel and some great tips on how to progress ... Read more

Pull Ups

This is an upper body exercise that also uses the biceps and rear delts. The first video shows strict, basic pull-ups with a roughly shoulder-width grip, followed by someone using a kettle bell to do weighted pull ups. The wider the grip, the less bicep recruitment. I am not a big believer in strict form on pull ups because our bodies were not designed for that. When climbing trees as hunters, we would have done what was necessary to get up as quickly as possible, not dangled our legs uselessly beneath. Next, videos of the inverted pull-up, a great variation.

Basic Pull Ups

Parallel-Grip Pull Ups

I guess this works the muscles in a slightly different way - I tend to only do these when there is no straight bar available, but since the grip is arguably halfway between a chin up and a pull up, I guess throwing these in now and again is a good way to mix things up.

Weighted Pull Ups

I use an old, sturdy belt which I loop through the handles of Olympic weights, but this guy is using a kettle bell with what looks to be the kind of belt you can buy specially for this purpose.

Inverted Pull Ups

Inverted Under-Table Pull Ups

This variation is great way to give your upper back and biceps a decent workout when you have nothing to hang from, but access to a sturdy table. Also works the abs. This is often my saviour in a hotel room situation and stops me having to stalk the streets at 7am looking for appropriate tree branches or street signs. This is a video of me doing a couple of reps under our table at home.


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Elephant Walk

This is a relatively easy bodyweight ab exercise, but done strictly and for several reps, the burn does creep up on you! Thanks to Chris from Conditioning Research for finding this - a good video showing how it's done.

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