Beginner's bodyweight workout/stretches

[SpiritOfRock]

I started working out 3 times a week probably about a month ago, although I never really stuck to much of a strict regimen - I'd either find a workout video on Youtube and follow it as best as I could, or do as many of whatever exercise I could think of as possible until I got tired. I wrote down this regimen for 3 times a week workouts - for the more experienced out there, any feedback or advice would be great.

I'm 17 years old, I'm about 5 foot 9 and weigh about 140 pounds.

Play football/run for cardio
20 pushups
50 crunches
2 minute plank
20 leg lifts
40 squats
20 lunges

I'm hoping to get essentially a full-body workout from that, is there anything else I'm missing? The whole ordeal will probably be easier once I buckle down and buy weights, but I'm waiting until I've been keeping up the habit for a while before I commit and spend money.

Also, from somebody who has never really had the chance to learn, what kind of stretch routine should I be doing?

Thanks in advance for all of your help.

[Nath]

While your exercise selection is OK, you don't want to set a fixed number of target reps for bodyweight exercises. For exercise to be useful, you need some way to scale up as you adapt. With weight training, you usually have a fixed number of reps and scale up by adding more weight. With bodyweight training, you scale up by adding more reps.

Multiple sets can also be useful. Three maximal sets is a good place to start, at least for pushups and squats. This might be overkill for the ab stuff. (For your first couple of workouts, don't go all the way to failure, or you may get pretty sore.)

Do you have access to a place to do pullups and dips?

[SpiritOfRock]

No, I recently tried a tree branch in my backyard but it broke.

[Nath]

If you have a sturdy door, some people do chin-ups on those. Of course, use doorstops etc. to keep it from moving, and maybe throw a towel over the top if it bothers your fingers. (And make sure it can support your weight.)

Forgot to address the stretching point. Stretching isn't necessarily a more-is-better thing, but most people who spend a lot of time sitting down would at least benefit from some hip stretches. MobilityWOD has some good ones.

There's a general purpose stretching routine here. I used to do all those stretches every workout, but found it more productive to just focus on the ones that I need and hold them for longer.

[SpiritOfRock]

If you have a sturdy door, some people do chin-ups on those. Of course, use doorstops etc. to keep it from moving, and maybe throw a towel over the top if it bothers your fingers. (And make sure it can support your weight.)

Forgot to address the stretching point. Stretching isn't necessarily a more-is-better thing, but most people who spend a lot of time sitting down would at least benefit from some hip stretches. MobilityWOD has some good ones.

There's a general purpose stretching routine here. I used to do all those stretches every workout, but found it more productive to just focus on the ones that I need and hold them for longer.

Thanks, that last link was precisely what I was looking for. How long is it necessary to hold a stretch for? Also, should I be stretching as far as I physically can or somewhere before that point? Also, I've heard some people say it's better to do when you start working out and others say it's better to do after you finish - should I just do both to be safe?

[Nath]

Jeff (the author of that last link) used to have us hold each position for about 10 seconds each, and go through the whole sequence. I think it's better to hold it longer -- 30 seconds to a minute -- but I use fewer positions. (Typically, I only do one or two stretches at a time.) Stretches are like exercises: you want to do a few 'compound' stretches, rather than trying to stretch every joint through every degree of freedom one by one.

Stretch after your workout. Stretching before can adversely affect your training. People tend to confuse stretching with warmup; these are completely different things.

You need to stretch enough to feel it, but not enough to cause damage. It should be sort of uncomfortable, but not actively painful. Generally, for things like hip stretches, it's not straightforward to tell when you're truly at maximum extension, but you'll be able to feel the stretch.

[broken_escalator]

A basic set of dumbbells is pretty cheap and can easily work out your entire body. Definitely a good purchase if you get into the habit of exercising!

Here are some other exercises you can do without weights:
Dips:
Sit on a chair or bench and balance on your arms, moving backside in front of the step with legs straight. Bend the elbows and lower down, keeping the shoulders down until elbows are at 90 degrees. Push back up and repeat.

Step-ups:
Without weights you can probably find a really high step and do more reps than you would with weights. If you slow down the tempo of the step that might help too.

[Solt]

I would suggest replacing body weight squats and lunges with sprints and jumping. More of a full body workout and there's potential for actual strength improvements unlike in body weight squats where you won't really get too much stronger after a point.

Pushups - do more, in sets (ie, 10,10,10 then 12,12,12, the next day, etc)

Crunches - do tougher variations like bicycle crunches and weighted crunches. 50 is a lot and, like all your other muscles, 50 reps is well beyond the point of diminishing returns (for strength... if you only care about endurance for, say, a specific sport, then by all means do a metric ton of crunches)

[SpiritOfRock]

Crunches - do tougher variations like bicycle crunches and weighted crunches. 50 is a lot and, like all your other muscles, 50 reps is well beyond the point of diminishing returns (for strength... if you only care about endurance for, say, a specific sport, then by all means do a metric ton of crunches)

I guess some people would call it a sport.

[jjfortherear]

Are you trying to bulk up a bit? If so, I strongly recommend Arnold's book: http://www.amazon.com/New-Encyclopedia- ... 0684857219
Really has all the info you could ever want, but if you are trying to get by without weights, go for pullups (you can reposition yourself in a lot of ways to get all the parts of your back, though it takes a pretty strong core) and handstand pushups against a wall (I use pushup bars on two chairs, lets me get a full range of motion and is comfortable, though you may need a high ceiling). As for legs, that's a bit tough without weights, but lunges and squat jumps would probably be the best.