The full series is Part I, Part II and Part III.

This is Part 2 of our series on brutal backyard shed training. In this post we will be looking at the best bodyweight exercises that you can do at home to build some real size and strength.

Why Bodyweight Exercises?

Many “bodybuilders” dismiss bodyweight exercises as being unprofessional and not hard enough.

They are kidding themselves.

If took the 100 strongest and biggest men in the world I bet you close to 90% of them would spend a lot of time doing bodyweight exercises. Here in Australia we have the Australian Football League which is the toughest sport in the world. The players are big and fast and very strong. If you take a look at their training routine they spend a lot of time doing explosive bodyweight exercises. And it works. Many US NFL players have watched Australian Rules Football and remarked that they are crazy people for playing such a rough game!

So next time someone tells you bodyweight exercises are for beginners you tell them about the AFL players down in Australia.

The reason I have dedicated a whole post to these exercises is that they are easy to do and you don’t need any equipment. You can do them at home by yourself and still get amazing results.

Don’t cheat on your technique

When you are training at home there is the temptation to cheat on your technique a little bit because no one is watching. This is a big mistake that you need to avoid.

If you want to make big gains and not injure yourself you need to make sure your technique is solid. Read as much about every exercise that you do and start off slow. Never try and overdo it because your joints will not forgive you in the long run.

Furthermore, if your technique is poor your muscle gain will also be poor. Each exercise is done in a certain way. It is done that way firstly because it is the safest way and, secondly, because it is the best way to work the muscle. So, if you cheat on your technique you are only cheating yourself.

The best bodyweight exercises for backyard shed training

Now we can get into the real stuff. I am going to present the best few bodyweight exercises that you can do at home in your backyard shed. The are simple but elegant. If you do them correctly and with the right intensity you will see some amazing progress.

1. Clap pushups

Everyone knows how to do these but almost no one does them. The AFL teams make their players do a lot of clap pushups because they are so good for building explosive real world power. They really shock your muscles into growth.

The great thing about the clap pushup is that it forces your muscle to contract and then expand very quickly. Many studies have shown this is the best way to make fast strength gains without damaging or slowing down your muscles. Normal weight lifting, on the other hand, has been shown to slow down your movement. For a martial artist or sportperson this will not do.

How to do a clap pushup -
To do a clap pushup simply get in the normal pushup position and lower yourself down to the bottom. Instead of pushing yourself up as normal you should powerfully push down and cause yourself to jump with your hands. While your hands are off the ground you should clap your hands together under your chest before hitting the ground and repeating. Keep doing this over and over until failure.

2. Dips

Dips are like a bench press but more full on. Many of you are not going to like that statement but it is true. There is literally nothing harder than strapping some heavy weight discs to your weight belt and pumping out a set of dips.

You can make your own dip station at home by setting up two narrow bars parallel from each other. In high school I used to use sturdy old chairs but now I own my own dip and chin station.

How to do a dip -
To correctly do a dip you simply grab on to the two bars and lower yourself down as low as you can. Don’t try to keep your body upright. You should allow yourself to naturally lean forward as this will work both your chest and your triceps. Once you have lowered yourself down fully explode upwards for a fast incline. This will blast your muscles into some serious growth!

It is very important to take care of your shoulders during the dip. I know of many people who have ended up with pretty serious shoulder joint injuries. Never do dips on a dip station where the bars are too wide apart. If you can make your own that is the best idea because you can set it to your own width. The narrower the better.

3. The chin up

When you want to develop full body power and strength as well as adding some serious size you need to work with the chin up. All of best boxers in history had huge backs. Just take a look at Muhummad Ali’s back. It was enormous! The chin up is a poweful way to train your back and biceps and is one of the best ways to add some size in a hurry.

How to do a chin up -
Grab a thick bar with and underhand grip and allow your body to hang free. The thicker the bar the better because this will work your forearms. Once you are comfortable you should pull yourself up as quickly as possible. Imagine that you are pulling with your elbows as this will help you focus on your back muscles. Once you reach the top slowly lower yourself back down to a count of five or six seconds. This is when a lot of the strength is built. The slowe the better.

4. Jumping squats

Do you know the feeling of wanting the throw up because an exercise has pushed you beyond your limits? The jumping squat will do that to you.

The jumping squat is one of the best bodyweight exercises on the planet because it mixes aerobic and anerobic exercise in such an intense way. It will challenge your whole lower body as well as your back and abs and it will make your lungs burn like you are running a 100m sprint. People who stick at the jumping squat (not many do!) are blessed with huge legs, better running power and a truck load of lower body strength.

How to do a jumping squat -
Crouch down in a squatted position with one foot in front of the other. Spring into the air as high as you can and land with your other foot now in front. Allow gravity to take you all the way down to the fully squatted position and then, without any break, spring yourself back into the air again. Repeat this until failure.

5. Frozen crunches

The frozen crunch is something my buddy and I used to use a competiton. We spent so long trying to out do one another and prove that we were better than we never noticed our abs getting really stong. After a few weeks of doing them every night at martial arts practice we noticed some amazing abdominal growth.

How to do a frozen crunch -
The idea is simple. Get in a regular crunch position and crunch yourself up to the top. Instead of lowering yourself back down for a second rep you hold that top position and keep tensing your abs. A great trick is to push down on the floor as hard as you can with your fingers. This makes the contraction even tighter. You can also change which area of your stomach is emphasised by shifting the position of your fingers. If anyone can do longer than a minute of this on their first go I will be impressed.

Conclusion

These five bodyweight exercises take care of the entire body. If you did a workout that consisted of these only you would find you get some amazing overall development. However, you can mix these up with some of the exercises that use cheap equipment. In the next post I will show you some more brutal backyard shed exercises using some of that equipment you’ve got lying around.

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