This is long overdue, and for that I apologize, but here’s the Ultimate Exercise Substitutions List.

Feel free to add your suggestions or follow up questions below, and we’ll keep building this out as a  great resource.

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Exercise Substitutions

For Squats –> You can do split squats, lunges, step-ups, reaching lunges, 1-leg deadlifts, or 1-leg hip extensions

For DB Incline Press –> You can do DB Chest Press, DB Floor Press, DB Standing 1-Arm Shoulder Press, Dips with Knee-ups

For DB Chest Supported Row -> You can do DB Row, BB Row, Seated Row, DB Renegade Rows, DB Rear Deltoid Raise

For Dips with Knees-up –> Any version of close-grip pushup, DB Floor Press, DB Close-grip Press, DB Close-grip Floor press

For DB Chest Presses (of any kind) -> You can do one of these:

- pushups
- close-grip pushups
- decline pushup
- elevated pushups
- off-set pushups
- pushups with your feet on the ball
- pushups with your hands on the ball
- spiderman pushups
- pike pushups
- or possibly the hardest two hand pushup of them all, decline close-grip spiderman pushups

For DB Split Squats -> You can do:

- 1-leg lying hip extensions for beginners
- high-rep Bulgarian split squats for advanced
- high-rep split squats with your front foot elevated 4-6 inches for intermediate
- 1-leg deadlifts
- 1-leg squats onto bench
- 1-leg squats standing on the bench
- deepstep-ups
- reaching lunges

For DB Rows -> Using the smith machine, you can do…
- inverted rows
- underhand inverted rows
- inverted rows with your feet on the ball
- inverted rows holding the ends of a towel hung over the bar (advanced grip strength there!)

For DB Rows -> Using the pullup bar, you can do…
- eccentric pull-ups
- regular pull-ups
- sternum pull-ups
- chinups
- side to side pull-ups

Not strong enough for Stability Ball Leg Curls -> You can do:
- Lying hip extensions and 1-leg hip extensions
- Then progress into hip extensions with feet on the ball.

If you have pain during squats & Lunges -> You can do:
- lying 1-leg hip extensions

For Step-Ups -> You can do:
- 1-leg hip extensions

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Have other ideas or questions?

Please comment below.

To your success,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

Last April I was in Vegas, attending a seminar…and also there to meet a real-life James Bond to discuss some non-fitness related business ventures.

He is an international man.

This guy travels to a new country on an almost weekly basis. He charms the ladies with ease. He dresses in sharp, tailored suits, and he invests in exclusive property deals all over the world. He goes by the name “Simon”, although legend has it that is not his real name…

Plus, “Simon” was former elite soldier in the US Army, and one of the first to put boots on the ground during the invasion of Iraq, and to top that all off, he’s a fitness freak.

I had a chance to train with “Simon” that weekend in one of the simple hotel gyms on the Vegas strip, and he did bodyweight exercises that I had never witnessed.

One of the most impressive was a bodyweight spin.

I’ve only seen one other fitness expert since use this exercise, and that is Adam Steer – The Bodyweight Coach – more about him in a minute.

My friend Simon did this exercise using a smith machine, and started out as if he were going to do a classic bench dip-like move.

But then he pushed up explosively, spun his body, and landed in the pushup position with his hands on the bar. He immediately absorbed the force and loaded his muscles like a spring to shoot back to the start position.

He did this movement over and over again, coiling and uncoiling his abs, giving them a truly unique workout…that would probably cause quite a bit of soreness in any “new recruit”.

I can only imagine how Simon trained while he was a commando, hidden away in the desert of the Middle East.

Those soldiers must be truly unique and creative with their training when they have no fancy equipment to use.

In fact, a lack of bodyweight workouts is one of the major downfalls of commercial gyms.

People end up using too many machines and eliminating unique ab work from their exercises – and that’s why so many guys have weak “cores” and lack the six-pack abs and diagonal lower abs that guys like me, Simon, and Adam Steer have from bodyweight movements.

