planning your program 189

encourages the use of the hamstrings and gluteal musculature while squat-
ting, so you sit back more and rely on the stronger hip muscles to execute the
squatting motion. This practice spares the knees and keeps the joints healthy.
Synergy exists between the various movement patterns, and balancing these
patterns keeps the joints in proper alignment and prevents unnecessary joint
stress.
Certain core exercises work primarily in the sagittal plane, which means
they produce or prevent movement in linear (front-to-back) patterns. This is
in contrast to core exercises that produce or reduce movement in lateral (side-
to-side) and rotary (twisting) patterns. Examples of linear core exercises are
crunches, sit-ups, and planks. Examples of lateral exercises are partner-assisted
oblique raises and side planks. Examples of rotary exercises are windshield
wipers and bicycles. It is wise to have a strong core in all directions, so include
a balance of linear, lateral, and rotary core exercises.
And last but not least, it’s beneficial to incorporate single-limb training into
the mix rather than sticking solely to double-limb exercise. Single-limb train-
ing works the muscles in a different manner than double-limb exercises. For
example, a Bulgarian split squat requires the hip adductors and hip abductors
to fire in synchronization in order to stabilize the femur and keep the knee
joint tracking properly over the foot. Single-leg stability is critical for optimal
performance. To provide another example, a one-arm push-up not only requires
considerable pectoral, shoulder, and triceps strength, but also rotary stability
throughout the core region to prevent the body from shifting and rotating. For
these reasons you should include single-limb training in your program. As you
advance, single-limb training becomes critical for bodyweight training because
double-limb training won’t always provide an adequate challenge.
To reiterate, an ideal routine has a good balance between horizontal pressing
and pulling, vertical pressing and pulling, knee-dominant and hip-dominant
exercises, linear, lateral, and rotary core exercises, and bilateral (double-limb)
and unilateral (single-limb) movements. It is not mandatory to include every
pattern in each workout, and it is not mandatory that you perfectly balance the
number of sets you perform for opposing movement patterns. Furthermore,
it’s okay if the majority of your exercises are performed bilaterally. What is
important is that you keep in mind the idea of structural balance and avoid
skewing your programming toward any particular movement pattern.
Table 11.1 lists all of the exercises in the book and identifies them based on
the categories discussed in this section. You will use this chart if you stick with
the whole-body routine. If you choose a lower–upper split routine, a push–pull
routine, or a body part split routine, you will simply choose exercises accord-
ing the muscles you are working and won’t need to use this table. But it’s still
a good idea to understand the movement patterns of the exercises rather than
just by muscles worked, so I recommend that you pay attention to this chart
regardless of the training routine you choose.
Now I’d like to discuss how the nature of your training goals affect your pro-
gramming.
 Table 11.1  Bodyweight Exercises

Lateral & rotary core

Targeted movement
Horizontal pressing

Horizontal pulling

Vertical pressing

Knee dominant
Vertical pulling

Hip dominant
Exercise level
Page number

Whole body
Linear core

Unilateral
Bilateral
Exercise
Arms
Triceps extension 8 3 • •
Short-lever triceps 9 2 • •
extension
Short-lever inverted 10 2 • •
curl
Long-lever inverted 11 3 • •
curl
Biceps chin-up 12 3 • •
Narrow triceps 14 3 • •
push-up
Diamond triceps 15 3 • •
push-up
Short-lever triceps 15 2 • •
push-up
Three-point bench 16 2 • •
dip
Neck and shoulders
Wall anterior neck 22 2 •
isohold
Wall posterior neck 23 2 •
isohold
Manual neck 24 1 •
isohold
Push-back 26 2 • •
Feet-elevated pike 28 3 • •
push-up
Three-point pike 29 4 • •
push-up
Rear deltoid raise 30 2 • •

