Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible Of Bodyweight Exercises For Men And Women” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible Of Bodyweight Exercises For Men And Women

Mark Lauren,

Joshua Clark

3.99 · Rating details · 3,341 ratings · 208 reviews

Providing the only exercise equipment anyone will ever need again, this guide presents to the public, for the first time, the most elite Special Operations fitness exercises to fit their schedule and their wallet. Providing the most effective, efficient, inexpensive, and convenient routine for exercise available, this simple program requires no gym or weights—only the ...more

Get A Copy

Paperback, 171 pages

Published by Light of New Orleans Publishing (first published 2010)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about You Are Your Own Gym, please sign up.

Be the first to ask a question about You Are Your Own Gym

Lists with This Book

How to Be Better at Almost Everything by Pat Flynn

The Best Books for Personal Trainers

35 books — 2 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 3.99 ·

Rating details

· 3,341 ratings · 208 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible Of Bodyweight Exercises For Men And Women

Jan 23, 2012 Vhalros rated it really liked it

Shelves: strength-and-conditioning

This book,is, as the name suggests a book describing body weight exercises, and a program to use them to improve ones physical fitness. Many of the exercises actually use some equipment, but they are items one might easily find around the house; books, broom sticks, and other miscellany.

The book starts off with what is a lot of non-sense, disparaging weight training as "non-functional"-- which explains why it made me strong enough to do most of the advanced exercises in the book. While there This book,is, as the name suggests a book describing body weight exercises, and a program to use them to improve ones physical fitness. Many of the exercises actually use some equipment, but they are items one might easily find around the house; books, broom sticks, and other miscellany.

The book starts off with what is a lot of non-sense, disparaging weight training as "non-functional"-- which explains why it made me strong enough to do most of the advanced exercises in the book. While there are certainly silly ways of doing weight training, it is disappointing that he Lauren needs to condemn legitimate training methods in order to make his own work seem superior. As if there were only one way to train! There are compelling reasons to use body weight training, and his book could stand on its own with out hating on other training methods.

The chapter on nutrition is also disappointing; there is some good information in there but it is all mixed in with what are nothing but persistent hearsay (ex. "eating every 2-3 hours will boost your metabolisim"); no sources are given.

Next comes the descriptions of exercises. Since your only way of increasing resistance with body weight exercises is to progress to similar but more challenging exercises, you need many more exercises in a body weight book than you might need otherwise, and this book includes enough of them to keep most people busy for a long time. The illustrations are pretty good, but the description of form is often lacking (often only a few lines). A person with good intuition about how to move their body will be able to make good use of them, but I'd be slightly worried about a less athletic person. Still, with caution, I think most people will be able to make use of the exercises in this book.

Next comes a chapter describing several sample exercise programs. He has three, for three different levels of fitness. They all use the same basic periodized approach, but with harder exercises/longer intervals/etc. I already have my own thing going on, so I haven't tried any of these programs, but they seem pretty reasonable to me. The novice program might be a bit too complicated (i.e. for raw beginners, periodization probably isn't immediately necessary), but it would work.

Finally, there are appendixes. One of which lists a few simple items you can use to enhance your workout. The other one contains essential information about programming-- so I'm not sure why it is in an appendix instead of the programming chapter. The stuff here is pretty much required for making the programs work.

Although I've been critical, I think overall this is a very good book. Especially compared to the other body-weight/minimal equipment exercise books I've seen-- it is more comprehensive than Pavel's "The Naked Warrior" and more accessibly than Ross Enamait's "Never Gymless". I will definitely be incorporating some exercises from this book into my work out.

There are a few things that could make it much better and easier to use for a novice. For example, Laruen lists several exercises that should be preformed only "after a through warm up", but never describes how one might warm up. He also stresses good form, but often fails to describe what is good and what is bad form for various exercises. These flaws and the other ones I have already mentioned prevent this from being a five star book.

...more

flag 25 likes · Like · see review

Jan 25, 2012 Joe Green rated it liked it · review of another edition

I really want to give this book 5-stars, because I think it's probably the most accessible bodyweight calisthenics book out there, but there's a few minor shortcomings that I just can't get over.

The good: There's enough information in here to keep a lot of people busy for a long time... without having to dish out a whole lot of dough for gym memberships or home equipment. For my money, this book also has the best, most accessible, easiest to incorporate bw calisthenic workout routines that I've I really want to give this book 5-stars, because I think it's probably the most accessible bodyweight calisthenics book out there, but there's a few minor shortcomings that I just can't get over.