Fortunately, there is a solution for getting a fit, lean, ripped body that will turn a girl’s head.

(Personally, I think its a soldier’s physique that helps him get the girls, not just the uniform.)

As I mentioned, there’s a bodyweight exercise coach named Adam Steer who has shown me some very cool workouts…and he teamed up with another bodyweight coach who is an insider training adviser to elite combat units all over the world.

This combat bodyweight coach, Scott Sonnon, is releasing his TACFIT
Commando workout today, giving you the secrets that are being used right now by Spec Ops personnel around the world to maintain chiseled physiques and constant mission readiness.

And since I know words cannot do these exercises justice, you’ll also get a complete Video Instructional Library where Coach Sonnon teaches you every exercise for every workout in the TACFIT program.

Plus, you also have the option to get FOLLOW-ALONG Videos of each and every workout. You can even put them on your Ipod.

=> Click here to get a warrior’s body with these workouts

Become a lean, chiseled warrior in the gym,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

No weights? No problem…we’re going to cover the Ultimate Advanced Bodyweight Workout this week…but first, I was sharing this goal setting tip the other week with my private trainer’s coaching group…

“Put down your goals in writing – carry the biggest ones with you in your pocket to remind you of the right path at all times (I do this). Put down your workouts on paper so you know what to do when you go to the gym. Write down everything you eat – relying on your memory will fail you. Review this information frequently to keep you on track.”

Click here to hear more about that tip on this week’s fat loss podcast

I also added the “TT Adrenaline” workout this week…busy week…crazy challenge in that program.

And for more motivation, make sure you visit my Facebook page…I send out tips every morning.

Click here to join me on Facebook

Now let’s get transforming your body…

Monday – Feb 1st

Transformation Tip of the Week:

“To live an extraordinary life you must resist an ordinary approach” – Frank McKinney.

For fat loss, this means NOT doing the same things as everyone else in the office (i.e. bringing in donuts, eating fast food, going to bed late and running late in the morning). Instead, you need to plan, shop, and prepare for your meals and stick to a workout schedule – be consistent and you’ll achieve extraordinary results

And remember, if you want REALLY advanced results, you must take advanced measures…you can’t expect to coast to single digit body fat. So stay strong!

Speaking of strong…this week’s workout shows you how to get strong with the Ultimate TT Bodyweight Workout…it uses the toughest bodyweight exercises I could do…

Advanced TT Bodyweight July 2007 – Workout A

1A) 1-arm Pushup or Assisted 1-Arm Pushups – 1 rep per arm (2-0-1)
Start with weak arm first. Rest 15 seconds between arms. Move to 1B without rest.
1B) 1-Leg Deadlift – 8 reps (2-0-1)
Rest 1 minute before going continuing through the following sequence.

In set 2, do 2 reps per arm for pushups & 8 reps for the deadlift.
In set 3, do 3 reps per arm for pushups & 8 reps for the deadlift.
In set 4, do 2 reps per arm for pushups & 8 reps for the deadlift.
In set 5, do 1 rep per arm for pushups. There are no more deadlifts.

Superset #2
2A) Backpack Pull-up – 8 reps (2-0-1)
No rest.
2B) Stability Ball Leg Curl – 20 reps (1-0-1)
Rest 1 minute before repeating 2 more times for a total of 3 supersets.

Superset #3
3A) Close-grip Pike Pushup – 15 reps (2-0-1)
No rest.
3B) Underhand Bodyweight Rows – 15 reps (1-0-1)
Rest 1 minute before repeating 2 more times for a total of 3 supersets.

Superset #4
4A) Pike – As many reps as possible (2-0-1)
No rest.
4B) Spiderman Pushups – 12 reps per side (1-0-1)
Rest 30 seconds before repeating 2 more times for a total of 3 supersets.

Tuesday
Get 30 minutes of fun activity – and let’s do this week’s research review – Two “weird” things women must do for weight loss…

Researchers at Harvard Medical School studied 4456 females for several years regarding their weight-control behaviors, including dietary approaches and physical activity.

