Imagine you have reached your weight loss goals

And now you are looking to maintain your body weight and the muscles you have gained. What do you do?

That’s what body composition exercises are there for. It may appear complicated, but some of these body composition exercises are as simple as 1, 2, and 3.

When combined with a balanced and healthy diet, you will not only be able to maintain but also strengthen your body.

But first, let’s understand what body composition is

Body composition is what your body is made up of, be it muscle or fat. A balanced body composition consists of a decreased percentage of body fats and a higher percentage of non-fat mass, which incorporates muscle, bones, and organs.

Why worry about body composition and not just weight? I’m sure you can imagine if you gained muscle, and the number on the scale increased, you might not know if it’s fat or muscle. That’s why looking at body composition is important and helpful.

What are good body fat percentage levels?

For men, the ideal body fat percentage is between 18-24% and for women, it is 25-31%. These numbers, however, are likely to alter depending on the person’s age and health.

Recommended Body Composition Exercises

Here is a set of workouts that target your entire body. An effective way to implement a complete body composition exercise is by lining up resistance training – push-ups, burpees, lunges and squat jumps and planks as part of a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) program.

The goal is not to get into a bodybuilding exercise and workout routine, but targeted training to burn calories and trigger muscle growth and maintain consistency by keeping your heart rate high by avoiding long breaks in between exercises.

Perfect Training Routine Combination

Combine your favourite cardio activities with strength training and alternate between each activity in a single workout. For example, you could do a combination of running, cycling, and climbing a hill for 7 minutes, then do push-ups and abdominal crunches for 3 minutes. Repeat this pattern 3-6 times for complete circuit training.

Alternating your workouts on different days also helps you maximise your training sessions while allowing your body sufficient time to recover. For example, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays you could focus on strength training, while using Tuesdays and Thursdays to focus on cardio, stretching and recovery.

It’s important to get both cardio and strength training workouts into your routine, as both deliver different, yet equally important, results.

Here are five great workouts you can do at home to keep your body composition in check. Before attempting any of these exercises, if you are having any health complications it is advised to consult with your trainer and doctor first.

1. Burpee

Performing Burpees is an excellent way to train both cardio endurance and strength. Many consider Burpees as the best total body exercise as they use every muscle in the body, including the heart. You will find that these work your leg muscles, core, and even shoulders. A squat, a push-up, and a jump are all included in a Burpee. But be warned, they are tough! They’re also not recommended for those with back injuries.

2. Push-Ups

This workout is recommended by experts as a better alternative to using a chest press machine. It is because it helps you grow your muscles and activate your entire core at the same time. They are particularly useful in muscular growth, even though they are not the easiest. The chest, legs, shoulder, arms, and core muscles will all be worked out in this complete-body exercise.

3. Squats

Squats are an excellent exercise for keeping your body composition in check. They’re especially good for working out the muscles in your lower body. If you wear a weighted vest, it can really boost your workout by adding that extra weight to strengthen your legs.

4. Planks

Planks are another excellent body composition workout that you may add to your workout routine. The plank exercise is particularly useful in improving posture by strengthening multiple muscles like the core, shoulders, hamstrings, and glutes which are all targeted while performing this move.

5. Ab Targeting

For many, the majority of their fat is held around the belly, but unfortunately doing more ab moves is not the most effective way to reduce the fat there. Having said that, it’s still necessary and recommended to incorporate some ab moves into your workouts to strengthen the core and build those muscles, also.

You can add in multiple moves completed back to back, such as hanging leg raises, side planks, ab crunches, and bicycle crunches. And don’t neglect the back muscles, so moves like dorsal raises will help with that.

Top Tips

The key is to start off slowly, so that you don’t burn out. Even a small 15 minute workout will help you improve. Then, as you move progress you can increase the intensity and duration of your workouts.

The most important thing to achieve results is consistency. If you continue to train regularly, building up to 4 sessions a week, and continue that routine for 6 months you will see very good results.

All this may sound daunting incorporating cardio HIIT with strength and resistance training but it all will flow smoothly once you see the difference in each exercise. A dedicated routine, consistent approach and a balanced diet are what it takes.