There are hundreds upon hundreds of different ways to exercise. You can run, lift weights, do yoga, skip, heave logs… anything. However there are some forms of exercise that are better than others. If you’re looking to form a lean, balanced physique, bodyweight movements are often some of the best exercises to use.
If you’re a long time weigh trainer or avid runner you may question why this is the case. Many people get excellent results using a their own unique workout or following someone else’s advice that uses no bodyweight movements.
The fact of the matter is that eating a good diet and engaging in regular exercise will likely help you get into fairly good shape. But for those of us who want to maximize our time and get the most out of each workout, using your bodyweight is one of the most effective methods.
The reason bodyweight exercises are so great is that they are virtually all compound movements. Compound movements are exercises that use multiple body parts for performing one type of exercise. Squats for example are a compound movement. They focus on the muscles in the quadriceps yet also work the hamstrings, calves, core and lower back. The sheer volume of muscles used in the movement not only burns more calories but strengthens multiple areas of your body.
Another advantage that we can see is that you build a balanced body using these types of exercises. Compound movements lead to lower rates of misalignment or body parts that overcompensate for others. Isolating muscles and exercising some body parts more than others can lead to injuries long term and negatively effect one’s body.
A natural workout without weights not only prevents misalignment from occurring, it helps to identify and highlight weaker muscles in the body. You may notice that certain body parts are much stronger than others, or that one side of your body is slightly more adept than the other. This is expected as most of us are right or left handed, but with time, many of the unbalances in our body can be corrected.
Bodyweight movements entail a large variety of motions. Anything from box jumps to pull ups can be considered in the bodyweight genre. To get the most from your workout it pays to spend some time varying your workout to hit the muscles in new a different ways. The human body is a very capable tool and you can never run out of ways to challenge it.
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