How your body weight can be your best weight training partner

On many occasions I have walked through the gym and watched so many ladies (and sometimes gents) carrying anything from a 2kg to a 5kg dumbbell, doing biceps curls, lunges or other free weight related exercises.

Free weights definitely have their use but one thing I wish I could impart every time I witness this is to share with these individuals how their body weight can be their best weight training partner. But because I don’t have the guts to walk up to complete strangers and share with them how to change their training programs for the better, I’ll stick to writing it.

So, imagine you weigh 60kg and you gradually learn how to do an underhand pull-up to strengthen and build your biceps muscle, you would essentially be lifting a 60kg weight versus attempting to use a 5kg dumbbell in the gym. Imagine the body strength gains you would achieve. Doing pull-ups – an exercise in which you hold onto a high bar above your head and pull yourself up towards it – for some people may sound a bit daunting, but if you take it step by step and learn to use your body weight, you can essentially become a functionally fit athlete in your own right.

You don’t have to start with doing 10 or 20 pull-ups. You can essentially start with just one per day and build it up week on week. As that one pull-up becomes easier, add an extra one and so on. By continuously adding that extra pull-up or push-up, your strength improves and ultimately your muscle tone and muscle mass increases.

There are so many functional body exercises that one can do to tone and strengthen the body. In fact, these can be done anywhere, anytime, instead of waiting to get to the gym. Time is an issue for most people nowadays so being able to exercise anywhere, anytime is fast becoming a trend. All you need is an open space, except in instances where you want to do pull-ups. You can get creative with the spaces you use for body weight exercises.

For example, pull-ups can be done on “monkey bars” on a kids jungle gym. Simply stand under the bars, jump up and do pull-ups. They can also be done in doorways if your fingers are able to grip the door frame and you are able to pull yourself up. Otherwise, the rest of the exercises can literally be done anywhere. From push-ups to lunges, to squats, to sit-ups to planks to burpees, the list go on.

All of these exercises have multiple variations and you can essentially create a full body strengthening programme with only body weight exercises. Let me use push-ups to illustrate the variations and progression from beginner to advanced. You can start off with wall push-ups, then you progress to push-ups on a slightly raised step, then to push-ups on a mat with your knees down, then to lifting your knees off the ground, then to close grip push-ups, then lift one leg, then to clap push-ups, flying push-ups and even the single arm push-up.

The variations are endless and one can have so much fun exploring them, while toning and strengthening the body. Squats also have multiple variations and so do burpees and lunges. Most of these exercises, especially when combined, target the majority of muscle groups and can essentially give you a full body programme in your own home, garden or playground. Most of these exercises can also be progressed from beginner to advanced.

There are plenty of tutorials online in the form of videos on platforms like YouTube.

Letshego Zulu. Picture: Supplied

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