Bodyweight Circuit Training For Lean Muscle And Fat Loss

July 18, 2012 by  
Filed under Circuit Training

Article by Joe

Bodyweight Circuit Training For Lean Muscle And Fat Loss – Health – Weight Loss

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Bodyweight Exercises Don’t Work For Gaining Lean Muscle Do they?

What About Fat Loss How Do They Help You Lose Fat?

How is it possible that doing a bodyweight circuit training workout can get you results in lean muscle gains, muscle density and fat burning?

“This isn’t for me. I’m an old school guy. Barbells, Dumbbells and Kettlebells are the way to go,” right?

Now I’ve been a weight training guy for almost 40 years now. I grew up on the lift big and get big philosophy. I was 13 saw a bodybuilding magazine while I was at the Jersey shore and was hooked. I lifted with the idea of gaining as much muscle as possible.

A few years back my ideas about training and how I wanted to look changed. I decided I was getting a little older so I wanted a more lean muscled athletic look. Increase my muscle density and burn more fat. I started reading about bodyweight circuit training and interval training.

But You Don’t Lift Anything With Bodyweight Circuit Training?

I figured if I wasn’t lifting anything how could I keep lean muscle while dropping body fat and increasing muscle density?

Could A Bodyweight Workout Like This Add Lean Muscle And Burn Fat?

** Jumping Jacks

** Push – Ups

** Squats

** Burpees

** Mountain Climbers

** Lunges

Now typically with a bodyweight circuit training workout what you do is one exercise after another, rest about 1 minute and continue for 3-6 circuits. Do this 3-4 times a week. The workouts should take no more than 30 minutes.

So as I said this is a few years ago before interval training and these circuit training workouts started showing up online. Now many years ago bodyweight exercises were very popular in the fitness and bodybuilding circles. But with the advent of aerobics and all the shiny machines they were forgotten. So here was my problem the years of heavy weight training added muscle but also some fat.

What Should I do?

At the time the consensus was running. Jump on a treadmill run for an hour or so 5-6 day’s a week. I hate to run. So this idea didn’t sit well with me. So anyway as I said I started reading about interval training and bodyweight circuit training routines like the one above.

Let me tell you I thought this won’t work it’s too easy. Boy was I wrong. I barely got through the circuit twice. So right from that first workout the way I was huffing and puffing trying to get through that circuit twice I knew okay there is something to these bodyweight circuit training workouts. And I could do them at home was another added bonus. And they take half the time of those marathon cardio workouts that were all the rage.

Okay flash forward a few years. My bodyweight went from a high of 240 lbs to between 185 – 190 today. Bodyweight circuit training really made a difference.

About the Author

Now doing these type of circuits along with my weight training and kettlebell workouts gives me great variety in my workouts. The result? I got the desired lean muscle, lower body fat and greater muscle density and my workouts are never boring.

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Joe



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Now doing these type of circuits along with my weight training and kettlebell workouts gives me great variety in my workouts. The result? I got the desired lean muscle, lower body fat and greater muscle density and my workouts are never boring.












Use and distribution of this article is subject to our Publisher Guidelines
whereby the original author’s information and copyright must be included.

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Fast Fat Loss Workouts Bodyweight Circuit Training

May 15, 2012 by  
Filed under Circuit Training

Article by Clint Grimes

Let’s be honest. Long, slow cardio stinks. If you want to burn fat fast while building muscle, bodyweight circuit training is the way to go. This is the fastest, most efficient way for you to burn the fat, build the muscle and get the lean hard body that you’ve always wanted.

Don’t under estimate the simplicity of this workout. Some time the simplest things are the most effective. Make sure that you warm up with some arm swings, push ups, squats, and lunges. Ready? Here we go:

We’ll start off with 25 jumping jacks, just like you did in your gym class when you were a kid. One variation to this might be seal jacks, with your arms moving parallel to the ground rather than up in the air.

