Body-weight Training is for Wimps

If you to do your pull-ups then you are more than likely a wimp!

That is what most meatheads in a regular Globo-gym will claim. Is like for some people, doing a calisthenics workout is like a insult to masculinity.

I am not going to attack weightlifting because I love it just as much as calisthenics. I am going to shed some on light on the benefits of calisthenics and why you should include it in your training plan.  Furthermore the benefits that this may have on our pockets.

About Calisthenics

The word calisthenics come from the Greek Kallos Sthenos which means beautiful strength. Calisthenics is essentially the rhythmical movement of our bodies without involving an apparatus. Therefore calisthenics is body-weight training. This encompasses any of those movements like push-ups, air squats and burpees. There is more to calisthenics than just those simple and dreaded exercises. Hand-balancing is considered a type of calisthenics and if you have not seen an out shape circus performer then you are probably no going to the circus. Calisthenics has no boundaries since there are an infinite number of progressions and this type of training will never get old

Benefits of the Beautiful Strength

Back in December I hurt my shoulder while working on my bench press. This put out of commission for about a month and then classes started again and I had no time. Not only that, but my shoulder was still aching and standard Olympic Lifting was extremely painful.

I looked around and came across Ido Portal's method, a method that only involves using your body-weight and gymnastics occasionally. I had forgotten that my introduction to fitness was via body-weight training. So for the past 6 months I trained with some of Portal's workouts as well as some old Gymnastics workout I used to do.

Not only my shoulder recovered faster, but I was just overall stronger. When I went back to the weight room, My mobility and stability on the snatch was incredible. Not to mention that I benched my body-weight (185 lb/ 84 kg) 5 times!

These impressive results led to do some research and I found out the following. Body-weight training can lead to better proprioception or body awareness as a research group found at the University of North Florida. With that said, we become one with our bodies and mind to obtain better muscle control.

http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/26029969

Furthermore, I was feeling energized after these workouts and not fatigued. Obviously squatting               300 lbs/ 136 kg everyday will be devastating for the nervous system. Compared to primal movements and body-weight workouts the body was better ability to adapt.

Monetary Benefits 

Gym memberships can be pricey. This includes CrossFit as well as any other gym brand out there. I know that some gyms will give full year memberships and still be relatively cheap, but then how about the commute?

There is an old saying that says "time is money". I often live by that saying, because my commute to gym is about 10 to 15 minutes and I would waste so much coming and going to the gym. I realized that if I trained in my room or nearby I could do more and save me time.

Also, body-weight training is essentially free since you need hardly any equipment. Eventually you may want to invest on a wall mounted pull-up bar and some rings, but those are about $25 each.

Bottom Line

Do not go and cancel your gym membership. Instead add some of these body weight training elements to your training program. You can also chose a month of the year to just do body-weight training and give you CNS a small break. If you don't feel like going to the gym then some calisthenics at home will keep you active and shape.

Stay Real!