Do These 5 Bodyweight Exercises with Ease (CHEAT CODES!) – ATHLEAN-X™

by YouTube Team

There are some bodyweight exercises that are as difficult as any weighted exercise out there. There are others that look far more difficult than they actually are to perform. In this video, I’m going to show you the “cheat codes” for making 5 bodyweight exercises much easier than they look in just minutes. By the end of the video you will be much more likely to be able to do high box jumps, the dragon flag, floating planche tucks, hannibal pushups and typewriter pullups.

Let’s get started with the dragon flag exercise. This is definitely one of the more challenging ab exercises out there, but that is if you try to turn it into just an ab exercise. You see, the cheat code for performing this exercise better is to not forget to use your glutes when doing it. When you lift your body up and try to maintain a perfectly straight torso you will find that as you fatigue your hips start to drop faster than your feet do. This is because you are not consciously trying to squeeze your glutes as hard as you can to prevent it.

When you get a good glute contraction, you are able to keep your body much straighter and take some of the load off of the abs. Instantly, the exercise becomes easier and your chances of being able to perform it for a longer period of time go way up.

Next, we cover the hannibal pushup. This explosive plyometric pushup variation is known to be rather difficult when viewed but much easier when performed. This is because you have to push your body up off the ground with enough force to be able to touch your hands and toes together in the middle of the rep. The key however, is the word middle. You are not touching in mid-air. You are touching on the ground in the middle of your body.

This means that in order to do this properly you only need to think about dividing the distance in half. Bring your hands from your shoulders to your hips and your feet from behind you to your hips. When you see it this way you understand that the distance needing to be covered is far less. Visualize targeting this position on the floor and use it as the landing spot for both your feet and your hands.

The next exercise is the typewriter pullup. This cool looking pullup variation is again much easier to perform when you implement the cheat codes I’m showing you. As you slide your body to the right or left, realize that you still have the other hand on the bar. Just because it isn’t clasped around the bar doesn’t mean that it cannot exert downward force into the bar (as you normally would in a pullup). Set your hands out wide to better allow for the sliding of the body left to right and turn your thumb downward as you move to hook the hand on the bar and provide the best support.

The high box jump is much easier when you stop thinking of the move as one that requires a tremendous vertical jump. When you realize that the key to the movement is getting your knees as close to your head as possible, it becomes much easier to perform the exercise (especially when doing the quick warmups that I detail out).

Finally, the floating planche tuck takes advantage of physics to make the exercise much easier than it seems. Keep the hands facing backwards so that the natural bend of the elbows takes your arms closer to your center of mass not further from it. This will allow for a better balance point and give you a much better chance of executing this difficult bodyweight exercise more easily.

For a complete bodyweight workout program that requires no equipment at all, be sure to visit the link below and get the ATHLEAN XERO program. No bands, bars or benches required to get you in the best shape of your life using just your body weight.

For more videos on bodyweight workouts and exercises using just bodyweight, be sure to subscribe to our channel at the link below and turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.

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32 comments

Shaunak Dani August 22, 2020 - 2:16 pm

Jeff sir can u plz tell a solution for muscle gain problem

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Kenneth Zagone September 20, 2020 - 12:34 am

Jeff, love your videos. I’m learning a ton. I’m 56 and used to be a gymnast and coached elite gymnastics till 18 in a private club. I had our 6-8 year old junior elites doing 30 plange dips and that same move your doing with straight arms. Oh, did I mention they were girls. They also had to do a minimum of 30 hanging v-ups in 60 seconds. If they were any good they could do almost 1 per second.

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PJG Paintings September 26, 2020 - 11:40 am

In the left hand corner of the mirror at time 3:42 you can see some random dude in the doorway watching them

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Sudarshan K October 20, 2020 - 3:37 pm

It's not a thing to be a name with planche in it

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Saunok Chakrabarty October 25, 2020 - 12:41 pm

Jeff, are there any good bodyweight exercises for the forearms?

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EdBarton31 December 8, 2020 - 1:57 pm

let's see planche straight arm, slow, controlled, no momentum from the floor. Chris heria challenges you.

