A “Program” of Just Push Ups, Pull Ups, and Pistol Squats
People like to use bodyweight exercise because it makes them feel special (which they’re not, trust me) and because they want to workout at home or whatever. And that’s fine. Bodyweight exercises are useful and interesting, so let’s take a look at how you can get along in your fitness goals with just three simple exercises: Push ups, pull ups, and pistol squats.
But before we do that, maybe we should learn how to do these exercises. That sounds about right, now doesn’t it? So, look, Aleks and I spent a lot of time putting these heavenly productions together, so it would be very much appreciated if you took the time to watch them and leave a like or comment or something. OK, let’s start there.
Push Ups
Pull Ups
Pistol Squats
So now that you have the basic mechanics down (which you probably don’t, but whatev) let’s look at how we can use these exercises to become strong and fit and lean. It’s actually quite simple: We do the exercises.
In other words, let’s not complicate things, OK, Mr. Steve? Since when it comes to bodyweight exercise an approach that works well is called Greasing the Groove, which became popular when some Russian guy (some of you may know who I’m talking about, Pevil, Pooval, or whoever?) said if you want to get strong at something you should practice that something, and so everybody’s mouths dropped because they could hardly believe what this guy was saying. But as it happened, he was right. If you want to get good at something you can do that by practicing the thing you want to get good at. Tremendous, isn’t it?
So, here you go: A program of just Push Ups, Pull Ups, and Pistol Squats. We’ll use a 2:1:1 ratio, meaning for every two push ups we do, we’ll do one pull up, and one pistol squat (each leg).
Day 1
2 push ups, 1 pull up, 1 pistol.
Day 2
4 push up, 2 pull ups, 2 pistols.
Day 3
6 push ups, 3 pull ups, 3 pistols.
Day 4
8 push ups, 4 pull ups, 4 pistols.
And so on, and so forth…
Do you see where we’re going with this?
But here’s the thing: Because once you get to twenty push ups and ten pull ups and ten pistol squats, you might want to start thinking about adding weight, either with a vest or a kettlebell or a more difficult variation (one arm push up, etc). Of course you can still focus on increasing volume too, certainly there isn’t anything wrong with that, even if it isn’t the most efficient thing after a while. Muhammad Ali did it. So did that one Muslim wrestler dude, the great Goomba, or Gamba, or whoever his name was. You know who I mean. Yeah, that guy.
Either way, if you stick with this you’ll actually be fairly strong and pretty well muscled within, oh, somewhere between three or four months, I’d say.
Anyway, hope you enjoy!
– Pat
PS – So now that I think about it you should actually join Strong ON! because we’ve got an awesome bodyweight and kettlebell challenge coming up called Kettlebell Calisthenos, where I’m going to lead everyone through progressions and workouts for mastering some of the coolest bodyweight exercises around, like handstand push ups, one arm push ups, muscle ups, and so on.
All this in conjunction with my usual array of devish kettlebell complexes, combos, circuits, and chains.
Here’s the link: https://www.chroniclesofstrength.com/strongon
Come on, come on!
Just once a day or multiple time per day?
Jeremy – As you get further along and higher in reps, you could break it up however you want. You don’t have to do all at once.
So if you are “older” AND have a “built-in” weighted vest and only able to do 20 pushups; how many times per day should you do these sets in order to progress?
IF you can already do 20 push ups, I would consider moving onto a more difficult variation, Julie. So either elevate your feet, or start working toward some one arm push up variations.
Thanks for sharing these videos Pat. In a perfect world, I’d go to the gym, but I live in an environment where the weather is lousy 6 months of the year and I just don’t go to the gym when it’s below 50 (I know, what an excuse). I also don’t like handling all the gym equipment with people coughing and sneezing on it. Nevertheless, I want to build up my strength and I’ve been intrigued with strength building exercises ever since I listened to your podcast about how people can continue building strength, despite the aging process. These exercises look like a good way for me to get going on strength training. I’m not looking for that chiseled look, but I would like to add some muscle and strength to my body.
Nice program, Pat — simple, easy, clear. Also, very nice touch on the videos as I am also very visual when it comes to these things and doing it the right way. I would gladly benefit from this although I’ve just been starting out and getting grip on most things, this program is interesting and definitely useful!