During 4 y of follow-up, participants gained an average of 3.3 kg.

However, two things helped them gain less weight:

1) Exercising 5d/week – so stay active on your off days
2) Limiting portion sizes – a simple tip here is to use smaller plates when eating

Researchers concluded that “physical activity is a necessary strategy for long-term weight control. Combining dietary weight-control approaches with physical activity is the most effective method for reducing weight gain”

Reference:
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 91, No. 1, 147-153, January 2010
Weight-control behaviors and subsequent weight change among adolescents and young adult females

Wednesday

Advanced TT Bodyweight July 2007 – Workout B

1A) Pistols or 1-leg Squats onto Bench – 2 reps per leg (2-0-1)
Start with weak leg first. Rest 15 seconds between legs. Move to 1B without rest.
1B) Decline Pushup – 20 reps (2-0-1)
Rest 1 minute before going continuing through the following sequence.

In set 2, do 4 reps per leg of 1A & 20 reps for 1B.
In set 3, do 6 reps per leg of 1A, but skip 1B.
In set 4, do 8 reps per leg of 1A & 20 reps for 1B.
In set 5, do 4 reps per leg of 1A & 20 reps for 1B.
In set 6, do 2 reps per leg of 1A, and skip 1B.

2A) Partner-Assisted Glute-Ham Raise or 1-leg RDL – 8 reps (3-0-1)
No rest.
2B) 1-Arm Inverted Row – As Many Reps as Possible (1-0-1)
Rest 30 seconds and repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 supersets.

3A) Bulgarian Split Squat – 8 reps (2-2-1)
No rest.
3B) Stability Ball Ab Rollout – 15 reps (3-0-1)
Rest 30 seconds and repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 supersets.

4A) 1-leg Stability Ball Leg Curl– 8 reps (1-1-1)
No rest.
4B) Stability Ball Plank – 45 seconds
Rest 30 seconds and repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 supersets.

Thursday
Do 30 minutes of fun activity or the interval training workout below…

Also, take 5 minutes and plan out your weekend of activity and your meals. That way, things won’t start bad and go downhill from there. Then spend another 10 minutes planning out next week, identifying obstacles that might get in your way, and then write down 2 solutions for every obstacle. This will save you a lot of stress.

Advanced TT Bodyweight July 2007 – Interval Training Circuit
Interval Warm-up – 5 minutes at a moderate pace

Interval #1 (60 seconds at 8/10 intensity level)
Without rest, do 20 pushups
Rest 1 minute before moving to Interval #2.

Interval #2 (60 seconds at 8/10 intensity level).
Without rest, do a side plank (30 seconds per side)
Rest 1 minute before moving to Interval #3.

Interval #3 (60 seconds at 8/10 intensity level).
Without rest, do 20 bodyweight squats.
Rest 1 minute before repeat Intervals 1-3 one more time each.

Friday

Advanced TT Bodyweight July 2007 – Workout C

1A) 1-Arm Chin-up with “finger assistance from the other hand” – 1 rep per arm (1-0-1)
Start with weak arm first. Rest 15 seconds between arms. Move to 1B without rest.
1B) Split Squat with Front Foot Elevated – 12 reps (2-0-1)
Rest 1 minute before going continuing through the following sequence.

In set 2, do 2 reps per arm of 1A & 12 reps for 1B.
In set 3, do 3 reps per arm of 1A, but skip 1B.
In set 4, do 4 reps per arm of 1A & 12 reps for 1B.
In set 5, do 3 reps per arm of 1A, but skip 1B.
In set 6, do 2 reps per arm of 1A & 12 reps for 1B.
In set 7, do 1 rep per arm of 1A, and skip 1B.

2A) Pushup with Hands on Ball – 20 reps (1-0-1)
No rest.
2B) Stability Ball 1-Leg Jackknife – (2-0-1)
Rest 1 minute and repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 sets.

