The Complete Guide to Bodyweight Training

A comprehensive practical compendium of bodyweight exercises and the theory behind them.
Bodyweight training is one of the growing global trends in fitness. It's simple enough to explain - using your own body weight to improve your fitness and strength, and yoga and gymnastic practitioners have been doing this for years.
But the theory behind it isn't often understood. Kesh Patel contextualises bodyweight training - where did it come from? What is Evolutionary Fitness? and looks at the theory behind it. Understand the basics of biomechanics and you can adapt and improve your bodyweight training programmes and improve your results. So find out about working with gravity, how skills acquisition works, how to develop posture and balance - all based on biomechanical principles.
This book is packed with practical, clear and accessible exercise ideas, progressing from fundamental movement patterns to more advanced exercises, along with details of exercise programming - including adaptations for different skill levels, working with groups, and ideas to integrate bodyweight exercises into traditional weight training, circuit and bootcamp classes, to name but a few.

Kesh Patel has worked in the health and fitness industry for over 20 years. He has wide ranging experience as a practitioner and lecturer in the areas of rehabilitation and exercise, and was formerly Research and Development Manager for the UK's leading fitness training provider, Premier Training International. His expert knowledge has also allowed him to frequently contribute to industry publications, national magazines and online content. He is currently Director of Education at the VIVOBAREFOOT Training Clinic in London, and in his spare time he runs and practices bodyweight skills for fun.

Acknowledgements
Foreword
Preface
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION TO BODYWEIGHT TRAINING
Chapter 1 Why train with bodyweight?
PART TWO: EXERCISE CONSIDERATIONS AND PROGRAMME DESIGN
Chapter 2 Training strategies
Chapter 3 Training format
Chapter 4 Warming up
Chapter 5 Cooling down
PART THREE: BODYWEIGHT SKILLS
Chapter 6 Stability skills
Chapter 7 Manipulative skills
Chapter 8 Locomotor skills
PART FOUR: MOVEMENT SEQUENCES AND FLOWS
Chapter 9 Transitional sequences
Chapter 10 Locomotor sequences
Appendix Sample workouts
References and Further Reading
Glossary
Index