The good: There's enough information in here to keep a lot of people busy for a long time... without having to dish out a whole lot of dough for gym memberships or home equipment. For my money, this book also has the best, most accessible, easiest to incorporate bw calisthenic workout routines that I've seen. My disappointment with books like Convict Conditioning, Building the Gymnastic Body and The Naked Warrior is that they either do have a very detailed routine to build upon, or they don't have routines that are easily incorporated into daily life. This book definitely does have that.

The bad: The biggest issue for me, is, as thorough as the book is, that Lauren doesn't go over static holds (which are some of the best exercises for building strength and endurance with only your body) and he doesn't go over a lot of elite movements, such as a one-armed pullup and its variations, or a muscle-up. Furthermore, as others have mentioned, Lauren doesn't provide much detail for some of his movements, which isn't an issue for people like myself who have some experience in BW calisthenics, but can be a huge knock for those who are just beginning. Also, while I obviously agree that for general fitness and strength, bw calisthenics are the best way to go, I always feel a little annoyed when bw "aficionados" disparage pumping iron too much. Pumping iron is a good thing. It's better than doing nothing, and it's still the best way to develop the legs, in my opinion.

Overall, as someone who has read a lot of the bw calisthenic literature, I think this is the best use of one's money, particularly if one is not yet at an "elite" level (those who have been doing bw calisthenics for some time might be better of with something like Building the Gymnastic Body, but I personally have just incorporated what I liked about BtGB into Lauren's routines.). Dragon Door has some decent books, but it's hard to recommend them to someone when they cost $40 or so. Especially when something like Convict Conditioning--which is a book jam-packed with good information-- doesn't really provide useful examples of exercise routines (some will disagree with me, but none of the routines in CC gave me the results I was looking for).

On a side note, for those who are interested in seeing what bodyweight calisthenics is capable of, check out youtube for videos of the "barstarzz", "bartendaz" and "Hannibal for King" or Al Kavadlo's website. It's pretty hard to argue with the results shown by those guys, and I doubt the vast majority of people training only with weights are capable of the feats exhibited therein. The barstarzz instructional DVD is actually a pretty good investment itself. ...more

flag 20 likes · Like · see review

Nov 04, 2014 Íris rated it liked it · review of another edition

I've been a strength trainee for almost 6 months now. Before that I was a couch-potato of the worst kind. I work from 8 to 6 in an office (and eventually get up to go take care of something) and when I get home I sit on the couch and watch TV and scroll through Facebook. Until then only my fingers moved in any way.
Then I got a gym membership. I won't lie: I hated the first time, I dreaded the next couple times until I got used to it.
But that gym was unorganized and unsafe: some machines were I've been a strength trainee for almost 6 months now. Before that I was a couch-potato of the worst kind. I work from 8 to 6 in an office (and eventually get up to go take care of something) and when I get home I sit on the couch and watch TV and scroll through Facebook. Until then only my fingers moved in any way.
Then I got a gym membership. I won't lie: I hated the first time, I dreaded the next couple times until I got used to it.
But that gym was unorganized and unsafe: some machines were half-broken, the improvised squat rack was also fixed with duct-tape and there were no Olympic barbells.
I was starting to get the gym seriously and decided to upgrade to a better gym where I would pay the same each month and have access to better machines and trainers. I liked it for a couple times, but there was this problem: I could only go after work, and, apparently, so would everyone else.
The membership was $US 100/month and still I have to walk through a crowd of people throwing weights all around. I didn't have a safe spot to deadlift and all the machines I wanted to use were taken. We would almost have to stand in line to use something.
Then I had to take a month business trip out of the country and in that month I signed up in another gym. I loved that gym but I knew it was temporary. I grew significantly in the time span.
When I came back I dreaded going back to that crowded and stupidly expensive gym, so I started searching.
I had heard of YAYOG before but I thought that bodyweight can only have a limit one can achieve and then you reach a plateau. Wait, I still think that way, but the limit, in my eyes, has changed a lot. What I thought would be easy became really hard.
Last week I decided to give this a go and read the book. Now this is where my real review starts. I usually make a little list of the ups and downs in the books I read (unless I just feel like writing a quick review). This is a fairly short book, only emphasizing most of its pages on how-tos to exercises and DYI workout plans.

