There are many, many body weight exercises that can be performed at home, in your backyard or in a hotel room. Body weight exercises are just that, they are exercises that allow you to use your own body weight as resistance. You don't need weights or bands and you can perform them just about anywhere.

When people think of body weight exercises they think of push ups, sit ups, jumping jacks, etc. But there is one exercise in my opinion that stands above all others. This is an exercise that works your entire body. It is called the 8 Count Bodybuilder and is one of the most productive exercises I have ever done.

This is a total body exercise that will work your chest, upper back, shoulders, arms, legs, hips and your heart and lungs. It will also burn a tremendous amount of calories. It is one of those exercises that will not only make you stronger and fitter but also keep you in shape to perform whatever job you have or any athletic endeavor that you are competing in.

This exercise is an essential part of conditioning programs used by military personnel such as Navy Seals and Recon Marines to police and fire departments. They use this exercise because it provides a total body, conditioning workout and helps with their cardio fitness.

The 8 count bodybuilder is basically a combination of a squat thrust and a push up with the added twist of scissoring your legs out and in. The 8 counts are: squat down, thrust your legs back to a push up position, scissor your legs out, scissor them back in, do a standard push up ( counts 5 and 6 ), return to a squat position and then stand up.

The idea is to perform as many of these as you can as quickly as you can. This means resting as little as possible between repetitions. If you are just starting out you may want to set a goal of 10. This may sound low but believe me, if you do these without stopping, 10 will seem plenty.

As you get stronger you can push your goal out to 50 and then 100 or more. The idea though is to not only increase how many you do but also how quickly you do them. If you can do 100 in 10 minutes then you are in excellent condition.

I sometimes do these as my only exercise of the day, followed by 20 to 30 minutes on the treadmill. If I am feeling ambitious and have a little extra time I will combine them with other exercises such as mountain climbers, push ups, and regular squat thrusts.

So if you are looking for one exercise that will make you stronger, improve your cardio fitness level, and burn fat and calories give the 8 Count Bodybuilder a try.