It’s easy to pull your own weight

Exercisers are often told they don’t need big, clanky weights to gain strength, that they can get by with so-called bodyweight exercises -- push-ups, pull-ups and otherwise moving the weight of their bodies against the pull of gravity.

“There is nothing magical about a barbell,” says Todd Miller, an assistant professor in the department of exercise sciences at George Washington University. “If you do three sets of push-ups to failure, that’s the same [effect on your muscles] as doing three sets of a weight to failure,” provided the weight targets the same muscles. This also applies to pull-ups, squats, sit-ups, chair dips and other bodyweight moves.

There is a catch, however. The more fit you are, the less benefit you gain. “If you can only do one push-up, that’s a very intense exercise for you” and it will help build strength, Miller says. But once you can peel off more than about 15 reps without tiring, you’re no longer increasing strength, just endurance.

“This isn’t a bad thing,” Miller says, but to continue gaining strength you need to add resistance -- placing a weight on your back with a push-up or holding milk jugs when you squat. Or you can shift muscle focus by adjusting body position. With push-ups, a narrower hand position will recruit more of the triceps muscles; a wider hand position will focus more on the chest.

You can also boost benefits by slowing down when you lower your body -- what the fitno-tweaks call the “negative” or “eccentric” part of the move.

If you go slower than gravity would normally move you -- for example, by taking four to five seconds to lower yourself from a pull-up instead of just plunging down -- “you will really feel that,” says Steve Farrell, director of professional education at the Cooper Institute in Dallas.

Your bodyweight exercise starter kit includes two things: you and the following pointers.

Push-ups: Work your chest, shoulders, triceps and upper back.

* Hands approximately shoulder-width apart.

* Back, hips and legs in straight line.

* Lower yourself to three to five inches off ground.

* Don’t brace feet against the wall (unless your can’t do push-ups without this aid).

* If you can’t do even one, start from your knees.

* Take two seconds pushing up, five seconds as you let yourself down. Hold the bottom position for two seconds.

Squats: Work your glutes, quads and hamstrings.

* Feet shoulder-width apart.

* Heels flat throughout exercise.

* For balance, lift arms out in front.

* Reach back with your rear, as if attempting to sit on a chair.

* Don’t let your knees pass beyond the plane of your toes.

* Go down no farther than the point where thighs are parallel to floor. Or just go down as far as you can comfortably, and increase depth as you progress.