Are Bodyweight Exercises Really Effective?

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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.

Top regiments depend on them

Military regiments, military fitnessincluding 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 just so they can have a workout! But they can always do a bodyweight workout, any place, any time.

What makes bodyweight exercises so effective?

So how come these exercises are so effective, if that’s the case? The main reason is that they don’t restrict you 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 uses bodyweight exercises tends to suffer 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 press-ups, sit ups, dips, planks, and 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 be a mistake to restrict yourself to either one totally, to the exclusion of the other.

You probably do some bodyweight exercises already!

As I said earlier, one of the great strengths of bodyweight exercises is the virtally infinite range of variations. Take press-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 press-ups on your palms to press-ups on your fists to press-ups on the back of your wrists.