Bodyweight Workout

Bodyweight workouts have a lot of benefits. They can be done when you have no equipment or can’t make it to the gym. They can be done quickly, with little or no setup time. They benefit the body in that you can gain endurance and also strength and size. Some of the most physically impressive athletes are those that use their bodyweight for their sport. An example of this is an Olympic gymnast.

Some other benefits of bodyweight exercises are:

Body awareness – Using your body, you will get a better feel for moving and contracting specific muscles.

Less risk of injury – With just your bodyweight used as resistance, there is less a risk of injury than if you were to use heavy weights.

Change of scenery – Bodyweight workouts can be done almost anywhere. You can get out of the house or gym and have your workout in the outdoors.

Deload – After 3 or more weeks of training heavy, it is a good idea to take a week to recover by doing lighter weight exercises. Bodyweight exercises are perfect for this.

Everyone knows about pushups; the most common bodyweight exercise, but there are many other exercises that can be done with bodyweight alone:

Upper body

Pushups and their many variations

Pull Ups and chin ups

Dips

Handstand pushups

Lower body

Bodyweight s quats

Lunges

Various jumps

Abs

Sit-ups

Hanging leg raises (substitute with a lying leg raise if no bar)

Plank

Many other abdominal exercises

Full body and cardio

Jumping jacks

Jogging or running in place

Burpees

Sprinting

Some exercises such as pull ups and dips will need some equipment (or furniture)

Pull Ups- These can be done in a playground or on a pull up bar. If you don’t have access to something to do pull ups on, you can use a piece of furniture such as a table to do inverted rows, but make sure what you are performing the exercise on is stable. Perform at your own risk!

Here is a video with an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYUxXMGVuuU

Dips- Parallel bars or on a piece of furniture such as a chair or table:

For other exercises you can use odd objects that you may find to add resistance to the lift. An example would be holding a large rock while doing squats, or using resistance bands for pushups. Use what you have available to make your workouts more challenging.

Workouts

Here are a few workouts that involve just using your bodyweight. There is a beginner and an advanced workout that can be done by those who are in good shape. These workouts are great for those that want to switch things up and try something different.

Beginner bodyweight workout

Warm Up

Walk, jog, or bike for five to ten minutes. You can also do jumping jacks if you have limited space.

Circuit

Complete the following exercises for three rounds, with no rest between each exercise.

Pushups- 10

Bodyweight squats- 15

Sit-ups- 20

Lunges- 20

Jogging in place- 30 seconds

Rest for 2 minutes, repeat

This workout can be scaled based upon your current fitness level. You can change all of the variables in order to fit your fitness level: more or less rounds reps, more or less rounds, and more or less rest in between rounds.

Advanced bodyweight workout

Warm Up

Walk, jog, or bike for five to ten minutes.

Circuit 1

Complete two rounds of the following exercises. Perform 25 reps per set, with one minute of rest between each round.

Pushups

Sit-ups

Bodyweight squats

Circuit 2

Complete four rounds of the following exercises. Perform 15 reps for the bodyweight exercises, and 20 seconds of sprinting for each round. Rest for one minute after each round.

Pull-ups

Burpees

Hanging leg raises

Squat jumps

Handstand pushups

Sprint

To raise the intensity level even further, you can add additional exercises to the circuit or use things that you find in the environment such as large rocks or logs if you are outside that can be used to lift.



