For each 20 minute workout there are exercise examples. You Are Your Own Gym provides all of these exercises, plus many more, clearly depicted and described. You will also be provided with nnear countless variations to these exercises in order to change their difficulty to meet any fitness level.
Perform one rep of the given exercise, rest, perform two reps, rest, perform three reps, etc until you¹ve reached the point at which going any higher would cause you to hit muscle failure on subsequent sets. Once you¹ve reached that point, come back down without repeating the highest number. The rest interval between sets should be approximately the same amount of time it would take a training partner to perform the same number of reps. You¹ll have more rest as the numbers get higher, and less rest as the numbers get lower on the way back down to one. If you¹ve reached the bottom of your Ladder (1 rep) and the set time hasn¹t expired (10 min. per exercise), simply start another ladder. It is OK to perform the ladder workout in the low rep range- possibly
even repeated singles towards the end of the workout, in order to avoid
hitting failure.
Pick one exercise pair, and do one exercise during each ten minute
period.
1-arm Push-ups & Handstand Push-ups
Push-ups & Seated Dips
Chin-ups & Let-me-ups
Reverse Grip Let-me-ups & Let-me-ins
1-legged Squats & Iron Mikes
Squats & Lunges
Hanging Leg Lifts & Side V-ups
Crunch-ups & Leg Lifts
Similar to doing Ladders except two movements will be done back to back. Perform one rep of a movement immediately followed by another exercise, then rest before doing the exercises again just as you would for Ladders. Since the two exercises being used may not be of the same difficulty, you can advance the more difficult exercise by increments of one while advancing the easier exercise by increments of two, three, or four, which ever you find appropriate. These are just like Ladders, except two exercises are done before each rest interval. Pick one exercise pair for each ten minute interval.
Pull-ups & Dive Bombers
Let-me-ups & Push-ups
Pistols & Hyperextensions
Hanging Leg Lifts & Squats
Side Lunges & Side V-ups
Push-ups & Flutter KIcks
Military Presses & Supermen
Iron Mikes & Bouncing Ball Push-ups
Variation: perform the exercise pair without rest between exercises until reaching muscle failure and then rest approximately the same amount of time it took you to reach failure before descending down the Ladder in the same manner.
Perform any exercise or pair of exercises by performing one rep of each during the first minute and an additional rep each subsequent minute until reaching muscle failure. When muscle failure is reached on an exercise, begin at one again and continue to go back up until twenty minutes has expired. Take pull-ups for example, the first minute perform one pull-up, the second minute perform two pull-ups, the third minute perform three pull-ups, and so on until reaching muscle failure, at which point you¹ll start at one again. Exercises that are done by doing one side at a time, like 1-legged Squats, should be accomplished by alternating sides. At one minute, one rep will done on both sides; at two minutes, two reps will be done on both sides and so on.
Pull-ups
Let-me-ups
Pistols
Side-lunges
1-arm Push-ups
Chinese Push-ups
Hanging Leg Lifts
Bam Bams
Perform 6 sets of 1-5 reps at a three-minute interval for each
exercise. Set your repeating timer to three minutes and start the
timer as soon as you begin to exercise. Whatever time is remaining,
after the set is complete, is used for rest before beginning the next
set.
See You Are Your Own Gym for ways to increase/decrease difficulty of
exercises!
Push-ups or 1-arm Push-ups
Military Press
1-legged Squat or Pistol
Back Lunges
Pull-ups or Chin-ups
Let-me-ups
Spidermen
V-ups
Perform 5 sets, in five minutes, of each exercise, by executing as many
reps as possible in 20 seconds and then resting for 40 seconds.
-Dips, Sit-ups, Push-ups, Flutter Kicks
Pull-ups, Box-jumps, Let-me-ups, Side-jumps
Iron Mikes, Pull-ups, Crunch-ups, Push-ups
Sit-ups, Dive Bombers, Pull-ups, Squats
Hanging Leg-lifts, Hip-ups, Bicycles, Swimmers
Burpees, Mountain Climbers, Star Jumpers, Squats
Repeat as many cycles of the given exercises and number of reps as
possible in 20 minutes.
10 Alternating Back Lunges, 8 Let-Me-Ins, 6 Push-ups
10 Mountain Climbers, 6 Let-Me-Ups w/knees bent, 8 Push-Ups
6 Let-Me-Ups w/knees bent, 12 Alternating Side Lunges, 8 Push-Ups
20 Mountain Climbers, 6 Dive Bombers, 8 Let-Me-Ups
12 Assisted Alternating 1-legged Squats or Box Jumps, 6 Dive Bombers, 8
Let-Me-Ups,
30 Mountain Climbers, 6 Handstand Push-ups, Pull-Ups
12 Alternating Pistols or 12 Iron Mikes, 6 Handstand Push-ups, 8
Pull-Ups
Perform each exercise by executing the given movement for twenty
seconds and then resting for ten seconds; repeating for a total of
eight sets. Each exercise will last 4 minutes (8 sets of twenty
seconds on/ ten seconds off = 4 minutes). Find an exercise pace that
you are able to maintain throughout all eight sets (but only with great
difficulty). Ideally, there shouldn¹t be any twenty-second work period
that has a significant drop-off of reps performed.