3A) Inverted Bodyweight Row with Feet on Ball – Max Reps (1-0-1)
No rest.
3B) Jump Squat – 6 reps (1-0-1)
No rest.
3C) Mountain Climber with Hands on Ball – 10 reps per side (1-0-1)
Rest 1 minute and repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 tri-sets.

Social Support Saturday!
30 minutes
More challenges this year…and TT Addiction comes out in a few months

Advanced TT Bodyweight July 2007 – Crazy 8 Circuit
Do exercises 1-4 without resting between each.
Rest 1 minute.
Do exercises 5-8 without resting between each.
Rest 1 minute.
Repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 “Crazy 8 Bodyweight Circuits”.

1) Burpees (10 reps)
2) Pushups (30 reps)
3) Squats (30 reps)
4) Mountain Climbers (15 reps per side)

5) Jumping Jacks (100 reps)
6) Alternating Forward Lunges (15 reps per side)
7) Bodyweight Rows (15 reps)
8] Close-grip Pushups (20 reps)

Sunday – Plan, Shop & Prepare
30 minutes activity and plan, shop, & prepare…

Here’s a tip…

“Keep your healthiest foods at eye level. Whether in your cupboard or fridge, what you see first is typically what you’re going to eat, especially at snack times. Don’t hide the fruits and veggies in a drawer…keep ‘em in front of your face, where they’ll be saying, “eat me!”
Rob Poulos, www.FatBurningFurnace.com

Next week!
TT Workout: DB-KB-BW (August 2007)
Cheat Meal Rules
Weekly Research Review – The Deadly Diet

Have a great weekend,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

In the next few months as I travel to Miami, Vegas, and New York City, I know that I’ll be doing a lot of bodyweight workouts in hotels, on the beach, and even in parks.

So I better be prepared with lots of exercises and a variety of ways to train to keep getting results.

That got me thinking about the best bodyweight workout tips I had, and also reminded me to ask Adam Steer – the Bodyweight Coach – as well.

Here’s what I came up with…

Tip #1

One of my favorite bodyweight exercise tips came from my buddy Jay
Ferruggia, who recommended that whenever possible, we choose a
bodyweight exercise over a free weight exercise for assistance lifts.

For example, if you are training to increase your squat, Jay would suggest using single leg bodyweight movements, Glute-Ham Raises and Back Extensions as follow up exercises.

Tip #2

One of the best – yet simplest – bodyweight exercise tips I can give you, is to
give up the treadmill warm-up and replace it with a circuit of 5-8
different bodyweight exercises that simultaneously prep and stretch
your muscles for exercise.

You will be much more prepared for your workout this way.

Tip #3

Another bodyweight tip of mine is to use the “1 & 1/2 reps” method to make bodyweight exercises harder. I got this idea from John Romaniello.

For example, in the Bulgarian Split Squat, you’d lower yourself into the bottom position (see photo at right), then come halfway up, and then go back down and THEN all the way back up.

That’s one (painful) rep. Do 12-15.

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And since so many of you were loving Adam Steer’s video from Monday, I asked him for 6 more bodyweight exercise tips…

1. For maximum metabolic effect, do this “Top Down” bodyweight circuit:

- 30 secs Push Ups
- 30 secs V-ups
- 30 secs Jump Squats without rest.

Do 3-5 of these circuits with 30 seconds rest between each circuit.

2. Use isometric (static) holds to build muscle with bodyweight exercise.

Grab the top of a push up position and lower half way to the bottom.
Hold that for at least 30 secs and up to 70 secs. Do 2-3 sets with
60 seconds rest.

3. Ditch the treadmill and use bodyweight training instead.

String 5-7 of your favorite bodyweight exercises together–1 rep each–and do that “Flow” over and over for as long as you would have spent on that boring treadmill.

4. Use bodyweight “drop sets” for a brutal workout. Try this:

Do 30-60 secs of a wall sit, then go straight into 10-12 reps of alternating rear lunges. The wall sit toast your quads, but the lunges add some help from the glutes and hams so you can keep going a bit longer.

5. Super heroes don’t ignore their lats–the big muscles in your back–and neither should you.

But what can you do if you have absolutely NO equipment?

