The Best Bodyweight Exercises and Workouts for Building Muscle

Source: https://www.menshealth.com

Images: https://www.pexels.com

With bodyweight exercises, there’s no excuse for not building your dream physique. After all, when your training bodyweight, you don’t need to dedicate hours to the squat rack or suffer through endless reps on the weights bench. You don’t even need a gym membership. All you need to achieve the body you’ve been dreaming of is, well, your body.

But bodyweight workouts aren’t just easy to do; they’re also extremely effective. A study published in the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health and Fitness Journal found that bodyweight training is an efficient way to decrease body fat, improve VO2 max and boost muscular fitness. “As the hectic pace of today’s corporate world continues to infringe on the number of time individuals have for exercise, these types of programs can offer a good option to help busy individuals improve their health and recover from stress via exercise,” the study’s authors claim.

Knowing that, we expect you’ll want to find out which moves are best, right? Well, we’ve collected the best bodyweight exercises and workouts, so you can carve a perfect body whenever, wherever.

The Benefits of Bodyweight Exercises

To find out why you should put down the dumbbells and give bodyweight training a go, we spoke with Bobby Windebank, personal trainer at Sweat It, who explained why training your body using just your body is beneficial.

1. Bodyweight Workouts are Accessible

“Bodyweight training can be modified for whatever fitness level you are,” says Windebank. “Whether you’re starting at zero and trying to do one press-up or you’re a seasoned athlete, bodyweight exercises can be incredibly challenging and beneficial. Progressing the exercises is also very straightforward, so you can keep challenging yourself and building strength.”

2. Bodyweight Workouts Will Increase Your Mobility and Stability

“We were born to move, and mobility and stability are an essential part of the way we move and life in general,” Windebank explains. “Weightlifting can have many positive effects on your body, but it can also limit your mobility. The movements involved in bodyweight training can help to increase that mobility and challenge the bodies ‘stabilisers’ by using complete movements. This can in turn, lead to strength gains in the gym.”

3. Bodyweight Workouts are Brilliant for Developing Technique and Injury Prevention

“Bodyweight training is a great way to really hone your technique and form,” says Windebank. “Weightlifting can take a serious toll on your body and in particular, your joints. With bodyweight training, the stress on your joints is lower, so you’re less likely to pick up an injury that could hamper your long term training.”

4. Bodyweight Workouts Can Be Quick and Easy

“These days, everybody is time poor, so finding quick, effective workouts is essential,” Windebank expains. “Fortunately, bodyweight training doesn’t require a dedicated gym and uses minimal equipment, so you can fit in a workout whenever you have some spare time, wherever you are. Bodyweight training also allows you to combine cardio and strength training, meaning you can smash that workout in the most efficient way.”