Bodyweight conditioning can be used effectively to improve cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance, muscular strength and body composition. Depending on your goals, training variables can be altered to enhance specific results.
Cardiovascular Endurance
Improve the function of your heart and vascular system. Most cardiovascular endurance activities are inherently performed with bodyweight. Walking, hiking and running are the simplest in that they do not involve any additional equipment. Improvements in cardiovascular fitness can be accomplished by exercising at a steady state for 30 or more minutes continuously or in 10 minutes blocks accumulated throughout the day. Rev up the intensity in your training by implementing intervals. For example, if you are a walker, add one to two minute intervals of jogging to your routine followed by rest periods that allow your heart and respiratory rate to recover.
Muscular Endurance
Muscular endurance is the ability of a muscle or muscle groups to contract repeatedly over for an extended period of time. It can be improved with exercises that fatigue a muscle within 12 to 20 repetitions. Bodyweight exercises with potential to boost muscular endurance are the pushup, pullup, situp, plank, leg raise, squat, lunge, and stepup. Whether or not a given movement will enhance muscular endurance depends on the participant's existing level of conditioning. For example, a deconditioned individual who can only do four push-ups at a time is not entering the repetition range to improve endurance. Conversely, a trained athlete who can do 100 consecutive bodyweight squats is well beyond the realm of muscular endurance. For this individual, the cardiovascular system is receiving the greatest challenge. Alternatives to bodyweight training might better serve these extremes. For all others, incorporating three to four sets of these exercises with a one minute rest between sets is an appropriate bodyweight stimulus to improve muscular endurance.
Muscular Strength
Muscular strength is the maximal amount of force a muscle can produce. Muscular strength gains require a load heavy enough to fatigue a muscle within six to eight repetitions. All of the exercises mentioned above can stimulate muscular strength if they are executed to failure in the six to eight repetition range. Individuals with a high level of fitness can use advanced variations to stimulate strength gains. For example, if you can do 15 push-ups in a row, you are effectively building muscular endurance. To stimulate strength gains with the same exercise, put your feet on a step or a chair to increase the intensity. To add challenge to other exercises, widen your grip for pull-ups, do lunges and situps going uphill, perform one-legged squats, and hold planks with one arm or one leg lifted.
Body Composition
Body composition refers to the amount of the body that is composed of fat versus lean body mass. It is typically expressed as body fat percentage. Healthy body fat percentages for men range from 11 to 25 percent and for women from 16 to 30 percent. Body fat readings improve with increases in lean muscle tissue and decreases in fat. Bodyweight training increases lean body mass with exercises that fatigue muscles within eight to 12 repetitions and are executed for three to five sets. In addition, bodyweight exercise, especially cardiovascular pursuits, burns calories needed to reduce fat. This result is contingent upon expending more calories than you are consuming.
References
- "Essentials of Strength Training & Conditioning"; Baechle et. al.; 2008.
- "Strength Training"; National Strength & Conditioning Association; Brown (Ed.); 2007
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