There really are no excuses to be weak. No gym membership - no problem. Pressed for time? An intense workout can be done in 20 minutes or less, and intensity matters more than duration. One of the beautiful things about life is that we all get to create our own destiny. A great body is yours for the taking. If you want it, go get it - it’s yours. If you don’t, I have no sympathy for you.
I’ve written the following progressions for people who may be new to bar training to help with program design. Those of you with some experience can feel free to jump in and begin at whichever level you feel is appropriate. Each exercise should be performed for 3-5 sets of up to 10 reps. For exercises that are performed as isometric holds, count every 2 seconds as 1 rep. When you can do the given exercises for 3 sets of 5-10 reps (or 20-30 seconds for the holds), move on to the next level. If you are between levels, feel free to combine aspects of both to fit your needs. Remember, this is a make your own workout!
Novices should begin at level one.
Level 1
Low bar dip
Australian pull-up
Dead hang (overhand)
Flex hang (underhand)
Negative chin-up
Crow pose
Level 2
Parallel bar dip (or perpendicular bar dip)
Chin-up
Overhand flex hang
Hanging knee raise
Elbow lever
Pull-up
Handstand
Pike push-up
Full hanging leg raise, Skin the cat or
Rollover
Beginning muscle-up training:
Plyo-pullup/kipping pull-up
Self assisted muscle-up
Tuck back lever/front lever
Level 4
Muscle-up
Handstand push-up
One arm elbow lever
Korean dip
Back lever
Half tuck or straddle front lever
One arm hang, flex hang, negative, etc.
Level 5
One arm hanging leg raise
Front lever
Freestanding handstand push-up
X-muscleup, 360 Muscle-up, etc
One arm pull-up
Lots of people love my concept of designing your own workout, but others are always asking for specific routines, so here are a few of my favorites. They don’t take very long and they will thoroughly work your upper body. As these are pretty intense workouts, I recommend resting on the following day.
This is a full upper body workout for the advanced trainee. You can do this as a circuit or one exercise at a time. (You may choose to sub pike presses for handstand push-ups.)
Warm-up:
Shoulder rollouts 3 sets of 10 front to back, take your time
The Workout
3 sets of each exercise, 1 minute rest in between sets
First two sets: 10 reps or failure (whichever happens first)
Third set: Failure
The Exercises:
Handstand push-ups
Muscle-ups
Pull-ups
If you’ve got anything left, do another set of each exercise to failure.
Perform each of the following exercises for 5 sets of 10 reps. You can do this as either a circuit workout or by doing the 5 sets of each exercise in succession with a minute of rest in between. Use a harder variation of each exercise if you can get through this easily (for example: plyo pull-ups in place of pull-ups).
The Exercises:
Pull-ups
Dips
Hanging Knee Raises
2 sets of each exercise - ten reps or til failure (whichever happens first). I recommend consecutive sets of each exercise in order with a minute or two of rest in between.
The Exercises:
Pull-ups
Commando pull-ups
Archer pull-ups
Headbanger pull-ups
Decline Australian pull-ups
The tables below offer guidelines by which to asses your strength on the three main exercises discussed in this book: pull-ups, dips and hanging leg raises. The numbers refer to consecutive reps performed in one set without coming down from the bar(s). You can stop for a breath if you need to, but don’t let go or the set is over. I recommend testing yourself once every few weeks or months, always emphasizing form over quantity.
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