Exercise comes in many forms, from organized sports to individual workouts performed in the gym or home.  We continuously perform physical tasks throughout the day—by walking, bending, picking things up and placing them down.  Practicing these basic body skill sets further improves personal efficiency in bodyweight exercises such as running, climbing, crawling, pulling, pushing and carrying.  In addition, these movements improve neuromuscular coordination in order to generate force. 

Bodyweight exercises are often referred to as the minimalist training, which are simple yet highly effective.  This article will focus on using your own body to perform exercise and advantages of such bodyweight training.

Exercise throughout the Ages

Human species have continuously improved their physical skills in order to increase chances for survival.  Whether it was running faster, jumping farther, climbing higher or pulling more (of whatever needed to be hauled), these natural body movements were constantly practiced and improved through daily tasks. 

As time progressed, our predecessors realized that they could further develop certain skill sets in more controlled environments.  Competing against one another was a natural method of practicing desired skills.  As such events grew so did the methods to improve conditioning and performance.  These methods continued to evolve becoming foundations of many ancient training regimes such as Chinese gymnastics, Yoga and development of martial arts.

All of these different fitness styles were based on foundation of bodyweight exercises.  Functionality and benefits of bodyweight training stood the test of time and continuously evolved into current physical cultures such as modern yoga, calisthenics and gymnastics.

Advantages of Bodyweight Training

Numerous case studies advocate positive results associated with strength training.  Using your own bodyweight as resistance is another form of strength conditioning which improves lean body mass, cardiovascular system while burning fat and increasing energy. These general terms underline Science and Strength philosophy of Stronger Leaner Faster self.

It’s Functional

Bodyweight training is the movement and balance patterns of our trunk and extremities through muscular contractions that produce force.  Without additional force the body acts as a unified resistance creating functional movement patterns to achieve a physical task at hand.

Functional movements are the body movements that we perform on daily basis.  Functional training is therefore an application of bodyweight exercises to improve our abilities in performing such activities, while minimizing risk of injury.  Functional exercises include but not limited to: Squats, Squat Jumps, Push-ups, Single-Leg Deadlifts, Lunges, any type of Trunk Rotations and the ultimate Pull-ups.  Such movements mimic daily activities improving overall efficiency through repetition.

Many bodyweight exercises are multi-joint that use numerous muscles at the same time.  Through practice the body learns proper movement patterns, improving its ability to produce force while minimizing risk of injury.  These exercises engage body’s natural planes and produce movement such as high hinge, knee flexions, as well as push and pull through vertical and horizontal directions.

Improves Biomotor Abilities

With practice comes improvement of trained skills.  Bodyweight exercises are multifunctional by nature, engaging numerous systems and number of biomotor abilities.  Compound movements through higher repetition range with own body resistance develop strength, strength-endurance, mobility, flexibility and coordination. 

By dynamically performing the exercises further improves biomotor abilities such as speed, power, balance and agility. There are numerous other sport specific biomotor abilities that can benefit from bodyweight training, but to keep things simple, we’ll just refer to the main nine.  For example, burpee is a great exercise involving all of the body joints and muscles that move you from standing upright into bottom push up prone position, immediately followed by a dynamic thrust of a jumping squat.  When executed correctly, burpee incorporates different training methods improving overall strength-endurance, speed, balance and coordination.  Furthermore, the continuous landing and jumping action increases joint functionality through dynamic and plyometric component of the exercise.  This is just one example of numerous benefits that bodyweight training can provide.

Creates a Balanced Body

Another benefit of bodyweight training is that it engages and develops muscular tissue according to its designed parameters. 

Bodyweight Training – Dupi practicing Handstand Pushups

For example, quadriceps and glutes are strong muscles participating in most of lower body exercises.  Hamstrings are quadriceps antagonist, but not their equal in size nor force development.  Hamstrings are capable of producing around 60% or quads’ force. 

