Body weight training is important. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that resistance training should be an integral part to everyone's workout regimen. While many understand this rule when pertaining to building muscle and maintaining, we still have a fraction of people who still don't take advantage of the minimal guidelines due to lack of time, no gym membership, or lack of knowledge of exercise equipment and the structures of an exercise program. This is when fitness professionals like myself step in to provide the knowledge and direction to educate each client, per their goals and, most importantly, body type.
We have quite a number of people who only "stick" to their cardio and stretching routines, long after the ACSM has provided proof (through their research and testing) about the importance of building a solid muscular-structure, not knowing when adding a resistance (or for the purpose of this subject, bodyweight) routine will incorporate all the major types of training into one, if done correctly. To provide several benefits:
* increased lean muscle mass
* healthier blood cholesterol levels
* better sleep
* more energy for everyday tasks
* increased oxygen consumption of the lungs and muscular skeleton system
* reduced risk of stroke and heart attack
* increased metabolism
Exercise of ANY kind will cause the heart to pump blood more effectively, which in the long run may reduce blood pressure levels and improve overall circulation. Consistency in any workout is essential for these reactions to take place. In addition to these benefits, body weight training is more affordable due to limiting exercise equipment or gym membership, and many of these exercises don't need the supervision of a professional and can be perfectly safe if done correctly. a lot of these exercise work more than one muscle group at a time, and have a wider range of motion which may benefit one's joints, tendons and ligaments. These exercises (if done correctly) can also be done at a faster tempo, which will elevate one's exercising heart rate and burn additional calories in time.
Body Weight Exercise examples:
*Push-Ups
*Body weight dips
*Body weight squats
*lunges
*Body weight Pull-Ups
*Complete Sit Ups
*Planks
*Burpees
And the list can go on.............