Body weight routine

coud ypu please reccomend a body weight routine for a beginer am guessing press ups free squats(hindu or?) dips and chin up? bt in how many sets and how often.
thank you neel

Hi Neel

Thanks for asking, hope I can help.

the 'basic' routine is a combination of conditioning and strengthening, and is the starting mainstay for the old 'Hundu' wrestlers, and was copied (Pinched)by many western grapplers..

its quite easy to start with (well easy in that its SIMPLE, but its hard work)..

the basic routine is a combination of DEEP KNEE BENDS (writen in future as DKB's).. PRESS UPS, and PARALLEL CHINS..

This will take you through 6-8 weeks.

train every alternate day....

Start with the DKB's.. do 3 sets of 15-25 reps.. Go on your TOES and you lower, and drop onto your HEELS as you come up.
Take a very deep breath as you come down and BLOW it out as you rise.
Speed is SLOW down and EXPLOSIVE up.. say 1-2 seconds UP 3-5 seconds DOWN.
Rest 1 minute between each set. start with 15 reps on each set and add as and when until you are doing 3x25.

Next PRESS UPS .. Exactly the same .i.e. slow down and fast up, same sets and reps, although many trainers started their students on 12 reps rather than 15.work up to 3x25.

Last PARALLEL CHINS .. get 2 chairs facing each other with their backs the furthest away, so the seats are facing in. They will need to be slightly wider than shoulder width apart.
put a brush handle across the seats and lie on the floor with your NOSE directly under the brush handle.
reach up and grab the brush stale right where it rests on the chairs.. and do the same method, i.e. slow down fast up pulling your chin/neck to the bar.
do 3 sets of 8-12 reps.

give this a try for a few weeks, its a good 'un, then let me know how its getting on.

good luck

Dave

Dave, I would of though situps/crunches would of also be a useful addition ?

normally I would agree wholeheartedly mate..

however the breathing part of the squats and the support of the line of the body in the pressups actually conditions the abs very well for the first 6-8 weeks.

when you deep breathe the abs get a good workout (some of the best abs in the world in the past NEVER saw a sit up).. and the act of keeping the body straight with no sagging in pressups requires the rectus abs to do the job nature really intended for them SUPPORT not mobility.

I would never advise a complete 'for ever' free exercise routine with no ab work, but as I said this is a simple but hard workout for 6-8 weeks ONLY

hope that helps answer your query a bit, and thanks for posting

Dave

thank you for your reply
are dips worth adding? also DKB correct if i got it wrong bt do we go on our toes when we rise back and flat on our heels when we are in the lowered postion?

Dips are good, but if you want to add them just wait until you have done your pressups then see if you want a bit more..
for the first 6-8 weeks though if you DO add dips just do ONE set to max.. it wont be that many after the pressups honest

DKB's .. there are several ways of doing squats and DKB's but the one I suggest is

stand erect with heels flat on floor,as you lower to the full bent position come up on your toes and push your knees well in front.. the balance is soon learned.. then as you are rising lower the heels so that they are flat at the full standing position..

Hindu SQUATS are heels flat at the bottom with arms outstretched in front of you and arms coming to the sides as you lower..

these varieties are great to play around with as you go on.. tilted squats where you lean over to one side when coming up etc .. theres lots of others but just give the routine a try for 6-8 weeks then we can see how its going and adjust as required.

thank you again will keep you updated

Dave on thoughts on this; in an old body building book I've got, it advocates keeping your hands on a mantle piece while doing breathing DKB's.

The premise being that as you go down and inhale it automatically opens up the ribcage a little and does the reverse as you come back up.

Yes mate, it was very popular and very valid.. the only problem ( a very small one) I found was that in order for it to effectively work the rib cage, the mantle or shelf etc HAD to be at a height where your arms would be exactly parallel when fully standing..

It was used a lot in the 50's and to great effect.. it fell out of favour when the Iron Guru (Vince Gironda) decried it.. (wrongly in my book)