The world has become an infinitely more complicated place as of late, and unfortunately, fitness has followed suit. Talk to anyone in the fitness industry today and you’re going to get a lot of industry jargon but not much useful advice. You’ll hear about anaerobic thresholds, glycogen pathways, VO2 max and the like. As a budding, self-motivated athlete, I spent a lot of time in my 20s reading and studying up on the minutia around fitness — and not getting into any better shape.

Yep, I was the geek with the copies of the mainstream fitness publications lying around my bedroom. There was always a new article with some bit of information that I absolutely had to know in order to go from a 160-pound ex-collegiate swimmer to a 240-pound mound of vein-popping, Arnold Schwarzenegger-intimidating, record-breaking monster in only six weeks like the guys in the photos.

What was the hidden gem? What was the missing link? What was the secret that I just couldn’t gleam from all of those articles and advertisements?

Here it is: Keep it simple. That is the key to your future fitness success. People have gotten and kept themselves in amazing shape with limited or no access to gyms, fancy equipment and/or supplement advertisements, and you can, too.

Due to the overwhelming response we got after posting Eric’s workouts last week, I’ve decided to keep moving forward with this same theme and have asked him to cook up three more for you. Again, the theme of these workouts is that they are highly effective, can be performed quickly and can be done with no equipment other than what your Mama gave you.

Workout 1

Five rounds for time of: five Spiderman push-ups, 10 V-ups and 15 squats.

» Spiderman push-ups are performed in the standard push-up position, but as you lower your chest to the ground, bring one knee up to touch your elbow with that entire leg off the floor. As you extend out of the bottom of the push-up and up into the plank position, bring your leg back to your starting position.

» V-ups are performed by lying flat on your back with your arms extended over your head. Engaging your abdominal muscles and hip flexors, bring your hands and feet together in a “V” position, leaving only your backside touching the ground.
 
Workout 2

AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) 10 minutes: five burpees, 30-second squat hold.

» To complete a burpee, start in a standing position, place your hands on the floor as if you were about to do a push-up, throw your legs behind you into the standard push-up position, complete a full chest to floor push-up (the actual movement standard for a burpee is to have both your chest and thighs reach the floor on every rep) and then jump your legs back up into the squat position. From here, jump straight up and clap your hand over and behind your head.

» The squat hold is performed by lowering yourself down into the proper squat position (knees directly over your toes, lumbar curve active, crease of your hip below your knee) and staying active at the lowered position. Don’t let your body go limp and hang there for the 30 seconds; continue to stay full engaged.

Workout 3

Three rounds for time of: 20 push-ups, 50 squats

» If you find yourself finishing this workout well under 10 minutes, continue to add rounds until you get close to the 10-minute mark.

If those three workouts were the only three that you were allowed to do for a five- to six-week period, and you continually motivated yourself to go faster and faster either by keeping track of the time and/or rounds (which you should always be doing anyway) or by challenging someone else to join in with you for added competition, you will find yourself in excellent shape.

The key to body weight workouts and shorter time duration workouts is to make sure that your intensity level stays very high. Once you’ve gotten yourself sufficiently warm, tear into these workouts like they are the last opportunity that you will ever have to train and/or your life depends on the outcome. Leverage is a powerful tool, even if you have to manufacture it yourself.

Have at it.

— Traver Boehm is co-owner and coach at Crossfit Pacific Coast, has a master’s degree in Chinese medicine, is a licensed acupuncturist at Alki Wellness, and a nutrition specialist. He can be contacted at traver@crossfitpacificcoast.com.