Benefits of Bodyweight Exercises
By KayLee Chie Kuehl
Let's be honest. There's nothing like completing an intense weightlifting workout. Power cleans, heavy squats, and weighted sprints can leave you feeling euphoric after a good session. But gym memberships are expensive and buying workout equipment can be just as costly. So how else can we detox our bodies? In what ways can we reach a fitness related exhilaration?
Bodyweight exercises don't get enough credit. Although powerlifting is a great way to work out, you don't necessarily need heavy weights in order to sculpt your body. Bodyweight exercises are equally as effective for obtaining certain fitness goals. Plus, these workouts are easier to fit into a budget! Here are a few benefits of bodyweight exercises.
All-Round Flexibility
Not only are bodyweight workouts great for physical flexibility, they're also perfect for tight schedules! Our bodies are meant to move and bend in all sorts of interesting ways. Bodyweight exercises focus on strengthening the base of our core and lengthening our muscles. Increased flexibility not only expands our range of motion, but prevents the chance of workout related injury. Exercise types are also various, ranging from dance, to yoga, to circuit training. Workouts can be done at any time and in any way that's best suited for you. If you only have time to work out at 10 at night, that's OK! Because all you need is yourself and determination. Working out even 10 minutes a day is enough to see results eventually!
Quick Calorie Burner
Because bodyweight exercises are not reliant on external resources for results, there is a great emphasis on cardio and strength training. Intense interval workouts have a strong influence on our metabolisms. Workouts like sprint cycles and circuit training are quick fat burners. And because the recovery time is so short, it's much simpler fitting in multiple workouts.
Intimate Knowledge of Our Bodies
Bodyweight workouts can deepen our knowledge of how our bodies work, our limitations, our extensions, what we need more of and what we don't. Exercising without equipment creates a less artificial rhythm in our movements. Transitioning from one workout to the next is also easier.
Although the euphoric effects of bodyweight exercises are different from powerlifting, it is still a great way to keep yourself healthy! It's easier on the wallet and comfortably fits into rigorous schedules. And honestly, making the switch to bodyweight exercises or throwing some variation of it into your powerlifting workouts can only enhance your mobility. I'd say it's time to work on that love-hate relationship we all have with those dreaded burpees!
To learn more about your health, wellness and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Houston, Tex.