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Theo Lysyk December 22, 2020 - 3:46 am

awesome video I went from not knowing what a dragon lever was to doing it in literally 5 min

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T January 7, 2021 - 5:20 am

Anyone else hear Jeff's back crack when he did the dragonfly?

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Der Sven January 8, 2021 - 11:08 pm

I have been following Jeff for years and I really like his contents. Still his not a Calisthenics expert. Having some experience myself, I point out that:

1.it's still a banana dragon flag. Abs are disengaged or at most, they work at a fraction of what they should in this move and this posture is risky for your low back. You should aim for the hollow body position.

2. Those jumps are really good, bravo

3. it's no "floating tuck planche". I guess you said tuck because of the tucked elbow. What you did it's actually a bad elbow straddle planche.

Keep up the good work and please double check when you're talking about something you're not sure of.

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Divyendu Kashyap January 22, 2021 - 10:32 am

2:08 was both insightful and hilarious

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Adriano Guilhen February 17, 2021 - 10:09 pm

Thank you for the excellent work!

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A.Anvarbekov February 18, 2021 - 3:34 pm

I wonder if sb reads the whole video description on this channel where I guess a book is written

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Aleksandar Radivojevic March 3, 2021 - 9:21 pm

I'll try it out tomorrow, now think some of this really ain't that hary

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McSS March 13, 2021 - 6:48 pm

1:08 was that the sound of spine cracking )

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SkyzPS3 March 17, 2021 - 3:32 am

I just got into watching your videos and i noticed you're wearing Kobe's. This provides me with all I need to know. Subbed.

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yabada March 31, 2021 - 10:10 am

7:25 its called elbow lever not tuck floating planche

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『★ℛeiツ★』 March 31, 2021 - 4:15 pm

The tuck planche is actually a turtle freeze. It doesn't have as much strain as a planche (very different). As a person who can do the turtle freeze with ease (and with one hand instead of two), the planche is much different. Very fun tho 😉

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Isaac Taylor April 3, 2021 - 11:27 pm

It’s nice how someone can explain tough exercises while doing them

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ASIF Y2K April 21, 2021 - 2:22 pm

Can you do a planche ?

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Shivam Rawat April 21, 2021 - 4:42 pm

The last exercise looks most difficult but it is the easiest exercise (tuck elbow planche ) i am practicing this tuck planche for 1 month but i m not able to do that properly , but when i saw this video thumbnail , i note that Jeff's elbows are bent slightly forward and i try and the result is amazing i do my first elbow planche. I was very surprised that the thing i was not able to do for 1 month and it is achieved in just 1 min .💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻physical and mental strength example jeff . Love from india . NAMASTE🙏🙏

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devious May 30, 2021 - 2:25 pm

That last exercise is no planche!! That is a weaker exercise called the elbow lever. People with no training can do that.

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K Rohit June 4, 2021 - 3:46 pm

tuck planche is the easiest

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Noe Larios June 14, 2021 - 10:25 pm

Jeff is still breathing hard even with the cheat codes.

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nemi June 30, 2021 - 10:27 am

3:34 look at them at the mirror, i thought the pull bar is small lol

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Unspecified Username July 19, 2021 - 6:14 am

Very impressive

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Mohammad Javad Razlansari July 21, 2021 - 5:54 am

what is the name of his bracelet im watching it for 1 or 2 year now :))

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lee helppie August 21, 2021 - 9:38 pm

no wonder stallone recommends your channel…

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Jasper Helkamäki August 25, 2021 - 10:41 am

That is not a floating tuck planche it is an elbow lever straddle, we are driving out elbows against our torso to have leverage. It is an easy move, if you have your arms on the sides with no contact to your torso, that is called a bent-arm planche.

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A10_WILDFIRE November 2, 2021 - 4:21 pm

Floating Tuck Planche is not that easy.

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Ste Allen November 22, 2021 - 4:54 pm

RIP mountain dog

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Scharnhorst December 21, 2021 - 11:08 pm

hanibal legend 😀

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Scharnhorst December 21, 2021 - 11:51 pm

he is fckn shredded

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