Reason #1: People have been getting into great shape for years, using only bodyweight exercises.
Gymnasts, martial artists, and swimmers have all gotten into excellent shape with bodyweight exercises
At boot camp, we didn't have access to the weight room very often. In fact, I think we only went there once, since it was far from where we stayed. We just did a lot of marching, running, push-ups, and sit-ups. By the end of week 6, I was in the best shape of my life.
Reason #2: Pound for pound, you'll be stronger
Have you ever wondered why the strongmen of the world don't have the same shapely muscles you see on the bodybuilding stage?
Have you ever wonered why some Navy SEALs and special forces soldiers don't have the hughe muscles hardcore bodybuilders have?
There's no doubt that the strongmen and the special forces guys are exactly that: strong. They don't necessarily train for big muscles; they train for strong, functional muscles. The big, shapely muscles they have are a requirement for their strength, not for looks. Every muscle fibre they have is a strong muscle fibre, not just a big one.
Strength training (which can be done with bodyweight exercises) is how the strong get strong. Bodyweight training is a large component of special forces training.
Reason #3: You can get into great shape without the unnecessary bulk
With bodyweight conditioning, you transform your body into a strong, fully functional machine by exercising through a full range of motion. Instead of just exercising a particular muscle for size, you train for strength and real-world performance by stimulatiing a group of muscles together.
Because of this, you can use bodyweight training to build strenth and size throughout most of the major muscles in a given area, instead of focusing on just one muscle and ignoring the rest. In other words, through bodyweight training, when one of your muscles increases in size and strength, the other associated muscles do likewise, since you've trained them all together. With bodyweight training, you avoid unnecessarily bulking up one muscle, which causes you to ignore it's associated muscles.
Reason #4: You don't really need a gym
One characteristic of bodyweight training is that your body is the weight that you work with. Usually, no hard-to-find equipment is needed. For those bodyweight exercises that do require equipment (like the chin-up, which requires a chin-up bar), the required equipment can be found around the home. It can also be easily improvised.
Because of this no-equipment-necessary characteristic, bodyweight exercise workouts can be done around the house, at the farm, and in the field. The nice thing about gyms is that they do offer some of the equipment needed for some exercises, but they're not absolutely necessary.
Reason #5: You can get in shape right here, right now
You don't neeed anything other than your own body to do some great bodyweight exercises. And you can do them right now! One-hand push-ups, Superman push-ups, and “pistols” are a few that come to mind. Just those three can get you into great shape...if you're up to the challenge!
Reason #6: The workouts are fast, convenient, and effective
There's no quicker way to do a workout than right here, right now. Bodyweight workouts can be done without equipment, so they're “portable” and convenient. And since you work out a number of muscles during the same exercises, they're effective.
Reason #7: There are several free videos that show you how to do a lot of the great bodyweight exercises...including the challenging “pistol”
YouTube features a lot of illustrative bodyweight exercise videos from a number of different people. The one exercise I'm working on is the “pistol”: boy is that challenging! From practicing it, I've discovered that there's a good way to do it, and an even better (but harder) way to do it. I've even dedicated a page of my site that shows someone doing an impressive number of pistols.
My new Bodyweight Exercise Report introduces you to bodyweight exercise and training. With pictures, it gives you step-by-step instruction on the form and execution of 7 bodyweight exercises and routines that you can do virtually anywhere. It's free, too."
Here's one bodyweight exercise workout for strength and explosive leg power.
Here are 4 things you should know about bodyweight exercise.
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