7 Best Bodyweight Training Articles

1) The martial arts is one discipline that has known about the value of bodyweight exercises for sometime. If you are learning Judo or Karate "pretty" muscle does not help you at all. Functional muscle is what it's all about. When I used to take Judo I remember a few times a few bodybuilder types would come in and try and take a class. After 30 seconds of practice they would have absolutely nothing left. The smallest guy in the room would take them apart. At any rate this is an excellent article on bodyweight exercises from the Korean Taekwondo site. Not only does it outline a lot of great exercises but it also provides some sample workouts as well. Check it out:

http://koreantaekwondo.tripod.com/articles/exercises.htm

2) Building an Olympic Body through bodyweight conditioning. - Christopher Sommer is a former gymnast and current gymnastic coach. I've read a book he's written about gymnastics and bodyweight exercises and he really knows his stuff. This article really does into detail about how gymnasts approach bodyweight exercises and the benefits they derive from it. Be warned though. These exercises are TOUGH. You should read this article to get inspired, not to get discouraged. Remember that for most of us it is not necessary to get in gymnastic shape. However, if you are even in 10% as good as good a shape as a gymnast you are dong well.

http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/229

3) Liveawesome.com is Kevin Gianni's site. I believe he focuses on natural, organic vegan eating for the most part. However he was a personal trainer so he also knows the value of bodyweight workouts. In this article he outlines a number of bodyweight exercises that anyone can do. Well worth taking a look at:

http://www.liveawesome.com/public/department58.cfm

4) The Monkey Bar Gymnasium is a great website that takes natural workouts to a whole new level. Jon actually owns physical gyms where you can crawl and, well, act like a monkey to your hearts content. The entire website is filled with great information. However the article below on 3 reasons to start bodyweight training article is that one that really caught my eye. As Kevin says, there no reason not to start NOW!

http://www.monkeybargym.com/dont-wait-to-start-your-bodyweight-training-three-compelling-reasons-to-start-now.html

5) If bodybuilders recognize the value of bodyweight exercises. At bodybuilding.com Mike Mahler has written a great article on bodyweight training with the focus on exercises that build size and strength. The article is really informative and there are a lot of pictures to go along with it. Worth a look:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mahler57.htm

6) Bodyweight Training VS Weight Training: A Martial Artist's Perspective

This is another article on the value of bodyweight training from a martial artist's perspective. In this article the author goes into great detail as to what the advantages are to bodyweight workouts from his martial arts experience. He also includes lots of samples of individual exercises as well as full body workouts to try. This guy knows what he is talking about.

http://www.hesfit.com/men/comment/bodyweight-training-vs-weight-training-a-martial-artists-perspective

7) This last one is a blog I found on bodyweight workouts. Although it hasn't been updated for awhile the information contained on the page is timeless. Once again there are a lot of pictures and as it's a wordpress blog the site navigation is simple too.

http://bodyweightworkout.wordpress.com/

Well, that's it. Those are the top 7 bodyweight training articles I've found on the web. As a bonus I've included some great videos below as well. Reading about bodyweight exercises is helpful. However actually seeing people doing them can be extremely valuable as well. Of course, nothing beats you actually doing them yourself, so make sure you try some of these workouts as well. At the end of the day you won't get any results from reading watching. It's only what you actually DO that counts.