When it is time to get back
into shape, burn off those pounds that accumulated over vacation or
build muscle for the beach, most people think about going to the gym
and using gym machines. After all, when you walk into your local gym
and see
all
the shiny equipment, it is impressive. How could you not get fit,
burn fat and build muscle?
However, in my opinion,
bodyweight exercises are a better choice for your fitness, fat loss
and physique building needs. You not only build an attractively
muscular body, but you improve real world performance with physical
abilities you can use outside the gym. Plus, you can avoid those
high gym fees!
Gym Machines Are Useful For
A Busy Gym Business, Not Necessarily Your Fitness
While the fitness industry
wants you to believe gyms are set up to help you get fit, the truth
is, a gym is a business. And businesses want to make money. (And
frankly, I don't find anything wrong with that).
But what happens is,
decisions are made based on how much money they can make, not how
helpful they are. And using machines are a perfect fit.
Set up a series of machines
and have the gym members go through the circuit like an assembly
line and they will be improved at the end. Sounds great, but it is
not the best way to train... even if it allows the gym to increase
its membership.
Gym Machines Improve Your
Performance In The Gym, And Do Little For REAL World Performance
Improvement
When you exercise and
train, your body makes changes due to the stress placed on it. It
will build muscle, burn fat, improve cardiovascular function, etc.
so you are better prepared for the activity in the future. But here
is the thing. The improvements your body makes are specific to the
activity. So, when you train on machines in the gym, your body gets
better at training on machines in the gym.
In the real world you are
not strapped into a machine and asked to perform reps of a movement
foreign to natural movement. From a performance standpoint,
bodyweight exercises are a better choice for performance
improvements you can actually use. And the physical improvements are
just as visible.
Bodyweight Exercise Train
Your Body In The Way It Naturally Moves, Unlike Gym
Machines
When you use your own
bodyweight for resistance, you are training yourself to perform
better in the real world. After all, exercise is about movement...
not muscles. And when you use bodyweight exercises, you are training
your body to move better.
And isn't that really the
point. Don't you want to perform better in your daily activities as
well as look better? I sure do.
When you want to get fit,
burn fat and build a strong, attractive body, don't immediately run
off to the gym. Use the gym you were born with by exercising with
bodyweight only movements and calisthenics. You'll find you perform
better, feel better and look better than if you used all those
shiny, chrome machines..
So, when choosing between
gym or no gym... go gymless!