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| BJ Gaddour's Your Body is Your Barbell |
Sorry for being a day late for this Monday Musings! I was spending the weekend with my parents, then worked on my friend's CV so was pinched for time!
INTRODUCTION
I purchased BJ Gaddour's Your Body is Your Barbell, as I noticed that even at the relatively inexpensive price of Planet Fitness, the fact that it's less than 1 mile from my house (0.9 miles per Google map), staff and members are friendly and fun to talk to, AND it's open 24 hours/7 days a week, I still wasn't consistently attending.
The fact that I don't have nearly as many responsibilities as most people, and still can't go to a gym that's so pleasant and convenient (technically I can walk to the gym), I now know why so many people end up not using their memberships.
Indeed, how can someone who is way more busy than me, one who has a family with children to take care of, with full-time work, make it to the gym 4 to 5 times a week? Especially if the gym doesn't have baby sitting?
Therefore, I researched into home gyms, and the key concept I got regarding home exercises is to use your body weight, instead of purchasing clunky and expensive gym equipment such as benches, squat/barbell racks and the like. I fell upon this book after reading many Amazon reviews on the subject. I wanted to find a set of exercises that you can do anywhere at anytime, with no special equipment.
I believe that a lot of users recommend Gaddour's book because it's so easy to follow, and he has a weekly program that you can follow without thinking!
There are only 8 exercises that he lists, but for each one, he lists ground zero through superhero, and by these variations, you can make things harder or easier. At any fitness level, you can be sure that you can do the easiest. If you can't do the easiest exercise variations due to pain or significant weakness, you must see your doctor to evaluate and treat.
On the flip side, for those who are able to do the hardest variations of all the exercises listed possible with perfect form, without batting an eyelash, then you should move to getting a gym membership to incorporate weights.
To get to that point, you have to be extremely dedicated, consistent and have enough time to get that strong. Surely, if you're at that level, having a gym membership will NOT go to waste and you'll be spending your money wisely.
Indeed, if you're truly that strong and/or want aesthetics, and you have the time, dedication and resources, the ideal situation is to join a gym, incorporate body weight exercises along with free weights, barbells and machines to supplement, as per all the professional body builders' recommendations. But for the average person with children, school and work, who has the time and dedication for that?
Further, all we ever really need in life is functional strength, so body weight exercises are more than adequate. We may never be Mr. and Mrs. Olympia following this book's program, but who cares?
If you can do the books' program which includes self-assisted single-arm handstand push-ups and pull-ups, single-leg squats with perfect form and controlled breathing, and so forth, you can negotiate anything that life throws at you.
The fact that you can do all of this at home with no cost, there's really no excuse. Further, he even recommends NOT wearing any shoes, so you can stand with more awareness of your weight being equally balanced on your large and small toes, and heels (tripod foot position). It's easier to shift your weight appropriately when you're barefooted rather than with shoes.
In other words, you can do these exercises the first thing you do when you wake up, since you don't need shoes.
RECOMMENDATIONS
First, read pages 38 to 43 to make sure you have good posture.
The general gist is to do controlled movements, 4 seconds up and 4 seconds down.
Mr. Gaddour lists many types of programs that you can do that suits your need, but the easiest one to start out with (no planning needed) is on page 192. This is the Level 1 Ground Zero program x 28 days, advancing up to Level 5 Superhero. Each level is 28 days.
For the pull-up exercises, Gaddour recommends using your door, and putting something underneath for support. However, that seems like it may rip the doors off your hinge if your hinges aren't strong enough. I think you can just grip your door frame's jamb. In fact, being able to do a pull-up with just your fingers gripping this thin ledge is much harder than wrapping your fingers around a bar.
However, I can't even do a proper hang with my finger tips, so I invested in a bar like this years ago (no assembly required which is a plus), that you can place over door frame. It's $25.28 on Amazon, which is the cost of 2 months basic membership at Planet Fitness. I believe most Americans can afford, but if you can't, you'll just get stronger than the rest of us using finger tip grip to do pull-ups!
For parents with children and working full-time, don't be a perfectionist! You can squeeze in 1 minute of one of the exercises, throughout the day. There's really no need to do all 9 exercises x 3 cycles in one sitting! I'm sure you can find 9 minutes during your waking hours which will cover one cycle of all the exercises he mentions (including calf raises).
I mentioned 9 exercises (instead of his big 8), because I think calf exercises should be included in the book, which they weren't. I would add calf raises which you can easily do on stairs. I would do 20 each, alternating legs for 3 sets, if time permits. One set is perfectly fine.
Indeed, doing something is better than nothing, and if you seriously can do pull-ups x 1 minute straight even just one cycle, I would say that you have functional strength.
The book recommends doing the routine every other day, such as Mon, Wed, Fri.
Alternatively, you can do an 8-minute workout on pages 212 to 213 if you have 8 straight minutes to spare. Again, Mr. Gaddour has multiple programs to suit your needs.
As for aerobic exercise, go to page 258 for a 20 minute workout, which includes 8 full-body movements such as jumping jacks and other movements that don't seem to stress the knee. I can see people finding jumping jacks might cause some knee pain, in which case, you can skip that and double up on one of the other 7 exercises.
Because of studies that show 13 minutes of moderate cardio reaps 90% of the cardiovascular benefits of 30 to 45 minutes, you can even reduce this 20 minute workout to 13 minutes. Or take fast walks with your children up and down hills/stairs.
If you have toddlers, merely running after them will do the trick, bypassing any need for routine cardio sessions. I was out of breath running after a toddler who bolted out of my office and into stairwell, and that was just one of many incidents that you'll face as a parent.
With infants, when they're napping, you can squeeze in a cardio session.
Even if your gym membership is $10/month, it still saves $120/year. If $10/month doesn't sound like much, it can pay for 2 Twitch subscriptions of your favorite streamers!
After I finish the Level 1 Ground Zero program (4 weeks), I'll update in terms of results!
(However, since I'm fortunate enough to have a stepmill bought about 15 years ago--probably my best purchase decision--I'll be substituting that as it's easier to just go on the machine and listen to music).
TL/DR: If you're crunched for time and just starting out, I recommend reading the section on proper posture on pages 38 to 43, and then start your exercise program right away by going to page 192. Add calf raises to do on your stairs, 20 reps each leg x 3 sets (or 1 set if you don't have time), alternating legs.
You can spread out these weight lifting exercises over the course of the day. But if you have the time to do them in one session, that's ideal. Try to do these weight lifting activities three times a week such as Mon, Wed, Fri.
Alternatively, you can do the 8-minute body weight program listed on pages 212 to 213.
Go to page 258 for your cardio workouts x 13 mins minimum.
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