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Gold-standard exercise: Pull-ups Build up to it with: Knee-raised inverted rows Muscles worked: Lats, abs, biceps, forearms

BEST FOR A V SHAPED TORSO

A) Find a railing or bar thats about waist-high and horizontal to the ground kids playground equipment should do the trick. Lie on your back underneath the bar and grip it with a shoulder-width overhand grip. Plant your feet lat on the ground and bend your knees. B) Bend your elbows to pull your chest to the bar, squeeze your shoulder blades together and hold for two seconds, then release to the start. Research in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found this move used the most of your lats and put the least pressure on your spine. Now, jump up and hang from a bar for 10 seconds to build grip strength. Progress: When you can do four sets of 10 12 reps, start to do them with your legs completely straight. Once you can do 12 reps of these, youre strong enough for pull-ups.

Knee-raised inverted rows

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Gold-standard exercise: Single-leg squats Build up to it with: Raised-leg split squats Muscles worked: Quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves, abs
A) Lifting your bodyweight with a single limb is a tough gig, but you can gear your power towards completing this impressive feat of strength. Stand with your back to a park bench, extend your right leg behind you and rest your right foot on the seat. Keep your body upright. B) Bend your left leg to lower yourself until your right knee is just above the ground. Slowly raise yourself to the start. Swap legs and repeat. Progress: Once you can do eight reps on each leg, raise your front leg on a brick and do the reps. When you can do eight like this, youll be strong enough to do at least three single-leg squats.

BEST FOR DEFINED LEGS IN BOARDIES

Raised-leg split squats

Gold-standard exercise: Push-ups Build up to it with: Shove-o s Muscles worked: Chest, triceps, abs

BEST FOR MORE FRONTAGE

A) This is like the trust game, except youre falling forwards and catching yourself. Stand in front of a railing the higher the railing the easier the move, so be the judge of your own abilities. B) Fall forward, putting your hands in front of you to catch yourself. Grab the bar with your palms down. Bend your elbows to lower yourself until your chest touches the bar. Explosively push yourself back to the start so you inish up standing. Progress: In each successive session, use a slightly lower railing until you can do 10 reps on a railing thats midway between waist- and knee-height. When you reach this, youll be able to do 6 10 push-ups with Bruce-Lee-like ease.

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Illustration: anthony calvert

Shove-offs

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BARTENDAZ FOR BEGINNERS

The New York urban-training specialist gives you his tips on how to train using your citys landscape.
q Your body learns and evolves by doing, says Hassan Yasin, the founder of Bartendaz. A baby goes from lying to rolling over to lifting his head to crawling to standing to walking and eventually running. So to master your bodyweight, you can build up to being strong with these basic movements. 1. Plank 2. Push-up 3. Pull-up 4. Dip 5. Squat 6. Lunge 7. Jump To use the Bartendaz system which makes your body strong frontwards, backwards and sideways you should do bodyweight exercises with a technique that gets you to hold your muscles in ixed positions to maximise co-ordination, strength, power and grace. Use the moves below to become king of the streets and your own bodyweight.

Gold-standard exercise: Walking bodyweight lunges Build up to it with: Long jumps Muscles worked: Glutes, quads, calves, hamstrings, abs
A) Unless youre doing them into a sandpit with a measuring tape nearby, it doesnt matter how far you go, just that you give it maximum e ort. Stand with your hands at your sides and feet hip-width apart.

BEST FOR CARVED CALVES AND SOLID LEGS

B) Jump as far forward as you can, raising your arms above your head while youre mid- light. Land with both feet together and bent knees. Now go again. Research in the European Journal of Applied Physiology found this is one of the biggest calorie-burners, because each jump demands maximum e ort. Progress: Do these for 3 4 sessions, then jump o one leg at a time. When you can do 8 10 on each leg, youre ready for walking lunges.

Long jumps

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Spiderman push-up 1 Muscles: Glutes, abs, quads, chest, back A) Get onto the loor in a push-up position so
your chest is about 5cm above the ground. Hold that position for 3 seconds. B) Now lift your left leg and touch your left elbow with your left knee. Hold for three seconds. Repeat on the other side. This works the body from head to toe, says Yasin.

