Cadoo’s CEO, Colm, recently quit the gym and committed to doing only bodyweight workouts for several months.
Here were 3 benefits he found, which you can experience as well:
1. You can work out from anywhere.
When Colm was at the gym, to him it constantly felt like it was impossible to do any workout outside of that building. All of his exercise had to happen within the gym with certain workouts and training. It seemed as though doing something as simple as a push-up wouldn't count towards anything. Instead, he found removing the constraints of a specific building and workout equipment was incredibly freeing.
Now, since canceling his gym membership and committing to consistent body-weight workouts, specifically push-ups, he has the mindset he can workout from anywhere and feels like he has so much more freedom now that he’s not tethered to any one location.
This does not mean that you should completely cut out the gym if the gym works for you in order to have this mindset shift! Instead, try to make it a goal to do 10 puash-ups every morning when you get up, 10 more in the afternoon, and another 10 before you turn in for the night, even on days you are in the gym.
Find out what routine works for you, but it never hurts to try new things, experiment, and figure out what truly is best for you and your health!
2. Push-ups work many muscle groups.
Push-ups are considered a compound exercise, meaning they train more than one muscle group. Compound exercises are known to be a superior form of training, as multiple muscle groups can be hit with one movement, giving you a more effective and efficient workout
When in the gym, Colm says he would get lazy and do things like skip abs, or skip legs, and go with the workouts he enjoys doing instead of the ones he knew he needed to do. He comments he loves pushups because he has to work his abs, and he has to flex his legs. It feels like a well rounded workout even if it’s just one overall movement. That one bodyweight exercise utilizes several of the major muscle groups.
Push-ups are famous for hitting chest and arms, but it can be surprising to learn all the different muscle groups that are engaged. Two chest muscles are worked, as well as the triceps, and several shoulder muscles are all actively being used when performing push-ups. The core, glutes, and most of the legs are all engaged to keep the spine aligned for proper form and less risk of injury.
3. Your diet can be less strict.
Colm finds that for him, it’s okay if his diet is a little more relaxed on a constant push-up routine than when he was at the gym. Since he’s taking no rest days, constantly doing pushups and always putting stress on his body, he feels like he can get away with a slightly less restrictive diet than when he was at the gym.
Having a healthy, well-rounded diet with tons of protein, vegetables, and the proper vitamins and nutrients is key to seeing results in your workouts. We are NOT advocating for a poor diet, only that you may find a little more freedom when moving and working your muscles more.
Please remember this is Colm’s experience! We doesn’t know if this is the case for everybody, but when he’s giving his body no rest, and when he is constantly stressing his muscles, especially for push-ups, he feels like he can get way better results while not having as restrictive of a diet as when he was on a push/pull/leg split at the gym.
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Hopefully you found some inspiration reading about Colm’s experience! Whether you choose to ditch the gym completely like Colm did or simply incorporate doing 10 push-ups a day every day into your routine, there are multiple benefits to body-weight training for you to enjoy!
