5 Metabolism Boosting Exercises Using Just Your Bodyweight
So you find yourself wanting to make a healthy lifestyle change and lose a little weight but you don’t have the time (or desire) to go to the gym. We know your pain. Fortunately, we have a great solution for you: metabolism boosting exercises that use your bodyweight.
Bodyweight exercises bring you back to the basics of human movement. There’s no need for weights or gym space, but you still get all the benefits of strength training—bodyweight training boosts metabolism and builds muscle. Plus the exercises are safe, straightforward, and easy to modify based on your level of fitness.
If you’re already familiar with bodyweight training, you can skip ahead and try these bodyweight exercises and consult your 8fit app for more workouts and nutrition advice. Otherwise, keep scrolling to learn more about bodyweight training to boost metabolism and for specific exercises you can incorporate into your workout today.
What are bodyweight exercises good for?
Bodyweight exercises are a great way to make a healthy lifestyle change without costly gym membership fees or worrying about what the weather is like outside. All you need is a safe, comfortable space and your own body.
Here are some of the health benefits of bodyweight strength training:
Develops more lean muscle mass, increases oxygen used by muscles, and reduces pain in bones and joints
Improves blood cholesterol and blood pressure levels
Enhances the quality of sleep, lowers body stress levels, and leads to more energy
Helps remove metabolic waste from tissues during rest periods
Reduces heart attack risk, prevents acute coronary syndrome, and increases insulin sensitivity
Increases resting metabolic rate and helps maintain cognitive, hormonal, cardiovascular, and immune health.
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, people globally lose about six pounds of lean muscle on average in their life if they are not exercising and gain fat instead. A lack of exercise decreases the metabolic rate by 3% to 8%, but by doing bodyweight exercises, you can boost your metabolism, lose weight, and build muscle.
Would you rather gain weight? Try these weight gainer shakes to get the job done in a healthy and responsible way.
Why are bodyweight exercises effective?
People often overlook bodyweight exercises, opting instead for weights at the gym, but they’re some of the best at building muscle, boosting metabolism, and helping your body fight off the natural wear and tear that comes with age. You can also reverse the adverse effects of poor dieting with bodyweight training.
According to NCBI Resources, lean muscle mass building and boosting metabolism are excellent ways for your lungs, brain, heart, and blood vessels to perform optimally. In other words, it helps your body to develop the strength to function normally.
Bodyweight exercises can also reduce blood pressure by strengthening the ability of your heart to pump blood, strengthen your joints, reduce the risk of diabetes, and they can help enhance your mood by reducing stress, increasing confidence, and building self-esteem. You may also experience increased energy thanks to endorphins being released by your body during exercise.
Metabolism Boosting Bodyweight Exercises
In order to get the best out of your bodyweight routine, it is a good idea to pick a selection of exercises that work on different parts of the body and muscle groups. This will ensure that your entire body has been given a work-out and will improve overall stamina and conditioning. Below we have outlined a list of the best bodyweight exercises and reasons for their choice:
Sit-ups – this beginner exercise can be done at multiple difficulty levels and scales very well with experience. Start by lying on your back with your knees bent. Put your hands behind your ears and move your body as close to your knees as you can, without taking your feet off the ground. This exercise is fantastic at working on your core and abdominal muscles.
Wall-sits – this straight-forward exercise will work your glutes, quads and calves. It can also work on your abdominal muscles, too. Find a wall or flat surface that you can put your back against and keep your feet around shoulder-width apart and 2 feet from the wall. Slide your back down the wall and bend your knees as much as you can––hold this pose for 20 seconds, all the while keeping your abdominal muscles clenched.
Lunges – this is a perfect beginner exercise that doesn’t put any strain on your joints. Simply put your hands on your hip and kneel down, without letting your leg touch the ground. This exercise might be simple, but it helps to work your quads, hips, and hamstring muscles.
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Lunging Love: Click here for a refresher on how to do lunges. Once you've got that mastered, try these five lunge variations.
Squats – this classic movement works multiple muscle groups, including the hamstring, glutes, and quads. To complete this simple move, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and squat down, letting your knees move to the side and pushing your hips back. Once you have completed this motion, return to your standing position, always keeping a straight back.
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Squat school: Here's how to do a proper squat.
Plank – this move is a classic love or hate exercise, but one thing we can all agree on is that the plank works. This move works on muscles throughout the body, strengthening your core, shoulders, arms and glutes. Start by planting your hands on the floor, as you would for a press-up, and straighten your legs. Hold the position for 20 seconds. The more comfortable you are with the plank, the longer you can hold this pose for.
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Want more? Try our chest workout at home to get your upper body even more involved.
Diet and boosting metabolism
Like during any other training program, you need to follow a healthy diet to prevent your body from entering starvation mode. If you’re looking to boost metabolism and maintain a calorie deficit to lose weight, you should continue eating normally, but select low-calorie foods. This will prevent your body from becoming stressed, which can slow your metabolism and stop you from reaching your goals. Timing is everything when it comes to meals and boosting your metabolism. Simply put, skipping meals isn’t the answer.
Interested in learning more about how you can benefit from bodyweight exercises and incorporate them into your workout? Then check out 8fit for a range of bodyweight exercises that’ll help you build strength, boost your metabolism, and get those endorphins pumping right from the comfort of your own home.
