You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises

I used to be super fit, cycling 50 miles a day, going to a body building gym (owned by a former Mr Great Britain) and a tonne of other sports. My resting heart rate was 40bpm in the morning. I've since grown up, got busy and become a lot less fit. I just started going to the gym again and I thought I was making decent progress and wasn't going to give this type of exercise the time of day. After a short period of time I was pressing 90lb dumbbells and feeling good again. This body weight stuff looked too easy. Big mistake. I've only just started this program but I can already tell it is a lot better for my body and it makes the gym feel easy - no matter how hard you push it at the gym.Can you, mr big gym man, do a spiderman? I doubt it. The compound exercises and techniques like ladder and so on combine together to give you a much more practical type of fitness. I don't know about you, but when lifting, hauling, pushing things in the real world, I don't get to support my back against a seat back and use an isolated muscle! This type of fitness will really grow your stabilizing muscles so much more.At first, I laughed at exercises like burpees. Really not laughing after even just 20 of them, never mind 50 - 100.Really looking forward to being able to do some of the level 4 exercises like the spiderman and that one where you do a push up but also lift your legs!I don't care if some of this stuff is like yoga but renamed, or exercises that have been taught for centuries. It is well thought out and communicated in such a way as to make it accessible to everyone.ps, I just calculated that I would create $600,000 of savings by putting my $45 gym membership in a good growth stock mutual fund for the next 40 years (accounting for inflation so the $45 would increase by 3% also).__________I just came across my review and had to add to it for my experience one year or so later. For most of this year, I was saving my business and trying to spend the very little down time I had with my family. So with all of that, I neglected the plan and doing so definitely affected my health and how well I was taking care of myself. I've only just got gotten back onto the First Class plan (plan 2 of 4) and I'm on week 7. I feel so much better than I did 7 weeks ago and it that short amount of time, I've progressed much quicker than I ever did at pushing iron around. Now, when I have a busy week at work, I'm more careful to get that session in, even at a lunch break, because I know I need to in order to be 100% at work and home.FUNCTIONAL: This time around I've really appreciated the functional side to this fitness. I moved office this week and wasn't ever afraid of injuring myself from lifting incorrectly or having to carry heavy, awkward objectives. You can get strong at a gym but the compound exercises set me up perfectly for all the full body lifts, pushes, pulls and holds I had to do. To me, that's functional. Even if you're a specialist in some sport and functional means something else to you than it does for me, I think having a strong core, better flexibility and balance along with the proficiency of having practiced lots of full body movements in the program makes for a real-world functional body. You can't rely on the guidance and support of a machine when lifting heavy goods so why would you train by using a some type of squat machine in the gym?He has an iphone and android app and to be honest, that is what has made a huge difference this time around. I don't need to find the table in the book/ebook and then refind an exercise if I'm not sure about it and all that jazz. I put my iphone in my armband, turn the app on and press 'Start workout'. It then guides me through the whole thing with timers and rest periods along with pictures and writing on each exercise and type of workout (ladders/tabatas/supersets etc.). This solved my biggest frustration so now all have to think about it doing the work! Having said that, I would strongly recommend reading the book first, then getting the app. I've recommended the app to many friends and without reading the book, they want to pick and choose exercises from it but I know they don't. The understanding you gain from the book shifts your perspective on the body weights so you take a more purposeful approach rather than throwing in a few body weights you pick from an app.Hope this helps.Cheers, David.______Just came across this and had to give it another update. I mentioned in the last update that I was in week 7 of of plan 2 of 4, that's the First Class program. I finished that up and then went into and completed the Master Class program. I didn't mention his periodization before and I think that is a big part of the success of his programs. In his traditional programs you basically change your routine every 2 weeks. So for two weeks you may be focusing on endurance, then for 2 weeks you may focus on strength, then power and so on. Not only does this work with your body so you don't plateau but it's also mentally beneficial too. It gives you a bit of a break and provides different short-term goals. One week you're trying to stay consistent and hit a high number of reps then you do a strength block and you're trying to hit some low numbers before or by the time you fail and cannot do any more.This plan is now my winter training plan and I use the exercises throughout the other seasons for my core. I've made this switch only because I've started cycling again after a 9-year hiatus and that requires very sport specific training. I only have time to train for one thing each day so it's cycling now. However, I'm really missing my upper body strength as I had gotten to the point where I coud do one-arm pushups quite easily and handstand pushups were also a brease. I'm looking forward to getting back into it here soon. When early spring comes and I'm putting more focus back on cycling again, I'll make sure I don't completely turn this program off again but rather do maintenance during the cycling season instead.Lastly, I've had a personal trainer for my cycling and he has prescribed for me specific workouts according to my cycling goals and my weekly schedule. To be honest, the YAROG is almost on par with this high level of personal training because it's done so well and because it doesn't take a lot of time each day. My cycling trainer has state champion athletes and has won national pro races himself so I don't say this lightly. When it comes to overal strengthening and fitness, these programs feel like they are tailor made for you if you just do what he says.

