Why Was Bodyweight Training The Workout Hero of Lockdown?
If we’d told you last year that you’d all be locked out of the gym for four months, how would you have felt? Panicked? Lost? Or secretly pleased, because it would give you a chance to spend some Quality Time with bodyweight training?
Whatever you thought about bodyweight exercises before COVID-19, you’ve had more than 100 days to master them! The question is: will people keep bodyweight training in their programmes once the gyms reopen?
5 REASONS TO DO BODYWEIGHT TRAINING AT HOME
Lockdown had us all stuck at home for months. Even now the gyms are starting to reopen, we might still need to train at home. If you can’t get to the gym as often as you’d like, or if you actually want to hold off for a bit longer, use body weight training.
1 You don’t need any equipment to do bodyweight workouts
2 You can do bodyweight workouts every day
3 Bodyweight exercises can be scaled up or down to suit you
4 You can target body parts, work on skills, or build strength
5 There are 100s of bodyweight exercises and countless combinations
WHY BODYWEIGHT TRAINING WAS PERFECT FOR LOCKDOWN
What makes bodyweight training so great is that it can be done anywhere, anytime – no equipment needed (although a set of parallettes or a wall mounted pull up bar means you can do even more).
It’s no surprise bodyweight workouts became the preferred training style of almost everyone in lockdown. Remember when we could only go out once a day? Runners and cyclists could still do an extra bodyweight session at home. The gym enthusiasts missing their barbells and dumbbells could still maintain shape and strength with bodyweight exercises. And people who love yoga could add a few bodyweight moves into their exercise routine to strengthen their vinyasas.
COMBINING BODYWEIGHT AND WEIGHTS WORKOUTS
Are you going back to the gym as soon as it reopens? Don’t lose all your bodyweight gains. Use the hard work and consistency you’ve built over lockdown to combine bodyweight with gym workouts.
Option 1 – a hybrid approach. Create a training programme that combines some gym sessions, some bodyweight training at home, and any online/digital sessions you’ve discovered during lockdown
Option 2 – bodyweight strength training. Use bodyweight exercises as a finisher or superset for weighted exercises.
Option 3 – bodyweight conditioning. Bodyweight workouts are a fantastic way to create a cardio effect, turning your weights sessions into a S&C workout.
17 BEST BODYWEIGHT EXERCISES
There are 100s of bodyweight exercises, and 1000s of combinations, but we definitely have favourites. As you’d expect from the Gravity Fitness team, these all have a calisthenics focus. Here’s what we’ll be doing if lockdown ever happens again (it’s good to be prepared)…
For legs: air squats, jumping squats, jumping lunges, pistol squats, wall sits
For back: pull ups, inverted rows, kipping pull ups (get yourself a portable pull up rack or wall mounted pull up bar)
For chest and shoulders: push ups, diamond push ups, pike push ups, single arm planks, shoulder taps
For core: V-ups, flutter kicks, planks and side planks, L-sits (you’ll need a set of parallettes)
Add a weighted vest to your bodyweight workouts to make them even more of a challenge!
Did you fall in love with bodyweight training during lockdown? We’d love to hear what your plans are – will you go back to weight training, stay with bodyweight workouts, or combine the two?
