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The Pros of Body Weight Exercises

Posted February 13, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Lindsay Hutton

Section: Her Fitness, Athletics, Training Programs, Her Health, Injury & Rehab, Her Motivation

Are you bored with your current workout routine? Do you travel a lot and don’t have time to exercise? There are many excuses people will use to avoid joining a gym. Whether the cost, location, convenience (or lack there of), the list goes on. What most don’t realize, however, is they don’t need a gym, or equipment, to stay healthy. The human body is an amazing and efficient machine that, when used correctly, can provide you with all the exercise you need to stay in shape. If you are looking to build strength without adding bulk (hey runners, I’m talking to you!), incorporating body weight exercises into your routine is the best route to take. It’s also a great way to rehab an injury, and the cost effectiveness is as good as it can get - free!

The great thing about your body is it goes everywhere with you. Whether you’re home, at work or in the car, you have your own personal piece of equipment with you 24/7. Body weight exercises can be done indoors or outdoors, standing or sitting. If you already have a solid strength training routine, I recommend working some body weight exercises into it. They are a great way to keep your core strong and build a good base for improving strength. If you don’t currently lift weights, body weight exercises are a great stepping stone to ease yourself into a regular routine. It provides you with the benefits of building muscular strength while improving your cardiovascular endurance at the same time. It’s like a two for one deal!

Now that you know how great body weight exercises are, let me give you some examples. The good news is, since your body works as a system, even basic movements will give you a total body workout, which translates into a shorter workout. Do I have your attention now?

As always, before starting any sort of strength training, make sure to warm up. Go for a quick jog, do some jumping jacks, jump rope...anything that will get the blood pumping to your major muscles to help warm and loosen them up. Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to begin. Although you may have heard of most of the exercises listed below, you’ll be surprised how effective they are at raising your heart rate and making your muscles burn:

Push-ups
Pull-ups
Squats
Lunges
Dips
Crunches
Planks

It’s as simple as this: do one set of each of the exercises, moving through the list in order. If you are a beginner, one set of each will be suffice. If you are a seasoned veteran, try going through the list 2-3 times. Each exercise should be done to fatigue, meaning you do as many repetitions as you can. Then, move onto the next exercise. If the exercises seem too easy, try using one limb at a time, such as one-armed push-ups or one-legged squats. Another great way to increase the intensity is to slow down and take 10 seconds to complete each repetition. These kinds of progressions will keep you from plateauing, so you continue to see results.

So the next time you’re rationalizing why you once again didn’t make it to the gym, remember you really don’t have an excuse. You always have the right equipment with you for a good workout, so the next step is putting it to work! 

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Tags: body weight exercises, endurance, fitness tips, home workouts, muscular endurance, muscular strength, total body workouts, training tips, women's strength

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