Let there be NO mistake about it. The Basics ALWAYS WIN. Don't try to deny it. As soon as you accept this as the "Golden Rule" you will go from Boy to BEAST.
Squats, Deads, Benching, Presses, Chins, Dips, Farmer Walks & Sprints. Add Steak & Eggs to Multiply the effects of transforming yourself from a Boy into a BEAST.
[youtube width="640" height="390"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWHE7ebzVS8[/youtube]
As soon as you accept the fact that you can work these basic lifts and basic bodyweight exercises for years on end, heck, even DECADES on end, you WILL make progress. As you can see from the video, I'm STILL attacking the basics. Remember: I began training at age 13, just turned 36..... I focus on basics NOW, MORE than when I was younger.
When I was younger all the fabricated stories in the magazines steered me the wrong way. I had to fend for myself, learn on my own, YOU, are lucky.... you can come HERE and learn from all my mistakes and speed your progress 10 fold.
Basics ALL the Way, Kids! Don't Deny it!
QOD (Question of the Day): Drop me a comment... What are your favorite Barbell and Bodyweight Basics. Tell me WHY they work so well for you. Psyched to see your Top List of BadAss Basics!
Peace!
--Z--
PS: Here's that Book recommendation I was talking about. Click HERE, this book is straight up awesome. How can it NOT be? Dan John & Pavel = Bad MoFos!
PPS: For those looking to experience a life changing weekend, stop waiting for new year's resolutions and become part of a wrecking crew, a crew of people who Live the Code and take ACTION. Click HERE for details.
My absolute favorite go to routine, when I find myself in between programs goes like this: 1) Squat 2)a) Hang Clean and Press b) Chin ups. I always feel amazing after that workout. I NEVER made progress before hitting the basics and now, it’s all I am interested in. Real bodyweight strength training and big, badass barbell lifts changed my life thanks to you and Jay Ferruggia.
@Tyler: bro that is a LEGIT workout!! NICE!
Bench, squat, and deadlift will always be awesome. As far as bodyweight, various push ups and pull ups are awesome. I can’t forget animal walks. Something about getting primal is irresitable to me.
I was trying to think of non-basic barbell movements, but its tough (when you have serious weight on it). Barbell and body weight movements are quite often all you need. Nothing beats deads though, nothing ever will, that is actually the least pussified thing you could ever do.
@Richard: yep, deadlifts, even when performed light, it’s doable!
Clean and Jerk and Snatch. I like the whole body aspect; speed and explosive power work and the mental work as well.
Awesome post Zach!- it’s always funny seeing people in the gym doing all of these random DB and BB movements.
My go to BW leg workout is out on the football field. Lunges down the field, followed by squats for 100, followed by 4 count flutter kicks….three sets of this will wreck you but make you feel like a man.
Mondays I do squat, deadlifts, calves partials with 20 second hold for 5×3
Tuesday-15 ball crunches, 12 pushups, 5/5(10)bag squats(ass to ankles), 5 pullups, 10 kb cleans then 3 minutes on treadmill at fast walk. Repeat with no break for 60 minutes. That is my 22nd hour workout. Meaning at the 22nd hour of a 24 hour fast.
Wednesday-Odd lifts (stones, tire etc) Max reps 10 minutes with rest after 10 minutes.
Thursday-same concept as Tuesday with different exercises.
Friday-5×3 deadlifts (full range-thick bar), db presses, front squats-all full range.
Saturday-big odd lift routine (1.5-2 hour)
Sunday rest
I have tried it all in the past and this gives me the gains I enjoy. Leanest I have been in years, and the most fit. 36yo and 265#
To Lift Heavy Metal you must Listen to Heavy Metal!
hi Zach – good post. I’m doing lots of cable machine exercises for shoulders (single arm lateral raises and front raises), gives a different feel, and very effective in isolating the delts.
Also a great one for chest, dumbbell press on flat bench with dumbbells pressed together all the way up and down, palms facing each other. Produces great soreness round sternum part of chest.
big barbell lifts are my fave – squats, deadlifts and bench press closely followed by the olympic stuff
bodyweight stuff – pulls ups (various grips), push ups and I am really loving the squat jumps-bw squat combo you have in bodyweight bodybuilding dude!!
nothing like squats, deadlifts, bench and overhead press for barbell lifts. i’m also a bodyweight bodybuilding customer and love the squats, lunges, jumps, pull/chinups and of course pushups. i think pushups are greatly underrated.
SNATCHES SON, you wanna be a man overhead squat a lot of weight haha
Stick to the basics: Squats, Deads, Bench… but there’s nothing more basic and what I love more than getting outside!!! Using the shit I have around my parent’s farm: flipping tractor tires, farmer’s walks, using a old keg to carry or toss… hell even throwing a wrought iron saw horse on my shoulders and doing sprints up and down the drive way (got to use what I got!!!!) . Girls shouldn’t be afraid to get out and get dirty!!! BEST CARDIO/STRENGTH TRAINING OUT THERE!!
20 rep squats are a favorite of mine! Deadlifts are my all time favorite. Cheens and deeps! Handstand pushups. I am now starting to do the clean and jerk. Love that. I have a feeling it will become a big favorite of mine later on. Right now, it’s too light to tell. Also, I have been incorporating weighted carries. My mental strength has increased majorly after doing weighted carries!
These lifts work so well because they demand so much from me mentally and physically. ESPECIALLY the chins, dips, and handstand pushups. My body has nothing else to do, but to grow stronger and bigger after incorporating these lifts and exercises.
