Why Body weight exercises are not just for beginners

50% of what we do at Body Shape is body weight exercises, mixed in with some strength training using equipment. 

The reason we do this is because it works… It's as simple as that. In a study in Poland on a group of women, the group who trained solely bodyweight had 33% better outcomes than those who trained using equipment and weights.

 So this isn’t to say there isn’t a time when weighted exercises can’t be used, we use them, but we make sure the fundamental basics are covered and body weight exercises are a huge part of that. 

When we have a body weight dominant session, there is always a groan from members, not because they find these sessions boring, but because they know these sessions are harder, they make you focus more on the technical aspect of the session, they usually are mat based and not a circuit and therefore there is less opportunity to dilly dally and have a little extra rest. They know they are going to be working harder and will really feel the ache on well used muscles the next day, further proving their effectiveness. 

Using the kit is great, it’s fun to learn new ways to train and progress through the sizes to gauge your improvement,  but the fundamentals of good form and technique need to be achieved through body weight exercises in order to be able to perform the kit based strength exercises correctly without the risk of injury. 

I’d bet that any pro athlete or sports person who came to any of our sessions would leave just as beaten up as any other member after a body weight session, because it’s not your ability that determines the efficacy of the session, it’s the lay out of it, the variety of the exercises and the number of reps performed by the individual that makes the session effective, no matter your fitness level.

The reason we use the combination of the body weght and the strength based kit exercises is it allows anyone wanting to improve their heath, fitness or lose some weight etc to be a part of our programmes.