The Advantages Of Bodyweight Training

Bodyweight training, if it is thought of at all, is generally not one of the first exercise methods people consider when choosing an exercise plan. This is a shame, as bodyweight training is actually one of the most effective workouts you can do. In this Hub I'm going to attempt to explain why this is, as well as give you a sample routine to try out.

First, some background as to how I came to this conclusion. Ever since High School I've been interested in health and physical fitness to one degree or another. For the longest time I did what most people do. I ran and lifted weights. I thought this was making me healthy, but looking back I can see I was wrong. Here's what happened to change my mind.

For a time I took up Judo for awhile. I really liked it, but I couldn't believe how easily I was getting hurt. At one point I couldn't even extend my arm fully and I really hurt my shoulder at one point. What was going on? If I was so strong, why was I getting hurt all the time?

Another time I remember going to a yoga class (something I still do to this day, by the way). It was a Bikram's Yoga Class, which is actually quite physically demanding. For part of the class you are required to hold certain postures for up to a minute. Doesn't sound too hard, does it? Well, I remember when I first tried to hold the "Triangle" posture. Not only could I not get into the posture correctly, my legs gave out after about 10 seconds. Why could I not hold this posture, despite the fact I did exercise like squats and leg extensions on machines, but women with seemingly little muscle at all could? I was baffled.

This is how I made the mental leap from weight training to bodyweight training. I started to really think about why I seemingly lacked real functional strength.  My brain came back with an answer. It recalled an experience I had as a young boy. I remember I was at the zoo, marveling at how strong and powerful the Gorillas looked. I didn't know it at the time, but a Gorilla is between 6 and 20 times stronger that the average man. How could this be? A Gorilla doesn't lift weights or exercise in any of the ways Man does. At the time I thought about it, but then was distracted by something else. Now older and wiser, I thought about it again. Could it be that Man with his big brain has in fact got everything wrong? Should we perhaps be emulating our animal brothers in the wild and only training with our bodyweight as well?

Another thought came to me. Consider Gymnasts. They use bodyweight training in various forms exclusively. They don't lift weights at all. The result? First of all, they look incredibly strong. I've been on bodybuilding forums where posters (is that the word for people who post on these forums?) cannot believe how ripped and buff the gymnasts are. But more importantly, they are also functionally strong in a way that a weightlifter never is. They can move their bodies in space in all directions and all angles. They are almost animal like in their physical abilities, and it shows. This is real strength, and it comes from focusing on bodyweight training exclusively.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention Christopher Summers. Christopher Summers was a gymnast before he retired to become a gymnastic coach. When he retired he decided to try exercising like most people, which means running and lifting weights. He went into a gym for the first time (a traditional weight lifting gym, obviously, not a gymnastic gym) and started to lift. To his amazement, he was out lifting all of the experienced weight lifters in the place with ease. As an example, he was able to do a double bodyweight deadlift no problem, and he wasn't even the strongest person on his gymnastic team! What would happen if he trained in weight lifting full time. He could break records!

So, he abandoned his bodyweight training routine and took up weight lifting. The result? In his own words, he became sore, stiff, slow, and tired. He was getting WORSE, not better. Another negative was that he was losing his overall physical abilities. His stamina was getting worse, as was his flexibility. Like me, Mr. Summers began to question the wisdom of the whole procedure. He went back to gymnastic training and his body quickly responded for the better.

Ok, lets start adding this up. Lifting weights does not give you any kind of functional strength. However, animals and gymnasts who don’t so much as touch a weight are amazingly strong. Doesn’t this point to the superiority of bodyweight training? However, it still begs the questions, why is it so?

My theory is that bodyweight training is consistent with our evolutionary history. Just like our animal brothers, we evolved in nature using nothing but our own bodyweight to get by. We are genetically programmed to get the most benefit from any kind of exercise which uses what we have. Natural selection ensures this.

Consider an animal like a bear. Natural selection ensure that only the strongest and fittest bears well survive. Therefore, if a bear simply does “Bear Things” (run, walk, climb trees etc) it will be at it’s bear best. It will be as strong as it can be. If it started to do non bear things, like weightlifting or (shudder) the thigh master, it would be a pretty sickly bear. I don’t think there is any difference between the way the bear trains and the way human beings SHOULD train. Nature has already given you all you need.

If you want to try a simple bodyweight routine, try the exercises that follow. The exercise are “Hindu Squats” and “Hindu Pushups”. These are exercises that have been practiced for thousands of years by wrestlers in India. It gave them almost legendary strength and stamina. At first you may find it difficult to do even five of these exercises. However, if you keep it up and perform these exercises everyday, you'll be surprised how quickly your body will respond. A good goal to shoot for is 50 hindu pushups and 100 hindu squats.

Here's how to perform these bodyweight training exercises:

Hindu Pushups

   1.  To get into the ready position to perform a Hindu Pushup, start in the “up” position of a regular pushup with your feet spread wider than shoulder width.
   2. Walk your hands backwards so that your butt is in the air, your arms and legs are straight, and you are looking back through your legs. From the side, your body should resemble an inverted “V”
   3. Start bending your elbows so that your body comes forward. Your hips will come down towards the floor. Before your head hits the floor, however, start to arch your spine so that you are looking towards the ceiling. Straighten your arms.
   4. You should exhale as you are looking at the ceiling
   5. Keep your arms straight and push your butt back to the starting position while inhaling.



Hindu Squats.

   1.  Start with your feet shoulder-width apart and arms extended out from your chest parallel to the floor.
   2. Breathe deeply, filling your lungs as you clench your fists and pull them towards your chest.
   3. Keeping your back as straight as possible, lower your body by bending your knees. As you lower your body, you should extend your arms downward as well, behind your back if possible. Start to exhale the air from you lungs.
   4. Toward the bottom of the movement, you should come up on your toes, keeping as straight a spine as possible.
   5. Straighten your legs by pushing off your toes and swinging your arms forward. As you rise, press your heels to the floor and raise your arms to chest level, parallel to the floor.