Rest one minute between exercises.
The first four minutes will be spent on the first exercise followed by
one-minute of rest. After the one minute of rest, the second exercise
will be done using the same format. The third exercise will then be
accomplished after the second one-minute rest period. The fourth
exercise will be done after the third one-minute rest period.
Squats, Mountain Climbers, Shove-offs, Dive Bombers
Squat Thrusts, Mountain Climbers, Crunch-it-ups, Pull-ups
Side Jumps, Alternating Side Lunges, Mad Russians, Push-ups
Burpees, Flutter Kicks, Shove-offs, Let-me-ins
Push-ups, Mountain Climbers, Squat Thrusts, Pull-ups
Squat Thrusts, Box Jumps, Hello-Darlin¹s, Swimmers
Perform the given workout as quickly as possible.
100 8-count Bodybuilders
50 Squats, 15 Pull-ups, 10 Dive Bombers (3-5 rounds)
20 8-count Bodybuilders, 20 Pull-ups, 15 8-count Bodybuilders, 15
Pull-ups, 10 8-count Bodybuilders, 10 Pull-ups, 5 8-count Bodybuilders,
5 Pull-ups
Burpees, Mountain Climbers, Iron Mikes (5 of each, 10 of each, 15 of
each, 20 of each, 15 of each, 10 of each, 5 of each)
50 Crunch-it-ups, 40 Hyperextensions, 30 Hello Darlings, 20 Hyperextensions,
10 Crunch-it-ups, 20 Hyperextensions, 30 Hello Darlings, 40
Hyperextensions, 50 Crunch-it-ups
Pyramids are a method of training that allow for a gradual build-up of intensity (difficulty) over several sets. It is an ideal method for very high intensity variations of an exercise. Pyramids have several variations.
One variation is to start with a relatively high rep set, and with each subsequent set, drop the number of reps while increasing the intensity for each set. For example, perform one set for each of the following numbers of reps- 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 while increasing the intensity of the movement for each set. After reaching the set with the lowest number of reps, you can work back up the Pyramid while decreasing the intensity of each set.
Pyramids can also be done by keeping the same number of reps for each set the same while increasing the intensity for each set. For example, 5 sets of 3 reps with the first set having the least intensity and the final set being maximum intensity. Pyramids can be done with any rep range, but they are great for high intensity workouts that build power; ideally, progressing to maximum or near maximum effort sets in the 1-5 rep range.
For single limb exercises, you can alternate sides each rep or perform the entire set on one side before switching to the other.
Push-ups:
8 reps with Hands against a Raised Surface, 6 reps Regular, 4 reps with Feet Elevated, 2 reps with Feet Elevated and Pauses at Bottom
1-arm Push-ups:
3 reps with Hands Elevated Waist High, 3 reps with Hands Elevated Knee High, 3 reps Regular, 3 reps with Feet Elevated, 3 reps with Feet Elevated and Pauses
Pistols:
12 reps Regular, 8 reps with Pauses, 4 reps Holding Weight and Pausing, 8 reps with Pauses, 12 reps Regular
Compound Sets are a great way of using high intensity strength training exercises to build strength, muscular and cardiovascular endurance, and power in an interval type workout. Compound Sets are performed by doing three or more compound exercises one after the other without rest. The exercises used can all come from the same movement category, or they can be compiled from various categories, giving a great total body workout. Simply execute a pre-designated number of reps for each exercise, and then rest before repeating another Compound Set. Rest intervals can be of any duration, but the length of the rest interval will impact the emphasis of the workout. Shorter rest periods will focus more on muscular and cardiovascular endurance while longer rest periods will allow for greater strength and power, therefor placing more emphasis on those skills.
Squats 12-20 reps, Staggered Hands Push-ups 12-20 reps, Hip Raisers 12-20 reps, and Bird Dogs 12-20 reps.
30 Iron Mikes (15 each leg), 8 Pull-ups, 8 Hanging Leg Lifts, 20 Shove-offs
(90 seconds rest x 5 sets)
12 Assisted 1-legged Squats (6 each leg), 24 Iron Mikes or Lunges (12 each leg), 30 Squats (2 minutes rest x 4 sets)
Let-me-ups to failure, Some variation of Push-ups to failure, Hanging Leg Lifts to failure, Some variation of Alternating 1-legged Squats to failure (5 minutes rest x 3 sets)
If you want to keep track of your reps for each exercise one each day,
you can download log sheets.
