One leg squats, hanging knee raises and handstand half pushups.
Amazing calisthenic exercises you can do at home or at the park. Three of six exercises I began doing in August 2011 when I discovered this obscure book called “Convict Conditioning”. Most of the exercises can be done infront of the television whenever you get a few minutes. I would recommend this book to anyone (and have done to almost everyone I talk to haha) because the six exercises are each broken down into ten stages of difficulty ranging from absolute beginner to the expert levels (e.g. one arm pull-up or one arm pushup). Each of the difficulty stages work a range of major muscles and stabiliser muscles preparing you for the more difficult stages ahead.
One leg squats, hanging knee raises and handstand half pushups isn’t where I started though. The book recommends anyone thinking of starting the routine to begin at the very start, no matter what strength level they are at. I looked at the beginner stages and kinda inwardly laughed, but you find out how weak you really are when you begin to notice the strain after 2 x 50 wall pushups. And you’re only two thirds there! haha :S
My quickest progression was with squats. Maybe it was because of a previous strength base from my Water Polo days of playing ‘Center Forward’, but for some reason I breezed through these exercises. The shoulder stand squats, although at first the hardest part was to balance and perform these with good form, I found them really really fun. That always helps make exercise easy though. It wasn’t until I started the one leg squat that I struggled.
The biggest struggle I encountered was the abdominal routine with knee tucks. It took me weeks of doing two a day, three times a week to make the progression standard of 3 x 40. They work all sorts of muscles and introduce you to new ones. And this was just stage one, absolute beginner haha. After that though I have noticed a profound increase in strength, nothing I had ever achieved doing sit-ups or ‘crunches’, and I’m now at the stage where I’ve achieved more than I had hoped.
Although I’m not doing a great deal of repetitions in any of the exercises, or investing a lot of time overall, I’ve have gained noticeable results. I wish I had taken before and after photos, but unfortunately I don’t have any progress pics to share. I will work on getting some photos of the exercises being performed though. That will give me an excuse to share more about my weekly routine and track my progress.
I have broken down the exercises into two sets to be done during the week when convenient. To progress on some of the more difficult exercises though, I’ll add another day to get in an extra set whenever needed, or concentrate on one extra exercise. Some weeks I will work out twice, some once, some four times. Generally my weekly workout totals an hour or less. Currently the main categories I am doing:
Legs, shoulders, abs:
2 x 14 one leg squats, 2 x 10 handstand half pushups, 3 x 25 hanging knee raises
One day I did 1 x 20 one leg squats and 3 x 25 hanging knee raises. These destroyed my thighs haha, in a good way. For four days afterward I struggled going up and down stairs, traversing flat plains, yet, I still went on my 5km run. Loved it.
Chest, arms, back:
4 x 10 full pushups, 3 x 15 inverted rows, 2 x 10 angled bridges.
The best thing about these exercises is that they don’t cost anything, they don’t require any special equipment that cannot be found at home or at a park. I am approaching all of my exercises in a sustainable manner, all too often projects become too time consuming and unrealistic to continue and procrastination takes over and they never get done. I don’t see the point in trying to do these every day, or even 5 days a week so I prefer to do them on a convenience basis. The results I’ve achieved tells me I am on the right track.
I never thought along the lines of, ‘I want to get ripped’ or, ‘I want a six pack’. I only ever wanted some functional practical strength. I am however, now that I am on this road to fitness, very much looking forward to achieving the one armed handstand.
Doing It 