BWF Primer: Info Hub
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Summary of the Routine:
The BWF Primer is a free exercise routine for absolute beginners to exercise. BWF, if you haven’t yet guessed, stands for ‘Body Weight Fitness’. What this means, is that all of the exercises use the weight of your own body, rather than an external weight like a dumbbell or barbell. This means, there’s no gym required, you can do it at home! Even better, you do not even need any equipment required to start this routine.*
(*However, this is not the case if you want to eventually finish this and graduate onto a new program. For that you will need something to perform ‘Bodyweight Rows’ on. But you don’t need to worry about that, or even know what that means right now. We will cover that on Day 3!)
The BWF Primer is a general purpose beginner’s strength routine, meaning anyone can do it regardless of their current strength or fitness level, and it is of course appropriate for both men and women (and any other gender identity)!
It is comprised of an initial 14 day build-up phase, that builds up to a workout of 6 exercises, meant to be performed 3 times per week that you can continue to do indefinitely (or until you achieve the routine’s goals! Explained later on).
The 6 exercises you will learn will, all together, exercise your whole body! If you don’t recognise the names below, don’t worry because you’ll be familiar with all of them soon enough! They are:
- The Push-up (Upper Body)
- The Row (Upper Body) ((Or, The Reverse Push-up, if no-equipment)
- The Squat (Lower Body)
- The Glute Bridge (Lower Body)
- The Deadbug (Core)
- The Birddog (Core)
The purpose of the 14 day build-up phase is to spread out all the reading and exercise learning you need in order to start working out across a longer, more manageable time period. You will be learning how to do 1 of these exercises every other day of the period, and on the days in between that you will continue to practice them. Alongside this there will also be an informational article teaching you about how exercise works, how and why routines are structured the way they are, etc.
(Important Note: The Build-up Phase is meant to be very low intensity, and it is strongly recommended that you pick variations of these exercises that you may initially find ‘too easy’; the focus in this phase is learning and practice, not really so much getting a solid “workout” yet.)
By the end of the 14 days, you should have all the information and skills you need to continue on doing the routine that you’ve built up all on your own, and keep getting stronger and making progress!
But enough chat, scroll down to get started on Day 1!
The BWF Primer’s 14 Day Build-up Phase:
In an ideal world, you would do each of these days consecutively. However, you can just as easily do one every other day and turn it into a 28 day (basically a month! Maybe do it in February, just for kicks!) build-up phase instead if for example you have issues with fatigue or don’t have time to devote every day.
The Full BWF Primer Routine:
Once you have finished the 14 day build-up period, you will have learned absolutely everything you need to do the following 3x per week full body exercise routine, shown here:
| Exercise Tutorial | Progression List Links | Sets/Reps Range | Rest Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deadbugs (or Plank) | Core A Progression | 3×6-10 | 60s |
| Bird dog | Core B Progression | 3×6-10 | 60s |
| Push-ups | Push-up Progression | 3×5-12 | 2 min |
| Rows | Rows Progression | 3×5-12 | 2min |
| Squats | Squat Progression | 3×8-15 | 90s |
| Bridges | Posterior Chain Progression | 3×8-15 | 90s |
These Progression Lists shown above have been borrowed from the next routine in the series, the BWSF routine, but you can still use them to get an idea of where you’re working currently and where you’ll aim in the future.
On the note of the BWSF routine , it is important to note that the BWF Primer is an (optionally) finite program, with a set of criteria for “graduation”, should you so choose.
As soon as you can perform:
- 3×8 Pushups with a 1s hold at the bottom of each rep
- 3×8 Horizontal Rows with a 1s hold at the bottom of each rep
You are eligible to move on to the BWSF routine, where you will start learning exciting exercises such as Pull-ups, Pike Push-ups and Dips!
Alternatively, if you are happy with the level of strength and fitness you have achieved by the end of the Primer routine, you can simply maintain this level of strength by continuing this program 2x per week in perpetuity. (For note on why only 2x per week: It takes less effort to maintain strength you already have, than it does to build it in the first place)
If you have any questions, please feel free to join my Discord server and ask away!
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