People have been successfully convinced that they need to spend their hard-earned money on gym memberships. To get your attention, there are gyms that offer flashy workouts that are often less effective and are willingly to do anything to get your signature. Fortunately, there is a way out of this. The secret is not a new concept. In fact, its primal and dates to our tree-living ancestors – classic body-weight exercises. Below, I outline some distinct advantages bodyweight strength training has over conventional gym routines and boring cardio (AKA, running).
Zero-money workout option
You can get great workouts with zero equipment at all. The only thing you need to get fit is the desire to better yourself and the ability to act – and of course, your own body-weight and the space around you.
Can do calisthenics exercises anywhere, anytime
Most people look for excuses for not working out. Body-weight strength training eliminates the excuse because you can do them anywhere, even in front of your TV. I do my regular workouts anywhere, anytime – rain or shine. The idea is, you literally never have an excuse not to work out, which creates a habit. Soon, you find yourself craving the sensation of body movement flow, so you never stop wanting to work out, period.
More athletic and functional in nature
There’s nothing more athletic and functional than a good body-weight exercise. That’s because it’s a compound movement which allow us to move multiple joints at once and coordinate multiple movements together.
Let’s face it – there’s certainly not a lot of athleticism in isolation movements like barbell curls or dumbbell concentration bicep curls. Ever see gorillas climbing trees?
Improves joint strength
Running destroys joints. Strength training strengthens them. This is important for lifelong fitness. Strengthening the muscles through body-weight exercises can help prevent injuries because of the compound nature of the movements which reduces muscle imbalances.
Easier to show off
Fact - Even regular fitness goers fail to execute basic body-weight movements such as pull-ups, push ups and squatting with proper form. Imagine how impressed people are by one-armed chin-ups, one-armed push-ups and pistol squats. And the one-arm lever! Running long distances simply can’t compare (oh, and it might be hurting you).
Advantage over boring cardio
Running is NEVER my default form of exercise. If I do a 20 minutes session of Calisthenic-circuit training, I burn twice the calories (600 calories easily per session) than someone doing a 45 mins slow run.
Conclusion
If you want to improve balance, have better joints, look better, feel stronger, build a fitness habit more easily, save both time & money and have a flexible fitness base for any activity (rock climbing, hiking, backpacking, sailing, evading capture), then body-weight training is the way to go.
Move more. Stay safe.
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