Body weight training

Getting a great workout does not always mean pumping weights at the gym or running miles on a treadmill.

In the last few years, body weight training has been making a comeback. For those of us old enough to remember Jack Lalanne, he famously created a fitness culture around body weight training that motivated people on a daily basis with his simple yet effective training style. Body weight training has been around for centuries. The military boot camps have used body weight training for decades and still make it a primary focus today for training recruits.

Body weight training has seen huge increases in popularity since 2012. The basic idea around the current trend of body weight training is using our own body weight as a form of intense resistance training. The new approach to body weight training is to limit the use of equipment and take a "hit it hard then repeat" high-intensity approach. Some CrossFit training programs have taken a simple body weight training approach and kept gear to a bare minimum.

When most people think of body weight, they think push-ups, pull-ups and sit-ups or something more like calisthenics in nature. The approach around many of the new body weight programs is much more than that. These new regimens are derived from high intensity workouts and many personal trainers have modified them for the outdoors and an out-of-the-gym fresh feel to their programs.

Since body weight workouts do not require weights or equipment, exercises are perfect for those individuals who are interested in fitness, but do not have access to a gym or fitness gear. The other positive aspect of body weight exercises is it's easy to understand and do for the very young and the elderly. Both groups can be faced with injury and difficulty when using free weights or exercise machines.

With most body weight exercise regimens, you naturally set your pace. As you become more conditioned, you find your repetition and form improving so you are always in sync with your individual abilities. Weight training on the other hand, can be overdone and injury-prone. This aspect of body weight training makes it a gold standard for newbies and very out-of-shape individuals since nearly all levels of fitness can participate safely with these exercises.

Here are a few examples to give you a better idea of the more popular body weight exercises you can do at home or with a personal trainer:

* Prisoner Squats: Stand with hands behind your head and feet parallel start to dip down by bending the hips and knees until the thighs are near parallel to the floor. Keep your heels tight to the floor. Push up off the heels to a standing position. Slowly increase the number reps and sets based on how quickly you fatigue.

* Triceps Dips: Using a step or bench, sit on the floor with knees slightly bent. Then grab edge of step or bench and straighten the arms. Bend them to a 90-degree angle, then push to straighten while your heels push toward the floor. Repeat until failure.

* Plank to push-up: This one starts in a plank position on forearm and elbows, then place one hand at a time into a push-up position, now with your back straight and the core engaged, do a push up. Then reverse moving one arm at a time back into the plank position. Do this fairly quickly until failure. Repeat!

* Burpees: To start this exercise, squat down placing your hands on the floor in front of you. Pull both feet back into a plank position. Now do a push up touching your chest to the floor. Pushing up returning to a plank position, then jump the feet back toward your hands. Finally, do an explosive jump into the air, reaching your arms straight above you.

* Wall sit: Squat to a sitting position with back against a wall. Now make sure your thighs are parallel to the ground. Your knees should be directly above the ankles keeping your back straight. Hold until failure, then repeat and if you want an additional burn, hold your arms outward at the same time.

* Walking lunges: Stand with your hands on your hips and feet hip width apart. Step forward while slowly bending your leg and lowering your body until the right knee is close to or touching the floor. Try to bring your left leg to 90 degrees. Now return to the starting position and repeat with the left leg close to touching the floor. Give yourself plenty of room to walk forward a few steps to start. Once you master the movement, then walk out as many as you can before failure.

One of the more important aspects to body weight exercises is anyone can do them and nothing special is needed. With individuals using their own weight to provide the resistance for each movement, injuries are averted since the weight being lifted is never greater than the weight of your own body.

Two things to consider before jumping on a body weight training program. First, have an annual physical with your doctor. Make sure you're healthy enough to do basic exercise and pace yourself. The second thing is flexibility - although injury is unlikely, you can sprain or pull muscles, so do some standard stretches before you get started.

Judd Jones is a director for the Hagadone Corporation.