1 hour bodyweight full body workout | Calisthenic clusters

Let’s compare; bench pressing one’s own body weight and a pushup? One single bodyweight push-up is not equal to having our bodyweight in kgs on the bar… when we perform a push-up, we aren't pushing ALL of our bodyweight up. How much am I pushing up? A study (1) measuring different push-ups showed that regular push-ups equal approx 65% of our bodyweight…if you weigh 70kg this amounts to approx 46kg of actual load being pushed up…meaning applying an additional load of 24kg to equal total bodyweight…. Or manipulate angle to floor to increase load.

A push-up will require more abdominal recruitment and more retraction & protraction (great for shoulder health). However, the limitations are that it may be impractical/risky to attempt the same load of bench press in a weighted push-up due to load distribution across the back.

And with all things equal, such as ROM, etc, they both can build muscle the same! This has been shown in studies and it makes sense…mechanical tension is the main driver for hypertrophy. We can build muscle dumbbell bicep curling in our living room or standing in a gym, or even deficit push-ups in our living room compared to benching in a gym..so long as the intensity is there and even up to approx 30 reps!

If lower body, I tend to favour unilateral movements to increase the tension. Targeting the back & biceps is challenging without equipment, i.e. a pull-up bar or bands.

Rest day from the weights! Psychologically perhaps easier… but physiologically not necessarily any easier and, in my experience, sometimes more challenging in its own way!

EQUIPMENT:

BENCH / CHAIR
MAT
GLUTE BAND
HAMSTRING BALL / SLIDERS /TRX HAMSTRING CURLS
YOGA BLOCK*
WEDGES*

TIMER:
The timer will be set for a longer set, followed by shorter cluster sets following the straight set! The cluster sets will generally be a slight variation from the straight set that was performed prior.

I hope you feel amazing after these 60 minutes and are proud of what your body and mind can do. Sure there is plenty we can’t do. We all have things we can’t do…but we can change our focus to what we CAN do.