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Bodyweight exercises (also called bodyweight workouts) are
While some exercises may require equipment, most bodyweight exercises require none. For exercises requiring equipment, common household items (such as a bath towel for towel curls) are often sufficient, or substitutes may be improvised (for example, using a horizontal tree branch to perform pull-ups). As such, bodyweight exercises are convenient while traveling or on vacation, when access to a gym or specialized equipment may not be available. Another advantage of bodyweight training is that it entails no cost.
Bodyweight exercises (also called bodyweight workouts) are strength training
Strength training or resistance training involves the performance of physical exercises that are designed to improve strength and endurance. It is often associated with the lifting of weights. It can also incorporate a variety of training te ...
exercises
Exercise is a body activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness.
It is performed for various reasons, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardiovascular system, hone athletic s ...
that use an individual's own weight
In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force acting on the object due to gravity.
Some standard textbooks define weight as a vector quantity, the gravitational force acting on the object. Others define weight as a scalar qua ...
to provide resistance against gravity
In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...
. Bodyweight exercises can enhance a range of biomotor abilities including strength, power, endurance, speed, flexibility, coordination and balance. Such strength training has become more popular among recreational and professional athletes. Bodyweight training uses simple abilities like pushing, pulling, squatting, bending, twisting and balancing. Movements such as the push-up
The push-up (sometimes called a press-up in British English) is a common calisthenics exercise beginning from the prone position. By raising and lowering the body using the arms, push-ups exercise the pectoral muscles, triceps, and anterior ...
, the pull-up, and the sit-up
The sit-up (or curl-up) is an abdominal endurance training exercise to strengthen, tighten and tone the abdominal muscles. It is similar to a crunch (crunches target the rectus abdominis and also work the external and internal obliques), but s ...
are among the most common bodyweight exercises.
Advantages
While some exercises may require equipment, most bodyweight exercises require none. For exercises requiring equipment, common household items (such as a bath towel for towel curls) are often sufficient, or substitutes may be improvised (for example, using a horizontal tree branch to perform pull-ups). As such, bodyweight exercises are convenient while traveling or on vacation, when access to a gym or specialized equipment may not be available. Another advantage of bodyweight training is that it entails no cost.
Disadvantages
As bodyweight exercises use an individual's own weight to provide movement resistance, the weight being lifted is never greater than one's own body weight, and this can limit new muscle growth. Other downsides are that bodyweight training may be daunting to novices and perceived as too easy for experienced athletes.Bodyweight exercise for older adults
Some bodyweight exercises have been shown to benefit not just the young, but elderly participants as well. Older people doing bodyweight exercises benefit through gains in muscle mass, in mobility, in bone density, as well as in reduced depression and improved sleep habits. It is also believed that bodyweight training may help diminish or even prevent cognitive decline as people age. In addition, the higher risk of falls seen in elderly people may be mitigated by bodyweight training. Exercises focusing on the legs and abdomen such as squats, lunges, and step ups are recommended to increase leg and core strength, in doing so, reduce the risk of falling. Bodyweight exercises provide multi-directional movement that mimics daily activities, and as such can be preferable to using weight machines.See also
*Calisthenics
Calisthenics (American English) or callisthenics (British English) ( /ˌkælɪsˈθɛnɪks/) is a form of strength training consisting of a variety of movements that exercise large muscle groups (gross motor movements), such as standing, graspi ...
* Circuit training
Circuit training is a form of body conditioning that involves endurance training, resistance training, high-intensity aerobics, and exercises performed in a circuit, similar to high-intensity interval training. It targets strength building and mu ...
* General fitness training
General fitness training works towards broad goals of overall health and well-being, rather than narrow goals of sport competition, larger muscles or concerns over appearance. A regular moderate workout regimen and healthy diet can improve gener ...
* High-intensity interval training
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a training protocol alternating short periods of intense or explosive anaerobic exercise with brief recovery periods until the point of exhaustion. HIIT involves exercises performed in repeated quick bu ...
* List of weight training exercises
* Physical fitness
* Plyometrics
Plyometrics, also known as jump training or plyos, are exercises in which muscles exert maximum force in short intervals of time, with the goal of increasing power (speed-strength). This training focuses on learning to move from a muscle extensi ...
* Power training
Power training typically involves exercises which apply the maximum amount of force as fast as possible; on the basis that strength + speed = power. Jumping with weights or throwing weights are two examples of power training exercises. Regular wei ...
* Resistance training
Strength training or resistance training involves the performance of physical exercises that are designed to improve strength and endurance. It is often associated with the lifting of weights. It can also incorporate a variety of training te ...
* Street workout
Street workouts are a physical activity performed in outdoor parks or public facilities. The movement behind street workouts became popular in Russia, Israel, Myanmar, Morocco, Eastern Europe, and the United States, especially in New York City, Lo ...
* Stretching
Stretching is a form of physical exercise in which a specific muscle or tendon (or muscle group) is deliberately flexed or stretched in order to improve the muscle's felt elasticity and achieve comfortable muscle tone. The result is a feeling ...
* Strength training
Strength training or resistance training involves the performance of physical exercises that are designed to improve strength and endurance. It is often associated with the lifting of weights. It can also incorporate a variety of training te ...
* Supercompensation
In sports science theory, supercompensation refers to the post training period during which the trained function/parameter has a higher performance capacity than it did prior to the training period.
Description
Adaptation of load is called supe ...
* Suspension training The term suspension training refers to an approach to strength training that uses a system of ropes and webbing called a "suspension trainer" to allow users to work against their own body weight.
Description
The field of suspension training is a ...
* Weight training
Weight training is a common type of strength training for developing the strength, size of skeletal muscles and maintenance of strength.Keogh, Justin W, and Paul W Winwood. “Report for: The Epidemiology of Injuries Across the Weight-Trai ...
References
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