For cardio… I like hill sprints. They are extremely hard and will give anyone a challenge and make anyone tougher and faster, if they do them enough.
Thanks Zach!
Push-ups and push-up variations make up my favorite body-weight workouts. For dumbbells, I like the something like the clean and press, where you start with your hands hanging by your hips, holding the weight. Then you bring the weights up to your shoulders, press up, lower, and return to starting position.
Hey Zach, favorite barbell movements are the squats(365Lbs.), deadlifts(245 Lbs.) and the bench press(220Lbs.). But i do shoulder presses with the barbell from time to time(125Lbs)…
Favorite bodyweight movements are the dips(15 reps), the chin/pull-ups(10 to 16), leg raises on the parallel dip bars(30 reps).
I really like your posts dude. I agree with you about the basics completely. Ever since i started using them(8 months ago) i felt different and stronger than ever. And they have helped me in all the others lift i do.I started training at 17, now i am 18 and i literally gained 40 pounds of muscle mass!!!
@Marc Moukarzel: 40 lbs of muscle is AWESOME!
The routine I’ve been following for the past 6 weeks:
Monday: Deadlifts (following dan john’s rule of 10) and bench-press (75% of max, 5 sets for reps)
Tuesday: Loaded carries (farmers, waiters, varying distances and loads, etc)
Thursday: Squat Thrusts and pull-ups
Friday: Bench Press (5×5) and sprints
Weekends: Prowler work
I throw a prowler session in at nights after work every now and then depending on how I’m feeling.
My favorite barbell exercise by far is the Deadlift. To me it’s a full body exercise. There’s nothing like that feeling of waking up the morning after heavy deads and you feel it in your whole body. It makes my back feel good. I feel like I accomplished something with that feeling.
As far as bodyweight it is the chinup/pullup. I like pushups too but there is something about being able to pull your body up in the air that makes you feel stronger. It’s also somewhat of a more functional exercise than pushups or dips.
I’m doing the best program ever designed: 5/3/1 and doing bodyweight for the assistance exercises.
I just did my 2012 “roadmap” this morning that will get me to not only a 400 lb deadlift but it will also be my goal to attain several of Zach’s stregnth tests: 50 pushups, 50 dips, & 12 pullups. I WILL attain all 3 of these along with 2.5x bodyweight on the deads.
2012 is the year I’m going to make it happen. Thanks for the constant motivation Zach. (I’m also looking forward to the random Red Flag Days too!)
@Ben Hoben: RED Flag days for you, Ben!!! BEAST!
Sme time ago I came to understand that all champions, in any walk of life, are those who master the basics.
It’s so tempting to do fany tricks and hope there is some secret there. But the one who masters the basics is the one who masters period.
My favorite old school basic has to be the dead lift….never need a spotter it you want to go heavy
Zach I know you ‘get’ the basics lesson but it wasn’t until I read something by your friend Jim Wendler that I ‘GOT IT’- in 5/3/1 he said
‘don’t major in the minors’
I spent WAAAAYYYYY to long majoring in the minors and didn’t pay nearly enough attention to the big 4 – press, deads, bench and squats. But as soon as I did – wham actual size. If I’m between routines I always default to
Ring dips
Ring Pullups and
Clean and Press
(I usually throw in some squats as well).
Basics=simple and for a simple man, simple is good.
My favorites? Push-ups and pull-ups – just with those two you about have a complete upper body workout together.
It’s really easy to get hung up on complicated exercise regimes. I rather build my schedule around the basic exercises Zach mentioned – the rest is just dressing.
I’m just not that much into steak 😉
nothing beat good old fashion snatches, cleans and dead lifts. for body weight walking lunges and pull ups but my new fav is reverse bear crawls up hill… killer shoulder workout
If I’m limited on time and want to crush a workout I do 1a)Barbell deadlifts b)handstand pushups c)pull ups d)pistol squats e)parallel bar Dips . I just take the basic moves and do the hardest variation or progression of them. 3 rounds x 8-12 reps, Done!!!!
Zach what is your best product to use to help introduce fitness to a large group of people for the first time? not just exercises but also intro dialogue. (ie) first meeting with 15 teachers to intro a bootcamp. Thanks!
@Roger: Roger, when training large groups I would use bodyweight exercises and LIGHT sandbags
The sandbag is a gym all in one, OR, use one dumbbell
For TONS of bodyweight exercises check https://zacheven-esh.com/bodyweight or sign up at http://UndergroundTrained.com – we’ll have a ton of ideas 4 u!
How much you benchin bro?
ps. shot on the article and for all the knowledge youve been supplying, if it wasnt for people like you id still be a weak lil b!#ch.
Peace out
All time favourite has to be the deadlift, love box squats and power cleans too. Always stick to heavy dips and pullups though! Pendlay Rows too aha there’s too many, i just love the basic barbell stuff.
Nothing better than breaking away from a routine one day to just hit the bench and pullup superset for 10sets though, such a brutal workout!
When using a barbell, my favorite basics are the dead lift, clean and press, and zercher squats. For body weight, push-ups, pull-ups, dips, and Bulgarian split squats also love hitting these movements with extra weight added as well.
Squat, Deads, Military Press, Pullups, Bent over Rows….GO!
My favorite 10 lifts are:
1. Squats
2. pullups
3. deadlifts
4. clean and jerk
5. clean pull
6. hill sprints( If these don’t count, they should)
7. pendlay rows
8. dips
9. farmers carries
10. bench press.
I love and use every single one of these exercises. Most of them every week.