Your muscles respond with strength improvements when they repeatedly are moved against a resistance. Your muscles do not know if you are lifting expensive gym equipment or the weight of your body. As long as you are exercising the muscle to fatigue, it will respond with improvements in strength. Your muscle responds by increasing the size and strength of the individual muscle fibers. You see this change as an increase in the size or tone of the outward appearance of your muscles.
Benefits
Boot camp exercise classes are centered on bodyweight exercises. If you participate in a boot camp class, you will perform cardiovascular exercises such as jumping jacks, running and high knees. You will also participate in bodyweight strengthening movements such as pushups, squats, situps, lunges and planks. Planks are an upper pushup position. American Council on Exercise researchers determined that the average boot-camp participant burns approximately 9.8 calories per minute and receives muscle-building benefits.
Upper Body
Your upper body is strengthened through bodyweight exercises such as pushups, pullups and planks. The most advanced pushup is a handstand pushup in which your feet are highly elevated. Place your feet on a chair and elevate your hips so your upper body is in a handstand and perform a pushup by bending your elbows and lowering your head toward the floor. When your strength improves, further challenge your upper body by placing your feet on a wall, over the height of your hips.
Lower Body
Improve the strength of your lower body with exercises such as squats, lunges and squat jumps. Squats can be performed anywhere and do not require equipment. Stand tall and then bend your knees as you lower your hips until your thighs are parallel with the floor. As long as you perform enough repetitions to tire your muscles, your legs will make strength gains. Adding a jump between your squats further builds your muscles.
Advanced
As your strength improves, increase the stimulation to your muscles to see further improvements. Do this by performing your bodyweight exercises one side at a time. For example, use a one-legged squat to strengthen one leg at a time, or perform a one-arm pushup to strengthen your upper body. Even a core-strengthening exercise such as a plank can be advanced by turning it into a side plank exercise.
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