A bodyweight workout focuses on strength training. It uses the person’s own body to provide the resistance that you’d get from weights, lifting it instead of dumbbells or barbells. The movements used are pushing, squatting, pulling, twisting, balancing and bending, so all muscles are worked. Those actions also enhance flexibility and can increase endurance and balance, based on what the exercises are and how you do them. You can do bodyweight exercises at home, on the road or come into the gym and get a program specifically designed for you.
There are so many bodyweight exercises, you could vary your workout for years.
Lower body workouts should include exercises like the squat or lunge. It’s always best to learn the basics for these two exercises and then modify them as you become more proficient. You can start with an assisted squat, that uses a table or chair to steady you and work to a pistol squat that pushes one leg to the front as you squat using only the other leg to support your weight. All of these lower bodyweight workouts build on your progress, with the variations becoming more and more difficult.
Upper body movements include push and pull movements.
You may not be able to do a push-up or chin yourself immediately, but there are versatile bodyweight exercises to help you get to that point. Knee push-ups can become a regular push-up and move to a decline push-up. There are many types of pull exercises, such as an inverted bodyweight row, which can be your beginning workout until you can do a pull-up.
How you do your combination of bodyweight exercises makes a difference.
You can get more from your workout by making it a HIIT workout—-high intensity interval training. That means you vary your speed and intensity, making your heart rate high for a short time and then moving more slowly with a recovery period of equal time. Much like circuit training, you do a variety of exercises, one after another. Each exercise is done for twenty seconds at high intensity, with a ten second rest and then move on to the next. You could start with twenty seconds of Side kicks, rest ten seconds, 20 more seconds of the exercise and rest another ten seconds. Repeating up to eight times and moving on to the next, such as a skater jump. HIIT bodyweight exercises give you better results in a fraction of the time.
- Crunches, planks and jumping jacks work your core muscles in a variety of ways to build flexibility, strength and endurance.
- The fact that you can modify a bodyweight workout to work muscles differently and account for different levels of fitness, makes it perfect for creating a personalized workout based on your fitness level.
- If you’re doing bodyweight exercises, it’s all about form. Don’t try to get too difficult if it causes your form to suffer. Start with an easy workout and ensure your form is right, then move to the more difficult.
- At 180 Fitness, your safety is our top priority. We offer virtual group classes led by top instructors and outside boot camps that help you stay fit with social distancing in mind.
For more information, contact us today at 180 Fitness!