7 Extraordinary simple, hard exercises on the floor
In the pursuit of world class strength, power, speed or endurance we can afford to leave no potentially beneficially training method on the table.
The best strength coaches and personal trainers embrace the whole spectrum of training methods from extremely simple, no equipment methods, like bodyweight exercises on the floor, to high tech measurement tools like myotest (www.myotest.com).
This blog is about one of the simplest, yet most effective training methods there is, (new) bodyweight exercises on the floor.
When I teach potential personal trainers, I always say that regardless of their background (for some students personal training is their second career) and their personality, there is at least some part of the personal training process where their strength’s come in to play.
The structured, linear thinking, right brain, accountant type will love the planning process, scheduling out percentages and logging progress. The more left brain, artist type will love the process of creating NEW exercises, as the need comes up. (And of course, to reach your full potential, you must be able to swiftly and easily shift between using either the left or the right brain).
As is the case with kids, sometimes the best thing that can happen to our creativity is to have little or no equipment available. You know the saying that “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” The creative person does not think like that. The creative person thinks: “If all I have is a hammer, I will find new and not-thought-of-before ways to use this hammer!”
Since the start of my career in 1993 I have worked with athletes from 20 different sports ranging from figure skating, triathlon to wrestling; serious amateur to world class and Olympic level; and 14 to 55 years of age. I have always experimented intensely with new exercises, often in the gym, but lately also on our living room floor during breaks, when I work from my home office.
Regarding body weight exercises on the floor, some of the key parameters to experiment with include:
- Which body parts touch the floor?
- How many body parts touch the floor? (2, 3 or 4)
- What is the distance between the body parts that touch the floor?
The way to be creative with body weight exercises is to pick one exercise and perform a variation that you already know ( this is when the fun begins)
- Within the framework of the original exercise, try and support yourself on different body parts.
- Within the framework of the original exercise, change the number of body parts that touch the floor.
- Within the framework of the original exercise, change the distance between the body parts that touch the floor.
I would love to hear your results or questions of your experimentation!
Next week, you can read Part 2 of our exploration of 7 SPECIFIC, SIMPLE, HARD EXERCISES on the floor. All these exercise have essentially emerged through experimentation with the three parameters above.
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Dedicated To Our Success,
Karsten
MSc., Strength Coach, CPTN-CPTN.M,
Author, Lecturer, Founder of Yes To Strength