Next we’ll move to 25 Hindu push ups. This is not only great for the upper body but is also a great stretch for the back and legs. If you can’t handle Hindu push ups do standard ones and if standard push ups are too hard, do them kneeling.

Now lets move on to 10 burpees. If you have problems with impact leave out the jump and if you are a thrill seeker you can substitute 8-count bodybuilders.

Next put your feet up on a chair or a step and crank off 10 incline push ups. If you are absolutely spent from the earlier pushups, do as many as you can.

Move on to one of my favorite exercises, Hindu squats. You’ll need to do 25 of them. Well that’s it, right? Wrong! For the next 15 minutes you are going to be repeating this sequence. Get ready to sweat. When you’re done put this one in your bag of tricks so you can reap the benefits for years to come.

Get your Free Turbulence Training Fat Burning Workout, free 10 Minute Workouts and 21 Day Turbulence Training Offers for as low as a at http://MYCOMMANDFITNESS.COM

Clint Grimes, is a retired US Navy commander. He is certified by the California Interscholastic Federation and is currently the strength and conditioning coach for the boys soccer teams at El Toro High School in Lake Forest, CA.

You have permission to publish this article in your web sites, ezines or electronic publication, as long as the piece is used in its entirety including the resource box, all hyperlinks (HTML clickable) and references and copyright info.










Bodyweight Workout System – Home Gym Workout Routine

April 23, 2012 by  
Filed under Gym Workouts

All of us want to have a body we can brag about. This is the reason why we use to attend or enroll ourselves to gym sessions and yoga classes. They teach us on how to do each workout routine properly to achieve what our goals are. Sad to say, not all of us are able to avail their services. But you have nothing to worry about. You can perform a home gym workout routine which you can perform even in the comfort of your own home.

Click Here For Bodyweight Workout System Instant Access Now!

The first thing you need to do is to find a room with enough space for your weight-training exercises. Look for a room with a controlled temperature; you definitely want to be comfortable while doing your workout.

Use professional safety equipment that you can incorporate in doing your workout. And one of the mistakes while doing a home gym exercise routines are the cutting corners and also the use of poor gym equipment.

Be careful when it comes to your equipment. Know how to use it correctly. After using it, return the weights to a safe place, cover your bench, bench press bars and weights to make last and preserve its attractiveness. Look for a way on how will you store each equipment when you are not using them.

One of the keys for your home training workout routine to be a success is to incorporate a weight training exercise. This will assist you to avoid on focusing at one particular muscle group. When you are at home, you dont have any trainer to help you set-up a workout plan so be careful when doing each exercise. Much better to do your research or ask a medical doctor to ensure that you will not experience side effects before and after doing your home gym workout routine.

Click Here For Bodyweight Workout System Instant Access Now!

This author writes about Bodyweight Training Exercises at Home Workout Routine For Men

Fast Fat Loss Workouts Bodyweight Circuit Training

March 8, 2012 by  
Filed under Circuit Training

Circuit training is a form of conditioning combining resistance training and high-intensity aerobics. It is designed to be easy to follow and target strength building as well as muscular endurance. An exercise “circuit” is one completion of all prescribed exercises in the program. When one circuit is complete, one begins the first exercise again for another circuit. Traditionally, the time between exercises in circuit training is short, often with rapid movement to the next exercise.

Let’s be honest. Long, slow cardio stinks. If you want to burn fat fast while building muscle, bodyweight circuit training is the way to go. This is the fastest, most efficient way for you to burn the fat, build the muscle and get the lean hard body that you’ve always wanted.

Don’t under estimate the simplicity of this workout.

Some time the simplest things are the most effective. Make sure that you warm up with some arm swings, push ups, squats, and lunges. Ready? Here we go:

We’ll start off with 25 jumping jacks, just like you did in your gym class when you were a kid. One variation to this might be seal jacks, with your arms moving parallel to the ground rather than up in the air.

Next we’ll move to 25 Hindu push ups. This is not only great for the upper body but is also a great stretch for the back and legs. If you can’t handle Hindu push ups do standard ones and if standard push ups are too hard, do them kneeling.

