BW in the gym stands for Bodyweight. It refers to exercises that use your own weight as resistance.
Bodyweight exercises are a versatile and effective way to build strength, endurance, and flexibility. They require no equipment, making them accessible anywhere, anytime.
Here's a breakdown:
- Definition: Bodyweight training involves using your own mass to perform exercises.
- Examples: Common bodyweight exercises include push-ups, squats, lunges, planks, pull-ups, and dips.
- Benefits:
- Accessibility: No gym membership or equipment needed.
- Functional Fitness: Improves real-world strength and movement patterns.
- Scalability: Exercises can be modified to suit different fitness levels.
- Core Strength: Many bodyweight exercises engage the core muscles.
- Cardiovascular Health: Bodyweight circuits can elevate heart rate and improve cardiovascular fitness.
- Variations & Progression: The difficulty can be increased by altering leverage, adding repetitions or sets, slowing down the movement, or incorporating plyometrics (jumping).
Therefore, when you see "BW" in a gym context, it almost always means the exercise should be performed using just your bodyweight.
