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Simply put, bodyweight training is any kind of strength training where the only source of resistance is your own bodyweight. Pull-ups and push-ups are bodyweight training exercises. So are sit-ups and leg raises. Doing squats without a barbell or a pair of dumbbells is technically a bodyweight training exercise as well. All of these exercises fall under the category of calisthenics.
Can it provide a full-body workout?
Every bodyweight training exercise is by itself a total body workout. When we try to identify full-body movements, the first things that come to mind are compound barbell exercises like deadlifts, squats, pull-downs, and all kinds of presses. Is there another set of activities that will involve a more significant number of muscles?
Bodyweight training versions of the exercises mentioned above involve more muscle groups. Let’s take pull-ups as an example.
Your forearms keep your grip firm and curl your wrist. Your biceps bend your elbow. Your rear delts pull your chest out and forward. And your lats pull your elbows towards the side of your ribs which sends your upper torso upward, chin over the bar.
While these primary muscles are contracting to perform the pull-up movement, the other muscles on your body are doing some work as well.
\Your traps stabilize your shoulders. Your lower back, buttocks, and calves work together to keep your legs from swaying. And your abs and quads pull your legs slightly forward as you ascend to keep you balanced.
There would have been zero leg participation if the same exercise movement had been done on a lat machine.
All bodyweight exercises call on all muscles to contractions. So if you want to hit the most muscles in one go, bodyweight training should be your first consideration.
What about improving fitness levels and heart health?
A bodyweight training routine can quickly develop into an aerobic activity that will provide fitness benefits. It’s easy to differentiate strength training from fitness training. Strength training is any activity that tires your muscles. Fitness training is any activity that makes your heart pump faster, ideally taking it up to 80% of your maximum heart rate. Bodyweight training can quickly get you there.
Push-ups and pull-ups are no different from running and jogging. With the proper pace and duration, any kind of movement that requires you to move your entire body from point A to point B will raise your heart rate. Just as you get fitness benefits from jogging with the right speed and distance, you can also get the same from doing push-ups and pull-ups with the right cadence and rep range. That’s basically what they are doing in Crossfit.