5. Mostly bodyweight exercises

Before beginning any type of exercise program, it is recommended that you consult with your physician or health care provider.

Even though weightlifting has some advantages for releasing human growth hormone (GH), I mainly use bodyweight exercises because I like to save money and I prefer to exercise in private instead of at a fitness club. 

I think and hope that my exercises come close to the value of a weightlifting workout.  There are bodyweight exercises that will create the lactic acid buildup that seems to be needed to cause a growth hormone surge. 

All exercisers, both beginners and advanced, should try to reach an intensity and frequency which is not an over-load (to individual muscles or the whole body) yet still gives the benefits of exercise.  “Safety first” is a good motto to help avoid injury/pain/ill health and to get the optimum benefit.

When I start a new exercise which could target my muscles differently, I take it somewhat easy because the chance of some significant delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is greater with a new exercise.  DOMS pain, caused by microscopic tears in muscle fiber, won’t start until 12 hours or so after the completion of exercise.  Researchers feel that the eccentric muscle contractions can cause the most soreness. 

I try to reach an intensity level when exercising a group of muscles so that on the next day I will still notice that I worked out, but won’t notice any significant DOMS.  For me, noticing that a muscle has worked out on a previous day means that it may feel slightly fatigued, it may still feel “pumped” (or slightly swollen), it may feel somewhat tight, or it may frequently feel that it wants to be stretched/moved.

I perform most exercises until I feel “muscle burn” and/or the muscles become noticeably weaker; and then I rest very briefly before repeating the exercise again; I try to minimize rest between sets to help lactic acid to accumulate.

On many exercises, I try to make the concentric movement to be explosive and the eccentric movement to be slow.   Sometimes I make an exercise more difficult by holding the most difficult position for a short period of time.

I have changed my exercises over the last year and I expect to change some more in the future.   To cause big spurts of growth hormone, I have read that I should change the way I target my muscles as if confusing the muscles on what to expect next.

Prior to starting Tabata Protocol, for a year I did Phil Campbell’s 8 sprint workout while running, using a Nordic ski machine, and using a recumbent bike; in the 8 sprint workout, you sprint for 20 seconds every 2 minutes; I feel confident recommending the 8 sprint workout to anyone who wants to stimulate the release of human growth hormone.  I started the Tabata Protocol after getting to be in pretty good shape because I wanted more intensity in the same amount of time and I had heard how the Tabata Protocol was able to improve endurance and strength even in seasoned athletes.

Here are some exercises that I have done recently: 

1. Handstand push ups (I start from a headstand with feet against a wall, at present I can only do 2 sets with 6 in the first set and 3 in the second set)
2. Push ups with feet elevated on a couch (I use the Tabata protocol)
3. One arm push ups (I modify the Tabata protocol to do 10 with left arm, then 10 with right arm, and then rest for 10 seconds before starting again.)
4. Hindu push ups.  (3 sets of as many as I can do; I hold the down position for 1-2 seconds so I reach failure sooner.)
5. Chin ups (I use the Tabata protocol.)
6. 6 count burpees that include a push up and a jump. (I use the Tabata protocol.)
7. Squat dumbbell press that include a squat and then pressing two 5 pound barbells above the head while standing up. (I use the Tabata protocol.)
8. Dips (I use the Tabata protocol.)
9. Plank rocking forward and backward. (I do 3 sets of 40 rocking movements.)
10. Side plank. (I do 3 sets on each side with out resting; 40 on first set; 30 on second set; 20 on third set)
11. Crunches and bicycle crunches (about 3 sets each until failure with little rest between sets)
12. Gymnast back arch for 30 seconds and then “fall into” a wrestler back arch for another 30 seconds. (2 sets)
13. Single leg squat.  (3 sets of 5 alternating legs and no rest; I hold onto a chair to keep balanced)
14. Lunge jump.  Explosively jumping forward when coming out of the lunge.
15. Tuck jumps.  After jumping in the air pull the knees up towards the chest.
16. Running sprints. (I use the Tabata protocol.)
17. Bike sprints.  (I use the Tabata protocol.)
18. Nordic cross country machine sprints.  (I use the Tabata protocol.)
19. Repeated “unsupported shoulder stands”.  Sets of 10 each.  To make them more difficult hold the up position for a second or two.  For a greater triceps workout, angle the arms farther away from the butt.
20. The 18 minute advanced workout from RealAge.com which is at http://www.realage.com/videos/workouts/you-on-a-diet-advanced-workout/
21. Moutain Climber.  (I use the Tabata protocol)
22. Side lunges.

Here are some more ideas for bodyweight exercise called “The Moves” and are from the website at http://www.metaboliceffect.com/move.page/one.html.  To see the descriptions/animation for the following exercises go to the website and click on the “next arrow” to progress through all exercises.

• Squat & Lateral Raise
• Forward Lunge, Curl & Press
• Dumbbell Dead-Lift & Bent-Over Row
• DB Squat Jump
• Bodybuilder (burpees with dumbbells)
• Get Ups
• Squat, Curl & Tricep Extension
• Squat & Punch
• Squat & Rear Dealt Fly
• Push up & Row
• Squat & press
• Mountain Climber
• Triangle
• Spiderman’s
• One Legged Row
• Pushup-Row with a Tricep Extension
• Pushup-Row with a Rear Delt Lateral Raise
• Triangle with In-place Lunge
• Upright Row with a Squat
• Reverse Squat Press
• Push-up with a Pike

Another website that has some very challenging bodyweight exercises is John Grube’s website at http://wildman-training.blogspot.com/.  For some more ideas, enter “bodyweight exercise” in a search engine or at youtube.com.