Bodyweight Exercises for Size and Strength

Can bodyweight exercises build size and strength? They can if you do the right ones, says strength coach Mike Mahler.

I get a ton of emails every week regarding bodyweight exercises. People want to know what are the best bodyweight drills for size and strength.

While, lifting weights will always be the superior way to build brute strength and big muscles, there are several bodyweight exercises that you can choose from to add variety to your workouts or to keep you in shape on the road. My favorites are: Handstand Pushups, One-arm Pushups, Door Pull-ups, One-Legged Squats, Knee Jumps, Headstand Leg raises, and the Mahler Body Blaster.

Lets get into each exercise in more detail: Read more

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Posted in: bodyweight exercise,mass building,strength training

How Pillows Can Make Your Legs Stronger

Adding a wobble to your leg workout can make your legs work 13 percent harder.

The most unlikely aid to your leg exercise? Bed pillows--they can make your legs stronger. When men attempted single-leg squats while standing on a cushy surface, their hips and leg muscles worked up to 13 percent harder, report Mayo Clinic researchers. Read more

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Posted in: fitness tips,single-leg squats,strength training

Is Yoga Really Enought to Keep You Fit?

For those who don't like aerobics or lifting weights, the practice of yoga has benefits well beyond flexibility and relaxation. Recent research shows that yoga may also improve strength, aerobic capacity, and lung function.

When it came to the fitness benefits yoga can or can't provide, yoga teacher John Schumacher had heard it all. A student of B. K. S. Iyengar for 20 years and founder of the Unity Woods studios in the Washington, D.C. area, Schumacher was convinced yoga provides a complete fitness regime. But many people, even some of his own students, disagreed. Yoga might be good for flexibility or relaxation, they'd say, but to be truly fit, you had to combine it with an activity like running or weight lifting.

Schumacher just didn't buy it. Read more

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Posted in: aerobics,eye yoga,strength training,weight training