Now lets move on to 10 burpees.

If you have problems with impact leave out the jump and if you are a thrill seeker you can substitute 8-count bodybuilders.

Next put your feet up on a chair or a step and crank off 10 incline push ups. If you are absolutely spent from the earlier pushups, do as many as you can.

Move on to one of my favorite exercises, Hindu squats. You’ll need to do 25 of them. Well that’s it, right? Wrong! For the next 15 minutes you are going to be repeating this sequence. Get ready to sweat. When you’re done put this one in your bag of tricks so you can reap the benefits for years to come.

Get your Free Turbulence Training Fat Burning Workout, free 10 Minute Workouts and 21 Day Turbulence Training Offers for as low as a at http://turbulencetraining4u.com.

Clint Grimes, is a retired US Navy commander. He is certified by the California Interscholastic Federation and is currently the strength and conditioning coach for the boys soccer teams at El Toro High School in Lake Forest, CA.

You have permission to publish this article in your web sites, ezines or electronic publication, as long as the piece is used in its entirety including the resource box, all hyperlinks (HTML clickable) and references and copyright info.

Related Bodyweight Circuit Training Articles

5 Highly Effective Bodyweight Exercises Pertaining to Building Bigger Pecs

March 8, 2012 by  
Filed under Chest Exercises

Article by Edward Graham

Lifting weights at the health club might well function as the quickest way to add size for your pecs, but it’s only one way. Bodyweight exercises can provide an adaptable substitute for lifting dumbells due to the fact that they’ll be performed anywhere and at whenever.

A bodyweight workout for your chest can nicely compliment your weight services or work extremely well for a stand-alone workout.

In any event ., it truly is worth giving body weight exercises with the chest a try. There’s a chance you’re amazed at exactly how much you like it them!

Here’s 5 powerful chest exercises without weights:

Push-Ups For Chest Muscles. The earlier classic bodyweight exercise that everybody ponders after they refer to chest bodyweight workouts. Push-ups work many muscle tissue while doing so such as the chest, triceps, back, abs, biceps and shoulders. This can be a great general exercise and simultaneously works multiple muscles for a great all body workout. Keep back straight in the exercise while keeping your focus on slowly checking movement, working the many muscle tissues. For optimum results repeat this exercise slowly, and steadily improve the repetitions that you every week. A sensible way to enhance a push-up should be to put weights face up. Get a back-pack and fill it up with books to add effectiveness against the exercise to support stimulate extra growth.

Parallel Bar Dips For Chest. This exercise uses just your bodyweight, nevertheless it does need a group of dip bars because of it do be exercised correctly. Firmly grip each bar and support your body, that can hang between your bars. Slowly reduce your body until your arms form the right angles and raise yourself to the commencement. This is usually a very challenging exercise and you’re more likely to discover that you is only able to do a few reps. But while you begin to progress you may make things harder by strapping fat loss plate belt around your waist. Alternatively, fill a backpack program heavy objects. The parallel dip bars work your triceps and the chest muscles. To spotlight the lower adominal area muscles, lean you chest forward a tad when you do the lowering motion.

Decline Push-Ups. To complete a declined push-up place your feet while on an elevated object maybe a box or maybe a chair. Your arms needs to be on the ground as usual. You could then lower your upper body on the ground with a steeper angle than a normal push-up. This puts much more of attention within the lower area of the chest. It will always be a smart idea to mix in the widths in the push-up grips to ensure that other areas of the chest muscles get involved a decent workout.

Incline Push Ups For Chest. Push-ups on an incline involve you raising your arms onto a platform for instance a chair or a box. Feet is going to be on to the floor. Perform press as usual but when it reaches this new angle. You will find that you may notice the exercise working your upper chest area with the incline pushup. Upper chest muscles often get neglected so incline push ups make the perfect addition on your arsenal of bodyweight exercises for your chest.

