At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw how many gyms closed to avoid infections. Suddenly we found ourselves training at home with bottles of water and backpacks full of books. Unless you were one of the lucky ones who already had resistance bands or sports equipment at home, you probably resorted to self-loading exercises (with your own weight).
Because yes, your body can be a phenomenal training material. It is very resilient and adaptable, and if someone can do any type of training at home, it is not a bad option.
Even if you are not adding external weights, there are a few things you can do to progress your bodyweight workouts. We assure you that it can be a challenging workout and that it will leave you with soreness.
If you want to progress in the exercises with your own body, what you will have to do is alter the number of repetitions and sets, add plyometric exercises and increase the amount of time you hold a position.
What happens when you do self-loading exercises every day?
Your muscles will get stronger, up to a point
Yes, bodyweight exercise is a form of resistance training. You will also feel the muscles being “destroyed” so they can rebuild stronger.
Doing daily bodyweight workouts will help you build stronger muscles, depending on how strong you are doing. If you are a not very active person, you will notice changes when you leave the sofa to exercise with your own weight. On the other hand, if you are going to go from a heavy load training to just your own weight, you may not notice much change.
We know that many people worry about not being able to maintain strength when they don't have access to the gym, but there is a way to do it (for some time). For example, contracting a muscle as hard as possible, in a full range of motion, can increase the size of the muscle. This will always depend on each person.
There was even a study that compared push-ups with the bench press and found an increase in strength in both after two months.
Progression can come in many forms, from squeezing more muscle is s working, shorten rest periods, move you faster, add more repetitions, keep the hardest part of the exercise for longer (working the muscle isometrically) or make other adjustments like raising your feet during a push-up.
Your cardiovascular condition will improve
Bodyweight workouts can help improve your endurance and greatly improve your heart rate with your body. Cardiovascular fitness is important for both getting up stairs without getting out of breath and running races, even so you can keep your heart healthy and avoid disease.
Add cardio intervals or advance some strength moves in plyometrics (like jumping squat instead of classic squats) are two easy ways to convert body weight sessions more intense cardio.
Compound movements are another way to get cardiovascular benefits from bodyweight workouts. Compound exercises work multiple muscle groups at the same time. For example, a squat works your glutes, quads, and core.
More calories are burned
Any type of exercise can be beneficial to lose weight, if you also have a balanced diet and proper rest. If you only want to do self-loading exercises and lose weight, you will have to make sure that there is a caloric deficit.
Studies have argued that doing your exercise routine five days of cardio a week helped people lose weight in 10 months, even without dietary restrictions.
If weight loss is your goal, you may want to do exercises that raise your heart rate and increase calorie burn every day.
Your motivation may fail
Doing self-loading exercises can cause you to quickly run out of motivation. For some people, doing the same activity every day can be boring. Adding variety can help keep you mentally. That can mean doing different movements every day, which is why functional workouts are often so addictive.
However, if you love to always do the same exercises and do the same routine for several weeks, there is nothing wrong. You just have to make sure you feel more fulfilled than defeated. You have to do exercises that make you happy with what you are doing.
Your muscles may need a break
It is important that you give your body the time to recover properly. If your muscles don't rest, they won't repair themselves and the risk of injury increases. Unfortunately there is no exact formula for how much you should rest from self-loading exercises, but the truth is that there are no negative effects of doing them every day.
Logically, if you don't have enough energy for training or you feel too sore to move, you may need to take a day off. A little soreness or muscle tension is not a bad thing, but if you're in so much pain that you can't do your daily activities, focus on recovery.
So how often should you do bodyweight exercises?
Your body is smart and it's pretty good at letting you know what it needs. You just have to take the time to listen to it. Adding a bit of flexibility and variation to your routine is not a bad idea. If you can only exercise with your own weight right now, consider going for a walk or doing some yoga.
This will help break the monotony and reduce the chance that you will overwork the same muscles by doing the same movements over and over again. Remember that if you intend to start heavy weight workouts after doing nothing but bodyweight exercises, you should start smoothly and not from where you left off.
