Why Body Weight Training and Animal Exercises are one and the same (and why they're good for you)

In my mind, body weight training and animal exercises can be considered one and the same.  Some people who have gone through my website are somewhat confused by this.  In the past, I've gotten more than a few comments about this along these lines ...

"I like your website and your whole philosophy of natural training.  I also love the exercises that are based on animal training that you have in your website and in your new eBook.  However, you also feature exercises like pushup-ups.  How are these animal exercises?  I've never seen any animal do a push-up before?"

Great Question, and here's my answer

While it's true that no animals that I know of do exercises like push-ups etc, I still consider them to be an animal exercises.  The reasons for this is that body weight training exercises like push-ups use 1) only your own body weight, and 2) work your entire body as a unit.  To me, this is the essence of natural, animal like training.

Exercising like an Animal in the Real World

As I've stated before, you could get yourself in fantastic, Tarzan like shape if you simply found a tree and climbed around in it all day.  However, for most of us, this just isn't practical.  If you are like me and you often exercise in your own house or apartment, swinging from a tree is not an option. Most of us just don't live in this kind of a natural

environment. This is why I think it makes sense to use our big human brains to invent a natural body weight training program that will give us the same benefits of animal like training without having to climb a tree.  This is why I consider all body weight exercises to be animal exercises, even if animals don't necessarily do them themselves. This is why I love all body weight training routines and why I'm constantly learning more about them. When you train naturally with your own body weight, and whether these routines are invented by Man (such as in my natural fitness program) or based on animal movements (as is my animal workouts program), you get the same BENEFITS.  Isn't this what's important? The Advantages of Natural Body Weight Training - It's Convenient There are many advantages to body weight training as opposed to more traditional forms of exercise.  A big one is simply convenience.  So many people use excuses like "If only I had the time ..." or "If only I lived close to a gym".  With body weight training, these excuses are out the

  window.  They can be performed anywhere, anytime, without any special equipment at all.  Whether animal based or not, you can fit your training into your schedule, not the other way around.

They can be as Easy or Hard as you Want

 Many people worry that body weight training is simply too easy.  These kinds of exercises are best left for people who are injured, or perhaps the very young.  People who think this way have most likely never trained in a real way with their own body weight.  With proper body weight training, it's easy to increase the difficulty level at anytime.  With most exercises, you simply add more repetitions, add "time" to a posture, or modify the exercise to increase the difficulty.  For example, my goal this year (2009) is to be able to perform handstand pushups.  As of this writing I can only do them a 1/4 distance.  However, as I get stronger, I'll progress to going 1/2 of the way down, then all the way down.  This is a small example, but you get what I mean.

Variety of Movements

With traditional weightlifting, the kinds of movements you can perform are always dictated by gravity.  This means that the strongest resistance you can experience will always come from only one direction, straight down.  In the real world, however, we are constantly moving in three dimensions, not just one direction.  Whether you're training for a sport or simply training to survive the daily grind of life (picking up kids, groceries, etc), you should always want to train your body so that it can perform well moving in all directions and all angles.   These are the kinds of exercises you get with proper body weight training.

What I Do

As you can see from my bodyweight exercises blog, I usually blend both kinds of body weight training routines.  I usually start off with "man made" exercises, but I like to finish off with some based on more animal like movements.  It really doesn't matter.  As long as you are working your entire body with your own body weight, you're guaranteed to be in fantastic shape.

Below are some resources and exercises to get you started on your journey to becoming a more confident, energetic and dynamic YOU.


In this video presentation you will learn how why training with nothing but your own bodyweight just like the animals in nature works so well. If you watch the whole thing you will be rewarded with a special limited time offer as well from animal workouts.




This is my first eBook filled with Natural Bodyweight Exercises.  All of the exercises in this book work your entire body, and will get you in fantastic shape in no time flat.  Clearly laid out and filled with photos that take you through each exercise step by step, this is the body weight training book you've been waiting for.  No matter what your age and in only 15 minutes a day, let Karen and Kerry show you how to unleash the REAL YOU and get in the best shape of your life.




In this eBook I again present a series of incredibly powerful and effective body weight workout routines.  This time, however, these body weight workouts are all based on natural animal movements.  Do you want to gain the SPEED of a Cheetah or the STRENGTH of a Bear?  Pick any 4 exercises and perform them each for 2 minutes everyday.  Before you know it, you'll be there.  Filled with full color photographs, let Karen and Kerry show you how.




Pushups are one of the oldest and most effective exercises known to man. By themselves pushups work the entire body and can build incredible strength, power, and endurance in record time. The Ultimate Guide To Pushups contains over 65 different pushup variations which are suitable for everyone from the complete beginner to the advanced athlete. You don't need expensive gym memberships or other gimmicks to get in superior shape. The pushup variations presented in this book work most major muscle groups, are free, can be done anywhere at anytime, have a very low chance of injury and, most of all, are fun! If you want to get started on the road to superior natural health then The Ultimate Guide To Pushups is for you!




In this article I attempt to give an overview of the different kinds of bodyweight exercises there are out there. Some of them you may have heard of, others - - maybe not.


In this article I attempt to explain why it is possible to get far fitter and stronger using bodyweight exercises as opposed to weightlifting. In it I relate the story of a gymnast who abandoned gymnastic workouts for weight lifting. Does he get stronger? Read on to find out.


Hindu Squats are one of the best bodyweight exercises you can do. They really work your entire body, as well as building terrific lung power. Read this article to learn more.


Hindu Pushups are another fantastic bodyweight exercise that work the chest, back, arms and shoulders. Read this article to learn more.


There are many variations of bodyweight squats, Tiger Squats being one of them. They are similar to Hindu Squats, but with some slight variations. Read this article to learn more.


Is it possible to use bodyweight exercises to build strength? Many people doubt it. They shouldn't. In this artice, I consider the example of gymnasts. They never do so much as a bicep curl, yet they are amazingly strong. Click HERE to learn more.



Isometric Exercises are a fantastic old school method of body weight training that anyone can do anywhere. I review Paul J. O'Brien's book of isometric exercises, "7 Seconds To A Perfect Body", here. There's a lot to like in this course, although it's not perfect. Click HERE to read the full review.


This is a body weight fitness program put together by Roger Haeske. He promises that you can get in incredible shape from only doing 2 exercises. What do I think of this? Click HERE to read the full review.


This bodyweight routine is a simple program that anyone can try. If you are curious about these kind of workouts, give it a go. It will only take you about 20 minutes if you do it properly!


In order to get a taste of what natural body weight workouts can do for you I've put together these fantastic mini workout programs for you to try.  One is a yoga inspired routine that will work your entire body. The other comes directly from my Power Isometrics program and will give you an idea as to what isometric training is all about. They're both for you for free for simply signing up to receive my blog updates, which are themselves filled with great tips.    Click HERE to learn more.


If you have any questions, feel free to write me using the Contact Form.

If you found this exercise to be helpful, help me spread the word by using these cool social network buttons below.  Thanks!