At CrossFit Golden Valkyrie in Des Moines, we believe in building strong, resilient bodies ready for any challenge life throws your way. While barbells and kettlebells are staples in our programming, we also champion the incredible power of bodyweight functional exercises. These movements are the bedrock of human movement, requiring no equipment and tapping into your body’s natural strength, agility, and stability.

 

What are Bodyweight Functional Exercises?

Simply put, functional exercises mimic real-life movements. They train your muscles to work together, rather than in isolation, improving your ability to perform everyday tasks with ease and grace. When you strip away the external weights, you’re left with the most fundamental and often most challenging form of training: using your own body as resistance.

Here at CrossFit Golden Valkyrie, we incorporate these exercises to:

• Improve Core Strength & Stability: A strong core is the foundation of all movement. Bodyweight exercises like planks, bird-dogs, and hollow holds are masters at building a rock-solid midsection, crucial for everything from lifting groceries to performing complex Olympic lifts.

• Enhance Mobility & Flexibility: Many bodyweight movements, such as dynamic stretches and deep squats, actively improve your range of motion, helping to prevent injuries and unlock new levels of athletic performance.

• Boost Agility & Coordination: Think about movements like burpees or bear crawls. They demand full-body coordination and quick changes in direction, directly translating to better performance in sports and everyday life.

• Build Relative Strength: This is the strength you possess in relation to your own body weight. Mastering movements like pull-ups, push-ups, and pistol squats means you’re incredibly efficient at moving your own body, a key indicator of overall fitness.

• Increase Body Awareness: Without external loads, you become acutely aware of how your body moves, where your weaknesses lie, and how to recruit the right muscles for optimal performance. This mind-body connection is invaluable.

• Accessible Anywhere, Anytime: One of the greatest advantages? You can do them anywhere! No gym? No problem. On vacation? Keep up your fitness routine. This accessibility makes them perfect for maintaining consistency.

 

Golden Valkyrie’s Top Bodyweight Functional Movements:

Here are just a few examples of bodyweight exercises you’ll encounter and master at CrossFit Golden Valkyrie, each designed to make you a more capable and resilient human:

1. The Squat (Air Squat): The king of all movements! This fundamental exercise strengthens your entire lower body, improves hip mobility, and is essential for everything from sitting down to jumping.

2. The Push-Up: A classic for a reason. Push-ups build upper body pushing strength, core stability, and shoulder integrity. We’ll help you master various progressions to get you to full push-ups on your toes.

3. The Pull-Up/Ring Row: While often requiring equipment, pull-ups are the ultimate test of relative upper body pulling strength. For those working towards them, ring rows provide an excellent scalable option to build the necessary strength.

4. The Plank: A deceptively simple yet incredibly effective core exercise. Planks build isometric strength in your entire anterior core, crucial for spinal stability.

5. The Lunge: Excellent for unilateral (single-leg) strength, balance, and hip mobility. Lunges mimic walking and running, making them highly functional.

6. The Burpee: The ultimate full-body conditioning exercise! Burpees combine a squat, push-up, and jump, demanding cardiovascular endurance and muscular stamina.

 

Read more about: Full-Body Strength and Health

 

Join the Golden Valkyrie Community!

Whether you’re new to fitness or a seasoned athlete, incorporating bodyweight functional exercises will elevate your physical capabilities. At CrossFit Golden Valkyrie in Des Moines, our expert coaches are dedicated to teaching you proper form, guiding you through progressions, and helping you unlock your full potential.

Ready to move better, feel stronger, and unleash your inner Valkyrie? Visit us at CrossFit Golden Valkyrie, Des Moines, IA, and discover the transformative power of functional fitness.

 

FAQs

1. Is CrossFit safe? What about injuries?
   Like any physical activity, there’s always a risk of injury, but CrossFit is very safe when performed with proper technique and under qualified coaching. Our coaches at Golden Valkyrie prioritize safety, teaching correct form, and scaling movements appropriately to minimize risk. We emphasize listening to your body and building strength progressively.

2. Do I need to be able to do pull-ups or lift heavy weights to join?
   Absolutely not! Many movements, including pull-ups and heavy lifts, have progressions and scaling options. Our coaches will teach you how to build the strength and technique needed to master these movements over time, starting with easier variations like ring rows or using resistance bands.

3. What kind of equipment do you have?
   Our gym is fully equipped with everything you need for CrossFit training, including barbells, bumper plates, squat racks, pull-up rigs, gymnastics rings, kettlebells, dumbbells, Concept2 rowers, assault bikes, and much more!