Circuit Training

When most people think of circuit training they think of doing them with weights / machines etc...
Here I show a very effective circuit using your bodyweight.
You can Jump Rope or Sub Run/Jump in place  for one minute ,after doing a set of the BW exercises. Note you will do the below list one after another without rest which will count as 1 round through the entire circuit. More advanced trainees can perform 3-5 rounds of this routine.

Hindu Squats -50 reps
Jump Rope - 60 sec

Hindu Pushups- 25 reps
Jump Rope- 60 sec

V-Ups- 25 reps
Jump Rope- 60 sec

Reverse Pushups - 10 reps
Jump Rope - 60 sec

No Momentum Situps- 10 reps
Jump Rope - 60 sec

Table Pushup- 20 reps
Jump Rope -60 sec

Kneeling Backbend- 10 reps
Jump Rope - 60 sec

Body Weight Strength Goals

Some Relative Strength Standards based on body weight for those looking to see where they measure up compared to elite military operators. Also noticed in some martial arts schools doing a 100 push ups is one of the many prerequisites for getting advanced level belt promotions.  

BW Squat > 120 in 120 secs
BW Push up >  100 in 120s
BW Pull up  >   20 in 120s
BW Sit up  >    100 in 120s

And again an excellent way to improve your numbers would be a quick tabata circuit ,you can do each exercise for 4 min a piece ,  you can pick two exercises and alternate them for the 4 minutes, you can pick all four exercises and will alternate  problem with this is that not enough volume so you may have to run through the circuit 2 more times , but should allow enough time for beginners to recover.

Another way to get those high reps is to do ladder/pyramid workouts , example do 100 reps , by doing 1 rep per set until you reach rep 10 , and then work your way back down to rep 1 and if you do the math that's 100 reps. 

10 Exercises on Suspension Trainer

1. Assisted by 1 arm , - Pistol Squat
2. Dips
3. Horizontal Rows
4. Assisted Back Single Leg Squat
5. Pike Press
6. One Leg 1/2 Bridge ( Hamstring Curl)
7. L-pull Ups 
8. Bulgarian Lunge
9. Push Ups
10. Gyroscope (Abs)

The upper limits on Fat-Free Mass (aka Lean Body Mass)

My curiosity on what are the upper limits of muscular development in humans , and paying close attention during my Exercise Physiology Class during the lecture on body composition. The research has pointed me into the direction that contrary to popular belief among bodybuilding websites that one can just balloon up in size past 300+lbs of muscle the sad fact is that most of the extra weight is just plain old fat. That there is in fact an upper limit on the amount of fat free mass and individual can obtain which is a function of human physiology.

One of the sources which abstract I looked at is http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajhb.1310060509/abstract from the American journal of biology which looks at the FFM (Fat-Free Mass) upper limits in sumo wrestlers , bodybuilders, and untrained individuals.

Obviously the sumo wrestlers had the highest FFM due to the fact in order to carry around all that extra body fat the body will have to make adjustments in connective tissue etc... to just help them get up out of bed every day and walk over to the bathroom.  The sumo wrestlers therefor represent the highest possible FFM attainable they averaged to about .61 kg/ cm.  The estimated high end FFM (kg)/ Height (cm) ration attainable is .7 kg/ cm.

Using myself as an example assuming that I was able to reach the upper limit I'm 5'9 which is about 175 cm , using the .7 kg per every cm I would theoretically be able to reach 122.5 kg or about 269.5 lbs of FFM mind you I would probably also be at 30-40% BF like the sumos in the study. In my lecture class my professor mentions 275 lbs as the upper limit in FFM again for one to naturally achieve this they would have to be carrying a substantial amount of BF% to warrant the extra connective tissue etc..  I don't know about you but being obese to achieve the upper limits of FFM is not something I want to shoot for.

I have also come across something called the FFMI which is analogous to the BMI the difference is that it takes FFM (kg) / Height (meters)^2.   Apparently it has a strong correlation to steroid use. Which I found pretty interesting noting that many so called naturals / supplement companies would have you believe you can reach the upper limits of FFM while maintaining low BF%

"The normalized FFMI values of athletes who had not used steroids extended up to a well-defined limit of 25.0. Similarly, a sample of 20 Mr. America winners from the presteroid era (1939-1959), for whom we estimated the normalized FFMI, had a mean FFMI of 25.4. By contrast, the FFMI of many of the steroid users in our sample easily exceeded 25.0, and that of some even exceeded 30. Thus, although these findings must be regarded as preliminary, it appears that FFMI may represent a useful initial measure to screen for possible steroid abuse, especially in athletic, medical, or forensic situations in which individuals may attempt to deny such behavior."- http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/fat-free-mass-index-in-users-and-nonusers-of-anabolic-androgen-steroids-research-review.html

I also found a calculator which helps you determine your genetic potential of muscular BW at certain %BF
http://www.weightrainer.net/bodypred.html   it use anthropometric measurments of your wrist and ankle diameters along with your height and desired %BF to calculate your BW at it's upper muscular development obtainable for naturals (i.e. non - steroid users)

BW Strength Workout

Pull / Push / Lower Body Format + Accessory Work
( X reps depending on Training Goal- Endurance 20-25 reps , Hypertrophy 8-12 reps , Strength 4-6 reps , Max Strength 1-3 reps)