Gold-standard exercise: Underhand pull-ups Build up to it with: Inverted bicep curls Muscles worked: Biceps, abs
A) Chances are, when you irst thought about exercising, the muscles you wanted to build the most were your arms. However, pull-ups dont o er an easy jump o for beginners, until now. Find a railing thats about waist-high and horizontal to the ground. Lie on your back underneath the bar and grab it with an underhand shoulder-width grip. Plant your feet lat on the ground and bend your knees. B) Bend your elbows to curl your body towards the bar. Hold for 1 second, then release to the start.

BEST FOR BIGGER BICEPS

Incredible pull-up 2 Muscles: Ankles, quads, glutes, erectors, lats, shoulders

A) Stand beneath a pull-up bar, squat down and jump up, grabbing it with an overhand grip. Now press your body above the bar as if youre doing a dip above the bar. B) The key to this movement is the slow and controlled lowering back to the start. Pause at the halfway mark, where your elbows should be bent to 90 degrees, and hold yourself there for three seconds. This is excellent for beginners for building explosive power and strength.

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Inverted bicep curls

Progress: When you can do four sets of 10 12 reps, start to do them with your legs completely straight. Once you can do 12 reps of these youre ready for underhand pull-ups.

Parallel-bar hand walks 3 Muscles: wrists, triceps, abs, obliques A) Find a parallel dip bar station and hold
up your body with your elbows locked. B) Bend your elbows to 90 degrees and raise your legs so that theyre slightly in front of you. Pedal them for ive seconds, straighten your elbows and repeat. For video demonstrations and feats of strength, visit bartendaznyc.com

BEGINNERS BODYWEIGHT WORKOUT EXERCISES

Illustration: anthony calvert

Do 5 7 sets of 3 5 reps on each exercise

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Gold-standard exercise: Parallel-bar dips Build up to it with: Feet-assisted dips Muscles worked: Chest, triceps, abs
A) Grab the parallel bars of an outdoor workout station and lift yourself so most of your bodyweight rests on your hands. Keep your legs straight and let your feet rest on the ground or put a backpack or brick beneath your feet if youre not quite tall enough. B) Bend your elbows to lower yourself, then straighten and push with your feet to push yourself back up to the start. This is considered the upperbody squat, so its worth mastering. Progress: Use your feet as a spotter by doing the irst 1 3 reps without help from your feet and gradually do more each week.

BEST FOR HORSESHOE SHAPED TRICEPS

Feet-assisted dips

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Gold-standard exercise: Pike push-ups and leg raises Build up to them with: Bear walks Muscles worked: Abs, shoulders, triceps, quads, glutes
A) Its time to get down and dirty by dropping on to all fours. Now, rise onto your feet with your hands remaining on the loor. B) Crawl forward by moving your right hand and left foot forward followed by your left hand and right foot. Keep the movement quick and luid. Go for 10 20 metres or until you run out of the grizzle to keep going. Progress: Gradually increase the distance. When you can go for 60 80 metres, youll have the strength for both leg raises and pike push-ups.

BEST FOR WIDE SHOULDERS AND ABS

Bear walks

Gold-standard exercise: The plank Build up to it with: Dropped-knee plank Muscles worked: Abs

BEST FOR IMPROVED POSTURE AND ABS THAT POP

A) Preventing your crotch from sagging to the loor is instinctive, so heres how to use it to your advantage. Lie face-down on the loor with your legs straight and together. Set your hands beneath your chest so your bodyweight rests on your forearms and you look like a sphinx. B) Raise your body onto your elbows while keeping your knees on the ground so your body forms a straight line. Hold for 10 30 seconds. Progress: When you can hold this for 30 seconds, lift one knee o the ground and hold for 30 seconds. Do it on both legs, then youll be ready to lift both knees and do the plank.

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Illustration: anthony calvert

Dropped-knee plank

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