As a trainer I get to hear all the excuses why people think they can’t workout or get in shape, and two of those I get the most are; “I can’t afford a gym membership,” and “I don’t have any equipment.” But guess what? You don’t need either to get in shape! In fact one of the reasons I started Edge Personal Fitness was to show people how they can get into shape using what they have around them, including their own bodies. Personally I’ve never owned any expensive gym equipment or a gym membership and most of the exercises I do don’t require either.
A lot of people because of all the commercial hype now surrounding health and fitness, think they can’t get into good shape unless they’re climbing onto some fancy gym machine or slinging some kind of weight around, but the truth is you already own the best gym in the world and its entirely free-your body! Now that’s not to discount the important role that free weights and machines play in gaining muscle mass, especially if you’re entertaining Olympia fantasies, but they’re not the only way to pack on muscle and get in shape.
Bodyweight exercises are great because more often than not they engage a range of muscles all at once, especially your larger muscle groups, which are major generators of the steroid hormone testosterone which helps build bigger muscles. So you’ll want to focus on exercises that require you to use large muscle groups such as your chest, back, hamstrings, thighs and butt.
Using body weight exercises is also beneficial because they more closely reflect natural body movements and reduce the likelihood of getting injured which is always a risk when using free weights. I prefer a combination of the two, to avoid the muscles getting rigid or the joints stiff. Bodyweight exercises will also make it easier to progress to more challenging free weight routines, when you feel like you need an additional challenge. But even then, before you go out and get a gym membership or start spending money on expensive weights, you may want to experiment with amping up your workouts by making the bodyweight exercises more challenging. For example if you can now pump out thirty push ups without breaking a sweat, you may want to alternate hand positions (closer, wider, staggered) to make it harder, or start doing decline push ups, plyometric push ups, or even one arm push ups! They’ll target the muscles from different angles and ways and keep the workout fresh and interesting.
The key is to keep pushing yourself, whether by increasing intensity, or shortening recovery time or rest periods, all of which help boost testosterone levels. The harder you push the more testosterone your body generates. In fact an intense workout, can get testosterone levels as high as 1,000 percent!
Somebody recently wrote me a note on Facebook asking for help because she was travelling and didn’t have access to a gym and didn’t know what to do. The answer -bodyweight exercises. You can make them as intense as you want to, they don’t require equipment and certainly don’t require a lot of space. If the weather is bad you don’t have to worry about making it to the gym, and similarly if the weather is great you can work out in your backyard, the park or beach…no hassle.
So forget about those late night commercials trying to peddle the latest weight loss devices, or expensive gym memberships and fancy equipment. You already own the finest piece of exercise equipment invented and that’s your own body. Get to know it, and put it to work for you. You might be surprised at the results you get.
Kendal Burton is a Certified Personal Trainer, Yoga Instructor, Sports Nutrition Specialist and owner of Edge Personal Fitness. For more health and fitness tips “friend” us on Facebook, or join our free fitness community atwww.edgepersonalfitness.com. If you have any questions, or a topic you’d like us to address email usatmail@edgepersonalfitness.com
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