Beginners Body Weight Exercises for Whole Body Strengthening

Are you looking for convenient body weight exercises?

No equipment needed here!

This exercise video shows you a simple routine of pelvic floor friendly bodyweight exercises will help your strengthen your whole body wherever you are.

Video duration: 9 minutes 45 seconds
Suitability: general

Please scroll down below this video for written guidelines including pelvic floor safety tips and exercises for caution with pelvic floor weakness

What are Body Weight Exercises?

Body weight exercises are muscle strengthening exercises.

These convenient exercises use body weight and to provide resistance to promote physical strengthening. No resistance training equipment is used in these exercises.

Who are Body Weight Exercises Suited to?

Body weight exercises can be tailored to suit a wide range of individual strengthening needs and requirements.

These exercises suit women who prefer to exercise without equipment, those that lack access to equipment and women travelling away from home.

Basic body weight exercises can be ideal for beginners starting resistance exercises. Some exercises can help women to learn the correct exercise technique before progressing to weighted exercises (e.g. mini squats).

Body weight exercises can also be tailored to individuals seeking intense strength training exercises without using equipment (e.g. single arm push ups).

Are Body Weight Exercises Pelvic Floor Friendly?

Pelvic floor safe exercises body weight exercises should be selected by women at increased risk of pelvic floor dysfunction, e.g. with weak pelvic floor muscles, previous pelvic surgery, prolapse problems, recent childbirth and/or pelvic pain.

The exercises demonstrated in this video are designed to be pelvic floor friendly for most women.

Some women may find that the modified ‘Plank’ exercise is challenging in which case it should be left out of the routine.

Women vary in terms of the exercises best suited to their individual needs.

Your pelvic floor safety when doing many different forms of exercise depends on your individual risk factors; if your pelvic floor is strong and functioning well you’re likely to have a greater range of exercise options available to you than someone with weak poorly functioning pelvic floor muscles.

Tips for Pelvic Floor Friendly Body Weight Exercises

This exercise video includes 5 body weight exercises.

Pelvic floor safe guidelines for strength training should be incorporated into resistance training programs for women at risk of pelvic floor injury.

Here are some tips for keeping these exercises pelvic floor friendly.

Exercise 1: Mini Squat

Strengthens the thigh and buttock muscles

Tips

• Keep your squat shallow
• Keep your knees and feet about fist width apart throughout
• Breathe out with the return to standing

Exercise 2: Lunge

The lunge exercise strengthens the thigh, buttock and calf muscles

Tips

• Avoid deep lunges
• Breath out with the return to standing

*This exercise is not suitable for women with or at risk of SIJ (sacroiliac joint) dysfunction

Exercise 3: Wall Push Up

Strengthens chest, shoulders, arms and core abdominal muscles

Tips

• Keep your feet sufficiently close to the wall to keep the resistance light to moderate
• Breathe out on the return when pushing your body back up to vertical

*If your wrists are sore this exercise can be modified by placing your hands upon and leaning on an exercise ball rather than the wall

Exercise 4: Modified Plank

Strengthens muscles surrounding the trunk (abdominal and spinal muscles, chest, shoulders and upper back muscles)

Tips

• Ensure correct core activation
• Breathe throughout the exercise
• Avoid this exercise if you are at high risk of pelvic floor dysfunction

* If your shoulders are sore avoid this exercise

Alternative pelvic floor friendly exercise: Floor push ups for women

Exercise 5: Floor Bridge

Floor bridge strengthens the buttock, lower back and thigh muscles.

Floor bridge is generally pelvic floor friendly for most women.

Tips

• Breathe normally throughout the exercise and avoid breath holding

*Keep your heels close to your buttocks to promote buttock strengthening and minimise hamstring (back of thigh) muscle tightness

Key Points for Body Weight Exercises

Body weight exercises use the weight of the body to provide resistance for muscle strengthening. Many body weight exercises are suited to pelvic floor friendly whole body strengthening. These exercises provide women with the convenience of strengthening without the need for exercise equipment.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR, Michelle Kenway

Michelle Kenway is a Pelvic Floor Physiotherapist and author of Inside Out – the Essential Women’s Guide to Pelvic Support, along with Dr Judith Goh Urogynaecologist. The Inside Out exercise DVD and book show women how to strengthen the pelvic floor and exercise effectively with pelvic floor safe exercises.