The Superman.

Start in either a standard push up position or from the knees. Then walk your hands out overhead as far as you can go and hold. The lats have to do some serious work to maintain that position.

6. Have some fun with your bodyweight training.

Pick your 5 favorite exercises.

You’ll do one rep of each–that’s one round of your “Flow”–and then return to the start without rest. But don’t just throw the exercises together.

Spend some time playing with the transitions and reordering the exercises until you’ve got the smoothest “Flow” you can create.

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Thanks to Adam and Jay.

Feel the flow with bodyweight exercises,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

In a recent post, I covered 3 top fitness predictions, but now I want to complete my top 10 list by covering ab exercises, the best equipment piece of 2K10, and more.

So here are the remainder of my fearless predictions…

7. Metabolic Resistance Training will be the training buzzword of the year

Weight training circuits, Turbulence Training, Afterburn Training – all of these have been known for years, but more and more we’ll see the phrase, Metabolic Resistance Training (MRT) used to describe this broad field of training.

Of course, that also means that MRT will be defined differently by almost every trainer…leading to some confusion among fitness readers.

However, on the bright side, we’ll see more fun, exciting, challenging, and super-effective metabolic resistance training programs hit the scene next year – giving you a ton of options for a fat burning, bodysculpting workout. If you love these types of workouts, 2010 is going to be a dream come true for you.

8. More fat loss programs will include jump training

For over a decade cutting-edge trainers have spoken up loudly for the need to include multi-muscle, total-body, intense exercises in fat burning programs, and in the last 5 years we’ve seen a shift to doing as much bodyweight exercise as possible in order to get a lean, athletic physique.

And so finally, jump training – the epitome of multi-muscle, intense, bodyweight exercise – is about to become more mainstream in fat burning programs.

Of course, jump training should only be done by those who are physically capable, but once that hurdle has been overcome, then jumps can and should be used as a powerful, efficient way of working the body to burn calories, put turbulence on the muscles, and possibly even light up the fire of the afterburn to consume fat and calories during the recovery period.

9. More people will be alerted to dangers of bad ab training

Men’s Health dedicated an entire training section to the dangers of crunches and have ran more than one article with advice from Dr. Stu McGill – the world’s expert on using planks, side planks, and bird dogs instead of crunches…

…but for some reason the world’s female fitness magazines still linger in the dark ages of crunches (and cardio – but that’s another story) and continue to give their readers bad advice on how to get abs without hurting their backs.

But I truly believe this will be the year that crunches become passé – UNLESS of course the bodypart specialization popularity rejuvenates the dead-end exercise known as crunches. I guess this will be the fitness battle of the year – will crunches stay or will they go – here’s hoping this is the end of the line for that next-to-useless exercise and more focus on good abdominal exercises.

10. No-Equipment will be the NEW-Equipment of the Year

Bodyweight training will have its biggest breakout year since it first started getting more popular back in 2004-2005.

Due to a tough economy and a decrease in time that people will have to workout, we’ll see more people abandoning traditional gym memberships and working out at home, in a park, or even their hotel room without a single piece of equipment.

Plus, you’ll see innovative trainers – such as Adam Steer, myself, Ross Enamait, and many others coming up with unique bodyweight programs, systems, and techniques that you never would have expected could compete with traditional weight training.

For those folks that don’t re-join the bodybuilding darkside (just kidding), you’ll see them pushing the envelope of how they can transform their bodies without a single piece of equipment.

Bonus Prediction 11.
The smartest trainers will combine all of these methods – including the proven tactics from over the years PLUS the latest and greatest techniques – to create the most effective workouts YOU could possibly have – in the least amount of time.

It’s going to be YOU – the fitness enthusiast – who wins BIG-TIME this year.

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But I’m not the only one who made fitness predictions for 2010. In our special report, you’ll also hear from Ferruggia, Pilon, Del Monte, and many more discussing over 30 groundbreaking fitness, diet, supplement, and muscle-building predictions, including…