190
 Lateral & rotary core

Targeted movement
Horizontal pressing

Horizontal pulling

Vertical pressing

Knee dominant
Vertical pulling

Hip dominant
Exercise level
Page number

Whole body
Linear core

Unilateral
Bilateral
Exercise
Neck and shoulders (continued)
YTWL 32 1 • •
Wall handstand 34 4 • •
push-up
Chest
Push-up 38 2 • •
Short-lever push-up 39 2 • •
Wide-width 39 3 • •
push-up
Elevated push-up 40 3 • •
Short-lever 41 2 • •
elevated push-up
Torso-elevated 42 1 • •
push-up
Feet-elevated 43 3 • •
push-up
Side-to-side 44 3 • •
push-up
Sliding side-to-side 45 3 • •
push-up
One-arm push-up 46 4 • •
Self-assisted 47 3 • •
one-arm push-up
Clapping push-up 48 3 • •
Knee clapping 49 3 • •
push-up
Whole-body 49 4 • •
clapping push-up
Chest dip 50 3 • •
(continued)

191
 Table 11.1, continued

Lateral & rotary core

Targeted movement
Horizontal pressing

Horizontal pulling

Vertical pressing

Knee dominant
Vertical pulling

Hip dominant
Exercise level
Page number

Whole body
Linear core

Unilateral
Bilateral
Exercise
Chest (continued)
Sliding fly 52 4 • •
Short-lever sliding 53 3 • •
fly
core
Crunch 60 1 •
Reverse crunch 61 1 •
Side crunch 61 1 •
Superman 62 1 • •
Bicycle 63 1 • •
Seated knee-up 64 1 • •
L-sit 65 4 • •
Bent-knee single- 66 1 • •
leg lowering with
extension
Dead bug 67 2 • •
Double-leg lower- 68 1 • •
ing with bent knees
Lying straight-leg 69 2 • •
raise
Dragon flag 69 4 • •
Bent-leg sit-up 70 1 •
Straight-leg sit-up 71 1 •
Twisting sit-up 71 1 •
Front plank 72 1 •
Short-lever front 73 1 •
plank

192
 Lateral & rotary core

Targeted movement
Horizontal pressing

Horizontal pulling

Vertical pressing

Knee dominant
Vertical pulling

Hip dominant
Exercise level
Page number

Whole body
Linear core

Unilateral
Bilateral
Exercise
core (continued)
Feet-elevated front 73 2 •
plank
Rotating three- 74 2 •
point plank
Rotating two-point 75 3 •
plank
Partner-assisted 76 3 •
oblique raise
RKC plank 77 2 •
Side plank 78 2 •
Short-lever side 79 1 •
plank
Feet-elevated side 79 3 •
plank
Hanging leg raise 80 2 • •
with bent knees
Straight-leg 81 3 • •
hanging leg raise
Hanging leg raise 81 3 • •
with reverse crunch
Oblique hanging 82 3 • •
leg raise
Windshield wiper 83 4 • •
Sliding rollout from 84 3 • •
knees
Standing rollout 85 4 •
Sliding body saw 86 3 •
(continued)

193
 Table 11.1, continued

Lateral & rotary core

Targeted movement
Horizontal pressing

Horizontal pulling

Vertical pressing

Knee dominant
Vertical pulling

Hip dominant
Exercise level
Page number

Whole body
Linear core

Unilateral
Bilateral
Exercise
back
Pull-up 92 3 • •
Rafter pull-up 93 3 • •
Side-to-side pull-up 94 4 • •
Sliding side-to-side 95 4 • •
pull-up
Towel pull-up 96 3 • •
One-arm self- 97 4 • •
assisted chin-up
Modified inverted 98 2 • •
row
Feet-elevated 99 3 • •
inverted row
Towel inverted row 99 2 • •
Side-to-side 100 4 • •
inverted row
Sliding side-to-side 101 4 • •
inverted row
One-arm inverted 101 4 • •
row
Scapular shrug 102 3 • •
Corner scapular 103 1
shrug
Towel face pull 104 1 • •
thighs
Sumo squat 109 2 • •
Wall squat isohold 110 1 • •
Wall squat march 111 3 • •