Exercise Selection would have to match desired Intensity which i.e. force you to be in the 4-6 rep range for Strength goals ex.. or easier variation to be in the endurance or hypertrophy ranges )



Pull Variations (Pull / Chin ups etc..)  2-4sets x X
Body Rows   2-4  sets x X


Push Variations (One Arm Push ups , Divebombers etc..)  2-4 sets x X
Pike Press or Handstand Push up    2-4 sets x X


Lower Body ( Squats / Lunges)  Variation   2-4 sets x X
Glute-Ham Raise / Hamstring Curl     2-4 sets x X

Accessory  Work
Calf Raises  2-4 sets x X
Abs ( Knees to Elbows , Toes to Bar etc , Atomic Crunch, Hello Dollies ( Hip Abduction)  2-4 sets x X

Different Reps for Different Goals

I'm big fan of body weight training due to many benefits and relatively no worry about spinal loading which happens when doing heavy squats and dead lifts which tend to compress the spinal disk. Below I have listed some ways using different rep ranges to tailor your exercises to your goals. Obviously these rep ranges can apply to Body weight or Resistance exercises.

You can tailor your workouts depending on how many reps you can get on the 1st set of an exercise i.e. if your only getting 5-6 reps on let's say pullups  than shoot for 25 reps ( strength endurance)  , if it's 10-12 reps shoot for 50 reps ( endurance - hypertrophy)

Hypertrophy - 35 reps per exercise
Endurance - 50 reps per exercise
Strength -  15 reps per exercise
Lean - 25 reps per exercise

Light: a weight you could lift 20 to 22 times
Medium: a weight you could lift 10 to 12 times
Heavy: a weight you could lift 4 to 6 times
Superheavy: a weight you could lift 2 or 3 times


Below I have variables posted from another source with parameters on Intensity and Set - Rep ranges based on  training goals  ( Note some of the reps may not fall exactly in line with what is posted above i.e. really high reps 50-100 are not listed but the general concept is still the same)

(X = exercise)

Power : 3-6 sets between 1-10 reps at 30-45% 1RM or 10% BW  
(i.e total reps 6- 30 depending on X)
Strength: 3-6 sets between  1-5 reps at 85-100% 1RM                
 (i.e. total reps 6- 15 )    
Hypertrophy: 3-4 sets between 8-12 reps at 70-85% 1RM          
  (i.e. total reps 32 -36)                      
Endurance: 1-3 sets between 12-25 reps at 50-75% 1RM          
    (i.e. total reps 25 - 36 )  

Push + Pull + Lower Body Strength + Mass BW Routine

There are 7 exercises in this routine and you are to do each exercise for two sets with 1-2 minutes in between. Each routine is to be done 3 times a week. There should be no less than 48 hours in between the training session. This means that if you have worked out on Monday, the next time should be on Wednesday. In terms of the number of repetitions you should do ½ of your maximum on the first set and a full set to failure on the second set.

Here’s the catch you are to choose one pushing exercise, one pulling exercise and one leg exercise to be done to failure. There are two of each exercise in leg, pushing and pulling category, so one will be stopped before muscle failure. Abs are thrown in at the end.
 Template of a possible routine  ( 1-2 Legs , 3-4 Pulling , 5-6 Pushing , 7 Core )

1. Squat Jump
2. Step Up
3. Pull Up or Chin Up
4. Reverse Push Up ( Body -weight  Row  ) feet elevated to same height as hands at rest
5. Dips
6. Push Ups Elevated or Pike Press
7. Hanging Straight Leg Lift or  or Knees to Elbows 

Brief Exercise List

Legs

• Body weight Squats
• Lunges
• Calf Raises
• Explosive Step Ups 
• Knee Tucks 
• Glute- Ham Raise 
• One-Legged Squat 

Pulling

• Towel Pull Ups 
• Rope Climbing 
• Body Weight Row 
• Side-to-Side Pull Up 
• Rope Pull ups 

Pushing

• Diamond Pushup 
• Ball Pushup 
• Fingertip Pushup 
• Knuckle Pushup 
• Dive-bomber pushup 
• Ring Push Ups

Core

• Lying Hip Swing
• Rotational Chop 
• Ab Wheel Rollout 
• Flag 
• Neck Bridge 
• Superman 
• V-up

Protein Myth

How much protein do we really need , many supplement companies will try to convince you that you need 1gram of protein per lb of body weight or more which is close to 2.0-2.5g / kg of BW.  The average diet already exceeds upper limit of known protein requirements.  The adult RDA for protein is about .8g/kg of BW however for athletes who participate in high intensity endurance activities  the RDA can be raised to 1.2-1.4g/ kg of BW this is still lower than what supplement companies suggest that you consume.

To convert you BW in lbs divide by 2.2 to get your BW in Kilograms.  In our example a 200lb i.e 91kg male consuming 200g of protein falls in the 1 gram/ lb of BW or 2-2.5 g/kg of BW. His RDA is 72 g of protein assuming the .8 g/ kg , if he is an athlete 135g of protein , how much protein he gets from average American diet about 150-200g.

Bottom Line the average protein intake exceeds  1.5g/kg of BW per day , more than enough to cover the higher protein requirements.  The excess protein consumption just becomes wasteful , and can be stored as fat if glycogen stores are already topped off.