Wide Grip Press ups For Chest. By using a normal push-up your arms are approximately shoulder width apart plus the focus is put on working the chest area muscles, shoulders, and arms. However, should you adopt a wider stance together with your arms greater than shoulder width apart you take the main focus from the arm and shoulder muscles make it back on the chest muscles. Wide grip push-ups tend to work the outer chest muscles many are great for shaping and toning.

That’s it, 5 bodyweight exercises to boost your chest workouts and build muscle without weights.

Start using thise when out from the gym on vacation or business trips or maybe you need to mix things up once in a while while.

In case you’re taking a rest from lifting weights at the gym and perform weeks of bodyweight-only workouts, you might well surprise yourself at merely what amount stronger you may be while you come back to the weights rack.

Ed is currently writing on many subjects mostly in the physical fitness and health area. Find out more on the subjects reviewed in this article on his building muscle site.










Build Bigger Guns – 4 Bodyweight Exercises For Biceps

February 20, 2012 by  
Filed under Dumbbell Exercises

Article by Adam Nicholson

Building big biceps are associated with hitting the gym and cranking out numerous sets of bicep curls.

But you can also build bigger biceps from home by using bodyweight exercises.

Here is a selection of bodyweight exercises that will help you build bigger biceps from the comfort of your own home:

Chin-Ups For Biceps. This requires the use of a pull-up bar or some sort of bar that will support your body weight. Installing a pull-up bar in your home is relatively inexpensive and you just need to place the bar between a sturdy door frame and screw it in place. Grip the bar with your palms facing towards yourself, and then slowly pull yourself up until your chin touches your fingers. Exhale as you pull yourself up and inhale on the way down. At first chin-ups can be very hard and you may struggle to do just a few. Start off trying to reach 6 reps, and slowly build up the reps over time.

Pull-Ups For Biceps. These are like chin-ups but the main difference is in the pull up bar grip. With chin-ups your palms are facing towards you, with pull-ups your palms face away from you. Also, with pull-ups you adopt a much wider grip (thus the term wide grip pull ups) that is shoulder width apart. In addition to working the biceps, pull-ups give the back muscles a great workout as well. Slowly pull yourself up as your exhale, and then inhale as you lower yourself (at an even slower pace). Mix-up this back and bicep bodyweight exercise by experimenting with different grips. Close grip, wide grip, medium grip and reverse grip pull-ups all focus on slightly different muscle areas. Also change up the tempo every now and then to shock your body into action.

Push-Ups For Biceps. The old classic bodyweight exercise that everyone thinks about when they refer to chest and bicep bodyweight workouts. Push-ups work many muscle groups at the same time including the chest, triceps, back, abs, biceps and shoulders. It is a great all round exercise. Keep your back straight throughout the exercise and concentrate on slowly going through the movement, working all those muscle groups. For best results do this exercise slowly and steadily increase the repetitions that you do on a weekly basis. A great way to spice up a push-up is to put weights on your back.

Bicep Curls Without Weights. A bicep curl typically involves using dumbbells and barbells at the gym, but it can also be done without using weight lifting equipment. You just need to get creative and find your own replacements for the resistance. Popular make-shift weights include sandbags, empty milk-jugs full of water or sand, and also backpacks full of books. You do not need to go to the gym to build big biceps, you just need to find any form of heavy weight that you can use to stimulate muscle growth.Aim to do slow and steady reps of this exercise. For maximum muscle growth aim to reach failure after around 6-8 reps. As your biceps get stronger, keep increasing the resistance to make sure you keep reaching faillure within the 6 to 8 rep mark.

So there you have 4 of the best bodyweight exercises for biceps that can help you build muscle without weights. They key is now to go away and put these to action.

Remember, not having access to the gym is no excuse for not building bigger biceps. You can do bicep exercises at home!

For a complete home workout routine to help you build biceps without weights and sculpt a lean physique, check out: MuscleWithoutWeights.com. The site was set up by Adam Nicholson to spread the word about the benefits of bodyweight exercises.










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I’m So Confused: Do I Do Weight Training or Bodyweight Training?

