Should Overweight Trainees Do Body Weight Exercises?
If you're familiar with the latest fads in exercise then you are no doubt aware that many people believe that using your own body weight for training is an amazing way to go.
What does this mean? This means doing push-ups, or burpees, or walking lunges, or anything where the focus is using your own body as the means to resistance.
Some people think these things are so excellent that they advocate that everybody do them, regardless of their weight and condition.
So does this apply to overweight people who haven't trained in a decade? Should these people be doing barbell and dumbbell workouts or using their own body weight as the main means of resistance? Or should they be using machines in the gym? In today's article I'll answer these questions, and you may find the answers to be quite surprising.
First, yes, body weight exercises are awesome.
If you ask most fit individuals what they do to stay in great shape they'll toss out things like pull-ups and push-ups and burpees.
However, these people usually weigh about 170 lbs and are in great shape.
For them, a burpee is perfect and challenging, and helps them burn calories in a fun and challenging manner.
However, for your average overweight trainee this kind of exercise is awful.
Why? Because they simply don't have the strength or sense of where their bodies are in space to pull these workouts off efficiently.
If they have spent the past decade on the couch, then doing walking lunges will make them feel as if their knees are tearing as their upper bodies wobble and threaten to collapse over the side.
It's incredibly hard, discouraging, and embarrassing.
The end result us that these people will no doubt quit after one or two sessions.
Instead, they should try working out on the exercise machines.
While functional fitness is better, and mastering your own body weight is important before doing weights, none of that matters if the trainee can't get the exercise done without feeling awful and quitting.
Instead, a machine will isolate the muscle, allow them to exercise safely, and simply become accustomed to the idea that exercise does not have to be miserable.
So should overweight trainees do body weight exercises? The answer is a clear and simple no, as what they first need to do is become comfortable with the idea of exercise in the first place, and then graduate to more challenging forms.
What does this mean? This means doing push-ups, or burpees, or walking lunges, or anything where the focus is using your own body as the means to resistance.
Some people think these things are so excellent that they advocate that everybody do them, regardless of their weight and condition.
So does this apply to overweight people who haven't trained in a decade? Should these people be doing barbell and dumbbell workouts or using their own body weight as the main means of resistance? Or should they be using machines in the gym? In today's article I'll answer these questions, and you may find the answers to be quite surprising.
First, yes, body weight exercises are awesome.
If you ask most fit individuals what they do to stay in great shape they'll toss out things like pull-ups and push-ups and burpees.
However, these people usually weigh about 170 lbs and are in great shape.
For them, a burpee is perfect and challenging, and helps them burn calories in a fun and challenging manner.
However, for your average overweight trainee this kind of exercise is awful.
Why? Because they simply don't have the strength or sense of where their bodies are in space to pull these workouts off efficiently.
If they have spent the past decade on the couch, then doing walking lunges will make them feel as if their knees are tearing as their upper bodies wobble and threaten to collapse over the side.
It's incredibly hard, discouraging, and embarrassing.
The end result us that these people will no doubt quit after one or two sessions.
Instead, they should try working out on the exercise machines.
While functional fitness is better, and mastering your own body weight is important before doing weights, none of that matters if the trainee can't get the exercise done without feeling awful and quitting.
Instead, a machine will isolate the muscle, allow them to exercise safely, and simply become accustomed to the idea that exercise does not have to be miserable.
So should overweight trainees do body weight exercises? The answer is a clear and simple no, as what they first need to do is become comfortable with the idea of exercise in the first place, and then graduate to more challenging forms.