Bodyweight Training & Calisthenics: The Progressive Bodyweight Workout Book For Beginners & Beyond (Weight training & resistance workouts)

Recently purchased this book and honestly it’s really changed my view of exercising. I really look forward to doing my routines. Sometimes after doing 10 hr shift in a restaurant kitchen and I get home late I’ll do my exercise routine and it gives me a huge burst of energy. The book is very well written and the plans are excellent. You can stick with the prepared plans or adapt them to your needs. Very little equipment is required but I would highly recommend getting a pull up bar. In the 2 months I’ve been doing these exercises I feel a whole lot stronger, have more energy and I’m seeing pretty good results. No need for expensive gym membership, just get this book and change your life. You’ll never need to use a gym again.

The exercise progressions have written descriptions along with pictures of the start position and “top of movement” so they are easy to follow. Each type of exercise has several progressions, so this is great for beginners who will always have something to work towards. There is also information about isometric and eccentric training and how to use these types of training methods with the workouts. There are several full routines to follow but as a reader you are encouraged to create your own routine following the step-by-step guide and using the blank program cards that also come with the book.

Really informative interesting book. The information is good, the exercises are progressive. Done with mobility exercises I believe this would be an awesome workout combination.

Missing a lot of progression steps like negative pull ups, pull ups with resistance bands and surely doing a handstand is one of the progression before being to do a handstand push up, but not according to this book.

The brilliant thing about this book is, it doesn't matter if you're a beginner or super fit, you will get something from this book. The diagrams are so simple to follow and you can go at your own pace. I've been involved with fitness training for over 20 years and Jim's book has inspired me to do more ab work. After all who doesn't like looking good. A must read!

I’m a fitness nerd, but due to personal circumstances ive had to adjust my training to calisthenics and im still learning. Ive picked up some new tips from the book, so i can say im happy, wasn’t expecting to learn as much as i did.

Wanting to restart my fitness and learn about calisthenics I was looking forward to receiving this. So disappointed. A5 sized, very wordy, lacking in images or diagrams, poor quality print, I scanned the first 45 pages before we got to the bit about warming up. Not much there. Followed by 6 pages of an imaginary clients routine. I was completely bored and disheartened. Thankfully I returning and going to get something with more pictures and routines.

Great book with plenty of variety of exercises and training plans.

I was expecting a lot more information on how to use your body for training, instead of the background information that was another person's journey to find out it was even possible. A more accurate description of the content would have been useful.

Didn’t add anything to my workout. Bad explanation, few exercises, don’t even bother to read it

Good product,

British certified fitness coach and author James Atkinson has published ten valuable books on his advice for encouraging good health – FITNESS & EXERCISE MOTIVATION, FITNESS FOR WOMEN OF ANY AGE, JIM’S WEIGHT TRAINING GUIDE. JIM’S WEIGHT TRAINING & BODY BUILDING WORKOUT PLAN, MARATHON TRAINING, TOTAL FITNESS FOR WHEELCHAIR USERS, HEALTH AND FITNESS TIPS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE, HOME WORKOUT FOR BEGINNERS, HOME WORKOUT CIRCUIT TRAINING, RESISTANCE BAND TRAINING, and now BODYWEIGHT TRAINING AND CALISTHENICS. He covers all the bases with actionable results! James now encourages us to bring the ‘gym’ home – a feasible and impressive way to build strength and mobility at home without all the ‘tools’ that fitness gyms provide: instead, using our own body weight in a planned and progressive workout. As he states, ‘Bodyweight training is an excellent choice of resistance training for almost everyone. For the beginner or senior trainer it can be an entry point to fitness that will yield unbelievable results as body weight exercise is often more than enough to challenge previously unconditioned muscle groups with progressive overload, leading to results that can be superior to the same intensity of training from barbells and dumbbells, etc. In my experience, I believe that this is because of the functional nature of bodyweight training and calisthenics that lend itself to core stability, along with a bigger emphasis on or stabilizer muscles.’ One of the many reasons James’ book is so valuable is his instruction of functional muscle groups, explaining clearly how all muscle groups (back, legs, shoulders, biceps, triceps etc) work – a factor that makes fitness training educational and far more beneficial. His exercising with bodyweight include calisthenics and isometric training, both of which have a strong focus on muscular strength and growth.’ After some solid mental instruction, he moves on to physical guidance with The Big Five – Push=ups’ Pullups, Dips, Shoulder Press, Squats – explaining the dynamics and illustrating the exercises (excellent images that define the muscle groups visually!) - of each. All promises made in his intro are fulfilled – and we benefit! All of James’ books provide supportive encouragement to the reader for achieving and maintaining fitness, delivered in a user-friendly manner. This is one of the finest books for realistic, informed and results-producing fitness books this reader has encountered! Very highly recommended. Grady Harp, October 21

Lots of information. Beginners, and advance work outs.