PART 5 OF A 10-PART SERIES TO HELP YOU ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS

Bodyweight exercises … can they really be effective? I’m not surprised you asked that! Lots of people assume that any training system that doesn’t involve equipment of some sort (usually weights) can’t really be very effective. Tell that to Olympic gymnasts! Just look at the athleticism of the gymnasts when they perform – they have such control of their bodies, and they are possessed of immense strength. Sure, sometimes they’ll use weights in training, but primarily they use bodyweight exercises. Because those exercises create great functional ability. In other words, when you use bodyweight exercises you tend to build strength in your entire body, not just in certain muscles, and strength that can be used to function more effectively. 

Elite units like the SAS and the US Navy SEALS also make extensive use of bodyweight exercises. They know that they have to be fighting fit all year round, and they know that they can be called upon to operate in any environment, at any time. If they find themselves in the desert, or the Arctic, they’re not going to have a gym available 24/7 so they can have a workout! But they can always do a bodyweight workout, any place, any time.

Bodyweight exercises are for anywhere, anytime

So how come these exercises are so effective, if that’s the case? Well, for a start, you’re not restricted to a set range of motion. Unlike with weights, you’re putting your joints through an extensive range of motion all the time, moving naturally, as Nature intended. And each exercise is almost infinitely variable. With a weights machine, or even using free weights, you’re restricted to certain movements. With bodyweight exercises you can reach and stretch and pivot in all directions. And as you’re doing so, you’re building strength in the joints and all the connective tissues as well as in your muscles. So you’re not unwittingly creating weaknesses in certain points, or when you hit certain angles. Your entire body is primed for action!

Consequently, a person who depends on bodyweight exercises tends to suffer far fewer injuries and restrictions than a weights-oriented individual. Not that you never do these exercises, even if weights is your thing. Chances are you’ll still be doing push ups, sit ups, dips, planks, and several others. It’s just that we often don’t even think of these as separate from our other training. Which, by the way, is only natural; you should involve these two types of training in your regular routine, and it would probably be a mistake to restrict yourself to either one totally, to the exclusion of the other.

We all do some bodyweight exercises!

As I said earlier, one of the great strengths of bodyweight exercises is the virtally infinite range of variations. Take push ups for example. You can do them the traditional way, or you can do them with a close grip … or a wide grip … or with one hand extended forward … or one hand shifted backward … or including a handclap between pushups … or bouncing from push ups on your palms to push ups on your fists to push ups on the back of your wrists … or with your feet raised on a step or a box … or with one foot raised off the floor … or with feet much closer to your hands and your backside up in the air … or moving smoothly down and forward (divebomber style) and then back to the start … or ‘walking’ on your hands to the left for so many ‘steps’, then doing push ups again, then ‘walking’ back to the original position and doing more push ups …

I could go on … and on. The possible variations are literally almost infinite. And remember, that’s just one exercise – push ups. You can apply this kind of thinking to almost any bodyweightg exercise, with the result that you have an infinite variety of exercises and routines to choose from.

And of course you can adjust the tempo too. For example, you could do a set of ten standard push ups, followed by five or ten more at this tempo: taking a count of four to slowly descend to the lowest point, and a count of just one to push back up. Do this on each push up and you’ll really feel the difference! Or you could do five push ups at normal speed, then five more at super-slow speed, and repeat the process for as many sets as you can manage, without changing position, or coming up out of your starting position at each change of tempo. Doesn’t sound tough, but do it and feel the effect!

Bodyweight exercises offer infinite variety

You can lie on your back and apply the same search for variations. You could raise your legs and do a set of scissor kicks, for example, then rest a few seconds. Next, kick out with one leg, extending the heel as far as possible, drawing the other knee towards your chest, immediately switching to the other side and kicking out with the other leg, and so on. You can do a bicycling motion, your feet raised just 12 inches or so off the ground, and pumping your legs as thought pedalling. Again, doesn’t sound much really, an almost childish exercise, but doing it, and moving on to other variations, tells a different story.

You could draw your knees up towards your chest, then kick straight up vertically, raising your hips as high as possible on each thrust. From the top position, draw your knees to your chest again, and then straighten your legs as you level out, keeping your feet just a few inches off the floor. Sounds simple enough, I grant you, but a few sets of these and you’ll be awakening muscles you weren’t even aware you had!

These are just a taste of what you can do with bodyweight exercises. Entire books have been written about these variations, and some of those who practise them regularly are exceptionally strong and fit. The take home of all this is to never take this kind of exercise lightly. It’s not some sort of poor man’s substitute for ‘proper’ weights training, only to be indulged in when you can’t get to a gym. It’s a phenomenally effective way to train the entire body, and to build up unusual strength and agility.

It would be a huge mistake to underestimate bodyweight exercises

Never underestimate bodyweight exercises. And try to make a point of including some in every workout. Squats are incredible, but even the ‘humble’ bodyweight squat can be truly challenging, and can add tremedously to your fitness routine. You’ll certainly feel the benefit, and chances are you’ll see the difference too, every time you walk past a mirror or a window!