The first paragraph of the book sums up what you can aspire to with this program: "...I do not train movie stars, television celebrities, models, or other personalities whose livelihoods hinge on being fit. I train those whose lives do." Yet--don't be intimidated. Whether you are totally out of shape, an athlete, or something in between, this book can work for you. Read on!I've spent a fair amount of time in well-equipped gyms, and have at my home a Bowflex Ultimate, a set of free weights, and a good weight bench and accessories, which I have used with some regularity. I got this book because I'm on the road a lot with my work. I wanted some exercises I could do in my hotel room, and as well to get a few exercises to supplement my gym equipment.I got a whole lot more than that. This book has 111 exercises that will work every muscle you knew you had, as well as many you were never aware of. These exercises can completely replace gym equipment, and then some. For every exercise, ways are shown to step it up or down, depending on your fitness level. And I mean, WAY UP--or equally, WAY down--so that there's truly something for everyone. The exercises are broken down into 4 10-week programs: basic, first class, master class, and chief class. How you perform these exercises varies from work-out to workout by varying the way that the repetitions are done, so that for different weeks, you are developing either muscular endurance, strength, or power. That might sound more complicated than it is: just follow the program. At the upper levels, there are exercises that I can only dream of doing right now.In the gym, equipment is usually designed to isolate certain muscle groups so you can concentrate on them. That's good for bulk, but what about overall fitness? Mark Lauren spends a chapter defining overall fitness--a combination of muscular strength, power, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, speed, co-ordination, balance, and flexibility. What I quickly discovered is that many bodyweight exercises are much more challenging than gym equipment. At first, some exercises felt awkward. I quickly found the weak links in my chain. Gym equipment had not taught my body co-ordination and balance. These exercises do. So I have had to take it slowly. I do what I can, and push myself a little further each workout. The awkwardness fades quickly. These exercises are not to be under-estimated; you will have no trouble whatsoever in bringing yourself to exhaustion, achieving that "burning" feeling--and waking up the next morning with a few aches in places that you previously did not know existed!I feel the progress, workout to workout. The core exercises are great--an area I had been neglecting. My back feels better and my posture has improved. In the arms and legs, changes are obvious. Overall, I have a sense of increased strength and well-being. Feeling better is all the motivation I need to stick with the program.There are many ways you can use the exercises in this book. You can go with the program, for example, and that's likely to take you the farthest. Personally, I've abandoned all fantasies, at 51 years of age, that I'm going to be an Olympic athlete or a Navy Seal! I have a busy schedule, and I travel a lot. Nonetheless, it's easy to find some time in my day or after work to do SOMETHING, on a daily basis. Something that for at least one muscle group, builds me up, and makes me more flexible and coordinated. There are things you can even do sitting in a vehicle or airplane, watching TV on the sofa, lying in bed (a great exercise mat, by the way!) or on breaks at the office. On weekends, I'll do more. I've had this book for well over a year, and though I don't open it much, I've stuck with doing a core set of exercises on a regular basis. That says a lot.The first several chapters have very good information on nutrition, and practical suggestions for improving your diet (the right foods, eating in vs. out, and keeping junk out of your pantry). There's a great discussion on why it is important to add muscle mass. Muscle mass burns calories, even while at rest--a LOT of calories. Once you have it, you burn more calories outside of your workout than you do during your workout. Adding muscle mass also means that you have to be ready to push yourself to muscle failure during a workout--where you can't do another rep. Yet, Mark Lauren also balances this fact with a discussion on not over-doing it: your muscles also need time to recover and build themselves back up, so a day or two of rest between working on a particular muscle is necessary. While you will be aching at first, you will see progress, workout to workout.I'll probably sell the Bowflex. The only thing preventing me from doing so is guilt: I feel like I'd be ripping off the buyer. I could be recommending an inexpensive book that will do a better job for a lot less!