All rights reserved.

No part of this manual may be reproduced (by any means) without

the expressed written permission of Travis Stoetzel.

This manual is being offered for education and information purposes only. There is
inherent risk with any physical activity.

Please consult your physician before starting this (or any) exercise program.

The Forged Athlete, LLC , cannot be held responsible for any injury that may occur while
participating in this program.

Copyright 2011 The Forged Athlete, LLC

Training with your own bodyweight is one of the most overlooked
training modalities there is!

Bodyweight training serves as the base to everything else for how you
build your body up for. Strength, speed, agility, power, and
conditioning all comes back to having a good solid bodyweight training
base first.

This guide is in companion with The Bags, Bells, and Bodyweight

Training System.

Make sure to master the basics before you move into the more
advanced movements! More reps with poor form is far worse than
fewer reps with good form.

When it comes to bodyweight training, QUALITY is always over

QUANTITY!
VIDEO RESOURCES
The Pop Up Squat Bulgarian Squats Mountain Climbers

Burpees Handstand Push Ups The inch worm

lunge progressions squat variations push up variations

hip extensions pike presses Ice Skater Jumps

Walking RDL single leg tuck jumps Plank Elbow Drives

Sumo Squat Jumps toy soldiers 15-30 ALL OUT Goes

Bounding Power Skips Knee Tuck Variations

Explosive Lunges Sprint Starts Burpee Broad Jumps

Lizard Crawls Bear Crawls Crab Walks

Duck Walks Froggy Jumps Russian Twists

V-Seats Knee Tuck Plank Variations

Hanging Leg Raise Turkish Get Ups

Bodyweight Basics – Plank Positions

Basic Plank on Forearms

 Keep core tight by squeezing glutes and abs.

 Keep hips up and even with shoulders.
 Do not sag hips
 Hold for time

Plank with Reach 1 Arm Plank With Reach

1 Arm Plank With Reach and Leg Raise Plank with hands walked out
Plank with hands walked out further Plank with hands walked out on finger tips

Plank Elbow Drive

Plank On Med ball 1 Arm Plank On Med Ball

Superman Holds

 Laying flat on the floor, squeeze your glutes and shoulder blades
 Raise your chest up and keep your chin tucked to your chest
 Hold for time
 You can have arms out to side or in front of body (harder)

Side Plank Variations and Progressions

Side Plank

 Have your weight on your forearm and bottom

foot
 Keep your body in a straight line from head to
ankle
 Push through your forearm to extend your top
hip to the sky
 Squeeze your oblique and hold for time
Side Plank on Palm Side Plank with Knee Tucked

Side Plank w/ Arm Reach Side plank w/ top leg up and reach

Side Plank with Rotation

 While holding a side plank, keep your hips up and reach underneath your opposite hip with
upper arm.
 Rotate back up to start position while keeping hips up.
 Repeat for reps or time.
Hip Extension Progressions and Variations
Hip Extension

 Drive through your heels and extend your hips

to the ceiling
 Squeeze your glutes and keep your knees close
together
 Keep your shoulder blades tight throughout the
movement

Single Leg Hip Extension Single Leg Hip Extension Up on Shoulder Blades
Lower Body Movements
Bodyweight Squat

 Sit your hips back and down

 Keep your weight back on your heels
 Squat down below parallel if possible
 Drive up through your heels to complete
movement
 Squeeze glutes at the top and repeat for reps

Sumo Squat
Prisoner Squat

 Perform regular squat movement but squeeze your shoulder blades together and keep
chest up
 Helps work on upper back activation

Overhead Squat

 Reach arms overhead and hold for duration of movement

 Squeeze your shoulder blades and keep your chest out and up
 Perform squat movement
 Repeat for reps
The Pop Up Squat (Advanced Movement)

 Start by squatting back and down like a normal squat

 As you get to the bottom of your squat, sit down onto your butt letting your momentum
carry you backwards
 Roll back to your back but then immediately roll back while explosively extending your hips
through
 As you pop back up to your feet, stand up and squeeze your glutes at the top.
 Repeat for reps
Bodyweight Lunges

 Starting in a split stance, have most of your weight upon your front heel
 Keep your chest up, back flat
 Squat down until you lightly tap your back knee on the floor
 Drive up through your front heel to complete the movement
 Repeat for reps

Bulgarian Squats

 Elevate back leg onto a box, bench, or object around knee height
 Squat down and back while keeping weight on your front heel
 Focus on staying tall with your chest and keeping your back flat
 Get as low as possible with your back leg
 Drive up through your front heel.
 Repeat for reps
 Lateral Lunges (Cossack Squats)

 Start with a wide stance – chest up

 Keep both feet facing forward
 Squat down to one side by sitting your hips back and down
 Keep your chest up and out, back flat and weight on the heel of the foot your squatting on.
 Your opposite foot will rotate up towards the sky in the bottom position
 To come up, drive through your heel on the squat side back to the start position

Bodyweight RDL (Romanian Deadlift)