Negative aspects:
- Athough Mark Lauren really wants to sound uninterested in making money out of this program - since you're not paying anyone to use your own body to evolve physically - this book is not for free. Nor could it be. But he could be a little more honest than that.
- I don't know what he hates so much about gym goers. There's not a single program in the Fitness world that works for everyone. Some people like Stronglifts better than Starting Strength. Some people like Pilates better than Yoga. Some people like HIIT instead of lifting weights. It all depends on the type of person and their goals. A million different programs could work to a single person. It's just up to the person to decide what they feel best with.
- He points out all the negative aspects - and some are pointed in a tremendously dramatic way - of going to the gym: Pack your bag, enter de car, drive, parking, changing clothes, saving your locker key and deal with other people in the same gym you go to. He shows things this way because he maybe thought that only people who've never been to a gym and dread going there would read this book. But further on he shows how this book is also for former strength trainees who come from the gym. Let's make some sense of this, shall we? You can't try to please and displease at the same time. It doesn't work like that. You could have written this book without indirectly dissing people who actually like to go to the gym. That's bad marketing for you.

Positive aspects:
- This program requires no accessories. All you need is a chair, a door, a table, a towel and, if you can afford it, a yoga mat (not mandatory though).
- He doesn't impose too many rules to follow the program, but to be honest, from someone who read some literature on fitness already, I would recommend you to read more about the food part that he didn't talk much about. It's extremely necessary to know what you're eating and what's the quality of the calories you're ingesting. If you can't tell what are the nutritive differences between a steak and sweet potatoes then you need to read about it.
- The book is written in an easy to understand way and has some funny and snarky comments along the way, which makes you feel at ease with the program right from the start.
- This point is not much about the book, but there's an app to follow his program (both for Android and iPhone) and it's much easier to follow the program that way because of how the sets are built (unless you're good at counting reps and seconds past at the same time, I'd recommend you to download the app with the same name).

All in all, I enjoyed the book and I'm following the program but it's too early to know if it's working or not. But if you're curious, well, my glutes, quads and hamstrings are on fire and I can't walk without the penguin waddle! ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Jul 27, 2012 Lauren rated it really liked it

Shelves: movement-fitness-wellness

Bible of bodyweight exercises is right: this book is full of functional movements that you can string together to make one hell of a workout. All of them can be done right in your own home or in your backyard - you don't need a gym or lots of equipment. The few times he does suggest a prop, he shows a household item (phone book, a bottle, or a broom stick). Lauren shares 125 movements (with countless variations possible) to add to your fitness arsenal. The real attraction is that these things Bible of bodyweight exercises is right: this book is full of functional movements that you can string together to make one hell of a workout. All of them can be done right in your own home or in your backyard - you don't need a gym or lots of equipment. The few times he does suggest a prop, he shows a household item (phone book, a bottle, or a broom stick). Lauren shares 125 movements (with countless variations possible) to add to your fitness arsenal. The real attraction is that these things can be done anywhere and don't involve a lot of time. In fact, he states that you should strive for short bursts (high intensity interval training or HIIT) throughout the day for best results.

You will be familiar with a handful of these moves - pushups, crunches, squats - but there will be a lot of new things too. I set the book aside several times in order to try one of his variations. You will undoubtedly discover some great challenges to add to your routine.

One criticism I have is that Lauren states that cardio training is completely inefficient and a waste of your time. Theoretically, I understand what he is saying. In terms of efficiency, you get more bang for your buck with strength training, but I don't think cardio is pointless and a waste of time. I quite enjoy my cardio routines (dancing, spinning, kickboxing), and if I am having a good time and it is helping me in other ways (mental health, better sleep, clearer skin, etc.) than it is not a waste of MY time. Of course, he says this, but then goes on to say that he is a triathlete and a Thai boxing champion... and both of those sports involve a lot of cardio work. So, grain of salt and all of that.

This book will not make me stop my cardio routines, but it will increase my strength training - I jumped right in with a nice routine today incorporating several of his moves like Beach Scissors, Superman, Bird Dogs, and even a Wall Handstand. I checked this book out from the library, but I will be buying my own copy - there are just so many things to reference. ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Apr 20, 2012 Diem rated it really liked it

Good read. Straight forward and I like the soft sell. Lauren would prefer it if you would see things his way but if you choose to be an idiot he's not going to let it ruin his life. I should only read books on fitness written by men. There's no section on how awesome I am and my inner potential. Dudes writing books on fitness don't spend a lot of time on ego-stroking and self-esteem fluffing. I like that.

