Body Weight Workouts vs. Weight Lifting

I started lifting weights around 13 when my brother got his first weight set. From that age until now I have probably tried almost every strength, conditioning, and body building workouts known to man. I have always judged my fitness level off the amount of weight I could lift and if my body was symmetrical. At one time in college I was 5’9” (give or take a half inch), 193 lbs., with 6% body fat.

I looked big and became accustomed to feeling that way. However, the body I had developed was made to play football, and as time went on I realized being in shape and being fit were two totally different things. For example, a 6’3” 330 lbs. lineman is in shape if he can play a full game, but he may not be fit enough to run a mile. I was exposed to this fitness flaw when I entered an MMA ring to train. I was matched to spar with a much smaller and weaker guy. For the first 30 seconds I was in total control, after that I was so tired my opponent used my face as a punching bag. All I could say…was “lesson learned.”

That was the point I realized I needed to change the way I was training my body. I needed to increase my “functional strength.”  Functional strength is the strength and endurance of core and stabilizer muscles used in daily activities.  I created a workout that used no weights. I concentrated on doing movements that utilized only my body weight. My workout consisted of push-ups, lunges, pull-ups, jump rope, running etc.

The results were crazy! I became leaner yet didn’t lose any weight. I realized that most of the weight lifting exercises I had been doing simply simulated body weight exercises.  For example, a person may be able to bench press 300 lbs. once, but cannot do 100 push-ups at a time. I also found the body weight workouts to be much harder. Unlike weight lifting which predominately works a single muscle group, body weight exercises engage multiple muscle groups. This allow the body to change at a much higher rate.

I would advise anyone trying to really become fit to concentrate on body weight workouts. They may be harder, but the results you will see in your core, stabilizer muscles and overall fitness will be priceless.