06
Jun '09
Desert Island Bodyweight Workout
Ready for another NO equipment, desert-island, bodyweight bootcamp workout? Alright, let’s get started with this week’s 7-day fat loss plan…
Click here to listen to the fat loss call
First of all, our big news last week was the announcement of the June Diet Reconstruction Challenge…are you in? If not, go check out that blog post and tell me what ONE thing you are going to give up for the rest of June.
As I write this, I’m regretting having given up caffeine because I spent all day out in the sun and now I’m tired as I write this, trying to meet my Sunday morning deadline! Oh well, no cheating. Stay Strong!
Monday – June 8 – Top Transformation Tip: Test!
As usual, we start this week’s guide with our best transformation tip of the week. And this week I want you to focus on testing and measuring.
Every time you add something new to your plan, you need to test and measure and see if it works.
There are no failures, only good and bad tests. You should always be trying something new, monitoring your body’s response, and deciding whether or not that food or exercise belongs in your “tool box”. Do everything you can to learn more about your body. 
The more you know, the faster your success will be.
And this week’s program review comes from www.TTBootcamp.com – Get the Done-For-You Bodyweight Bootcamp Workouts you can do anywhere, anytime.
Workout A – Turbulence Training Bootcamp Workout #3 – TT Intermediate Intensity
Make sure to listen to the call for more details on all of the exercises and why I put the workout together in this order…Each exercise is done for 30 seconds.
Warm-up (30 seconds per exercise) – 10 minutes
Jumping Jacks
Prisoner Squat
Plank-to-Pushup
Cross Crawl
Waiter’s Bow
Shuffle
Rest 1 minute before repeating 1 more time.
TT Strength Circuit (30 seconds per exercise) – 5 minutes
Pushups
Split Squat (30 seconds per side)
Rest 1 minute before repeating 1 more time. 
TT Big 5 Conditioning Circuit (30 seconds per exercise) – 10 minutes
Chops
Close-grip Pushup
Stick-up
Reaching Lunge (30 seconds per side)
Side Plank (30 seconds per side)
Rest 2 minutes before repeating 1 more time.
Water Break – 1 minute
TT Depletion Circuit (30 seconds per exercise) – 10 minutes
Side-to-Side Jumps
Pushup
Y-Squat
Cross-Body Mountain Climber
Diagonal Lunge
Jumping Jacks
Rest 2 minutes before repeating 1 more time.
Water Break – 1 minute
TT Total Body Abs Circuit (30 seconds per exercise) – 5 minutes
Grasshopper Pushup – (check out the pushup variations video below for exercise technique)
Plank on 1-Foot (30 seconds per side)
Cross Crawl
Rest 1 minute before repeating 1 more time.
TT Fun-n-Games! – 5 minutes
Follow the leader
Cool-down, Stretching & Water Break – 10 minutes
If you are a trainer, your clients will love this workout…and you don’t have to haul around any equipment. And for those folks who aren’t trainers, this is a great workout you can do at the beach or in a hotel room with NO equipment.
Click here for 20 more NO equipment bodyweight workouts
Let me know how you like it!
Tuesday
Make sure you do 30 minutes of fun activity and then spend a bit of time “re-constructing” yourself.
Here’s what I’ve been doing lately…rolling my tight calves over a tennis ball. Roll it over the sore spots on your calves…it doesn’t feel good, but it works wonders, fast!
Wednesday
Here’s an important interval training tip…
Most people mess up intervals by working too hard during the recovery period. Make sure you take your intensity down to a 3/10 during the recovery so that you can work harder during the work interval.
Do not sacrifice interval quality just so you can “keep your heartrate up”. That’s cardio thinking, and we know that cardio isn’t the answer for fat loss.
Thursday
Do your 30 minutes of fun activity and consider including this basic “Re-construction Circuit” to work on some basics you might be neglecting. (Watch the video below for some basic exercise technique.)
- Plank
- Side Plank
- Bird Dog
- 1-leg hip extension
- Ball curl
Friday 
Here’s the last 6-minute abs workout I didn’t get to in last week’s fat loss plan.
Advanced System #4
- Do these exercises in superset fashion with no rest between exercises.
- Rest 30 seconds before repeating the superset one more time.
- Move immediately to the next superset without rest.
1A) Pull-up with Knee-up – 10 reps (2-0-1)
No rest.
1B) Side Plank – 45 second hold
Rest 30 seconds before repeating one more time.
2A) Stability Ball Jackknife – 20 reps per side (1-0-1)
No rest.
2B) Stability Ball Rollout – 10 reps (2-0-1)
Complete this superset one time only.
Click here for the rest of the 6-minute abs program
Social Support Saturday!
