3 Reasons bodyweight training is better than using machines

In the past I’ve received a few questions from members of the Lean and Muscular community about bodyweight training. While most people love it and achieve great results with it, there are still a few out there who’ve been ‘brainwashed’ into thinking that you HAVE TO belong to a gym and HAVE TO use all of these fancy machines to get in great shape and have phenomenal results.

I’m hoping that you’re not a doubter, and if you’ve tried some of the workouts I’ve sent you, I’m sure you’ve realised just how challenging they can be.

At the end of the day, do you think your body knows the difference between being exhausted by a machine, or with bodyweight exercises?……..NO, it doesn’t.

Stress and stimuli are stress and stimuli, your body doesn’t know the difference.

In addition to this fact, there are also several other reasons bodyweight training can be just as good, if not better than using machines.

Reason #1:

Bodyweight exercises are far less likely to cause injuries.

Machines lock you into a fixed pattern of movement, that can sometimes be unnatural for your body type or body set-up. When you move in a way that is unnatural, you are more likely to get injured.

When you do bodyweight movements, you are not locked into one pattern of movement, you have more freedom of movement and a greater range of motion, allowing your body to move in its natural patterns, making you far less likely to injure yourself.

If you have fewer injuries, you will be able to train more regularly and more consistently, which translates into better results.

Reason #2:

Bodyweight training works more muscles and gives you a full-body workout.

As mentioned above, machines lock you into a fixed pattern of movement and limit your range of motion. This means there are no additional stabilizer and ancillary muscles recruited.

With bodyweight training, it’s very hard to perform a movement without having stabilizer and ancillary muscles come into play because of the additional balance and range of motion required.

Having more muscles recruited, means more calories are burned and more oxygen is required, this means the metabolic effect is greater and you’ll burn more calories after the workout, as your body recovers.

Do a set a lat-pull downs or hammer strength rows and compare them with doing a set of pull-ups and you’ll understand exactly what I mean.

Reason #3:

Bodyweight training allows for more variation and creativity

With a machines you are limited to the number of machines your gym has. There are also a limited number of variations for a given exercise you can perform with a machine.

With bodyweight training, there are literally hundreds of variations you can perform for the most common bodyweight exercises.

Having this many variations allows for constant variety and you can get very creative when designing workouts….this equates to you not getting bored.

When you don’t get bored, you train more consistently and more often, which ultimately means better results.

So if you’re a skeptic or have had people tell you that you HAVE TO belong to a gym or fancy health club to get great results, it’s just not true.

The reason that fancy equipment keeps getting invented and gyms around the world keep stocking their floors with it, is not because it builds better bodies, it’s because it sells gym memberships!

If you’re looking for a killer bodyweight routine to get strong, muscular and lean, you can download one here

Article by: Bryan Hamann.

Bryan is a personal trainer, certified bootcamp instructor, Ironman Triathlete and author of THE PRISON WORKOUT.

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