If you’re new to the workout scene, the weight room can be intimating. As you look around, you see some people lifting weights, while others are using their own bodies as weights. What gives, and what’s best for you? Keep reading, and discover the benefits of both.
The Benefit of a Bodyweight Workout
No trainer will tell you to skip a bodyweight workout, and there’s a reason for that. Consider your body your own little gym. The resistance of your own weight are weights enough for all of your fitness, health and weight loss goals. Whether you spend your time reverse lunging, doing jumping jacks, box jumps, wall sitting or simply performing squat after squat, your body will shape, tone, tighten and lose inches fast and furiously. Here are some additional benefits you can expect:
- A bodyweight exercise plan is an efficient one. Since you’re not using machines of any kind during this type of workout, you can’t cheat. You have to use your body (sometimes your entire body) to move, bend, lift and stretch.
- It’s the perfect full body workout plan. When you use weight resistance by using your body instead of weights, you have to use muscles you’ve (perhaps) never used before. Burpees are the perfect example: it gives you the benefits of a push-up, jump and squat all at once!
- You’ll lose fat quickly. Because resistance training is an intensive, all over type of exercise, you’ll burn calories and lose fat (thanks to it being an excellent cardio and strength training workout.)
The Benefit of Using Weights at the Gym
The truth is out there—if you want to stay fit, on top of your health and wellness, and keep your lean and trim frame consistent—you’ve got to add weights to the mix. This isn’t to say bodyweight training won’t do the trick, but there are just some things that a shoulder press or dumbbells can give you, that bodyweight training cannot. Here are a few:
- Going to the gym will give you a routine (and excuse!) to stay active. Having a place to work out (with weights, cardio, etc.) can be one of the best ways to stick to a healthy routine. Using weights at a gym can be a great way to start—and stick to—your weight loss, health and wellness goals with ease.
- By changing up the resistance, you’ll increase your overall strength. One of the greatest benefits you’ll get from weight lifting is being able to change up the resistance, add weight easily and constantly improve your fitness from head to toe. With a wide range of dumbbells, machines and weightlifting equipment at your gym to choose from, you’ll never run out of ways to challenge your body.
