I spent almost a year on a Naval Vessel that had a gym the size of a broom closet. I hate crowds, waiting and lines so I stayed out of them. Working out and general PT became all about what I could with my own body, mostly equipment free. Doing 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 this or that quickly becomes boring so I started to get creative and changing things up. Making up my own body weight exercises made thing interesting and exciting. What I really wish if that I had known something called Darebee existed.
Originally known as NeilaRey.com, Darebee is a website ran by Neila Rey and her team of fitness enthusiasts. The reason I was drawn to the website was the massive amount of bodyweight exercises workouts, named after popular pop culture characters. The workouts were unique in that they were effective, could be done anywhere and required nothing more than a floor and a wall. Over time the website has grown to include nutrition advice, recipes, a variety of long-term programs, and a forum for advice and idea sharing. The forum is active and the creators of the workouts are always around to lend advice. The workouts have evolved and while the main focus is still on body weight more workouts are featuring some basic equipment.
The Darebee Way
The website is functional, well designed and easy to navigate. The workouts are an infographic style that is easy to read and understand. Also, they are incredibly easy to print,or save on a tablet, cell phone, or computer. Check out the Website here for more. To give you an idea of what the workouts are like I’m going to review a few different workouts from Darebee.
The BodyGuard
The Bodyguard is one of my favorite workouts to introduce Darebee to people. This is a very simple workout that focuses on some of the core calisthenics moves. It doesn’t involve any complicated movements like, rotating planks, or burpees. It’s just pure calisthenics. It has a focus on most major muscle groups. This is an endurance workout that will have you doing anywhere from 120 to 280 push ups, squats, etc. depending on your fitness level and the amount of sets you do.
Night’s Watch
Remember when I said there are pop culture references? Well, winter is coming. The Night’s watch is an excellent high burn cardio workout. I like to do 3 sets of it before I go into a more traditional strength training routine. Going from exercise to exercise as fast as I can (with proper form) gasses me. That is where the difficulty in this workout comes from, how fast you are doing it. Again it’s all simple moves, but going at a sprint gets the heart racing and the body ready for more.
The Power Burpee
Are you a glutton for punishment? I know I am, and I kind of love burpees. I don’t hate them, but love is a strong word. The Power burpee is simple three sets of 6 reps of a “power” burpee. The difference is this burpee is not your Drill Instructor’s burpee. It works you from the top down, challenging you to do a variety of exercises between that initial squat and final jump. It sucks in the best possible way.
Darebee is an international community that is growing and expanding. As of now, they have 777 individual workouts. Plus 25 programs, and dozens of challenges. New programs and workouts are added all the time. And things stay fresh. The community is fantastic. If you like bodyweight exercises or have some minimal gear I certainly suggest checking them out.
Images courtesy of darebee.com
