Strength Training Without Weights – If you dont have the money or the motivation to buy a weight bench, you will be glad to know that you can do weight training without weights. In fact, many people are discovering that weight training can even be fun when the weights are pushed aside and your body is used for the ultimate form of resistance.
What weight youll be using
When you employ some of these methods of strength training without weights, youll be using the weight and the force of your own body. And if youre trying to lose weight, you might find yourself more motivated to drop those extra pounds because theyre making your workout all the harder to do.
By moving the body into certain postures and positions, you can utilize the force that gravity exerts on your body and perform strength training without weights.
Option One: Bodyweight Exercises
Just like you used to do in gym class, bodyweight exercises are a great way to do strength training without weights. Think pushups, dips, and other basic muscle building exercises. Without the need for equipment, these exercises can be performed anywhere at anytime, but theyre still as effective as the heavy, expensive machinery at the gym.
Option Two: Yoga
While many have dismissed yoga as a way to stretch, it can actually become a form of strength training without weights. Yoga is a series of poses that you are supposed to keep your body balanced in.
Because balance is something that many of us dont work on (due to desk jobs and sedentary lifestyles), the struggle to balance the body can create the ideal conditions for strength training your body has to work hard to keep yourself upright.
Of course, this form of strength training without weights is also good for posture and flexibility, but yoga can create a deeper calm for those that practice it regularly. By focusing on the breath and doing the movements as fluidly as possible, yoga redirects the attention from the difficulty of the movement, allowing the body to work hard to become strong.
Yoga classes are now available on television, DVDs, in books, and through gyms and community centers. This form of strength training without weights is appropriate for all ages, backgrounds and abilities.
Option Three: Pilates
Contrary to popular belief, Pilates and Yoga are not the same thing. This form of strength training without weights is more of a cross between Yoga and calisthenics. Developed by a man who needed a way to train ballet dancers after injuries, Joseph Pilates built a machine (the Reformer) that allowed the body to stretch and build muscle at the same time.
Granted, using the Reformer is a difficult way to achieve strength training without weights, but classes and instructional videos are now available for those that want to practice Pilates at home.
These workouts guide a student through the movements that would be performed on the machine, but now just use the bodys weight and core strength in order to rebuild the muscles and create tone. Its also known as mat work.
Pilates can be found in a number of facilities, DVDs, and books for anyone to try this strength training without weights.
The trick with strength training without weights is to find something that you enjoy doing so that you continue to use it for your bodys health. If you like something a little more aggressive, bodyweight exercises might work well for you, but if you like a calmer exercise, yoga works well to create strong muscles.