Hello, folks. As you may or may not know, I value physical exercise and fitness. I spend more time in the gym than the average Joe. Unfortunately, during my travels, Gyms will be practically nonexistent. So I will be documenting my plans to stay fit and strong here.
First up are the different exercises I will be focusing on. I will have no equipment with me, so this will all be prison style.
The Burpee - These suck. Because they hit are a whole body exercise, involving muscular and cardio endurance. Burpees will be a founding member of this program. Here's the description of the movement: From a standing position squat down, drop your hands to the ground and jump your feet back to assume a push-up position. Do a push-up. Jump your legs forward to between your hands then jump up into the air bringing your knees to your chest and your hands into the air over your head. I'll be doing a lot of these.
The Pushup - Everyone knows these. Te key is going to be doing variations. Staggered, Fists, Incline, Decline, Fingers, Diamond, Clappers, etc. Here's a video showing 19 different types of pushups: http://www.break.com/usercontent/2007/3/7/19-Push-Ups-Variations-Without-Any-Equipment-243118
Dips - Put your hands on your prison chair or bed and dip your body toward the ground. Variations include: feet on the ground with straight legs, feet up off of the ground on a piece of furniture, and one foot on another piece of furniture while the other leg is raised in the air, alternating legs. Naturally, the raised legs dips are the hardest and therefore the most fun.
The Pullups - Grab and pull. Vary the grip for a little more difficulty. The main challenge for me is finding something high enough off the ground that I can grab and that will support my weight. I don't want to use a door frame and rip it down in the middle of a set. Playgrounds, small walls, and trees will be the go-to places for these.
Squats - Just squat down, ass to grass. Works everything a weighted squat would, just less. The main variations on these are jumping squats (basically the last half of a burpee) and wall sits.
Jumping Lunges - Get in a lunge position. Jump up and alternate the feet. These are more of a supplementary exercise, bu nice for a change of pace.
Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zLTDUFjbXA
Core Stuff - There is a lot of variety here. Situps, oblique crunches, human V arm-flappy things, bicycles, stars, planks, side planks, etc.. I... kinda hate situps, but I also suck at them. I'll have all the time in the world to get better.
An interesting idea that I've found is isometric core work. Basically you involve your core in other movements that you do. When doing pushups, pullups, or anything else on this list, tighten you abs. That will give you some serious burn at the end of a workout without specifically doing any isolated core work. This can be done just during the day, even while traveling (hint hint). Tighten your core, then hold it for 10, 20 or more seconds a few times every hour. Now do it while slightly tilted to one side. Now the other. For more strength, you would simultaneously contract your glutes like you are trying to hold in the bean dinner you had last night. I think I'll be doing a lot of these on the road.
Harder stuff, OR I really hate myself today - Handstand Pushups. The very mention of these strikes fear into the depths of my heart, mainly because I am really terrible at handstands. Basically, find a wall, do a handstand, then lower your head towards the ground and bring it back up. Fuck.
Wall sits. Put your back up against the wall and lower it until there is a 90 degree angle between your upper and lower legs. Hold this position as long as you can. Wait 5 minutes. Cry. These sound easy, but they will work you like no other.
Next time, I'll lay out my plans for programming.
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