By: Dr. Alyssa Musgrove
Some of the most common obstacles for fitting regular exercise into our daily lives are
time, money, and energy. But what if I told you it was possible to invest in your health
without having to go to a gym, buy fancy equipment or spend a lot of money?
Bodyweight exercises are a convenient and free way to improve your health and energy
level.
Bodyweight exercises are strength training exercises that do not require free weights.
Rather, an individual’s own body weight provides the resistance for the movement.
Multiple health goals can be achieved using bodyweight exercises, including weight loss,
muscle gain, and increased range of motion.
Our skeleton’s job is to hold and support the entire weight of the body, but if you don’t
move, the bone is sent the message that it doesn’t have to maintain as much density.
Bodyweight exercises can help prevent osteoporosis by boosting the bone-building forces
and improving bone density. Simply stressing your bones by the force of your own body
weight stimulates more bone growth to protect your skeletal frame. Bodyweight exercises
also increase muscle mass, meaning you rely less on your joints to move because your
muscles are stronger. Additional benefits include improved heart health and circulation,
reduced risk for diabetes, reduced stress and increased energy levels.
Bodyweight exercises work numerous muscle groups simultaneously and can be
modified, which allows you to customize the exercises to your level of ability. They are
simple enough to perform without supervision and have a low risk for injury. All you
need is your own body and enough space to jump around a bit – and, of course, water is
highly encouraged.
Push-ups are a great bodyweight exercise that strengthens the chest, shoulders and arms.
(Be sure to stabilize your core by pulling your belly button in toward your spine.) They
can be performed with various hand placements to isolate different muscle groups. Also,
push-ups can be done at different levels of incline or decline. For example, beginners can
start by pushing off of a wall or kitchen counter, progress to the floor on their knees, and
eventually to their toes using full bodyweight.
Squats help build leg muscles and also help make daily life activities easier. You can
begin squats against a wall and progress to air squats, but make sure your knees never
bend past your toes. Other bodyweight exercises include bicycle crunches, reverse flies,
tricep dips, planks, leg-raises, flutter kicks, bridges, donkey kicks, burpees, mountain
climbers, lunges, sit-ups, reverse crunches, and step-ups.
You can customize your own workout by combining five to 10 different bodyweight
exercises that target opposing muscle groups to create a circuit. Aim for 10 to 20 reps of
each exercise. For best results do not rest much in between exercises in order to get – and
keep — your heart rate up.
If you are not accustomed to physical activity, start with a few exercises and, after you
become stronger and more adapted, add more exercises to your routine. Increase the
number of circuits and repetitions of each exercise as you become more physically fit.
After completing bodyweight workouts, it is important to stretch to increase range of
motion, flexibility, prevent injury, and decrease recovery time. Aim to perform your
bodyweight circuit two to three times per week.
Whether you’re a weekend warrior, a mom who chases after a toddler, or a mature adult
trying to reduce your risk of falls, strength training helps build strong muscles and bones
to make the activities of daily living easier! While high intensity workouts, cardio, and
strength training have their benefits, bodyweight exercises are the most convenient and
least expensive workouts for those lacking time and money.
Pathways to Healing specializes in holistic chiropractic care. Dr. Alyssa Musgrove
draws on a variety of techniques, including chiropractic, kinesiology, nutrition, food
allergy testing and lifestyle counseling to assist clients in achieving optimal health and
wellness in one setting. Pathways to Healing is located at 1022 Founders Row, Lake
Oconee Village, Greensboro. The office can be reached at 706-454-2040.