Bodyweight Training vs. Joining a Gym - Which Should You Choose?

For millions of people all over the world, the decision to get in shape means one thing: Joining a gym. Your local gym or workout facility will have all the equipment you will ever need as well as a staff of fitness experts who can help you reach your goals.

For all the good results you can achieve through joining a gym, they also have their downsides as well. In fact, a growing number of fitness buffs have taken to working out outside of the gym environment and focusing on bodyweight exercises that they can do anywhere to get in shape. For many of the diehard gym rats out there, this decision may seem almost sacrilege, but as we will see below, there are some valid positives to taking this NO GYM route and pursuing a Boot Camp training program.

First of all, gyms can be expensive. Fees upwards of $75 per month are not uncommon and often times this fee is paid for the privilege of waiting until someone else is done using the equipment that you need. If you are waiting, you are NOT working out. Focusing on using your bodyweight to stay in shape, needless to say, will cost you nothing.

The next benefit of choosing bodyweight training vs. joining a gym is the lack of distractions. Look, I love watching THE OFFICE as much as the next guy, but I don’t really need to relive every hilarious moment WHILE I am working out. There are always at least 2 or 3 folks at the gym who are more interested in what they watched last night than what is going on right in front of them. They often show complete lack of respect and needless to say, this is an annoyance you won’t have to deal with if your program revolves around bodyweight training. All you need to think about really is breathing to keep yourself alive most of the time!

One of my favorite reasons to cite for leaving the gym atmosphere behind is just that…the atmosphere. Gym walls, no matter how pretty they are painted, are still gym walls. The world is a wonderful and glorious place that must be experienced and getting out in nature to exercise beats the confinement of a stuffy gym ANY day.

So, now that we have listed some of the reasons why using bodyweight training in a Boot Camp program may be a better alte
ative than joining a gym, you still may have ONE little nagging question…what the heck is bodyweight training? Simply put, bodyweight training is performing any exercise where your bodyweight provides the main source of resistance. These exercises can be performed anywhere you go and there is a huge list that don’t require ANY apparatus to receive the full benefits of the workout. Bodyweight squats are great to add to your regimen as a foundational exercise. Pushups, either traditional or elevated, will give you perhaps the greatest upper body results of any exercise out there. Add in some jumping jacks, calf raises, and a set or two of plyometric jumps and your bodyweight workout will allow you to burn fat, build muscle and get into incredible shape at no cost to you and without the shortcomings of gyms that we spoke about.