As SELF magazine reports, bodyweight exercises such as air squats, step-ups, push-ups and dips do qualify as strength training because they effectively build muscle without the need for additional equipment.

There are a lot of great things about calisthenics. They’re beginner-friendly, easy to do at home or while traveling, and highly functional—meaning, they strongly correlate to movements in daily life. But do they also qualify as strength training?

“You can absolutely progressively overload with bodyweight exercises,” said Ben Yamuder, MS, CSCS, USAW-1, exercise physiologist at HSS. For example, you can make bodyweight exercises more challenging by adding reps, performing reps at a slower pace (which increases the amount of time your muscles are under tension), or tweaking an exercise to be more difficult (for instance, doing a single-leg versus double-leg squat, or performing a push-up with your feet elevated instead of on level ground).

Read the full article at self.com.