January 11, 2012 by  
Filed under Weight Training

Article by Alex Miller

There is a question about bodyweight training that sometimes creates an agitation or conflict within the psyches of exercise aficionados. They think they have to do either weight training or bodyweight training as if each is a religion unto itself. They are not belief systems.

I personally do both weight training and bodyweight training. The weight training enables me to better push and pull and move around weighty objects. The bodyweight training makes me more efficient in moving and pulling and pushing my own body around.

Some Beneficial Features of Bodyweight Training:

• Different types of flexibility exercises.• Pretend you’re in boot camp.• The only equipment is your body-you have no reason to not train.• Mountain climbers, crab walking, alligator walking are missing link between strength and cardio.• Beginners can do half squats, “knee” push-ups and arm hangs.• Increase the difficulty with one armed, one legged exercises, handstand pushups.• Core fitness to continue on with other training disciplines.• The world is your gym.In Favor of Bodyweight Training:

Some have described bodyweight training as being for muscular endurance (cardio) and not for strength but bodyweight exercises can be extremely challenging. It doesn’t have to be only traditional push-ups and pull-ups and free hand squats. All bodyweight exercises have a way of streamlining your body and movements and can transform you into being cat-like.

All of these types of exercises are what are called closed kinetic chain (CKC) exercises, that is, the main characteristic here is that the hand(s) for upper body movements and feet for lower body movements do not move; they are fixed in space either resting on or gripping some kind of surface. The exercises are almost always multi-joint (compound exercises) meaning that more than one joint is used in their operation. Some say bodyweight exercises are safer but anyone who has tried to learn planche push-ups too fast can attest to a painful rotator cuff injury so I would emphasize going slowly with some exercises.

This type of training is perfect for a group and boot camp scenarios in either a large room or an open air environment. No one needs any type of equipment of their own except for perhaps chair or bar dips and a chin-up bar but dips and chins can be done in group assembly line fashion with no plates to be put on or taken off. Everyone uses the weight of their own body.

There are bodyweight weight calisthenics for virtually every physical function you can think of whether it be twisting, pushing, pulling or jumping. There are even total body mobility movements: Alligator walking where you walk around belly down (prone) on all fours with your arms and legs stretched out and crab walking where you walk around supine on all fours with your belly up will strengthen you as well as work your heart.

Beginners to strength training can start off doing push-ups on their knees. If they don’t have the flexibility to go completely down to the bottom for a free hand squat then they can start off with a half squat. Can’t do a chin-up? Fine, just hang down for as long as you can and keep trying to pull up. Once in awhile do negative chins where, using a chair to get your chin to the bar, then emphasize going down slowly for one rep. Before no time you’ll be doing multiple reps.

Want to make it harder? How about trying one arm push-ups and one legged squats (called pistols)? If you can perform a one arm chin then you are a beast and should be locked up.

Cons (against) Bodyweight Training:

Those who hate on bodyweight training say that you always lift the same weight and there is no objective way to quantify your strength. You can always use a weighted vest or tie a weight plate around your waist but the argument still holds and wouldn’t your dips and chins then be classified as weight training?You can mimic with body weight training virtually any movement you can do with weights and so exercise the same muscle groups. There are, however, no such exercises equivalent to deadlifts, cleans and snatches.

Some Beneficial Features of Weight Training:

• Easier to get pumped up muscles.• Confidence in moving furniture more easily.• Enables lateral movements into power lifting and weightlifting, bodybuilding.• Therapeutic using light weight for high reps.• Bragging rights to competitive fitness (I can squat more than you).• Deadlifts and Olympic lifts cannot be duplicated with any other exercise.• Your competition uses it.• Possible to get brutally strong.• Olympic weight lifters are the fastest athletes and they have the highest jumps.

