THE
GUIDE TO
BODYWEIGHT TRAINING
THE
GUIDE TO
BODYWEIGHT TRAINING
THE
GUIDE TO
BODYWEIGHT TRAINING CALISTHENICS TO LOOK AND FEEL YOUR BEST FROM THE BOARDROOM TO THE BEDROOM
ADAM SCHERSTEN
WITH CHRIS KLIMEK
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TO MY CLIENTS, FOR ALWAYS KEEPING ME ON MY TOES
CONTENTS FOREWORD 9
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION 11
THREE
SEVEN
CORE
PULL
EXERCISES
EXERCISES
35
203
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
FOUR
EIGHT
13
ANKLE DRIVEN
CHAPTER
EXERCISES
THE WORKOUT PROGRAMS
CHAPTER
ONE
FIT FOR ANYTHING
TWO
85
FUEL & GEAR
CHAPTER
23
FIVE
THE WORKOUT PROGRAMS
4 WEEKS / 8 WEEKS 12 WEEKS
245
HIP DRIVEN EXERCISES
MOBILITY COOLDOWN 6 POSTWORKOUT POSES
257
127
AN OVERVIEW
GLOSSARY 261
32 CHAPTER
SIX
PUSH EXERCISES
161
REFERENCES 263 INDEX OF EXERCISES 265 INDEX 267
RAW STRENGTH
Martial artist and actor
BRUCE LEE was known to perform push-ups
USING JUST TWO FINGERS
Facts of the Fittest The US Army requires that men who are between �� and �� years old be able to
RUN TWO MILES IN 16:30 and do
40 PUSH�UPS and
50 SIT�UPS
Ashrita Furman, who holds ��� Guinness World Record titles— the most of all time— first made his mark on the records community by doing
27,000 CONSECUTIVE JUMPING JACKS in ����
—each in less than � minutes
ANGUS MACASKILL, THE STRONGEST MAN OF ALL TIME, was � foot � inches tall, weighed roughly ��� pounds, and purportedly could li f a �,���-pound ship’s anchor to his chest
The average man can perform between � and �� chin-ups with good form.
GUY SCHOTT, THE GUINNESS WORLD RECORD HOLDER, CAN DO 57� IN ONE MINUTE
FOREWORD Esquire was founded in
���� with
a simple mission: to help men live be ter and more enriching lives. For over eighty years we’ve done this by focusing on the e ssentials, the litle—and sometimes big—things that a man needs to know in order to be ter navigate the world. How to make the perfect Manhatan. How tie a Windsor knot. How to buy a tuxedo. The classics are classic for a reason— because they work and they’ve stood the test of time. Like the push-up, the crunch, the squat. For the last eight years or so, my own exercise regimen has consisted of a combination of bodyweight exercises, cardiovascular torture, isometrics, and kettle bells. Most of this is basic stuff, easily replicable for me no matter where I happen to be, from home alone to on the road in some underequipped hotel fitness center. Now , I’m no paragon of fitness. I enjoy my life—sometimes a lot . But my regimen has enabled me to continue competing at a relatively high level. I still sometimes run the golf course rather than use a cart. I still can be a force from the other side of the tennis net. Fads, whether in fashion, food, or fitness, are as transient as the latest Katy Perry song or viral video. But the fundamentals remain , the building blocks of a well -lived life.
We at Esquire would know . Back in February 1950, we published a series of articles called “The Art of Keeping Fit” that off ered the fitness routines of ten notable men such as FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover , author James A. Michener, and Henry Ford II—along with a guide to lunges, leg lifts, and using chairs for elevated push-ups. “Half -hearted waving of weights should be left to the dumbbells,” we wrote. Instead, we suggested calisthenics to strengthen the full body . Our championing of this do anywhere approach to exercise has never wavered, whether in our Ultimate Fitness Guides of the mid-1980s, our Better Man service sections of the mid-aughts, or today , as Esquire embarks on a national fitness challenge with partners Equinox
9
and the Mayo Clinic built around calisthenics and many of the exercises that appear in this book. Along with fundamental bodyweight exercises, we’ve also based our health advice on eating smart and eating well. No crazy meat-only , fruit-only , juice-only diets that put your body through short-term misery for elusive results. Instead, we suggest moderation (mixed with the occasional steak and tequila) and common sense. Exercise legend Jack LaLanne put it best when he o ff ered up this gem in a 2004 interview for our “What
10 FOREWORD
I’ve Learned” column: “Would you get your dog up every day , give him a cup of co ff ee, a doughnut, and a cigarette? Hell no, you’d kill the damn dog.” Like Jack himself was, this book is no bullshit. It’s simple and clear and if you make even a reasonable attempt at Adam Schersten’s bodyweight training programs, the benefits will be considerable.
����� ������� Editor in Chief , Esquire
