Bodyweight routine, no equipment!!

[scotty1]

Does anyone have a bodyweight exercise that works the back and biceps ala a pull up / chin up?

My plan when I get to China is to do six sets of push ups (mixed techniques) plus 3 of tricep dips to maintain and build upon my weightlifting gains I have achieved in England, daily. Plus whatever I get told in response to the above. I have to assume no chin up bar will be available. Obviously rest days will be needed, but I aim to do the above circuit daily, as I think my schedule will be unpredictable and rest days will be forced upon me.

In addition to this I will perform Zhan Zhuang, Taiji and cycling for my legs and crunches for my stomach.

What do you think?

[scotty1]

Oh, and I will also alternate (either daily or weekly) between doing the push ups raised and feet flat, so my front deltoids get a bit of action, as well as my upper pecs.

(Are you proud of me Ironfist? :D)

And my crunches will be be alternated between abs and obliques.

[scotty1]

Iron, you must know something.

A way of training the bi's and back without equipment.

[Cheese Dog]

Well, I'm probably not as knowledgable as Ironfist, but here is a bodyweight back exercise I have done in the past. Get a couple of tables, benches, etc. Place the tables 2-3 feet from each other. Take a pole(I used a bo staff) and place it on top off the tables, running in between them. Make sure you use something to anchor the ends so the staff doesn't roll around. You can then do a sort of upside-down pushup ( basically a bent over rowing motion) by gripping the staff and pulling yourself up to it with your feet on the ground. You can go from a narrow to wide grip or a reverse grip to work the back in various ways. I've also done this exercise on the by holding onto the rail bar of a flight of steps.

[Serpent]

Also, use door frames for pull ups. The narrow edge improves grip strength too. You can also to pull ups on things like fire escape stairs and trees and stuff. Playground climbing frames are also good. Improvisation is the key!

[IronFist]

Hmmm... I'll admit that the back is probably the hardest bodypart to work without ANY equipment. If you have a pullup bar it is the easiest part to work, though :) But since you said you don't/won't have one...

Let's get creative. Anatomy lesson time: When any muscle flexes but no resistance is applied against it (like when you flex your biceps for someone), its antagonist muscle flexes as well. Ok, there's an exception to the bicep example I just gave, but don't worry about it. If you hold your arms up in the air, elbows at a 90 degree angle and flex your biceps, your tricep will flex, too. Try it. So by the same token, any time you flex your chest, your lats will contract as well, provided you're not contracting the chest against any resistance (ie. if you do a pushup, the lats won't flex unless you consciously do it. But if you just stand there and hit a chest post, your lats will flare, too).

Sorry, it's hard to explain some things because there are exceptions to all these rules, so just go with me here...

Basically the point of this whole thing was to say that any dynamic tension exercises you may know for your upper body will most likely involve your back and biceps.

But since dynamic tension exercises have their limitations, there are a few other things you can try.

I've heard that doing pushups with your hands further forward will engage the back to a bit. This makes sense in the fact that you would be pulling your arms downward to help maintain traction, which would engage the back. Um, pushups with the arms wide apart may engage the biceps a little bit, too, for the same reasons as above. Pushups still remain a primarily chest/front deltoid/triceps exercise, though.

Sorry for the lengthy and not so helpful reply, but without weights or a pullup bar, it's hard to directly target the back.

IronFist

[scotty1]

Thanks everyone. As it stands i think I'll stick a couple of minutes of dynamic tensions stuff on the end of my workout.

Would you say that the active/rest day cycle is different for bodyweight routines than it is for weight routines?

[Cheese Dog]

Scotty1, I have found that you usually don't need as many rest days on a bodyweight or calistenic program as weight training. For me, I can usually do a fairly strenous bodyweight 5 or 6 days a week (after a 1 week break in period) but I can only weightlift 4 times a week max without overtraining or getting injuries. Of course everyone is different and someone with great genetics might be able to lift weights more often.

[ricksitterly]

If you truly have NO means to work the back muscles, you can always fall back on the isometric muscle training theory. this occurrs when the muscles do one of two things:
1. the muscles push against something that DOES NOT MOVE (example: pushing a wall)
2. the muscles are made to flex intensely in a fixed position (basically holding a flex)
Both of these cause stress to the muscle tissue, and increase blood flow to the affected muscle groups. There are many skeptics against this theory, and personally I only do isometrics once in a while. However, I have had some very good isometric workouts (when I try). A good way to stress the back muscles this way is simple:
Stretch your arms out (making your body into a T shape), in this position execute a full body flex as best you can, and hold for about nine seconds. Then relax. Do this one more time. Now if you have a good feel of where the back muscles are, flex them more intensely than before, and try to move the arms backwards squeezing the shoulder blades together( as to expand the chest and constrict the back muscles). Hold this pose with intensity until you feel the muscles start to burn or spasm (try 5 minutes as a starter). Repeat this excercise for roughly 20 minutes. You should feel it well the next day, be careful not to break the muscle proteins though by pushing too hard. Again, this isnt as effective as actual resistance training, but is a decent substitute, depending on how well you apply yourself.

[scotty1]

thanks very much. :)

[IronFist]

Originally posted by ricksitterly
be careful not to break the muscle proteins though by pushing too hard.

What the hell are you talking about? :confused:


Originally posted by ricksitterly
Again, this isnt as effective as actual resistance training, but is a decent substitute, depending on how well you apply yourself

scotty1,
Just don't forget that isometric training only strengthens the muscle in the position it's contracted in, and about 15 degrees in either direction. For example if you isometrically train your biceps at a 90 degree angle, you are only gaining strength with the bicep is in that position.

The moral of this story is that to maximize any isometric work you do, you need to do it in a few positions.

Good luck,

IronFist

[inic]

what about handstand pushups?

[IronFist]

Handstand pushups will work primarily the front deltoid, will hit the triceps a bit too, but will work the chest minimally since the angle is overhead pressing.

It's basically equivalent to overhead pressing a barbell.

Is that what you were asking?

IronFist

[scotty1]

Cheers Iron.

[ricksitterly]

Originally posted by ricksitterly
be careful not to break the muscle proteins though by pushing too hard.
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What the hell are you talking about? - iron

-reply - On a cellular level, one of two things happen when working a muscle: 1. A muscle fiber gets stressed and stimulated to strengthen itself (over time). 2. The individual muscle fiber can tear and the protein inside "breaks".

Both actually stimulate new muscle tissue to grow, but I've read that it's better to keep your existing muscle tissues intact (not tearing them down too much in a workout) while stimulating new tissue to form at the same time. Have any of you heard of this?

[scotty1]

-reply - On a cellular level, one of two things happen when working a muscle: 1. A muscle fiber gets stressed and stimulated to strengthen itself (over time). 2. The individual muscle fiber can tear and the protein inside "breaks".

i've never heard of this, but that doesn't mean jack.

I thought (2) was always the result of working out. Muscle tears and breaks down, and then rebuilds bigger and better.

I suppose it makes good sense to do (1), which I think will be the result of my bodyweight workout.

Having said that, I'm sure Ironfist and yourself will now discuss this issue until I'm completely confused about it!:)

[scotty1]

Anybody fancy agreeing or disagreeing, perhaps giving some theory?