As the title suggest, Lauren advocates a strength/body building work out that relies on ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jun 29, 2010 Michael rated it really liked it

Shelves: brain-body-science

The exercises here are practically comprehensive and a lot harder than you might think. The program is outstanding, the book is decent, and the author's view of fitness is right on. I definitely recommend it.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 21, 2018 Justin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own, exercise

Has countless innovative body weight exercises I haven't seen elsewhere

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jul 03, 2018 Wendi Lau rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nonfiction, fitness, more-than-once

I am not sure about the exercises that use a door, seems like a painful accident waiting to happen. Everything else is good to have in a fitness regiment. I would use bodyweight exercises to compliment not substitute for endurance activities.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Apr 27, 2018 Amber rated it really liked it

No gym membership? No problem. This guy says he trained a bunch of serious military dudes using this very program with only bodyweight exercises. Lauren has a lot of interesting ideas for modifications to make any of these exercises easier or harder, and he encourages you to make adjustments according to your preference. He wants you to know that you can exercise anywhere and train intensely any time, weights or no weights, so you don't have to rely on access to a gym just so you can do the same ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jan 20, 2011 lisa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Excellent fitness book written by a Special Operations military trainer based on the principle that form follows function. He defines fitness as the degree to which a person possesses muscular endurance, strength, power, balance, flexibility, coordination, speed, and CV endurance. His premise is that the best way to change your overall health - and your physique - is to focus on the development of these 8 components of fitness. He argues that your body changes in order to give you the required ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jul 18, 2012 Toomy rated it really liked it

This book was on amazon's recommended item list, when I ordered a pull up bar. For me personally, a 30 minutes/day, 4-5 days/week home gym routine is more realistic and achievable than a gym membership.

Before I go any further, I want to make two points clear.
1) If you say you don't want to have a body like his, you are probably lying. You won't get a body like his if you just follow his program. Why? That's for marketing. However, if you follow his program (or other similar ones), you will ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Apr 14, 2012 David rated it really liked it

Shelves: fitness, strength-training

This book presents a comprehensive exercises that require little or no extra equipment. The author is highly qualified, as a trainer for Special Operations soldiers. I understand why he condemns pure aerobic exercises, but I still don't understand why he hates free-weight exercises so intensely. Perhaps because free-weights require extra equipment, so the convenience factor comes into play.

In any case, the book describes a very comprehensive set of body-weight exercises. And, in case some of the ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jul 05, 2015 James rated it it was amazing

Great no nonsense advice and workouts for anyone that doesn't like to go to the gym or workout with weights. I am incorporating lots of his exercises into my routines this summer.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Oct 25, 2019 Jamie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: gym

Before starting this program I had been following barbell/kettle bell routines for years, mostly by Dan John or Pavel.

I enjoyed these and they worked well but I needed to find a plan I could do whilst travelling for a few months and integrate it before I left. I had always viewed barbell work as the ultimate for strength, but this program has since changed my view both of what strength is, and the importance of functional strength. Towards the final few weeks of my gym membership, I started to Before starting this program I had been following barbell/kettle bell routines for years, mostly by Dan John or Pavel.

I enjoyed these and they worked well but I needed to find a plan I could do whilst travelling for a few months and integrate it before I left. I had always viewed barbell work as the ultimate for strength, but this program has since changed my view both of what strength is, and the importance of functional strength. Towards the final few weeks of my gym membership, I started to view the mass monsters chalked up lingering for hours by the rack every night doing 1 rep deadlifts as obsessives and not something I wanted to achieve, whilst the athleticism described in the book as something to learn.

I'm currently in a small town Vietnam with no gyms and did the 'pull' strength day in the hotel room using a towel, door handles, and the top of the door frame.

Pro's
- I'm not sure if I'm 'stronger' in the classic sense of weight on a bench press, but the first week of the routine exposed just how limited my training had been - press-up variations were tough, I had weak grip strength and my balance and core were poor. These are significantly improved. The best example is I can now hold a handstand for a few seconds where before I didn't even have the confidence to kick up to a wall.
- my body is leaner overall especially my legs (if you're looking for big legs heavy squats will always be king and you will lose size on this program) but forearms, traps and shoulders have thickened out.
- my girlfriend, who's followed the plan at the same time, has gone from being able to do max 2 press-ups, to doing 10+ unbroken.
- on that point, her confidence with being able to train in private and without the intimidation that comes with the male dominated weight rack in commercial gyms is worth it.
- the recommended program follows a 10 week cycle with alternating intensity and 'load'. This keeps it interesting as every fortnight is different and reduces the chance of plateauing.
- you can genuinely quit the gym and save the membership, although you might need a few things like a pull up bar and some kettle bells to supplement it a bit.