In Favor of Weight Training:

• You will tend to get bigger muscles with weight training. The reason behind this is relatively simple: Let us call it counterweight adaptation, meaning, bodyweight exercises will tend to streamline your physique whereas lifting external weights will cause an equal and opposite adaptation response over time in which you’ll get bigger muscles to counter balance the weights being used.• Of course if you’re a woman, you may not want bigger muscles unless you are a female bodybuilder.• Hypertrophy in the form of significant muscle mass is relatively easy to achieve. Keep the rep range of an exercise between 8-12, perform 3-5 sets and workout at least twice a week. Throw in adequate recovery and nutrition, add a little bit of weight on the bar at regular intervals and you’ll get as much development as your genetics will allow. The amount of weight you use is direct proportion to how strong you are. If you are lifting more than 2 months ago you have gotten stronger. Eat a lot of good food, lift heavy on squats, deadlifts, benches, presses and rows and you’ll get massively big and strong.• If you can do 100 push-ups you are certainly strong for yourself but if you can bench 300 lbs. you are strong for the world. As a wrestler doing only calisthenics, you may be able to run circles around your competition but when your opponent (the weight trainer) pulls on you, you’d better be able to pull back against his force if needed.• There is a conception that weight training makes an athlete slower. This happens only if you train slowly. Among athletes of different sports, Olympic weight lifters constantly test as the fastest sprinters and highest jumpers because they train explosive power into their central nervous systems with the movements they master.• Friends and family will ask you to help lift the heavy stuff when they move. They may reward your efforts with pizza.

Against Weight Training:

• The haters of weight training say that you will indeed get bigger muscles lifting weights but you will also become slow and egotistical. You will become a hypertrophic, protein-dependent, muscle bound ape with little aerobic capacity.• Unfortunately, gyms are full of gym rats that use up their time with only cosmetic exercises. After they pump up their biceps and chest and put a shirt on, one would think they were smuggling four cantaloupes. They end up with a miniscule amount of real world functional strength.• Members of the bodyweight/calisthenic cult may tell you that many weight exercises are unstable because many are classified as open kinetic chain (OKC) exercises. The more weight you put on the barbell, the more prone you will be to injury.

Conclusion:As was said at the beginning, the two systems of exercise are not two different belief systems nor are they two things of the same kind. One is like apples, the other, oranges. It’s good to be adept at moving and pushing around your own body weight as it is also cool to be able to move around heavy things. Although I framed this article as a type of debate, there is, in actuality, no real substantive debate between weight training and bodyweight exercises. You should think in terms of specificity and do both for what you need to do.

If you liked this article by Alex Miller, you may also by interested in the Football Weightlifting Workouts. Check out http://weighttrainingforever.com/ for more weight training information.










Bodyweight Calisthenics: Give Your “Cardio” A Kick In The Pants

December 24, 2011 by  
Filed under Muscular Endurance

Article by Eddie Lomax

If you are one of the people who believe steady-state aerobic exercise is the only way to improve cardiorespiratory endurance and burn fat, you’re in for a treat. Bodyweight calisthenics are an excellent way to get a full body workout that includes the heart and lungs. I’ll show you how to use bodyweight exercise in a second, but first let’s talk a little about cardiorespiratory endurance.

Cardiorespiratory endurance is the level of ability your body has to gather, process, deliver and sustain oxygen to produce energy for use in physical activity. Basically, the respiratory system gathers and starts to process the oxygen. The cardiovascular system continues to process and distributes the oxygen. So, your cardiorespiratory endurance is the level of efficiency your heart and lungs have to sustain and deliver oxygen for energy.

So, when most people want to improve their endurance they do cardiorespiratory conditioning exercises (cardio) to improve endurance by “conditioning” the heart and lungs. Unfortunately, the form of cardiorespiratory conditioning usually takes the form of aerobic exercise. And bodyweight calisthenics are completely ignored! But the fact is, any activity can improve cardiorespiratory endurance if they are done properly, and bodyweight exercises and calisthenics are an excellent choice.

There is something important I should mention. The type of cardio conditioning you do improves over-all endurance. But, the increased endurance is most closely related to the activity used. This means if you ride an exercise bike, your cardiorespiratory endurance will primarily be improved for bike riding. This is fine if you ride a bike in your normal, everyday life. But this has limited application for most people who are involved in a wide variety of activities both in and out of the gym.

