Goku & Gohan Workout; 2 Person Callisthenics For Succulent Saiyan Cuts

I see you there, I see that you’ve come to me. You’ve come to me because I have the answers you seek. The answers to the age old question

Can we use humans as barbells?

Yeeee

If you would rather watch than read:

What’s up Shonen fam my name is Cosplay Minney and it’s my mission to help a million weebs like myself craft a better life by combining the philosophies of anime and manga with proven exercise science principles and self-help psychology.  I call this philosophy 'Be More Shonen' and today we’re gonna go through a two person bodyweight workout that works every major muscle group.

Now I’m not a doctor, nor am I a brilliant scientist, before embarking on any fitness endeavour you need to take into account your personal life and speak to your doctor. You are forbidden from taking exercise advice from weebs on the internet, don’t listen to me. Now that’s out of the way, listen to me and I’ll tell you the secrets to using humans as barbells to make some sweet gains at home.

Firstly, use common sense. You should probably be lifting somebody smaller than you unless you’re our small boi Vegeta and don’t put yourself in a position that can get you hurt.

The progression scheme is very similar to my bodyweight workout and based on ability and what you want from your training you could even combine the elements you like from both (Link to that article here)

So for progression 

1) All these exercises are to be done 3 days a week. I recommend Monday, Wednesday, Friday. We’ll call these your human barbell days.

2) Each rep must be done with controlled perfect form for 50 perfect reps across multiple sets. For beginners and isolation movements it might be best to go for 25 reps.

3) Progress is made by doing the exercises in as few of sets as possible. So workout 1 maybe it takes you 5 sets of 10 to complete 50 reps. Try and get it down to just 4 sets, then 3 sets, all the way until it takes just 1 set. After that, because we’re using a person as weight it’s not like we can just feed them to make them heavier for progressive overload, so once we hit 50 reps we either increase the reps per exercise or switch to harder variants.

So with that in mind, let us begin

The Squat

The king of all leg exercises. Have your partner jump on your back, find your balance point, and squat down. Keep your knees out and go to full depth. 

The Deadlift

The antagonist to the squat working the entire posterior chain. Have your partner grip one hand with both palms and hook their legs around the other hand. With a slight bend in your knee and your back straight, rise up and down whilst making sure your partner is safe.

The Push Up

One of the greatest chest exercises in the world and with somebody on your back it’s made even more challenging. Simply get into the push up position and have your partner sit on your upper back. Make sure you tuck your elbows and go through a full range of motion.

Inverted Row

Our primary upper and mid-back developer in this program is the inverted row. You’ll need somebody strong enough to hold your weight up to perform this one, but it’s pretty damn useful as bodyweight only programs are notorious for not having an avenue for upper back work without equipment. This solves that problem, and if you don’t have anybody strong enough to hold you there’s always the rack row from my bodyweight training video

Handstand Push Up/Incline Push Up

For our vertical pressing, we have the assisted handstand push up or incline push up. The variant you choose is based on ability, or in my case the size and weight of your wig. Speaking of which, the Gohan in this video is played by Nomes Cosplay who is my lovely girlfriend and kinda business partner who makes these amazing wigs. Be sure to check her work out, link in the description below. But back to the workout, either walk or kip up up onto your partners shoulders or hands and then perform the push up on whichever incline you can handle. 

The Human Bicep Curl

I’ve kinda become known for this one at conventions, it’s the human bicep curl. It’s not an easy movement to perform correctly, mainly because of the strength component but secondly because your partner has to be stiff as a board and relatively straight. A common mistake is people caving in between the arms which removes all challenge from the lift and just turns it into a bit of flailing. However, when done right it works the biceps along with looking damn impressive.

Don’t take my word for it, just ask this guy:




Donkey Calve Raises



These are called donkey calve raises for obvious reasons, you simply have your partner jump onto your back in the riding position whilst you use something to take your weight. Press your calves upwards through a full range of motion pausing at the top and if you want to make it harder, as your calves can take a ridiculous amount of weight, try it with one leg instead. 

Two Person Hanging Ab Raise

Lastly is what I call the two person hanging ab raise. You’ll need somebody bigger than you, you wrap your legs around their waist and pull yourself up to their head height. If you don’t have somebody bigger than you, you can always just opt for regular crunches but this is a fun alternative.

In Closing

That’s the end of our two person bodyweight workout, if you want ideas on how to combine this with cardio or how to swap in some other bodyweight exercises do check out my bodyweight workout, I genuinely think it’s one of the best bodyweight programs out there for beginners wanting to pack on muscle and I hope you find it useful (link here). If you’re ready to get into the weight room remember that I also have ‘The Super Saiyan Six’ e-book which goes through what I believe is the best general barbell training handbook for beginners out there (link here)

Have a great day guys, and always remember: Be More Shonen

Cosplays: Goku and Gohan (Dragon Ball Z)