So, without further ado, here are 8 reasons why you could benefit from "bodyweight training".
1. Beginner-friendly workouts
Bodyweight training provides a way to train yourself at the intensity that's right for your needs and improvements of overall health and fitness.
So, it's beginner friendly.
Since the exercises are done with bodyweight only, they can easily be modified to challenge you at your current fitness level.
Adding extra sets, reps, taking shorter breaks or performing the exercises faster or super slow- all are just a few ways to make the simplest workout a more challenging one.
And each added modification can lead to an obvious progression in your strength and physical fitness.
2. Endless of exercise options
There are literally hundreds of bodyweight exercises to choose from. Here are top 50!
From Bodyweight squats and lunges for the lower body, pull-ups, pushups, and dips for the upper-body to crunches and planks for the abs.
Your options are just endless.
And as you gain more strength and stamina, you can mix and match some of these exercises to create a full-body circuit workout to make your workout more efficient and save time.
3: Combine cardio and strength training
One of the best benefits of bodyweight training lies in its ability to improve both your cardiovascular fitness and muscle strength all at once.
While going from one exercise to another with minimal rest in between will keep the heart rate elevated, using the weight from your own body helps strengthens your muscles and improves your fitness level.
For example you can add 30 seconds of jumping jack between every set of squats.
Choose 3 to 4 aerobic based bodyweight cardio exercises such as burpees, jumping jack, high knees or jumping rope and combine them with strength and muscle building moves like pushups, squats and lunges.
You'll get an effective workout that improves both your cardiovascular fitness and muscle strength (1).
4. You can burn fat
Bodyweight exercises to burn fat—Since there’s no exercise equipment, transitioning from one move to the next takes very little time, if any.
This also means, bodyweight training can essentially become interval training, by alternating bursts of intense exercise such as burpees, jumping jack with a low intensity activity such as push-ups, lunges or plank.
And with less rest, your heat rate maintains its elevation between exercises.
For calorie and fat burn, it's important and a real difference maker since harder you work your body, the more oxygen they require.
This equates to more calories and fat burn over a longer duration of time—up to 48 hours or days after your workout.
5. Develop your core strength
On contrary to the popular belief, core is not just abs. It is a group of muscles, extending far beyond your abs, including your lower back, arms and legs.
And it is involved in almost every movement you do.
With bodyweight workouts, your body is fully involved in supporting the movement.