If, on the other hand, you use bodyweight calisthenics for your cardio conditioning, you are using a wide variety of movements and muscles. Bodyweight exercises and calisthenics more closely represent the movements of highly random movements encountered in sport, work and life. So, you could make a case that cardiorespiratory conditioning using bodyweight calisthenics is better for endurance improvement that can be used in and out of the gym.

Plus, bodyweight calisthenics use all the muscles in your body. Compare this to the predominately lower body exercises of jogging or riding a bike. So, using bodyweight exercises allow you to build a strong, lean physique while improving cardiorespiratory endurance and burning fat!

Just think about it. Let’s say you do a fast paced bodyweight workout consisting of a circuit of bodyweight exercises and calisthenics. You’ll simultaneously build strong muscles and burn fat while improving heart and lung function. You wouldn’t even have to do a long, slow aerobic workout to supplement your training.

I hope this article has opened you eyes to the wide variety of possibilities available to improve cardiorespiratory endurance. You don’t always have to do long-slow aerobic exercise. And the truth is, using other forms of training to simultaneously improve heart and lung power can prepare you better for the challenges of sport, work and life. Bodyweight calisthenics are an excellent choice for both building a strong, lean, athletic physique and building a strong heart and lungs.

Coach Eddie Lomax, author of Workout Without Weights uses bodyweight calisthenics to improve fitness, burn fat and build an attractive physique.










Bodyweight Training For Fitness: More Than You Think?

December 22, 2011 by  
Filed under Endurance Training

Article by Eddie Lomax

Fitness is a complex term. This is why when you ask someone for a universal definition of fitness you usually get something vague like this, “Fitness is being fit”. Don’t believe me, ask someone (even fitness professionals). But once you understand the true nature of fitness, I’m confident you’ll see why bodyweight training for fitness should be a part of your over-all workout program.

So, let’s begin with my definition of physical fitness!

Fitness is the acceptable and deliberate compromise of competence and ability to perform in all the areas of cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, accuracy and toughness to produce optimum performance results under the greatest amount of circumstances.

You’d better read that again to make sure you get it.

As you can see, fitness is more than being strong. It is more than having powerful heart and lungs. Fitness is the ability to use all your physical abilities simultaneously and seamlessly to overcome physical challenges. And bodyweight training is an excellent method for training for over-all fitness!

Normally, people seeking fitness focus on only one or two of the physical abilities needed to be fit. Or, they base their training on the RESULT of being fit, like burning fat or building muscle. You see, having muscle or being lean does not necessarily mean you are fit! However, being fit usually manifests itself as a strong, muscular, lean body.

There are three types of challenges you’ll face in sport, work and life.

1) The challenge requires you move your body to successfully complete the task2) The challenge requires you move an exterior object to successfully complete the task3) The challenge requires you to move your body and an exterior object to successfully complete the task

And to make things more complicated, the challenge can require any of the physical abilities of fitness and in any combination. As you can see, being able to move your own body is needed for two of the types of challenges, and therefore should be trained accordingly. Bodyweight training is that important.

Think of it this way, there are so many abilities to train in order to be fit, you need a versatile tool capable of training them all. And there is no better tool than your own body. Bodyweight training can effectively target all of the physical abilities needed to be fit.

Compare bodyweight training to weight training. Bodyweight training is a much more accessible and versatile form of training. Don’t get me wrong, I like weight training and think it superior for some types of training. I just think bodyweight training has more to offer in terms of improving all the physical skills of fitness.

So, if you want to truly be fit, you need to improve all the physical abilities of fitness. Bodyweight training for fitness should be a part of everyone’s physical training program. Because when you are truly fit, you’ll not only meet the challenges of sport, work and life with excellence, you’ll look great too!

Coach Eddie Lomax, author of Workout Without Weights has put together a bodyweight calisthenics progressive program together that takes bodyweight training for fitness to the next level!










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