Kipping vs Strict Muscle Up: It’s All About the Transition

The Kipping Muscle Up versus the Strict Muscle Up: Which is better?  Well, they’re different.  Not better, not worse, just different.  I honestly don’t care which one you choose to perform, but I do have a strong opinion on which one you should focus on learning first.  But no matter which one you choose as …

Hand Maintenance for the Bodyweight Athlete

If you’re into bodyweight training, you’re no doubt spending a lot of time on your hands. And while we might not normally pay them a lot of attention, your hands are kind of a big deal.  In fact, a quarter of the motor cortex in the human brain (the part of the brain that controls …

Mastering the Single-Arm Push-Up

The Single-Arm Push-Up is frequently cited as a prime example of bodyweight strength and prowess. But if you’ve begun the road to mastering this skill you know that it is a lot more than just strength: it requires an amazing amount of coordination and stability. And when done properly, it is the result of dedication …

Review: Ultimate Athleticism by Max Shank

At Global Bodyweight Training we hear from people every day who want to start bodyweight training, but don’t want to give up their weight lifting. “Do I need to start training this way 100% of the time in order to get good at it?” is one of our most frequent questions, right up there with …

The 6-Point Pull-Up: Making Use of the Cable-System Pull-Up Bar

The 6-Point Pull-Up Variation is a great sequence of pull and chin ups that I put together to make use of the typical Pull-Up bar set up you find on most cross-over cable columns. I began doing this while trying to make the most of spotty access to good pull-up bars when traveling so much …

The Walking Pistol Squat: For Even More Complexity and Balance!

The pistol squat is the essential leg exercise for the Bodyweight Athlete. For strength and stability there’s no other movement that compares. The Walking Pistol Squat takes your pistol training to a whole other level. The mechanics of this movement create a serious balance challenge as well as some hip and ankle mobility. Check out …

The Hip Hinge Forearm Push Up: Bodyweight Leveraging at its Best!

The Hip Hinge Forearm Push-Up is another great bodyweight conditioning movement that serves as an awesome exercise by itself, while also preparing your body for more advanced progressions. The human body is an incredible network of levers that act together to create movement in all directions. We can change the leverage at a joint to …

Turtle Freeze: Put Some BBoy Style in Your Hand Balancing!

The Turtle Freeze is a staple hand balancing move in break dancing. But it’s more than just a fun dance move – it’s also an incredible exercise for creating total body tension as well as wrist, shoulder and trunk stability. This week we stopped by the practice spot of our boy Kevin “New Cre” Sanchez …

The Archer Push-Up: You’ll Love This Variation!

This week’s exercise brings us back to a Horizontal “Pushing” Pattern (ie Push-Up category): The Archer Push-Up, which is a great total body exercise that is also helpful for training for a Single-Arm Push-Up. In most cases if I asked someone to get down and perform a Single-Arm Push-Up (SAPU), what I usually see is …

On Being a Bodyweight Athlete: Interview with Mike Fitch by FitMole

Here at Global Bodyweight Training, we call ourselves “The Home of the Bodyweight Athlete.” I use the name Bodyweight Athlete because it encompasses so much, covering many incredible disciplines and practices that differ in style, but share the same focus on movement and exercise using only your body and gravity. I’ll be writing a lot …

Pike Push-Up: Building Strength for the Handstand Push-Up

I have to say the Pike Push-Up is one of my favorite bodyweight training exercises! Not only is it great for building rock hard shoulders, but it’s going to be your “go to” exercise while working your way up to the Handstand Push-Up. Make sure to check out the video tutorial below for step-by-step instructions …

Learning the Kipping Muscle-Up: The Complete Lead-Up Exercise Series

In the realm of bodyweight training, being able to perform a Muscle Up is like a badge of honor. And rightfully so: there are few exercises that require so much strength, power and skill. Learning the Muscle-Up is a serious challenge, so we’ve broken it down into a four-part series of lead-up exercises, which we’ve …

Lead-Up Exercises to Muscle-Up: Part 3 The Muscle-Up Dip

The Muscle-Up Dip is an important piece of the puzzle in learning to do a full Muscle-Up. This week’s video is the third exercise in our four-part series leading up to the Muscle-Up, so if you’ve been following along by now you should be almost all the way there! This particular exercise addresses the incredibly …

Bodyweight Training: The Most Powerful Tool You’re Most Likely Not Utilizing is YOU!

Make his ex wife jealous Bodyweight Training can be integrated into other kinds of workouts with fantastic results. That?s why I?m really psyched to bring you this post from the one and only Matt Pack, who I asked to tell us a little about how he integrates bodyweight training at his multi discipline gym, Primal …

Lead-Up Exercises to Muscle-Up: Part 2 The Kipping Pull-Up

Welcome to Part-Two of our series, “Lead Up Exercises to the Muscle-Up”! This week’s exercise is the Kipping Pull-Up, an absolutely essential technique in learning the first phase of the Kipping Muscle Up. As I had mentioned in Part 1, you will strive to use less and less momentum or “kip” as your technique improves, …

Swiss Ball Push-Up with Single-Leg Jackknife

There are few bodyweight training tools as versatile as the Swiss Ball, and this week’s exercise, the Swiss Ball Push-Up with Single-Leg Jacknife, takes full advantage of the possibilities. This exercise is a fantastic integration of a pushing pattern with an advanced trunk exercise, and fits perfectly in the GBT System. The entire GBT system …

Lead-Up Exercises to Muscle-Up: Part 1 The Jumping Muscle-Up

Few exercises rival the full body challenge of the Muscle-Up. In order to help you achieve your first Muscle-Up, we’ve put together this four-part video series that breaks it down into three lead-up exercises. And I’m sure that once you get your first full Muscle-Up done, it will be all you want to do for …

The Single-Arm Ring Push-Up: The Ultimate Progression!

The Single Arm Push-Up is an impressive feat of strength all on its own; add in the instability of the gymnastic ring, and you’ve got yourself an incredibly challenging exercise that can topple even the toughest exercisers. The single arm push-up in any form is great for improving your strength, stability, and endurance. Note that …

How Do You Use the Animal Flow Workout?

One of the questions I get asked the most is how to incorporate animal movement exercises like the Animal Flow Workout into bodyweight training and fitness routines. So I’m really excited to write this post providing more information about what the Animal Flow workout is (and what it is not!) with some explanations about the …

The Best Body Row Progressions for Total Back Development

Body rows are great bodyweight exercises for developing your back muscles. And you’d be surprised at how many variations you can do, making them progressively more difficult by allowing you to take a higher percentage of your weight or by changing the leverage. In this week’s video I’ll take you through four progressions, so that …