Ready for an AWESOME Fast Bodyweight Workout?!

Is it possible to do a fast workout that uses your own bodyweight?  Check out this quick and simple bodyweight workout you can do from anywhere, at any time, and lose weight fast.

by Ed Scow, NSCA-CPT (aka The Fit Dad) - Fitness and Nutrition Expert to the true superheroes - busy Moms and Dads! and Author of Fat Loss To Go

There are certain aspects of workouts that I love…

…and others that I absolutely hate.

For instance, I hate running.  I hate it with a passion.  Okay, that’s overstating.  I don’t hate it with a passion, but I do greatly dislike running.  If it were on Facebook, I would 'unlike' it - if that were possible....ah scratch that, I actually do hate running.

I also don’t like silly workouts.  Dancing, doing 50,000 reps of one exercise, doing one exercise for an entire song (I've heard of classes where people do triceps extensions for 3 minutes!!!), saying that an ancient cannon ball with a handle is the best dad-gum thing since sliced bread (for the record, I do like kettle bells...but they're just a tool in a quality workout)…none of those sit well with me.

You know what I love?

Short and sweet workouts.

Workouts that respect yours and my time.

Workouts that seem to say "Hey there kind and jovial person, I like you and want you to get some fine and dandy results, but that still let you get on with your day, spend more time with the kiddos and kick it (that’s relax for the un-hip)."

Those workouts are my homeboy (or homegirl depending upon your point of view).

Want to know one of my all-time favorite bodyweight workouts?

It only involves 2 exercises and it’s pretty dang sweet.

Fast and Easy Bodyweight Workout

I call it the Push-up and Squat Ladder.

I don’t know if I invented it, but I’m laying claim because I’ve been doing (and making unsuspecting clients do it) for years.

Like I said, this sweet little butt-kicking workout only involves 2 exercises and those are push-ups and bodyweight squats.

You can choose whichever type of push-up you like and I suppose you could use resistance for the squats, but you have to use PERFECT form and the weights used must NOT interfere with tempo because you need to be able to move quickly between the push-ups and squats.

This isn't supposed to be a workout that takes a long time and it's supposed to be done with the least amount of rest possible - so don't do back squats.  If you want to use resistance, use dumbbells or kettlebells.

First do a quick full-body warm-up and then proceed into…

1 push-up, followed immediately by 1 Squat.

Then do 2 push-ups and 2 squats.

Then 3 and 3, then 4 and 4, etc. until you get all the way up to 10 push-ups and 10 squats.

But you’re not done yet!

Now you have to go all the way back down to 1 in the same manner – going from 10/10 to 9/9 to 8/8…until you get to 1/1

It feels fantastic when you’re done, especially knowing that you just completed 110 squats and 110 push-ups.

This bodyweight workout can also be a type of "Challenge" workout because you can time yourself and try to beat your time from week-to-week and increase the intensity in push-ups by doing more advanced versions.

Actually one of the things I like to do is pick a very advanced type of push-up like Decline Spiderman Push-ups, to do for the lower rep ranges and do normal push-ups for the higher rep ranges.  Doing this increases the intensity for the more "advanced" exercisers out there.

Have fun with it!

Having fun and changing things up is what makes a good workout tick.

If you hate it, you won’t do it.

Make sense?

Gotta run!

Talk to you soon and have an awesome day!

The preceding article was written by Ed Scow, aka "The Fit Dad". To learn more about Ed's story, click here.