Full Body Exercises build strength, burn fat, and develop cardio endurance. These exercises work all of the major muscle groups, and even improve your posture, balance, and coordination.
You'll be working your upper body, lower body, back, and core, and getting winded all at the same time. So if you want the biggest bang for your workout buck, if you want the most impact for the time you spend exercising, you're in the right place.
Exercises like this that get your whole body into the act are great for any boot camp workout. If you really want to up the ante and see some changes in your fitness level and body shape, mix some of these exercises in with sprints or other cardio exercises.
For example, if you have a hill, perfect. Run up the hill and do a burpee. Run back down. Run back up the hill and do two burpees. Run back down the hill.
Keep doing that and counting up until you get to 10 burpees. The same thing works with Turkish get ups, mountain climbers, and even pushups.
You need to experience that for yourself. You need to feel what mixing cardio and strength exercises together feels like. Get out and do it today. You'll be hooked - or you'll send me a nasty letter. Hey I'll take it. That still tells me you tried it.
When you've had a chance to brush up on the right technique for each of these exercises, take a look at some of the workouts that feature them. You'll find some really good examples in the 10 minute workouts, 20 minute workouts, and boot camp workouts.
The Burpee is the staple of the boot camp workout. It is the ultimate full body exercise and it doesn’t require any equipment. It builds strength, explosive power, and cardio fitness all in one.
Do a few sets of burpees every day and it won’t be long until you feel silly for buying that ab roller.
The basic mountain climber exercise is a calisthenic exercise that is great for the core. You are moving the legs while holding your weight with your arms and shoulders.
It is also a good body weight shoulder exercise because while the lower body is "climbing", the shoulders and back muscles have to keep your upper body off the ground.
To get the benefit, remember to keep your butt down. Check out the page to see how to do them right.
The what?
If you've never seen a turkish get up before, it's going to look a little funny. Heck, it sounds a little funny. But it's an outstanding exercise that works all parts of the body. It's great for the whole body, and it is especially effective for working the core.
The Bear Crawl is fun to do (for a little while), and works muscles the whole way up and down the body. Just start on your hands and knees, lift up to your toes, brace your abs, and start walking like a bear.
While you're doing the bear crawl, you will start to feel it in your shoulders, hips, and glutes. And then for the next few days you'll wonder why your claves are so sore.
This is an outstanding full body exercise that fits into any workout where you have a little bit of room to move. If you think it feels silly and too easy at first, keep going. It won't be too long before you start to get it.
A few of these exercises and a few sprints will give you all of the fat burning you need in a workout.
Think about something as simple as 10 sets of 10 burpees and a 50 yard sprint.
Or if you want to have some and mess with your friends, do some Turkish Get Ups while you are waiting in line at Starbucks.
Let me know if you
have some full body exercises that you think would fit in here. The only stipulation is they have to be boot
camp fitness appropriate. In other words
something that requires little to no equipment – something we could go to the park
right now and start doing. In fact, we should make some up.
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