Training With Your Body’s Own Weight

To be a modern ninja, one has to have some form of physical fitness. Both muscular endurance and physical stamina are essential to a ninja’s training in martial arts, Parkour and stealth.

© Obak | Dreamstime Stock Photos

© Obak  (Dreamstime Stock)

While there are many ways to train your fitness, bodyweight exercises (aka Calisthenics) allows you to naturally progress towards Parkour’s conditioning exercises. Bodyweight exercises uses the body’s weight as resistance for your workout. Some notable examples are push ups, pull ups and crunches.

This form of workout also allows you to build strength and endurance without going to the gym.

Therefore, because of the simplicity, you’ll have no excuses to skip a workout session, and should be able to build your cardiovascular strength fairly quickly.

Basic Workout Program by Way Of Ninja

The following program is meant only for beginners to train towards a basic level of fitness using Calisthenics workouts. The workout should be done thrice a week, with a day of rest in between (e.g. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday). Please consult your doctor before attempting any exercise program.

You can refer to the exercise videos or pictorial instruction on Workoutz, if you do not know how to do the below exercises.

Part 1:

There should be 10 to 15 seconds of rest between each exercise and set.

Push-ups (3,5,3)
Crunches (10)
Tricep Pushups (3,5,3)
Bicycle Crunch (10)
Touch your toes (3)
Reverse Crunch (10)
Wide Pushups (3,5,3)
Vertical Leg Crunch (10)
Cobra Stretch (3)
Dive Bomber Push-ups (3,5,3)
Prone Bridge (30 sec)
Side Bridge -static (30 sec per side)

Part 2:

Take a 10 to 20 minutes break before continuing.

The jogging should last no more than 14 minutes for males and 18 minutes for females.

Pull-ups (1,1,1)
Supine Pullups (7,7,7)
Tuck Jumps (5,5,5)
Bodyweight Squats (30)
Jogging (1.5miles)

Recommended Bodyweight Training Guide

It is highly recommended that you use the workout routine in Stew Smith’s book, The Complete Guide to Navy Seal Fitness.

Stew Smith was a former Navy SEAL, an equivalent to a ninja of Old times. He has been featured on National Geographic, Fight Science.

The bodyweight workout provided in his book will enhance your strength and stamina. And the free DVD included in the book will better explain the workout. Get The Complete Guide to Navy Seal Fitness now.

Logen L.

  • Shinobi

    Hello. You’re website is extremely helpful and I really appreciate all the trouble you have went to through. I was just wondering what do the number in brackets next to the exercise type mean.

    e.g.

    Push-ups (3,5,3)

    • Logen

      I’m glad that you like the site. Here’s the explanation:

      Example: Push-ups (3,5,3)

      Start with 3 push-ups, and then rest for 10 to 15 seconds. Proceed with 5 push-ups and rest again for 10 to 15 seconds. End the push-up exercise with 3 push-ups.

      Depending on your fitness ability, you can either get up to rest or hold the push up position. The latter is more challenging.

      I hope this helps. And do come back often. :)

  • Shinobi

    Hi, me again. Thank you so much for your quick response. I will definitely visit this site more than once more.

    Thanks Logen

  • jose manuel

    hi, Im very interested in getting enough strength to do some parkour, what would be some advance body- weight training things that I can do to do all kind of difficult movements.please, I need something extremly advance and good diet too.what advice can you give me to become a master?

  • Parritzo

    Got any advice on getting over the fear to do some advanced parkour, Example’s Height, Or if you wanted to do flips say the fear of landing on your neck.

    Got any advice / exercises for that?

    Thank you.

  • Kyra

    Hey Thanks i don’t know what I would do with out this information, my little brother wants me to teach him how to be a ninja but I didn’t exactly know how to train him. Thanks again.

  • http://www.wayofninja.com RubiksCubex

    These resources have helped me so much.
    I am a brown belt in karate and this website along with my regular training have worked really well together

  • Bradley

    hi i love this website but im not sure what some of the excersises are. could you help me?

  • Logen

    I am working to improve on the clarity of training programs. Please bear with me for a while. :)

  • david

    hi!

    thanks for all the great information on this site. i wonder, where did you get this workout regimen from?

    thanks!

    • Logen Lanka

      Thanks David for your support. I customised the workout regimen back in 2009 for myself and had used it regularly during that time. The workout was inspired and based on some workout books I had read. When I decided to share it with everyone who reads Way Of Ninja, I configured the workout so that it could be used for beginners.

  • ancient soul

    nice programm,i will be a ninja after a few months!

  • anonymous

    fear is like walking against a strong wind. you are aware that the wind it is holding you back but you must press forward. training to be a ninja is hard , so if you mess up don’t give up.

    • Logish

      Indeed. In fact, most things worth doing in life is difficult. Both failure and pain are good teachers. It is through the process that you learn what work and what doesn’t. And by not giving up, one day, you will reach where you want to be. :)

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  • Bradley Winkler

    thanks for making the exercises more descriptive :) “anonymous” i love the comment!