Your physical astuteness depends upon how well-maintained your life is. This pretty much means your everyday routine including your diet and lifestyle habits. Throw in a bit of exercises and you’ll see the positive results of a balanced, healthy life. However, while choosing a workout, you should be mindful of your body needs. A training that advocates your lifestyle and is in line with your health and stamina should be incorporated into your routine. In this feature we are exploring three fundamental types of workouts and how they can contribute in achieving a truly fit body.
Bodybuilding
Body building can be defined as:
“A workout that revolves around the simple principle of lifting, damaging, repairing muscle tissues. Bodybuilding focuses on performing isolated muscle exercises creating tension that cause the muscle fibres to rupture. The breaking up and then repairing of the fibres makes the muscles bigger and stronger, if the training is followed by rest.”
Bodybuilding training is quite old and has previously been used for muscle growth. However, the workout as we know it today had its foundations laid down by Eugen Sandow, also known as father of modern bodybuilding.
Upon his visit to Italy, 10-year-old Eugen was deeply inspired by Roman statues of warriors, heroes and gods. He was determined that constant exercise can help achieve frames that were just similar to those of divine figures. After years of research and study on human anatomy, he concluded that proper knowledge of location and function of muscles coupled with the use of dumbbell is truly helpful in sculpting muscles of the body.
Powerlifting
Simply put, Powerlifting is:
“A training regime that helps enhance body’s strength by using weights on squat, bench and deadlift.”
This type of workout has very clear guidelines and is quite effective in terms of its results.
Photo: RDX Heavy Leather Medicine Ball
The effects of training regime start weighing in after a period of almost 12 weeks, requiring high level of commitment from the trainer. In order to maximize the results, you should keep on increasing the weights that you are lifting, a technique which is also referred to as the pyramid. With the help of this approach you can gear your way to the top by working on condition and endurance at the beginning and then improving performing exercises with maximum weights.
An important point to consider is your body’s posture. Your focus on correct body position and right muscle engagement is vital during powerlifting. A poor posture especially when lifting maximum weight can lead to serious health consequences.
Callisthenics
In simple words, Callisthenics is:
“Body movements that are performed without incorporating any additional weights, dumbbells, or benches are known as callisthenics. Instead they focus on using gravity and inertia to develop bodily physique.”
It is one of the most versatile workouts and can help grow, strengthen and build every muscle. Usually people do not consider the impact this seemingly simple workout can have on overall health. They associate it to the movements made on pull-up bars. However, there is quite a difference in pulling your whole body’s weight up the bars, and pulling your weight down the lateral pulldown machine.
To read more about Callisthenics Workout and its positive effect on your body click here.
Which One Should You Choose?
Maybe you are a businessman who finds it difficult to take out time to workout. Or, perhaps you are a freelancer and enjoy few exercises every now and then. No matter what kind of lifestyle you have, your workout routine should be a pleasant experience for you rather than a burden. If you are looking for a flexible alternative with a well-rounded fitness, then you should consider callisthenics workout. If muscle growth is your priority then you should opt for bodybuilding. And if your goal is maximizing your strength, then you should engage into powerlifting.
