Bodyweight exercises are adaptable, efficient, and effective and help you build a muscular physique with little to no equipment.
Bodyweight exercises have major benefits for improving strength, agility, endurance, mobility, balance, and cardiovascular health.
Bodyweight training is more convenient than weight training because it requires little space and equipment and can be done anytime and anywhere.
In this article, I have outlined the 10 most important advantages of bodyweight exercises, which are backed by science and fitness experts.
These benefits will inspire you to integrate bodyweight workouts into your training program.
Top 10 Advantages of Bodyweight Exercises
- Increases Muscle and Joint Strength
- Improves Posture
- Enhances Balance and Mobility
- Boosts Endurance and Increase Performance
- Burns More Calories and Support Weight Loss
- Support Muscle Growth
- Improves Flexibility
- Builds a Strong Core
- It doesn’t require much space and pieces of equipment
- Adaptable, efficient, effective, and Enjoyable
1. Bolster Muscle and Joints
Strengthening muscles and joints is the primary benefit of a bodyweight workout, which requires using your own body weight to perform several exercises.
A study of 15 women whose average age was 22 years and four months were selected for a bodyweight training program.
For ten weeks, they did sit-ups, pull-ups, jump squats, jumping jacks, and overhead ball throw exercises.
The results showed a significant increase in the overall strength of physical fitness. And the important part is that no specific diet plan was included in that training program. 1The Impact Of Ten Weeks Of Bodyweight Training On The Level Of Physical Fitness And Selected Parameters Of Body Composition In Women Aged 21-23 Years – Polish Journal of Sport and Tourism
I even do the bodyweight workout training once or twice a week to gain some real physical strength.
Doing bodyweight exercises will also help you enhance the functional strength that is required in day-to-day activities.
2. Improve Posture
Bodyweight exercises like yoga and stretching reduce shoulder, mid back, and low back pain and help correct posture – according to research published by the Journal of Physical Therapy Science. 2Kim D, Cho M, Park Y, Yang Y. Effect of an exercise program for posture correction on musculoskeletal pain. J Phys Ther Sci. 2015;27(6):1791-1794. doi:10.1589/jpts.27.1791
Poor posture is usually caused by a weak core and lower back. Sitting and standing upright alone will not help.
To improve your posture and body composition, you must perform bodyweight stretching exercises, such as bird dog, locust pose, Superman fly, cat-cow, cobra pose, and lower back rotation.
3. Enhances Balance
Bodyweight isometric exercises help improve balance and the ability to hold the body in an unstable and static position.
We recently conducted an experiment that involved performing bodyweight training, such as yoga and calisthenics, for six weeks (four days a week). Five members participated in the trial: three men and two women.
After the training period, all members felt an improvement in overall balance, and their ability to hold in an unstable position had improved much.
Having better control of your body movements allows you to perform various exercises effectively and minimize the risk of injuries.
4. Boosts Endurance and Increases Performance
Increasing endurance is one of the main benefits of bodyweight training. 3EFFECTS OF 8-WEEKS LONG MUSCULAR ENDURANCE TRAINING WITH BODY WEIGHT IN CASE OF RECREATIONAL ATHLETES – Research Gate
High-intensity bodyweight training, such as aerobic and anaerobic exercises, enhances endurance and athletic performance.
High endurance is crucial in various training, from lifting to sprinting.
5. Burn More Calories and Support Weight Loss
Weight loss happens when you consume fewer calories than your body needs over a period of time.
However, if you want to lose weight and improve the shape of your physique and overall fitness, you need to do some kind of workout that can torch plenty of calories and help you stay in a calorie deficit.
And when it comes to shedding calories faster, bodyweight training is the best workout.
High-intensity bodyweight interval training is an excellent way to increase weight loss and improve the shape of the body.
You can run, jump, and do other bodyweight cardio exercises at a quick pace to maximize calorie burning, increase metabolic rate, and accelerate weight loss.
6. Supports Muscle Growth
If you’re a lean guy and want to build an athletic body, then bodyweight training can be a good option for you.
Bodyweight exercises like pushups, pull-ups, squats, crunches, planks, and lunges help grow muscles.
Training with bodyweight takes more time to build lean mass than weight lifting, but they help increase lean mass over time.
One of my friends, George (22, 50 kg), performed bodyweight exercises, such as pull-ups, pushups, chin-ups, dips, squats, and lunges for three months consistently, which helped him gain almost 5 kg.
Eating the right foods for muscle and weight gain and doing consistent bodyweight training will help you achieve noticeable muscle growth in four to six months.
7. Improve Flexibility
Bodyweight exercises like yoga and stretching help you become more flexible.
Yoga poses, such as warrior, bend forward, downward-facing dog, Superman, camel pose, low lunge, locust pose, eagle pose, and thread the needle, help increase overall flexibility.
In a trial, a group of 14 yoga professionals and another group of 12 non-yoga professionals took part in it for over 10 weeks of training.
The training includes three different yoga positions: downward-facing dog, right foot lunges, and chair pose.
After the training period, the study showed that regularly practicing yoga may increase the flexibility and balance as well as the whole-body measures of male athletes. 4Polsgrove MJ, Eggleston BM, Lockyer RJ. Impact of 10 weeks of yoga practice on flexibility and balance of college athletes. Int J Yoga. 2016;9(1):27-34. doi:10.4103/0973-6131.171710
A flexible body allows you to perform better during the athletic and lifting performance and minimize the risk of injuries.
8. Build a Strong Core
It is important to have a strong core for overall fitness. The core is the middle part of the body, and it must be strong to do the other forms of workout.
Planks, crunches, mountain climbers, and hanging knee raises are some of the best bodyweight exercises you can do to forge your core.
When you don’t have much time, you can train your abs even for 10 minutes to bolster your abdominal strength.
Having a strong core makes it easier to perform most physical activities, such as running, lifting, jumping, and walking.
9. Less Space and Fewer Equipment
Bodyweight exercises can be done anywhere you want, as they require little to no equipment. All you need is your mindset, some space, and your will to do the workout.
Suppose you’re going somewhere or you’re on a trip for a week or two, then you can still have an option to do the bodyweight workout to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
You can do the bodyweight workout at home, in a hotel room, on a trip, in the cafeteria, or in any tiny place.
10. Adaptable, Efficient, and Enjoyable
Whether you’re twelve or sixty-five, you can do bodyweight exercises to scale your fitness to the next level.
Bodyweight exercises can be adapted to any fitness level, from beginners to advanced and teenagers to old age.
You can perform numerous bodyweight exercises to make your workout interesting and enjoyable.
References
- 1The Impact Of Ten Weeks Of Bodyweight Training On The Level Of Physical Fitness And Selected Parameters Of Body Composition In Women Aged 21-23 Years – Polish Journal of Sport and Tourism
- 2Kim D, Cho M, Park Y, Yang Y. Effect of an exercise program for posture correction on musculoskeletal pain. J Phys Ther Sci. 2015;27(6):1791-1794. doi:10.1589/jpts.27.1791
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- 4Polsgrove MJ, Eggleston BM, Lockyer RJ. Impact of 10 weeks of yoga practice on flexibility and balance of college athletes. Int J Yoga. 2016;9(1):27-34. doi:10.4103/0973-6131.171710
