Arnold’s book recommended "freehand" exercises as the ideal way to start working out and “laying the foundation.” He even said that freehand exercises can add muscle size and enhance muscular definition. Sounded good to me, so my first routine was the "freehand" program straight from Arnold's book:

1. Push ups
2. Dips (between chairs)
3. Broomstick pullup between chairs
4. Bent knee sit ups
5. Bent knee leg raises
6. Bodyweight squats
7. One legged calf raise
8. Close grip Chin ups

I didn’t have a rigid set and rep structure, but instead aimed for a cumulative rep total, such as 50 push ups, and whether that was 5 sets of 10, or 2 sets of 25 didn’t matter so much to me at the time. What I worked on was gradually building up my cumulative rep total.

Arnold recommended using this routine for two to six months before progressing into weight training. I did two months, then I just couldn't wait any longer. I saw fairly good results from just the bodyweight movements, but I was incredibly eager to start lifting. Once I started pumping the iron, my strength and muscle development exploded and I never looked back.

To this day - even though I'm an advanced bodybuilder - I still keep some bodyweight training in my programs. In addition to the countless abdominal exercises you can do with your body weight, the most important bodyweight movements in my opinion, are pull ups and dips. Since there are so many variations on pull ups and chin ups (more than a dozen), you could do nothing but pullups/chinups and achieve excellent back and bicep development. Some people consider rows the king of back exercises, but if I could only pick one back exercise, pull ups would be it (with or without weight).

Dips, both narrow grip for tricep emphasis and V-bar wide grip for pectoral emphasis are also excellent. Most strength athletes and bodybuilders will need to add additional load once they are doing their bodyweight for 10-12 reps on dips. Reverse dips for triceps are good too, but you have to be cautious of the shoulder joint if you use full range.

Push ups are a superb exercise. You can make push ups more challenging by elevating your feet and/or pushing up between two chairs. It's even more challenging when you destabilize by putting your feet up on a swiss ball. Narrow grip tricep push ups are quite challenging even to an advanced trainee, and push ups with your hands on one (or two) medicine balls or a swiss ball are a lot harder than they look.

Most people think of the push up as an upper body (chest, deltoid, tricep) strength or strength-endurance exercise, but it’s more than that – the push up is excellent for developing strength and stability in the core.

Some athletes (and occupations) tend to gravitate towards bodyweight exercises and away from weight training. Bodyweight movements are especially popular among martial artists, wrestlers, law enforcement personnel and the military (although I know many in all these groups who powerlift and bodybuild).

I believe that almost anyone can become fit and even build some muscle size with bodyweight only exercise, but once you've mastered your bodyweight and can easily perform high repetitions with good form, it's only logical to add additional load. For bodybuilders, or those seeking maximum hypertrophy, weights are an absolute must (there’s no such thing as a successful competitive bodybuilder who doesn’t lift weights).

One of the greatest advantages of having a variety of bodyweight exercises in your arsenal is that you can get a great workout when you're traveling, right in your hotel room. That’s one of the reasons I think everyone should learn at least a handful of bodyweight movements so you can get a workout anywhere, anyplace, anytime even when you don't have a gym or equipment available.

If you want to learn more about body weight training, here's a few resources to check out:

www.AlwynCosgrove.com

Alwyn is a top trainer and strength coach from Southern California, and he's well known for his arsenal of unique and sometimes brutal bodyweight exercises. In one of his seminar DVD's, he takes a 400 pound squatter and turns his legs into jelly with a short series of bodyweight-only exercises. Alwyn has some great ebooks and video programs that are worth adding to any fitness library (especially if you're a trainer or fitness professional).

Also check out www.mattfurey.com

Matt is a controversial and outpoken advocate of bodyweight-only exercise and he is actually opposed to doing any weight training at all. Naturally, as a bodybuilder I do NOT agree with his viewpoint at all, but I can respect the argument that it makes sense to master your bodyweight before adding external resistance.

In any case, I had a chance to meet Matt last year and found him to be a great guy (even though he makes fun of us "muscle head bodybuilders," ha ha), and I found the information in his programs about flexibility and body weight training extremely valuable. If you're involved with wrestling or any of the fighting arts, you'll especially appreciate and benefit from Matt's programs. Another thing that impressed me about Matt is his emphasis on personal development and the use of mind power to achieve goals.

Pavel Tsatsouline also puts out some good information on bodyweight training, which you can find at www.dragondoor.com or www.amazon.com. His materials will probably appeal the most to martial artists, although everyone can benefit.

Also check out Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence Training programs. A lot of his stuff is based on bodyweight exercises and he even has a full 6 month bodyweight only training manual. Craig's site is: www.turbulencetraining.com

Bottom line: If you’re a bodybuilder and you write off body weight work as ineffective, you’re missing out on one more tool that you could be using to improve yourself (and if you think it’s too easy, you haven’t tried some of the advanced variations). However, if you’re using only bodyweight exercises for fitness or sports and you write off weight training as unnecessary, dangerous, “vain” or whatever, you’re missing the boat too.

My advice is to learn about and use as many tools as you possibly can to enhance your strength and fitness level and be sure to choose and use the ones you enjoy doing, that will help you achieve your own personal sports or fitness goals most efficiently.

Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal trainer, certified strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS), and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle. Tom has written hundreds of articles and has been featured in IRONMAN, Australian IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise as well as on hundreds of websites worldwide. Tom is also the founder and creator of the Internet's premiere fat loss support community, the: Burn The Fat Inner Circle. To subscribe to Tom's free monthly newsletter, visit www.TomVenuto.com.