Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Strength Training Without Weights - Bodyweight Exercise Secrets

Strength training without weights is one of the latest fads to hit the fitness world. Exercises without weight, or bodyweight exercises as they are better known, are for people who primarily want to build stronger and leaner physiques but don't want to go to the gym.

One of the biggest myths is that you need to go to the gym and spend long hours lifting heavy weights in order to achieve a sleek looking physique.


Here are a couple of bodyweight exercise secrets that you might not be aware of:

1. You Don't Need To Do Hours Of Cardio To Get Ripped Abs - What you actually need is a consistent and diverse workout routine that features somewhat challenging exercises that simultaneously target multiple muscle groups at once including your upper and lower abdominal muscles. For example, take an ab exercise called the 3 chair push up. 

With this exercise you will be performing a traditional push up except, unlike with push ups, your feet will be placed on the seat of a chair rather than on the ground. This exercise will increase your range of motion that you normally experience with push ups and will cause your abdominals to rapidly contract in order to stabilize your body. While this exercise can help you achieve seriously ripped abs you will still need to maintain a balanced diet and a proper mix of carbs, protein, and unsaturated fats.

2. Injuries Are Not A Prerequisite For Becoming Strong And Muscular - There seems to be this idea common among bodybuilders that in order to develop massive muscles you need to get injured a few times. Injuries are apparently seen as a mark of honor by some weight lifters because they symbolize that you are moving up in weight and therefore becoming stronger.

In reality, injuries are a massive setback to virtually any training routine not to mention the accompanying and often debilitating pain. If you become injured lifting weights you will likely be unable to perform certain exercises for several weeks or even months depending on the severity and location of your injury.

A week off from weight training can actually be beneficial but several weeks or months can easily reverse your strength and muscle gains. One of the principal advantages of bodyweight exercises over heavy weight exercises is that it is very difficult to sustain an injury during a bodyweight workout routine.


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