Bodyweight training: Ultimate strength

What is Bodyweight training?

Bodyweight training is a type of fitness training that primarily uses your body (and gravity) to build muscle, strength and burn fat; examples of bodyweight training exercises include well known exercises such as press-ups, leg lunges, crunches and pull-ups. Exercises/routines increase in difficulty by varying the angles and position of the body e.g. performing a press-up routine (to target the chest muscles) with the feet raised to increase the weight. Equipment such as suspension trainers (e.g. the TRX equipment often found in gyms), gymnastic rings, paralletes and parallel bars are used to develop strength.

The Spark Move Grow approach:

Every client’s programme involves an element of bodyweight training, however for clients who want to focus on this specific element of training, the following principles are especially applicable:

• Setting a goal - whether it’s achieving the first press-up, pull-up or L-Sit, every client needs to sets a realistic goal to work towards

• Mastering progressions - as with gymnastics training, every bodyweight training goal is broken down into achievable ‘progressions’. Everyone has to master the progression before moving onto the next

• Enjoying the journey - cliched as it may seem, but clients who work hard and enjoy their successes along the way achieve the most.

Suspension training (TRX):

Suspension training is a type of fitness training that uses equipment to elevate (suspend) your body whilst performing bodyweight exercises - by suspending the body, considerable instability is introduced and the body has to work harder to perform the exercise.

Pioneered by the likes of fitness brand TRX, suspension training equipment is found in gyms across the world but not hugely understood. Suspension equipment is typically ‘anchored’ over a door hinge or bracket: feet/ankles use foot straps for core, lower body exercises (crunches, lunges, squats) whilst handles are used for upper body exercises (chest press, back rows).

Having introduced clients to suspension training and used it extensively in my own training, I believe there are two huge benefits to this type of training:

1. Core development - aside from using gymnastic rings, there isn’t a better way to develop core strength. All exercises performed using a suspension trainer engage the core muscles to stabilise the body so it’s a highly effective way of developing a strong core

2. Strength and muscle development - controlling and stabilising your body for even relatively straight-forward exercises such as squats (where you have to hold the TRX/suspension equipment handles) means your muscles are always being used (the ‘Time under Tension’ is considerable), which forces greater muscle development.

Examples of bodyweight training goals:

• ‘Pressing’ and ‘pulling’ goals include press-ups and pull-ups

• L-Sit: a gymnastic strength exercise where someone lifts their body off the ground with the legs stretched out in front of them (a lot harder than it looks!)

• ‘Skin-the-cat’ and front lever - exercises using gymnastic rings where the body rotates and is held in a position.

There’s more on my blog about this including a video guide on achieving the L-Sit.

What clients have to say