Tired of your weight loss plateau? Do more bodyweight cardio. If you only do running cardio, think about adding bodyweight cardio to your fat-burning plans. If you’re bored with running on machines or biking for cardio exercise, try a bodyweight cardio workout to better tone your body.
Here are 5 reasons why you should do bodyweight cardio to break your weight loss plateau:
1. Doing bodyweight cardio is both a strength and cardio workout. It is one of the best ways to help tone your body. Bodyweight exercises use natural body motions that don’t limit your natural range of motion like machine lifting does.
This will help you build muscle mass and burn fat without fear of “bulking up” like a man.
Compound movements like squats, rows, pullups and shoulder press give you more exercise-induced testosterone, which improves musclebuilding.
You can also burn more fat by increasing exercise-induced growth hormone. Growth hormone is also important for building muscle. Intense strength training and interval cardio workouts will increase your body’s growth hormone.
2. Doing these types of short burst workouts will change your hormones allowing your body to naturally regulate fat burning, appetite and moods.
Short burst workouts had these advantages over the low-to-moderate intensity workouts: a) more release of fat from cells, b) more fat used as fuel during exercise and c) increased metabolic rate after exercise. All it takes is 20-30 minutes of workout time. Research and my experience has proven that this type of exercise is one of the best ways to tone up your body.
Doing this type of intense exercise will burn more calories and fat during and after your workout. Exercise Post-Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) causes your body to burn more calories and fat after a tough workout. Your body has to work harder to get back to its pre-exercise state. Fat burning and metabolism can increase for up to 48 hours after your workout!
3. Doing bodyweight exercises at full speed will burn even more fat and calories.
4. Since bodyweight workouts are also strength and cardio workouts, they will save you more time during your busy day.
Do as many compound strength exercises standing up as possible to burn more fat and calories. These types of exercises work major muscle groups. Full body core exercises, like planks, are also great fat burners.
5. Bodyweight exercises allow you to train in all 3 planes of motion (machines usually limit you to training in 1 plane of motion–sagittal). Doing bodyweight strength exercises in all planes of motion will make your body look better in 3-D space.
Here is an intense bodyweight cardio workout:
–Bodyweight squats, 12 repetitions
–Decline pushups, 12 repetitions
–Step ups, 10 repetitions each leg (knee-high platform)
–Pushup plank, 10 repetitions, 10 second hold per rep
–Rows with ropes, 10 repetitions
–Side lunges, 10 repetitions each leg
–Triceps Dips, feet and hands on bench or on bars, 10 repetitions
–Squat Jumps, 10, full speed
Do this circuit 3 times. Take little or no rest between exercises. Rest 1-2 minutes between circuits.
Happy fat burning!
Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts. Start shaping your body faster! There are 3 levels: beginner, intermediate and advanced. Start at the level you are able.