194
 Lateral & rotary core

Targeted movement
Horizontal pressing

Horizontal pulling

Vertical pressing

Knee dominant
Vertical pulling

Hip dominant
Exercise level
Page number

Whole body
Linear core

Unilateral
Bilateral
Exercise
thighs (continued)
Box squat 112 1 • •
Low box squat 113 2 • •
Jump box squat 113 2 • •
Full squat 114 1 • •
Counterbalance 115 1 • •
full squat
Jump full squat 115 2 • •
Sissy squat 116 2 • •
Single-leg box 118 3 • •
squat
Single-leg low-box 119 3 • •
squat
Jumping single-leg 119 4 • •
box squat
Skater squat 120 3 • •
Skater squat with 121 3 • •
knee raise
Jumping skater 121 3 • •
squat
Pistol squat 122 4 • •
Towel pistol squat 123 2 • •
Static lunge 124 1 • •
Forward lunge 125 2 • •
Alternating jump 125 3 • •
lunge
Reverse lunge 126 2 • •
(continued)

195
 Table 11.1, continued

Lateral & rotary core

Targeted movement
Horizontal pressing

Horizontal pulling

Vertical pressing

Knee dominant
Vertical pulling

Hip dominant
Exercise level
Page number

Whole body
Linear core

Unilateral
Bilateral
Exercise
thighs (continued)
Deficit reverse 127 2 • •
lunge
Step-up and reverse 127 2 • •
lunge hybrid
Sliding lunge 128 2 • •
Step-up 130 1 • •
High step-up 131 2 • •
Alternating jump 131 2 • •
step-up
Bulgarian split 132 2 • •
squat
Deficit split squat 133 2 • •
Jump split squat 133 3 • •
Russian leg curl 134 3 • •
Partner-assisted 135 3 • •
Russian leg curl
No-hands Russian 135 4 • •
leg curl
Single-leg 136 1 • •
Romanian deadlift
Reaching Romanian 137 2 • •
deadlift with knee
raise
Partner-assisted 138 1 • •
back extension
Prisoner back 139 2 • •
extension
Single-leg back 139 2 • •
extension

196
 Lateral & rotary core

Targeted movement
Horizontal pressing

Horizontal pulling

Vertical pressing

Knee dominant
Vertical pulling

Hip dominant
Exercise level
Page number

Whole body
Linear core

Unilateral
Bilateral
Exercise
thighs (continued)
Reverse hyper 140 1 • •
Single-leg reverse 141 1 • •
hyper
Sliding leg curl 142 3 • •
glutes
Glute bridge 146 1 • •
Glute march 147 2 • •
Single-leg glute 147 2 • •
bridge
Shoulder-elevated 148 1 • •
hip thrust
Shoulder-elevated 149 2 • •
hip thrust march
Single-leg hip 149 2 • •
thrust
Shoulder-and-feet- 150 2 • •
elevated hip thrust
Single-leg 151 4 • •
shoulder-and-feet-
elevated hip thrust
Donkey kick 152 1 • •
Bent-leg donkey 153 1 • •
kick
Bird dog 153 1 • •
Side-lying clam 154 1 • •
Side-lying clam at 155 1 • •
neutral position
Side-lying hip raise 156 3 • •
(continued)

197
 Table 11.1, continued

Lateral & rotary core

Targeted movement
Horizontal pressing

Horizontal pulling

Vertical pressing

Knee dominant
Vertical pulling

Hip dominant
Exercise level
Page number

Whole body
Linear core

Unilateral
Bilateral
Exercise
calves
Elevated calf raise 160 1 • •
Single-leg elevated 161 1 • •
calf raise
Squat calf raise 162 1 • •
Stiff-leg ankle hop 164 2 • •
Single-leg ankle 165 2 • •
hop
whole body
Jumping jack 170 1 • •
Transverse-arm 171 1 • •
jumping jack
Burpee 172 2 • •
Burpee with push- 173 3 • •
up, jump, and reach
Push-up with hip 174 2 • •
extension
Towel row isohold 176 3 • •
with glute march
Sit-up to stand with 178 3 • •
jump and reach
Mountain climber 180 3 • •
Bear crawl 181 2 • •
Crocodile crawl 182 3 • •
Jumping muscle-up 184 4 • •
Crab walk 186 2 • •

198