What body weight training program is right for you?

The answers are everywhere.

Just look around. Pay attention to nature. She’ll tell you what to do.

What is the king of beasts on the North American continent? No it’s not the Jersey Devil.

It’s the Grisly Bear. Ursus arctos horribilis. You don’t have to know latin to get the gist of this dude. The top predator. Massive shoulders, back and arms. Strong and nasty.

Bears rule

What can we observe about the brown bear lifestyle?

He sleeps all winter. OK. He walks or crawls around all day, digging stuff up and eating it. He walks through the woods and kicks anybody's butt who is foolish enough to tangle. He'll eat almost anything but really enjoys the fatty salmon in the fall. He has attitude. He knows he is number 1.

Attitude matters. Don’t be a jerk growling at people and ruining their day but being confident and exuding some positive attitude really helps. Showing up everyday and working on your fitness goals is 90% of the battle. Get the right attitude.

So if you desire big shouldera or a strong back, the bear teaches us:

1. crawl around a lot
2. eat your meat, veggies and fruits
3. think positive
4. get your sleep
5. kick some tail now and again, with attitude, not physically

Big cats are bad

Let’s jet over to Africa and watch the big cat predators. What can we learn from them?

They sleep all day. Hmm. A theme. Yes sleep is really important to achieving your body weight training goals.

They are meat eaters, surviving exclusively on protein and fat. No carbs.

They are muscular, powerful animals. They don’t waste any effort running long distances. They sneak up on prey by crawling and then use surprise and speed to make the kill. They are sprinters.

And they use their heads. They don’t waste their time chasing the fittest prey. They seek out the old, young or injured. It’s easier.

So let’s review, for a muscular, low body fat physique one might consider:

1. sleeping a lot. It’s best to develop a sleeping pattern where you can wake up naturally rather than by alarm clock shock.
2. eating meat and fat (and other stuff) but keeping it relatively low carb
3. crawling and sprinting builds powerful muscles
4. limited long distance running since it breaks down muscles
5. Be smart. Don’t waste energy on low efficiency exercises. Don’t brake the body down by pounding a lot of miles, particularly on a treadmill. If you are going to run, at least do it outside and get some Vitamin D.

Does this make sense?

But they are animals you say. Is it really the same? Well their digestive systems are not exactly the same but this is more of a lifestyle analysis than a DNA comparison.

You decide.

Elephants, hippos and rhinos all move around slowly and eat grass and leaves. What do you think of their physiques?

You should consider sprinting, crawling, eating meat and sleeping well for your optimum body weight training routine.

It works. And don't forget the attitude.