The Basics For Bodyweight Training In A Circuit

 For years, I've been doing circuits since I first started doing them in the gym as a teenager which that first one ever nearly made me go to the hospital. I was about 19 at the time and experimenting different things I learned in the bodybuilding books I had like Ironman & A Bodybuilding Encyclopedia that featured workouts from the top guys that included Arnold, Lou, Franco, Boyer Coe and others. For real, I tried this circuit of weights and machines and not even halfway in, I was hyperventilating so much I rushed into the bathroom, sat down (which was a really bad idea) and nearly blacked out. For a split moment I thought I was going to die.

Didn't do another circuit after that until I was rehabbing from my accident and learned a few things based on Combat Conditioning from Matt Furey. That was my first taste of circuit training which at the time, wasn't anywhere near the level I can do now but it was an interesting experiment for me and would do it once in a blue moon. 

When I learned about Darebee after years of Bodyweight Training and Conditioning, it lit a spark in me to work on them. Some circuits were easy to get through, others were a bitch and tough as hell (Those Batman & Daredevil Workouts, dear god man). At first, I'd just work into them doing the amount of circuits it tells you what level you're at. Within some time, I wanted to go even further and do 10 Rounds of a circuit and that's where I felt it gave me the best benefit. Not just the amount of rounds but to rest as little as possible if at all. I really wanted to test my conditioning and to keep the timing down. I don't believe I went more than 45 minutes doing these, kept it between 10-30 minutes. 

The one thing I like about circuits is that they test you on the basics. You can do more advanced exercises or whatever reps you want to do per exercise but the basics is where things shine the brightest. The advanced stuff looks cool and they have benefit but in the long run, the basics are what make the difference. Yesterday, I did a bodyweight circuit consisting of Split Lunges, Hindu Squats, Push-Ups & Punches and that was it. 

10 Split Lunges (5 Each Leg)

10 Punches

20 Hindu Squats

10 Punches

5 Push-ups

10 Punches

5 Push-ups

10 Rounds with the only rest in between circuits is marking it off. Total was 100 Split Lunges, 300 Punches, 200 Hindu Squats and 100 Push-ups. Worked up a pretty good sweat. Wasn't too difficult but it wasn't easy to do either. It was great, "warming up" beforehand doing Neck Mobility & Joint Loosening Training. A workout that really kicks off the day and having that surge of strength running all around you. It was basic, simple and can be done anywhere. 

Circuits provide some good testing of mental toughness as well because you're going from one exercise to the next without a break and to stay focused while having the best form possible and learning how to pace yourself. Let the speed come naturally but at the same time, don't be slacking off either.

Come check out Darebee.com and see which workouts would work for you. You can modify them if you wish to make an exercise variation easier or harder. Mainly bodyweight style so many of these can be done anywhere you can do them in. You are your own gym, you are the equipment that has all sorts of things at your disposal. Go kill it and be Amazingly Awesome. 

Simple Supersets Aren't Always Easy

The overwhelming amount of information out there today have made fitness routines look and seem so damn complicated that it turns many away who are doing what they can to better themselves. Very few people even teach and preach the simplicity of exercise anymore. Even when it comes to calisthenics, they often show the more advanced exercises that aren't sustainable for realistic health and strength. It really is a pain in the ass. 

Why make exercise so damn hard to understand? Mostly due to marketing and catering to a specific audience that is gullible enough to buy into the crap that many try to pan off as the ultimate program and you'd be a fool to not get your hands on it. The truth is, many "influencers" today don't have a fucking clue what real simplistic training is, hell I can guarantee that more than 95% of people who "teach" fitness today care more about how their ass, arms and abs look in comparison to knowing and understanding the training principles of past strongmen and women. For men, look to guys like Brooks Kubik, Arthur Saxon, Otto Arco, Maxick, Bill Pearl, Reg Park and a few others. For Women, the list might be a bit less but if I had to pick one woman of the old timers that represented strength, femineity, power and grace it be someone like Peggy Stockton. In today's world of women's fitness, less than a handful really have the ability to showcase realistic strength and the three I can think of are Kirsten Tullock, Melody Schoenfeld and Tera Scott. 

Now, when it comes to simplicity and a good routine, a favorite of mine is doing Supersets or doing exercises back to back and continuing that for a period of time instead of just sets and reps schemes. It's a different dynamic to formulate a workout that doesn't take a ton of thinking but it does take a certain mentality and the ability to harness a good level of conditioning that's foundational. In this case, it takes inspiration from one of the greatest pro wrestlers and that's Bob Backlund. I've written about him a time or two so I'm sure you can find those. This routine is based on his foundational exercises; the Step Up & the Ab Wheel. He would do hundreds of these exercises a day sometimes more than an hour each in the same session and it made him one tough son of a bitch and one of the most underrated conditioned men of his time. 

You can do different formats of training with these exercises but some of my workouts lately have been just doing a few reps of each back to back but I keep going for an extended period of time. This is by doing 10 Step Ups per leg and immediately do 5 reps of the ab wheel. Sounds too damn easy right? After all that's really a pathetic looking superset meant for beginners but I can assure you, it's anything but. It's one thing to do a few sets, it's way different when you continually do it without taking a break for up to 20 minutes straight or longer. When you're going that long, the reps not only add up but you're testing your strength and conditioning as well. They become more than just a few reps each, they become a brutal aspect of a session you wouldn't expect to be hard to do. Give it a go, try for ten minutes and see what's possible. The objective is to keep going without a break or even with as little rest, for this case, if you need a rest, you only have 10-20 seconds per set. Work at a pace that isn't Speedy Gonzales but enough to get the heart rate up and keep going. Speed will come naturally but the longer you go, tougher it can become.  

There you have it, no complications, no need to think too much on what to do, you just do it and see what you're capable of. You can do more reps of each per set if you wish but also keep your form as smooth as possible so you don't hurt yourself. The faster you do these exercises, the greater risk to becoming sloppy, it's not a sprint. Again, let the speed come naturally, form doesn't have to perfect but it does make a difference in how you apply the tension and the awareness of the exercises themselves. If you really want to take it to another level, take a deck of cards (Black Cards for Step Ups, Red For Ab Wheel Rollouts) and do these until the deck is done. Try to do a total of 500 Step Ups & 250 Rollouts, that's really going to test you. 

Have fun and keep being amazingly awesome.