Con's
- as much as Mark Lauren says body weight is best, in some cases I think it would be easier to introduce some kettle bell work if you plan to do this at home. For example, to increase the load on squats in the strength cycle, mark suggest a 1-3 second hold in the bottom. However, a heavy kettle bell (or barbell) front squat might be more effective. If you're planning on doing this in a gym or at home, maybe consider that.
- this follows the traditional push, pull, leg and core breakdown, but missed hinge and loaded carry which Dan John is a big fan of and I feel could be included somehow. Kettle bell swings, farmers carries or some kettle bell snatches might be good to throw in. I found I missed kettle bell swings from my warm up just to loosen up.
- some exercises I've found difficult to do in hotels, namely let me ups, and they require a bar about your arms length from the floor. I mostly supplemented this for jumping pull ups or one arm rows using a heavy backpack or whatever you can find in the room.
- don't be put off by weeks 1-2, imo they're the most tedious but necessary to condition your body. ...more

flag Like · see review

Jul 10, 2018 Vinh Khang Nguyen rated it it was amazing

Please don't go to GYM anymore. Why ? Because you are your own gym :)

Reading this book give me an entire understanding on how my body works. And I have 2 big realizations :

1. When you work out, Cardiovascular workout is very ineffective while Strength training workout is the ultimate. It helps the body to create more muscles, leaner, and stronger in every part of the body, and it lasts the whole lot more time later on after the training. While Cardiovascular only doesn't have a long-lasting ...more

flag Like · see review

Jan 13, 2018 Sarah rated it it was amazing

I love this book. As someone new to bodyweight training I loved how he broke the exercises down by muscle group and then gave plenty of variety to choose from. This book is useful for a wide range of fitness levels because he shows you how to make all the exercises easier or harder. He also explains the basic recipe for increasing or decreasing difficulty.

This book empowers you to create your own workouts, at a level that challenges you, wherever you find yourself. You might just cancel your ...more

flag Like · see review

Sep 17, 2019 Sudhakar rated it it was amazing

Shelves: libby

A great step by step book which is easy to read and week wise planner. Starts with common myths in exercising, then diet and nutrition. Continues with exercises that can e done any where anytime without need for equipment and importantly excuses.. Highly recommended to those care about health without spending on fancy gym membership.

flag Like · see review

Jan 15, 2020 starwolvie rated it liked it

Shelves: library, non-fiction, ebook, 2020

Reminded me of what I can do without hitting the gym. I felt that the exercises would have been better throughout the book rather than just stuck at the end. If you're reading the ebook, I'd suggest something larger than a phone! The formatting for the exercises did not suit a phone - a bunch of text then the associated pictures on the next page.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Nov 27, 2017 Alberto rated it it was ok

Shelves: selfimprovement

It's a motivational book which helps you discard excuses to do exercise in your free time at home. Persistence is the key word of the book. I'm following the workouts in the book and I really notice the difference.

flag Like · see review

Aug 11, 2019 Ash Tanasiychuk rated it really liked it

An impressive book packed with exercises that need little or no props. Lauren describes why you should do each exercise and provides modifications whether you're weak in that area or advanced. Well laid out by body section with tons of photos so you can see correct form.

flag Like · see review

Nov 11, 2019 Maja rated it liked it

Its alright. Theres some great ideas about what and how to work out when you dont have the access to your gym. I was worried about travelling for a week or more and not being able to lift in my gym, but I gotta admit (although the guys a douche), he knows workouts!

flag Like · see review

Sep 29, 2018 Audrey rated it really liked it

Simple explanations and photos of all of the exercises. I enjoyed learning about his story in the beginning. When he set out to break the underwater record and talked about how he had to keep his body relaxed and not stress because stress took up too much energy. Good thing to always keep in mind.

flag Like · see review

Jul 27, 2019 Mark Walker rated it it was amazing

I will probably use this book the rest of my mobile days.

flag Like · see review

Nov 20, 2018 Kiran rated it really liked it

A great utility for cardio and strength training exercises. A must have for the on-the-go traveler!

flag Like · see review

Jan 12, 2019 Stephen rated it it was ok

The "progressions" start at a really high level. If you're already really fit, this might fit for you, but if you're like me, and you're not, then this isn't the place to start.

flag Like · see review

Dec 30, 2017 Emin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Great reference book.

flag Like · see review

Oct 30, 2017 Dennis rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Lots of inspiration and variations for exercising.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Dec 30, 2019 Ariadne rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2019, non-fiction, for-knowledge, fitness

Brings the fundamentals of bodyweight exercise and nutrition in an uncomplicated way. I wanted to have some basic information about these types of exercises and the book brings a good list of them with their variations.

flag Like · see review