 Start with chest up and back flat – your chest and back must stay flat
and straight throughout movement
 Start by pushing hips back and reaching hands straight down
 Slightly bend your knee
 Stand up by squeezing your glutes and extend your hips forward
Bodyweight Burpee

 Start by squatting down

 Once you get your hands to the floor, kick your feet back while keeping your abs tight
 DO NOT sag your hips
 Go down into a push up and explosively come back up
 Jump your feet forward to get back into the bottom position of a squat
 Explosively jump up to complete the movement
Upper Body Movements
Bodyweight Push ups

 Start with your abs tight and feet shoulder width apart
 Go down all the way to your chest while keeping your elbows tight to your body
 Drive up through your palms while keeping your abs tight
 Repeat for reps

Close Grip Push Ups Off Set Push Ups

Fist Push Ups Wide Grip Push Ups

Single Arm Push Ups

Wall / Feet Elevated Push ups

Pike Handstand Push ups

 Start with your butt up, hands and feet close together
 Be up on your toes with your weight on your palms
 Keep your elbows tight as you go down – touch your forehead.
 Push up through your palms and extend your arms all the way up
 Repeat for reps
Handstand Push Ups

 Start with your hands about 6-8 inches away from a wall
 Kick yourself up to the wall
 Once on the wall, lock out your arms and squeeze your shoulder blades together
 Keep your elbows in and go down until you touch your forehead
 Drive through your palms and repeat for reps

Recline Row Progressions and Variations

 Using a squat rack, you can recline back by grabbing the bar or using a rope (pictured above)
 Keep your body tight by squeezing your glutes
 Pull your body up by driving your elbows back – keep your elbows tight to your body
 Squeeze your shoulder blades at the top
 Lower yourself back down under control and repeat for reps
Recline Row Using TRX

 Using a TRX strap, you can recline back by using a TRX suspension system (pictured above)
 Keep your body tight by squeezing your glutes
 Pull your body up by driving your elbows back – keep your elbows tight to your body
 Squeeze your shoulder blades at the top
 Lower yourself back down under control and repeat for reps

***To increase intensity, walk your feet further underneath the anchor point

Pull and Chin Up Variations

Scapular Pull Ups (for beginners)

 Start by hanging from a bar

 Engage lats and upper back by squeezing shoulder blades together
 Hold for a second
 Release and relax for a second
 Repeat for reps
Chin Ups (normal grip)

 Start by squeezing your shoulder blades and keeping them tight throughout the movement
 Pull yourself up and over the bar
 Engage your lats by bringing your elbows close to your sides once at the top
 Get your chin above the bar
 Lower yourself under control
 Repeat for reps

Close Grip Rope Grip

Baseball Grip Pull Up Grip

Wide Grip

Side To Side Pull Ups

Animal Movements and Variations
Inch Worms

 Start with your hands at your toes

 Keeping your legs straight, walk your hands
out to the push up position
 Keep your core tight by squeezing your glutes
and tightening your abs
 Walk out with your hands as far as you can
 Once hands are walked out, start to tip toe up
with your feet
 Try to prevent bending your knees on the
way up
 Walk your toes up to your hand then repeat
for distance or reps
Crab Hold / Crab Walks

 Start by pushing through your heels and

extending your hips up to the sky
 Keep your arms locked out for CRAB HOLDS
 For CRAB WALKS, reach with your heels and
step with your hands while keeping your hips
up high.
Duck Walks

 First, step out into a lunge with your arms behind

your head, keeping your shoulder blades tight
 While staying low to the ground, continue to take
step while NOT fully extending your knees
 Stay low throughout the whole movement
 Repeat for reps or distance
Froggy Jumps

 Start by squatting down while reaching your hands ahead

 Explode up and out from the bottom squat position by
extending your hips
 Land soft by bending your knee and absorbing the landing
 Fall back into a squat position
 From here, you can re-set or choose to go rapid fire and jump
without resting
 Repeat for distance or reps
Sprint Starts

 Start in a 3 point stance (refer to picture above)

 Start the sprint by explosively driving your right arm
forward while driving off of your right leg / ball of your
right foot
 Take a big step with your left leg while driving your left
arm back
 Continue to stay low while driving your arms forward and
back and driving knees to your chest
 As you pick up speed, raise up slow – DO NOT stand up
straight!
 Sprint through until your hit your prescribed distance
Recommended Hardcore Resources:
My personal website/blog – Stay connected with me! Workouts,
videos, everything HARDCORE!

Body By Vi Protein – For you Hardcore Supplement needs, these guys

are about PURE quality – Take on their 90 Day Challenge!

The Power Wheel – This is “the” BEST and most effective core
strengthening and overall training tools available!

Performax Bands – I mentioned these above in the workout. Bands

offer a great way to increase any and all exercises. Take them
anywhere you go and get strong!

TRX Suspension Training System – Another great tool that’s very

versatile and effective. Take regular bodyweight exercises and turn
them into highly advanced progressions to gain muscle and strength!