Old habits die hard. Even after I ditched weights for self-resistance and bodyweight training years ago, the tendency has always been to concentrate on the bodyweight exercises. Whether mega intense bodyweight routines or just numbers it has often been about doing more and more push-ups, squats, sit-ups etc. It is all about having a quantitative measure.

But, is that really what measures your level of fitness and your appearance? Just like lifting heavy weights, the number of reps become the measure. Often times we dismiss the self-resistance exercises as being "cosmetic bodybuilding."

Don't mistake my point. The two training methods - bodyweight and self-resistance are symbiotic and synergetic. They work together, but what happens is that we emphasize one over the other.

Right now I am doing sets of the self-resistance exercises. In a weeks time, I am seeing and feeling a difference. I also de-emphasized the push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, leg raises and knee bends. Rather than the drivers, they've become part of the package. This is a six week experiment. Today I started week two. We'll see how it goes.