Bodyweight exercises engage other muscles to contribute in order to produce movement or balance.  For instance: during lower body pulls, hamstrings participate as part of the entire kinetic chain in order to generate movement.  Hamstrings’ contribution to overall lower body pull is specific to its ability within the exercise requirement.  Training in such way not only improves intra- and interpersonal coordination, but also every participating muscle group in a safe and balanced manner towards a more balanced body development.

Another benefit here is the practice of proper technique.  Bodyweight exercises provide opportunity for us to train biomotor abilities and activate and/or relax appropriate muscles in order to perform the movement according to intended body mechanics.  For example, range of motion for the squat may depend on personal physical make-up, but for the vast majority it includes a bottom position, pass 90 degrees knee flexion where trunk comes between the legs with activated glutes throughout the repetition.  For people who are unable to achieve this bottom squat position, the reasons may lie behind several imbalances within hip and ankle mobility, flexibility and intended muscular activation.  By identifying weaknesses that inhibit movements, we can modify exercise parameters focusing on fixing the issues and enhance overall performance.

Leaner Body

Any type of resistance training is great for engaging numerous body systems that promote muscle hypertrophy.  Volume training through greater repetitions and exercises improves overall body energy systems with the oxidative system as the major ATP producer

Bodyweight exercises completed in a dynamic effort improves glycolytic system as well as ability for the body to transition between fat and sugar fuel sources (metabolic flexibility).  Physical stress creates micro trauma that needs to be repaired.  Recovery involves numerous internal biochemical processes which require continuous energy supply.  Oxidative system is a major energy producer by utilizing stored body fat to repair muscle fiber micro tears, release and synthesize different enzymes and hormones as well as refill glucose granules and remove byproducts.  Depending on training intensity and personal fitness level, some of the recovery processes may continue for up to 48 hours, with majority of the fuel supplied from the adipose tissue reserves.

It’s for Everyone — Young and Old

Bodyweight training is versatile and can be adapted to any person, young/old, beginner/professional.  From very young age, a crawling toddler learning how to walk, squat and balance.  These basics of lower and upper body pulls and pushes form the basis of functional movements.  Through continuous practice, older children master the local play grounds, moving the body over and under different obstacles, swinging on the monkey-bars, climbing onto and jumping off barriers.  Applying different forces to the young body is effective training in developing all major biomotor abilities while enhancing muscular, connective and bone tissues.

For adults, bodyweight exercise continues to be an effective training method.  Regardless of fitness goals, movements over several body planes yield number of internal and external benefits.  Such exercises can be performed as the main lifts to develop specific skill or address certain issues.  Bodyweight movements also make great assistance work when added into any strength or power development protocols.  Furthermore, versatility of bodyweight training through joint angle adjustment, speed, volume (through repetitions) and resistance (doing exercise in the water) create more options of these functional movement methods.

Elderly population may especially benefit from modified bodyweight exercises as they still improve biomotor abilities such as balance, flexibility, agility, strength and endurance.  These functional exercises target important factors like increased core strength which decreases risk of falls.  Some use the term “comprehensive physical movements” which are often found in physical cultures such as tai chi and yoga.  Numerous scientific studies on older populations implementing physical exercise show wide scope benefits into improved life.

Final Thoughts

Bodyweight exercises have been around since the beginning of time and progressed along with development of our species.  There are number of physical disciplines including martial arts, gymnastics, yoga that extensively use bodyweight exercise protocols.

Bodyweight exercises are capable of improving all of 9 main biomotor abilities as well as neuromuscular, endocrine and energy systems.  These exercises are versatile through modification of body angles, resistance, speed and volume.  Training with your own bodyweight improves functional movements in a safe manner when compared to other forms of intensity. 

From young to old, novice to advanced, anyone can benefit from bodyweight exercises.  For more examples of this type of training or other physical regimes, check out our books Stronger Leaner Faster – Him and Stronger Leaner Faster – Her books.

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