No devices? All you need is your body weight! At FITBOOK, personal trainer Micha Østergaard reveals what she sees as the four most effective bodyweight exercises. And so that you can get involved straight away, we’re including technical videos.
Instead of dumbbells, cross trainers and the like, many fitness enthusiasts rely on training with their own body weight and without equipment, regardless of the corona-related gym closures. And not without reason: Bodyweight workouts are also suitable for beginners. In addition, the exercises can easily be carried out at home in the living room. But not only the location, but also the intensity can be individually determined by the athlete. Why a workout with your own weight is so effective and which exercises are best suited for it – FITBOOK spoke to a training expert.
The benefits of bodyweight training for beginners
A big fan of workouts with your own body weight, also known as bodyweight training, is Micha Østergaard, a personal trainer from Berlin and a former professional swimmer on the Danish Olympic team: “I would recommend every beginner to start with this type of workout to get a to build up a certain level of training.” After all, only those who can handle their own weight in sports are ultimately able to train effectively on equipment.
In addition, when training with your own body weight, not only a certain muscle group is trained, but the whole body. «The lunge, for example, not only strengthens the legs and buttocks, but also the abdominal muscles,» explains Østergaard. «For a stable stand, the back must be straight and the stomach tense.» With equipment training, on the other hand, one is usually very limited and only concentrates on one muscle part. And another plus: Despite the great effects, the risk of injury is comparatively low. While incorrect execution of device training can quickly become dangerous, only a little body awareness and tension are important for safe bodyweight training.
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How many minutes of bodyweight workouts are recommended?
«I would even say that ten minutes of intense bodyweight training a day is more effective than training for an hour once a week, after all you get your heart rate up every day and not just once every seven days,» says Ostergaard.
Only a short warm-up phase is required before the actual body weight exercises. It is enough to simply run or jump in place for a few minutes. This reduces the risk of injury and also promotes blood circulation and oxygen supply to the muscles. Then you can start your workout straight away.
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Bodyweight training: 4 effective exercises with your own bodyweight
burpees
Micha Østergaard on FITBOOK: “One of my favorite exercises is the burpee. It combines the classic squat, push-up and stretch jump and is therefore good endurance training. To do the exercise, first stand upright. The back should be straight. The arms are stretched upwards. Feet are hip-width apart. Then bend your knees, squat down and place your hands on the floor. From here, jump into the push-up by extending your legs backwards in a quick motion. Do the push-up once. The back should also be straight here. Do not drop your hips and keep your elbows close to your body. Then jump back into a crouch and jump straight up to an upright position with your arms stretched out in the air. When your feet are back on the ground, the first burpee is done. Repeat the whole thing as often as you like and as quickly as possible.”
Personal trainer Erik Jäger shows you how to properly perform burpees at different levels of difficulty:
Squats / squats
Østergaard: “Classic squats are also a popular and effective exercise when training with your own body weight. The legs and buttocks are mainly trained here. In addition, the back and abdominal muscles are strengthened. For the execution, the feet are slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Toes point straight forward. The weight should be distributed over the entire foot, so do not tip over onto the balls of your feet. Be careful: Don’t hunchback either! The back must be upright and straight. Bend your knees and bring your buttocks towards the floor as far as possible – at least so far that your thighs are horizontal. The lower legs should remain vertical, so the knees should not protrude over the front of the feet. Don’t lean your upper body forward too much. This happens automatically, but should not be overdone. Then straighten up slowly and in a controlled manner. Repeat as many times as you like.»
Here you can learn which mistakes are often made when doing squats and which variant you could dare to try if you already have plenty of leg strength:
Push-ups / push-ups
Micha Østergaard: “The push-up is probably one of the most well-known bodyweight exercises. Here, however, attention must be paid to correct implementation. First get on your knees and support yourself with your hands a little wider than shoulder-width. The hands should be at chest level in the starting position. Extend your legs backwards and place your feet on tiptoe. Legs, upper body and head should form as straight a line as possible. So don’t push your butt up or let your hips sag down. tension in the legs. The head is the extension of the spine. In addition, the arms should never be fully extended so as not to put too much strain on the elbows. Now bend your arms until your nose almost touches the floor. Breathe in. Then push back up and exhale. In addition, it makes sense not to do push-ups on your flat hands, as this overstretches the wrists and the chest muscles are not optimally stressed. Better: run on your fists. The so-called ‘women’s push-ups’ are suitable for beginners. Here you support yourself on your knees instead of on your toes.”
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a beginner, advanced or professional: It’s always worth checking your own technique. You can see how push-ups are really clean (and therefore effective) here:
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Lunges / lunges
Østergaard: “The lunge not only trains the lower part of the body with your own weight, but also the abdominal and back muscles. Feet are hip-width apart. Stand upright. Look straight ahead and tighten your abs. The back forms a slight hollow back. Take a wide step forward with your right leg and breathe in at the same time. Upper and lower thighs should form a right angle. The knee should not protrude over the feet. The toes point forward, as does the knee. Then exhale and return to the starting position by pushing backwards with the heel of the front foot. Repeat the whole thing alternately on the right and left.”
There are many different types of lunges – Erik Jäger shows the classic one here:
Training with your own body weight: combine the exercises!
The bodyweight exercises presented by Micha Østergaard are ideal for combining into different workouts, such as tabata or longer circuit training.