What is the quickest and most convenient way to build muscle and burn fat?
What is the quickest and most convenient way to build muscle and burn fat?
Body weight training is an awesome way to build muscle and burn fat.
What do I mean by body weight training?
Basically, you are using your own body's resistance to build strength without needing equipment or a gym
Examples of Body weight exercises are lunges, squats, chin ups, dips and push ups to name a few.
When exercises are performed correctly you can benefit from bodyweight training in a variety of ways, including improved full body muscular strength, build muscle, endurance, better balance and body control, convenience, and accessibility.
Body weight training will build muscle.
Improved Muscular strength and Endurance
There are two primary ways in which bodyweight training will improve your muscular strength and endurance:
1. Strengthening core and joint stability relative to your body weight. When your body is better at stabilizing itself through improved joint stabilization and core strength, fewer energy leaks or form variations occur during bodyweight exercises, sports, or daily activities. The less energy wasted, the better the technique and efficiency, and the better the training effect on the working muscles.
2. Strengthening and engaging the body’s stabilizing muscles and improving muscular endurance. By improving stabilizer strength, the prime movers (such as the quads in a squat) will work better, more efficiently, and longer. Similarly, enhancing the stability and endurance of the core muscles can significantly improve performance in exercises such as push-ups.
Body Control and Balance
Body control and balance are often referred to in one word: proprioception. Proprioception is the awareness of your movement and body position in space. Proprioceptors, structures that sense body position, are within your muscles, tendons, and joints and directly affect your body’s control and balance. Have you ever fallen asleep in a chair and your head fell back and then suddenly snapped forward, waking you up? That’s proprioception in action.
When you perform bodyweight exercises, you improve your proprioception. Three systems are at play regarding body control and balance: visual, vestibular, and neuromuscular.
Convenience
When it comes to convenience, bodyweight workouts cannot be beaten.
The number one reason why people who are undecided about engaging in any strength training program is time (or the lack of it).
Bodyweight training can be done in less than 30 minutes and it can be very effective. No gym membership is required here. There is no need to drive to the gym and wait for someone else to finish their set. All that is needed is an exercise mat, a small space and a willingness to do the work, which means workouts can be done indoors, outdoors, or even in your hotel room if you travel.
Accessibility
Bodyweight exercises are accessible to everyone, from the person at the start of their training journey to those who are more advanced. The magic of exercise regressions, progressions, and intensity techniques can make bodyweight exercises more challenging or more accessible as needed.
Take the bodyweight lunge, for example. Beginners new to the lunge may have difficulty maintaining balance and correct form. This can be solved by standing next to a wall with your hand against the wall to help with balance. However, bodyweight lunges may be too easy for the more experienced lifter; this is where progression and intensity techniques come in. By slowing down the eccentric/ lowering of the lunge resistance and increased muscle tension are placed on the legs to challenge the experienced lifter. Progressions and regressions can be applied to most bodyweight exercises.
If you are time strapped, not into the gym or just want a change from your usual strength training routine Bodyweight training can be a great alternative with big results!