How The Olympics Has Inspired Body Weight Fitness

August 12, 2024 3 min read

It’s always interesting to see the trends which are inspired by the Olympics. There’s no doubt that when TeamGB bring home the gold, the grass roots of a new generation of sports personalities and athletes is planted, ready to take rise for future Olympic events. I think we can all agree that TeamGB had a pretty good run in Paris 2024 with golds across a variety of events, with notable achievements in Rowing, Cycling but also Athletics, Gymnastics and the Triathlon.

Why is this so exciting? Because these events showcase the fitness and endurance of British athletes, with calisthenics and body weight exercise at its core…and we’ve noticed. The UK public are searching for gymnastics in Google more, which is usual during the Olympics, but the biggest increase as been on “athletics” searches, showing more people than ever inspired by the achievements by competitors such as Keely Hodgkinson and Byrony Page.

There has also been a big spike in interest for Rowing this year, as TeamGB makes a comeback to dominance in this event, winning golds in the skulls and men’s eight. With these events bringing essential bodyweight exercises into the spotlight, we look at how calisthenics can help as part of a training program.

Running

Weighted vests can be a beneficial addition to both triathlon and 800m running training. Here's how they can help:

Increased Strength and Endurance

Muscle Strengthening: Wearing a weighted vest increases the load on your muscles during workouts, which can help build strength, particularly in your legs, core, and upper body. This is crucial for both triathlons and 800m running, where strength and power are key.
Enhanced Endurance: The additional weight forces your body to work harder, improving your cardiovascular and muscular endurance. Over time, this can translate to better performance in your triathlon events and faster 800m times.

Improved Running Economy

Running Efficiency: Training with a weighted vest can help improve your running economy by forcing your body to adapt to the increased load. This can lead to more efficient movement patterns, which can be especially beneficial in the 800m, where efficiency is crucial for maintaining speed over two laps.
Stride and Posture: The extra weight can help you focus on maintaining proper stride and posture, which are essential for maximizing performance in both short-distance running and triathlon running segments.

Rowing

Resistance bands can be a great addition to rowing training! Here's how they can help:

Strength Building

Muscle Activation: Resistance bands target the same muscle groups used in rowing, such as the back, shoulders, arms, and core. They help build strength in these areas, which can improve your rowing performance.
Progressive Resistance: As the band stretches, it provides increasing resistance, which helps in developing power and strength more effectively than just using body weight.

Technique Improvement

Mimicking the Rowing Motion: Resistance bands can be used to mimic the rowing stroke on land. This helps in reinforcing proper form and technique, especially focusing on the pulling motion and ensuring you're engaging the right muscles.
Posture and Alignment: Bands can help with exercises that focus on maintaining proper posture and alignment, which is crucial for efficient rowing.

Gymnastics

We recently wrote a blog post about calisthenics training and gymnastics, which you can read here. In the article we explored how calisthenics equipment such as gymnastics rings, parallettes and macebells help train and condition gymnasts to peak performance. Don’t forget to check out what we have to say on that, as well as our awesome Gravity Fitness App, complete with exclusive training programs and progression tracking, so you can start your path to athletic greatness!