Three Reasons Why I'm Choosing Body Weight Fitness

While adjusting to a new job, with a new schedule and new sleep patterns (and actually being able to sleep again!), I haven't been getting all the exercise I want. Do I get up early and knock it out first thing? Do I follow recommended guidelines and work out in the early afternoon? Or do I make myself do it after I get home from work at 10 o'clock at night? There are pros and cons to all of those, and I confess that I'm still weighing them.

But enough with my excuses. I know what I want to do, and how I'm going to do it, even if I'm still figuring out when.

The deciding factor for me when choosing any sort of lifestyle change is, "Does this make sense to me?" With something as controversial as fitness, all I can do is look at the arguments and decide what seems most logical as I understand it. What makes sense to me might not make sense to you. And as long as we aren't doing ourselves great bodily harm, I think that's okay. I figure I'm more apt to stick with whatever I believe in most and enjoy. That might be different for you, and since we aren't arguing moral issues, I think there's room for personal preference.

I've chosen body weight fitness, and here are three reasons why.

1) Your Body Is Always with You

The Tao of Buckaroo Banzai

I don't want to have to go somewhere and pay to do something I can accomplish for free at home. Or in a motel. Or at a park. Going to the gym just sounds like an extra hassle, and thus a convenient excuse. But more than that, why rely on extra equipment when I don't need it? That's not to say that I won't occasionally use equipment, but I want to know how to use my body first and foremost.



2) Using Body Weight Works More Muscle Groups = More Efficient

When you're short on time, and just short in general

In his book, You Are Your Own Gym, Mark Lauren says, "Most weight training exercises isolate only certain muscles, requiring a fairly small portion of your body's total muscle mass, unlike bodyweight exercises that incorporate many at once. These exercises have the added benefit of being much more demanding of core strength than exercises that require weights and machines." Essentially, a body weight workout is going to work more muscle groups in a session, which should lead to seeing more results in less time.

3) I Don't Get Running

The only reason I'd go running

I know some who people love to run. It clears their minds and gives them the endorphin rush they crave. I also know people who hate running, but have completely transformed their bodies and lives from doing it anyway. If you're a runner, I have nothing but respect for you. But the only reason I'm going running is if something big with sharp teeth is going chasing. I also wonder if running simply makes one a good runner, and being to move quickly for long distances doesn't really line up with my personal fitness goals.

Not that long ago, finding a good book on body weight fitness was difficult. Back in college I put in an inter-library loan request for The Naked Warrior by Pavel. The night it arrived, an opinionated, unsubtle lady-friend of mine decided she was walking to the library with me. To my surprise, she didn't say anything about my reading choices. Still, I wished that a different book, any other book, would have been available. At any rate, the book was so full of hyperbole that it was difficult to isolate the useful content.

Then last spring I happened upon Mark Lauren's previously mentioned You Are Your Own Gym. There's no hype, no nonsense, jut facts put simply. I highly recommend it. Mark's book is the perfect introduction to body weight fitness from a long-time expert in the field. Even though he trained the US Special Forces, he comes across like an average guy. His interpretation of what makes one fit is what makes the most sense to me.

You can purchase a copy from clicking this link, and a portion goes to help support this blog.