As a business owner of 7 Fit Studios in Austin, Texas I am blessed to have lots of fun fitness toys to use in my one on ones and group fitness classes. However, when I first started training people I worked people out of my apartments parking lot garage. I remember making tons of women run up and down stair wells to get their legs looking great. Like most trainers starting out or anyone beginning their journey into a fit lifestyle, having fitness equipment becomes a desire.
In my humble beginning I didn’t having anything, but my creativity and the client’s bodies. Over the years I have relied heavily on body weight exercises. I have found that the clients whom I have trained using only their body weight, develop cosmetically appealing muscle tone, strong muscles with built in power boosts and super human muscle endurance.
Top 3 Bodyweight Training Exercises
There are three exercises that I use to test peoples. These movements test endurance, strength, mobility, agility and determination.
These three are PK’s (Push-Ups and Knees), Four Claps (Abs, Abs and more Abs). Along with the ever most coveted full body burpee killer, the “Assassins.”
This full body exercises is a great warm up or end of workout finisher for group or private training.
On average people can only perform 7-9 reps per minute. The top male score has been 18 in 2 minutes and Female 16.
I usually start a class with how many assassins will you kill today? This is a great full body exercise I created in 2013, because
I hate burpees and I don’t make anyone I train performed anything I won’t do.
Bodyweight Training Exercise #1: Assassin
First step is to perform an Aikido back roll which sets you up into a one leg bended knee position. From here, you perform two jump lunges and land into a full squat. Drop down to a sprawl (chest to the ground). Pop up with your feet underneath you in a full squat and jump in the air, performing a knee tuck to the chest. As your feet land and touch the ground, roll back into another Aikido roll and perform your next Assassin.
Bodyweight Training Exercise #2: PK’s
When I first started in fitness I had difficulty performing push-ups. I now love them and have helped a lot of people become proficient in them as well. Introducing PK’s (Push-ups and Knees). You will hit your shoulders, back, arms, and oblique’s.
Starting in a (Push-up, plank position,) you will take your right knee and touch your right elbow, then perform the same action on your left side. Continue to progress in knees to elbows in a ladder till 12. For example, start with 1 knee then two, then three and so on till 12. After the completion of even number of knees on each side, you will perform that even # amount in push-ups.
For example once you hit two knees on the left and two knees on the right, perform two chest to ground push-ups. When you hit four knees you will perform four Spider Man style push-ups and at #6 perform six what I call Crazy Push-Ups. They are called crazy push-ups, because when you do them, people think you are crazy. At 8 knees the push-up style repeats back to regular chest to ground pushups. Once you have performed 12 right knee to right elbows and the same on the left with 12 crazy push-ups you are done. Your goal should be able to complete a full PK to 12 within 2 minutes.
Bodyweight Training Exercise #3: Four Claps
The last and very important is Four Claps, which is all abs. This move has four separate ab movements that hit your lower abs, oblique’s and the entire rectus adominis (Six pack). While you perform this movement keep your breathing in through your nose and out your mouth. This will hit your inner layer of abs, the transverse adominis.
Start by laying flat on your back and perform a V-Up (Meet your hands to your feet in the air making your body into a V shape. Instead of touching your toes, clap your hands by your hamstrings. This ensures proper form of a V-Up and no cheating can happen. As you go back to the flat position, then take one knee to your chest and clap your hands underneath your calf muscle and do the same on the other knee. Then for the last clap, pull both knees to your chest and clap above your shins. This is your fourth and last clap. I prefer to perform this exercise for time and 1 minute is a great training time, but 2 minutes is your goal.
Overall each exercise should be performed within 2 minutes and with 2 minutes rest in-between exercises, this entire workout should be done within 10 minutes. Give it a go and see if you are in my opinion 7 Fit.
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