A common mistake many people make is that body composition exercises are just about losing weight. In reality, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
In fact, if you do body composition exercises the right way, then you would gain lean body mass while lowering your body fat percentage.
And because muscle tissue weighs more than fat, you could see an increase on the scales.
What you need to avoid, though, is just regular weight training, without targeting the flabby stuff as well.
So, let’s start with some basics before we jump into an exercise routine.
Quick Summary
- The simple body composition exercises include push-ups, burpees, lunges jumps, squat jumps, planks, pull-ups, and abs & core workouts.
- Body composition workouts influence the lean body mass ratio compared to the fat level.
- According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, body composition is a critical indicator of overall health, reflecting the ratio of lean mass to fat.
- In my personal opinion, incorporating a variety of these recommended exercises into a regular fitness routine can lead to significant improvements in both physical appearance and overall health.
What Is Body Composition?
Based on the article published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), body composition is the ratio of your lean body mass compared to fat. It tells you what percent of your body is made up of fat, which indicates how healthy and fit you are [1].
It’s important to understand that improving your body composition should not just be about fat loss and achieving a healthy weight.
It should be about decreasing body fat percentage and increasing your lean muscle mass.
And while a cardio exercise routine may work well to burn off fat, it won’t do much to boost your lean body mass.
Simple bodyweight exercises such as squats and lunges can be effective in building strength, enhancing muscle definition, and increasing heart rate at the same time.
In fact, these moderate intensity exercises, which can be performed with or without added weights, burn a higher percentage of calories from fat than from carbohydrates.
That’s why we’ve come up with a special lean mass strength training routine. Let’s take a look at a simple exercise program for you.
“As athletes, body composition is important, but so is athleticism. While weight lifting helps to build the desired “X” frame, implementing cardio helps to keep body fat in check all while improving your stamina and endurance which can result in better lifts.”
- Jake Dickson, B.S. in Exercise Science
Our Recommended Body Composition Exercises
What you’ll find here is a set of resistance training workouts that target your entire body. They are ideal for lining up as part of a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) program.
The goal should be to keep your heart rate high by avoiding long breaks in between the aerobic exercise moves.
Here’s what you should do at each exercise station.
1. Push-Ups
Drawing from my experience, I've found pushups to be incredibly effective for leveraging body weight to activate muscles in the back, shoulders, arms, and chest.
These are areas where you often have some hidden body fat that you might not pay as much attention to as those love handles around your waist.
Aim to mix things up with wide, military, and diamond push-ups so that your activity triggers muscles in different ways.
It’s one way to speed up how fast you can build lean muscle.
2. Burpees
These will really get the sweat flowing.
Start in a push-up position with your body completely straight. Jump your knees up to your chest with your hands still on the ground.
Stand up straight and optionally do a jump when you get to the top of the movement.
From there, squat back down again and plant your hands on the ground while jumping your feet back out, so you end up back in the starting position.
You’ll find that these work your leg muscles, core, and even shoulders.
3. Lunge Jumps
These are great for your hamstrings and glutes, and they will also trigger your core to get rid of some mid-body fat and lose weight.
Stand up straight and take a long step forward and drop your whole body down by bending your knees.
The knee of your front leg should remain over your front foot and get down to a right angle.
The knee of the back leg should go down to about an inch above the ground and then explosively push yourself back up with both legs into a jump and land in your starting position.
Keep repeating this for alternating legs.
4. Squat Jumps
These are even better if you have a weighted vest as it frees up your hands to help with the jump.
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and lower your butt down to just below your knees.
Your upper body should remain straight and vertical throughout the move.
Once you get to the bottom, push yourself back up through your heels and end up in a jump.
You should really feel the burn in your lower body and core as well.
5. Plank
Through my practical knowledge, I've discovered that planks are excellent for strengthening the entire core, significantly impacting body composition.
The trick here is to not fool yourself into being a hero.
Stop when your hips start to sag, or you struggle to control the shake in your muscles.
Once that happens, you won’t get the same benefits, and you’d actually be better off doing a few more sets of good quality planks than forcing yourself through longer ones.
Other types of exercises:
6. Pull-Ups
I always include pull-ups in an upper-body training program as it’s one exercise that engages a wide muscle range.
Switch things around with wide and close-grip, and if you manage to build up enough strength, try some towel-grip pull-ups.
If you still struggle to complete more than a couple of full pull-ups, I would suggest using a chair to push yourself up. The important thing is to get the full range of motion.
7. Ab & Core Workouts
This is where people tend to have most of their fat mass, which means that targeted core and ab work is needed.
According to insights from the Cleveland Clinic, building up muscle strength in your core will also help you maintain a better posture while exercising or sitting at a desk for work [2].
Examples of core workouts would be deadlifts, ab crunches, hanging leg raises, side plank, and bicycle kicks.
“The muscles on the front of your torso also called your core muscles, can affect your ability to maintain good posture. A strong core helps you stand straighter and keeps your trunk stabilized during your workout — or even as you go about your daily activities.”
- ClevelandClinic.org.
References:
- https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/index.html
- https://health.clevelandclinic.org/how-to-do-leg-lifts
About The Author
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This is probably the most helpful body composition exercise list I’ve ever seen.
I’ve been looking for new ideas for exercises to improve body composition. I’m glad I found this here.