Deal with it part 2

This is part of a series of posts concerning training with little to no equipment.

I said in my last post that I'd discuss making your own equipment... well, there's been a change of plans.
This post will be about training with only bodyweight.

This post is not about extolling bodyweight training, but is more about a "worst case scenario."
Weight training will always trump other forms of training in my opinion.
I'm sure there will many whining about gymnasts and how "totally jacked" they are...
Yeah, they sure are. All 5 foot 3, 130 pounds of them. We can also completely disregard the fact that the learning curve on what they do is incredibly high, and that they are almost always start at a very young age...
Let's not forget how "safe" gymnastics is, too! Wouldn't want to hurt your knees and elbows with weights!
I mean, it's not like Bart Conner, 1984 Olympic gold medalist was diagnosed with osteoarthritis at the age of 22. He probably didn't have nine surgeries over the course of his career, either... (That story is here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/spotlight/2001-02-08-conner.htm )

There is absolutely nothing wrong with not training with weights, but the high horse that BW only people ride is pretty flimsy. Like their lower backs probably are.

Without further delay...

What I would do if I had absolutely no access to weight training implements (barbells, dumbbells, rocks, kegs, etc.)

Handstand pushups
Why? Your entire upper body is worked.

Single leg squats (a.k.a "pistols")
Why? Your entire lower body is worked.

Rollouts (or walkouts, slideouts, etc.)
I bet you thought I was going to put pullups/chinups here. I thought quite a bit about this and decided that if one wanted this type of routine to carry over to other things, then the lower back would need to be stressed. Pullups don't do that sufficiently. The rollout, however, does do this. It also stresses the entire midsection, along with the shoulders, chest, triceps and lats. (Side note - the motion somewhat reminds me of a pullover.)
Since this scenario precludes the use of any equipment, pullups/chinups can't be done.
Rollouts with an ab wheel are out, too.
But, that doesn't mean we can't use something that achieves the same motion.

Look at the picture above.
Now, since we don't have a wheel at our disposal, we can't do what she's doing.
We can, however, use a towel/cloth/shirt/etc on a slick floor and do the exact same motion.
What if you don't have a slick surface?
If you're stuck with carpet, you could use furniture "sliders," a plastic lid, a baking pan or even a piece of laminated paper or cardboard. Get creative.
(Edit: Just tried a "rollout" with a phone book on carpet. It worked well.)
You could also walk your hands out in front of you (where they would be at the end of a rollout) and push up.
These are called Lalanne pushups. Personally, I'd do them with a neutral grip, on my fists.

                              Jack Lalanne had this shit figured out years ago.

They work the similar muscles.
If you want to mimic the rollout motion, then just walk your hands out and then walk them in as far as you can. That's one rep.


I'd focus on those three movements and work up to doing them every day.

There you have it-- a program that requires basically nothing.