More Bodyweight Exercises

Bear Crawls (entire body exercise)– This is a total body workout.  It looks very dumb to people that do not do them, but you will benefit greatly from these.  As you might have guessed, you try to mimic a bear’s walk with your body.  Every muscle in your body gets some work.  Don’t be surprised if you can’t walk 100 yards like this. 

• Get on your hands and feet.
• Keep your arms and legs mostly straight.
• Walk as far as you can.

Wall Walking (entire body exercise)– To obtain great flexibility in the spine, this bodyweight exercise is ONE OF THE GREATS.  You will enjoy the rush you get after doing just five or ten.  I find these to make you feel alive.  Start about three feet from the wall with your back facing it.

• Lean back and touch your hands to the wall and begin to walk them downward.
• When you get to the bottom, arch your back flex your entire body into an arch.
• Roll to the side until you are facing down or, if you are good, just stand back up.

Crab Walking (entire body exercise)– If you ever played football you may have done this one before.  It not only builds strength and endurance, but overall functional movement. If you have problems with your hips and back you may want to give these a shot.  They make you use most of the muscles near your spine.

• Start by sitting on your butt
• Place your hands next to your hips, palms down
• Push off the ground with your hands and your feet and put your midsection almost parallel with the ground
• Walk as far as you can either backward or forward

One Leg Squat (leg | butt exercise)– Here is a challenging exercise that will make you become more stable when on one leg and build incredible strength.  The first time I tried these, I kept falling because when you get to the bottom the push back up is very awkward.  I mean how many times do you put yourself through this kind of motion each day?  Not many if at all. German wrestlers would hold their hands at their sides while performing these to make the balancing more difficult.  Here is how you do them:

• Start in the standing position.
• Hold one leg out in front of you and keep it mostly straight.
• For extra balance you can hold your arms straight out in front of you or keep them at your side for more of a challenge.
• Squat down until your thigh touches your calf.
• Raise back up using only that one leg.
• This is one rep.
• Do as many as you can, starting with your weakest leg.

Side to Side Jumps (leg | hip exercise)– To get that explosive power and speed, these are great.  You need to incorporate some kind of jumping into your weekly routine.  At the park, people may wonder what you are doing, but pay no mind.  Soon you will be very agile and able to maneuver better than ever.  Here is what you do:

• Find an open area with room to jump left and right.
• Facing one direction (forward), jump as far as you can to either side and immediately jump the opposite direction.
• Do this for about 20-50 times.