For a long time I thought bodyweight exercises were just okay. I was certainly a bit naive about them and their benefits. But I learned to love them and you can too!
I truly started to embrace bodyweight exercises after doing a ton of thirty day fitness challenges. I always thought I liked push-ups, but I never did them on a regular basis. They were something that I put off for later, meaning I didn’t particularly enjoy them. But then I did a 30 day push-up challenge that blew my mind and my body in the best way possible. Push-Ups are intense. They are daunting and they are confronting, but that is what makes them great!
That’s the secret with bodyweight exercises; they are super confronting, but that’s what makes them so amazing. It’s you, your body and the exercise. Take squats or lunges as an example. For a long time I disliked all forms of both of these exercises. Weighted squats and weight lunges, no thank you. But simply by embracing them with my own body weight, I’ve grown to love them and my legs have too. My entire legs are so much stronger due to all of the squats and lunges I’ve done over the past couple of months. Instead of making the exercises daunting with weights, I made them accessible with my own body weight. How perfect!
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Bodyweight exercises add so much variety into your workouts. Mountain climbers and burpees are great! They force you to be strong and get intense super quickly. Mountain climbers are especially amazing because they work your arms, legs and your core! The same goes for burpees. They’re a full body workout top to bottom. My favorite part about these exercises is that they are cardio work too!
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There are so many different bodyweight exercises you can do. One that I’m still working toward mastering is the pull-up. Pull-ups are great! You work your whole upper body with these bad boys. They are confronting, hard, and once you can master them they’re oh so rewarding!
The best thing about bodyweight exercises is that you can do them anywhere and anytime. I’ve heard many people say they don’t have time to workout, but creating a workout circuit with bodyweight exercises allows you to workout whenever and with as much time as you like. It’s super easy to set an interval timer for 30 second sets, or count out by reps. High Knees, Lunges, Squats, Mountain Climbers and Push-Ups make for an awesome workout circuit. By doing at least 20 reps each, or 30 seconds of each, you’ll work up an amazing sweat. Just go through your circuit a few times. Your core and upper body will get worked too! Start off by doing a minimum of three sets and work your way up to more.
Bodyweight exercises are great to start your day off with. You can set aside thirty minutes, create a circuit, and feel wonderful afterwards. They’re also great to add in at the end of the day. I love doing a second workout in the afternoon, especially if I’ve already run in the morning. It always amps me up for the evening!
Anyone can do these exercises, even if you haven’t worked out in a long time, or never really workout. They can also help you get out of a workout rut! I particularly enjoy doing bodyweight exercises with my man. They’re super fun to do with someone else and it’s amazing to share this type of workout.
Bodyweight exercises are definitely not valued as much as they should be! I love them and found that they’ve brought my fitness to a whole new level. I hadn’t given them a true chance for a long time, but boy am I glad I did and you will be too!
Mandi Mellen is Lead Editor, Staff Writer, and Featured Vlogger at BuzzChomp. She’s an actress, writer, and producer. Get lost in her youtube comedy channel PillowTalk TV. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or Instagram
Photo Credit to: www.newhealthadvisor.com, www.burnandfuelwoman.blogspot and www.community.tribespot.com
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