Give more than you receive!
Tell your friends about Turbulence Training and get a free month in the TT Membership. So if your friend signs up, just contact us through Turbulence Training and we’ll get you a free month.
Click here to take advantage of the Turbulence Training Referral Program
And finally…
Sunday – Plan, Shop & Prepare
Get your 30 minutes of activity and plan, shop, & prepare for the week ahead.
I’ll be making lots of vegetarian meals all week long as part of my Diet Reconstruction program. Last week when I had dinner with Jay Ferruggia and his girlfriend Jen, they made a big vegan feast that rivaled any steak dinner I had in Vegas.
Click here to read about the vegan feast!
Alright, that’s it till next week when we’ll be talking about the Reformed Meathead Fat Loss Workout! 
Stay strong,
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Comments on Desert Island Bodyweight Workout »
Hi,
It has indeed been very helpful for all the great help extended through this medium. Sincerely grateful. Will inform all my friends to visit this valuable site. Thank you.
Best Regards,
Aurokrishna
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Wow, this seems like a very intense workout, and you only need 2 training days per week?
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Great bodywork exercises… some i haven’t heard so I will need to give them a try for sure!
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I love the bodyweight workouts!
They are perfect for this time of year, and, better yet, no excuses not to workout!
I do some very similar circuits when I go to the park with my crazy dog. : )
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Great program, as always. I’ve been a fan of TT ever since i knew it from MF & MH a long time ago, & been following its progress up to today.
I love TT even more when u started creating various bodyweight TT programs, Craig, because it’s exactly the kind of workout programs that i’ve always been looking for. The reason is because in my country, fitness & strength training is a luxury. 90% of the gyms are fancy hotel-like gyms, & not to mention really expensive too. & since the equipments are still imported, they also cost a lot of money, even for dumbbells. It’s really crushing for people like me who can’t afford to spend that much money on equipments. So, bodyweight training programs are really the solutions for us. Thanks for that, Craig.
The only question that i have is whether do we all have to follow the specific tempo prescribed? I mean, my controlled movement is always faster than the tempo prescribed, & sometimes following exactly how many seconds it takes for the eccentric (3-4 seconds) is really de-motivating to me.
Also, if i can also give an idea.. i’m really looking forward that someday u can create a bodyweight workout program where the interval training (HIIT) can also be done without equipment AND doesn’t require plenty of space. I live in a city where space is very limited, so i only workout at my small room. 90% of the time i never do any cardio or interval training because there’s no space/field to do it, & there’s no equipment (stationary bike, etc.), either. This always makes me feel like i don’t use the program up to its best use. & there are other so-called fitness experts saying that it’s not recommended to also do a bodyweight circuit as a cardio/interval training if my main strength program is already a bodyweight program, because that’ll cause me to have an overtraining condition. I’m really confused, & looking forward that someday u can help enlighten me, Craig
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Craig Ballantyne Reply:
June 8th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Hi Hendry!
Feel free to play with the tempos. Do whatever you enjoy, just train safe. As for the bodyweight stuff, the TT bootcamps programs are the best at covering everything, from strength to intervals, all in one session.
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Dear Craig,
I have a quick question, not related to the post, if you don’t mind me asking.
Since all food eaten is converted into simple sugars, I wonder if my body knows if I eat a fruit or say a snickers bar or a piece of white bread? We all know the fruit is the healthier option of course, but despite this fact. I would say that the body does not recognize the food eaten. It only recognizes the macros ingested and therefore starts with breaking down the food into simple sugars and puts it where ever its needed most urgently.
What I mean is, not arguing if healthy or not, if one wants to lose body fat/weight, it would be possible to do so eating snickers bar only as long as the person is in a calorie deficit? Do you agree with that?
Cheers
Jane
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Craig Ballantyne Reply:
June 8th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Hi Jane,
You are “kind of” right.
The one other issue is the speed at which the digestive tract digests and absorbs the sugar. This can have an impact on how fast you get hungry after you eat the foods you mentioned. White bread would be the fastest digested and absorbed and would likely leave you hungry again soonest.
Also, another way of looking at it would be…take the highest calorie item (Snickers, about 350ish from what I remember), and see what would happen if you ate isocaloric equivalents of fruit (about 4-5 apples) and white bread (about 5 pieces). Obviously the apples would leave you fullest, longest, and therefore help you control your appetite the rest of the day.
Craig
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Looks like a fast moving workout.
Do you do the same workout 3 days a week for 4 weeks?
Thanks, Kathier
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Thanks, Craig. That is good news. I’m really considering it.
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Craig, Thank you for responding so quickly. I appreciate it. Keep up the good work with your homepage. I stay tuned.
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