BODYWEIGHT BASICS - Bodyweight Training - Functional Fitness Without Weights

"Blown-out shoulders, elbows, knees and backs" – that's what most everyone who pushes and pulls too-heavy weight around can look forward to. In fact, I saw a video over the weekend of a guy getting ready to squat some monsterous weight.

He took the barbell off the rack, bent his knees a few degrees and then there was a sound like old wood breaking – his quadriceps muscle ripped clean off the bone as he ended up crumpled up on the floor like an old dish rag, as the weight also fell on top of him, pinning him to the floor...

-- From "strong" to 12 months of rehab in the blink of an eye.

While I do realize that weight lifting can be done safely and correctly, and that not everyone who lifts weights will experience a catastrophic injury like the poor fellow in the video, I also know that bodyweight training can offer a much safer method of building a particular kind of bodily strength with little chance of injury.

(Read that last paragraph again very carefully)

A lot of people think that they must lift heavy weights if they want to get stronger. In some ways, yes, but "too heavy" and "too often" is usually a recipe for disaster.

Think about the goal of every workout – physical improvement through progressive resistance strength training.

That end result can be reached in any number of ways, and bodyweight training offers a very effective one – one that can work in a variety of situations.

So is bodyweight training better than weights? -- It depends on the situation:

Think about a martial artist or boxer who must spend the majority his time practicing his art, not recovering from too-heavy workouts.

Think about the business man who wants to stay in shape on the road but has little time to even find a gym, let alone get a workout in.

Think about the housewife who has never touched a weight in her life, who wants to get back in shape.

Think about the young trainee, still growing, who wants to start working out.

Think about the older trainee, beat up after years of heavy lifting, who wants to start up again...

In all of these situations, (and many more besides) bodyweight training offers a very good choice, one that "fits" into what individuals such as these need out of their workout.

Of course it still comes down to the "doin"...

Train hard,
John Wood

P.S. The very best place to begin for bodyweight training can be found in Matt Fureys Combat Conditioning Program

P.P.S. If you are already a master of bodyweight training, you will find
Many new challenges in Brad Johnson's bodyweight training book

Labels: Bodyweight Squats, Bodyweight Training, Boxer, Heavy Weights, Martial Arts, Weightlifting