At-Home Bodyweight Workouts: During COVID Pandemic

No gym, No equipment, 11-minute bodyweight home workouts to improve your mental well-being and stay healthy 

These are challenging times and now more than ever is the time to focus on your overall health. There's a lot of hype about staying fit with at-home bodyweight workouts during the Coronavirus pandemic.  People have lost access to their gym and the ability to meet with their personal trainers. Combine this with more at-home responsibilities like homeschooling the children it seems impossible to get a workout in. There is a lot of data that shows positive physical well-being is closely allied with mental and emotional fitness, which is essential in our daily lives.

Isolation at home is no vacation.

Canadian Dr. Bill Orban, an academic in the field of physical fitness, developed two groundbreaking training programs for the Royal Canadian Air Force. These bodyweight workouts required little time and space.

His programs, 5BX (Five Basic Exercises) for men, and XBX (Ten Basic Exercises) for women helped the RCAF, to maintain a high level of physical fitness and readiness for emergencies.

These bodyweight workouts required no facilities or equipment. They take only eleven to twelve minutes a day to do, and can be done in a space the size of a small room. 

With these "at-home body weight workouts," Dr.Orban made physical fitness achievable for everyone.

No gym, no weights, and no time to stay fit!

The 5BX and XBX are at-home bodyweight workouts that enable you to get fit by yourself. Anywhere. Anytime. At your rate of progress. In only eleven minutes a day. They are progressive, you avoid unnecessary discomfort and build you strength and endurance.

These at-home bodyweight workouts are simple, easy to do, and easy to follow. They are balanced and complete, covering strength development and cardio conditioning for endurance. They are also motivating, with clearly defined "targets for fitness" based on your age and body build. The workouts have graduated standards so its easy to check and track your progress. Finally, the progressions enable you to set your fitness levels and pursue them at your rate.

Don't be confused by the charts.

The 5BX and XBX programs have six charts moving from the easiest to the most challenging. Each Chart has 5 or 10 exercises. Depending on which program you're following, they will also include a warm-up exercise. While the exercises work the same body areas in each Chart, the difficulty increases as you move from Chart 1, the easiest, up to Chart 6, the most difficult. Within each Chart there are 12 fitness levels which only vary by the number of repetitions to perform.

Easy to follow.

You just start with the lowest level in Chart 1. Perform each of the exercises for the required number of repetitions within the allotted time. Do the same Chart and level for 1 to 8 days, depending on your age, then progress to the next level. Keep doing this until you reach your desired fitness level.

Your ideal "targeted fitness levels."

While the program suggests "targeted fitness levels," only you can decide what level is right for you. I often hear people comment, "I'm already at my suggested fitness level, so this program isn't for me." That's not true unless you're performing at the highest level on Chart 6, which is a level found only in champion athletes. Otherwise, you still have room to advance and challenge yourself with increased exercise difficulty or the number of repetitions.

Why use an at-home bodyweight workout from the 50's?

While some trainers argue with Dr. Orban's exercise selection in the original programs. But, his routines are sound, and they are time tested and scientifically proven. So much so that the Royal Canadian Air Force programs today follow the same or a very similar protocols. Just look at Martin Gibala's The One-Minute Workout. In it, Martin's studies debunk the notion that it takes at least an hour to get in a good workout—more if you factor in the time required to get to and from the gym.

Today, we call this HIIT, pronounced "hit," for high-intensity interval training. And, it all started with Dr. Orban and his 5BX and XBX programs.

Take this time to commit to your health

You don't need bulging muscles, or an hour or more to "get in a good workout." Focusing 11 minutes a day on your physical health will have a positive effect on your mental well-being. It enhances and improves vitality, appearance, and personality.

The uncertainties we face today demand a high standard of physical fitness. With the 5BX and XBX program, you can achieve these standards in an enjoyable, well-balanced way for a total investment of 11 to 12 minutes a day.

Start your at-home bodyweight workout today.

With TriadXP's mobile fitness app, you can get guided 5BX and XBX workouts with voice and video cues for all the levels and Charts. No pen, no paper, nothing to look-up. Just pop in your earbuds, pick your Chart and level and go. TriadXP systematically tracks your times, repetitions, and distances and logs your results for you to monitor your progress.