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Bodyweight Training - 5 Things To Learn From Giving
Up Gym Workouts
 Earlier
this year, I embarked on a challenge to do nothing but bodyweight
training (BWT) for a solid month. I gave up my beloved bench press
for push-ups and the heavy iron for suspension straps. I figured
I would have a "light" month of easier lifting but I ended
up emerging as a faster, stronger, leaner and healthier individual.
Below are the 5 reasons why I now base my entire fitness program
on bodyweight training!
#1. Bodyweight Training Can Be Pretty Hard Core
When I first started, I thought about bodyweight training (BWT)
like most people probably do, which consists of light calisthenic
warm-up style workouts that do little more than just get the blood
flowing in preparation for a "real" workout. However,
as I dug deeper into the culture of bodyweight exercise, I started
to discover moves that made a 250 pound bench press seem easy. Things
like muscle-ups, pistol squats and my own creation of rebel planks,
rocked my body in ways I never knew possible and left me wondering
if I really was as fit as I thought I was.
#2. Outdoor Workouts Are a Fantastic Luxury
Once I discovered how versatile bodyweight training (BWT) was, I
started to search for the ideal places to train. I found these locations
at parks and school playgrounds. With a little creativity, I discovered
that a playground can be much more fun and versatile than any local
gym. Plus I was in the fresh air, getting some sun and training
barefoot. With a handful of playgrounds near where I live, it was
like having a free 24 hour membership to 3-4 gyms that were never
crowded and I could bring a dog to. It wasn't long before I started
spending more time on the local playground than I was in the actual
gym!
 #3.
Bodyweight Workouts Are Crazy Functional
Being a fan of many athletic pursuits, I was amazed at how fast
I was riding my mountain bike and how well my balance in Taekwon-Do
improved during my month of body weight training. In fact, my athletic
performance had improved more during my thirty days of bodyweight
training than in the 10 years of weight training before that! I'm
still working on figuring out exactly why, but one thing is for
sure. The strength required for bodyweight training is often quite
different from the strength required for free weights or machines
and that type of strength has tremendous functional power.
#4. Bodyweight Training Fills Cracks & Weaknesses
Before I started my 30 day challenge, I had a few nagging aches
and pains, not to mention some stiffness that accompanied me each
morning. My chiropractor had identified some areas where I was too
tight, some areas where I was too loose and some more areas where
I was too weak. By the end of the 30 days, nearly every ache, pain
and weakness was but a distant memory. A back issue I had been fighting
for over two years just seemed to evaporate like a mud puddle after
a summer storm and I never felt so great. It was like turning back
the clock on my body and feeling 5-10 years younger!
#5. Most Bang For The Buck
Finally, it goes without saying that bodyweight training is practically
free, it can be done almost anywhere and it can accommodate anyone
from an 80 year old sedentary grandmother to an Olympic caliber
athlete. It requires little to no equipment and the time requirement
is considerably less than traditional conditioning systems. With
so many benefits going for it and such a low cost of entry, it hardly
makes sense not to include bodyweight training into a healthy lifestyle.
While I have gone back to using some basic free weights
in my program, bodyweight training continues to be the meat and
potatoes of my training. Each month, I discover myself reaching
heights I never thought possible and I eagerly await the future
to see what lies in store.
By Matt
Schifferle
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