Bodyweight Exercises using just your Body. You can workout effectively even without fancy exercise equipment. You can exercise efficiently using just your body weight.
Bodyweight Exercises: For Whom?
Equipment like the thread mill, stationary bikes, and weight-lifting bench are great for exercising but they consume much space, and may not fit in most people’s houses. It is true that using weights and exercise equipment is the fastest way to gain muscle mass and strength.
However, those with long working hours and and family demands may not have the time to regularly go to the gym. There are also people who travel a lot and may encounter difficulties in finding a good gym.
Bodyweight exercises works best for those who cannot afford to go to the gym, or don’t have access to one nearby. Bodyweight exercises work great for all fitness levels, and can be done at home.
There are also people who travel a lot and may encounter difficulties in finding a good gym. Then there are some who are unable to go to the gym on a regular basis because of work and family demands.
Athletes (in most sports) try not to get bulky as it affects their mobility and movements. However they still need the type of strength, endurance, and muscle definition that can be developed through weight training exercises.
They can do bodyweight exercises to tone and strengthen their muscles without the use of weights or other equipment.
Popular Bodyweight Exercises
Here are some effective exercises that can be done without any exercise equipment or machine.
You can do these at home or in a hotel room; you just make use of your bodyweight for most of these exercises.
Anaerobic Exercises
Anaerobic exercises like push-ups, pull-overs, and pull-backs are typically performed to develop power and tone the muscles.
Some health studies claim that these anaerobic exercises should be done in repetitions of 100 for maximum development.
Some studies claim that muscles that are trained under these conditions performed better in high intensity activities than those who lifted weights.
Push-up
Probably the simplest and most popular bodyweight exercise is the push-up. Push-ups target muscle groups such as triceps and the chest.
Normal grip push-ups work the chest the most while “tricep” or “diamond” push-ups – done with hands together and directly under the sternum – work the triceps more.
Pull-up
Another great body-weight exercise is the pull-up. Pull-ups stimulate mainly the biceps and the lats (the upper back).
- When your hands face towards you, it is called a chin up and works the biceps more directly.
- When your palms face away, it is usually called a pull up and works the lats and forearms more.
- Remember, wider the grip, the more focus is put on the lats, while the narrower it gets, more focus is put on the arms.
Bodyweight Circuit Training
Since these are circuit training exercises, you have to immediately move on to the next exercise once you are done with one exercise.
Each of these exercise have to be done for around 60 second no rest in between. Depending on your fitness level, you may have to take rest in between, which should be okay initially.
In addition to indoor exercises, outdoor exercises are also becoming trendy nowadays. And they offer several advantages – Fresh air, Vitamin D, being able to connect with nature, and so on.
Here are some exercises that you can do when outdoors.
- Lunges: Works out muscles of the legs and the buttock.
- Pushups: One of the best exercises for the upper body.
- Squats: Best for the legs.
- Step ups: In case you have a bench, you can do step-ups, where you have to step up and down.
- jump-rope or jumping jacks, Tricep Dips, Calf Raises, Tippy Toe Lunges
You can add aerobics in between each of these exercises as well for more of a challenge.
More Circuit Training Exercises here…
Isometric Exercises
Exercises, performed by pushing against an immovable object such as a wall or floor are known as isometric exercises.
Most of the elderly people in India have already been doing these kind of exercises (such as ‘Surya Namaskar’) for years.
To give the definition, it’s a form of exercise where there is static contraction of muscles but without any visible change in the angle of the joint.
To put it simply, you exercise without any body movement.
So how does one exercise? The concept here is known as Isometric resistance.
Isometric workout exercises involve contractions of the muscle using:
- Your own body, free weights, or elastic equipment.
- Structural items (e.g., pushing against a wall) or the ground.
- Pressure plate type equipment, etc.
Here are some examples:
- Stand with your back against the wall and slide down slowly till the thighs and the floor are parallel to each other; remain their for about 30 secs.
- Shoulder Press, squats, lunges using Resistance Bands
Depending on what you want to achieve, isometrics exercises can be used for various fitness related goals.
You can use it for strength training or for Weight Loss.
If you want to tone your muscles and increase your stamina, without going to a gym, then isometric exercises are indeed quite helpful. Its also ideal for those who’re suffering from joint pain like arthritis, as it does not put a lot of stress on the joints.
But because of its very nature (no weights, no machines), the only disadvantage, if any, is that it could be less effective for some fitness goals.
Compared to dynamic exercises, isometric workouts are simple and time-efficient. You can do these exercises by using just your body weight as well. You don’t need any special equipment or settings to be able to do these exercises. If you are short on time and don’t want to spend money on gym, this provides you a cheap and accessible alternative.
Plank Exercises
The plank may look like a simple exercise but it is really effective in building core strength. Here we take a look at various plank exercises that do not take much time to do, can be easily incorporated in your daily routine, and is very effective.
What is a Plank Exercise?
The plank is a type of abdominal exercise where you hold your body extended, supported by your elbows, and work out a wide range of core muscles.
So the plank is basically a bodyweight exercise.
The plank may look like a simple exercise but it can be difficult to hold your body in that position, especially for those who don’t exercise regularly.
My wife is almost touching forty but she barely manages to hold her body parallel to the floor for a few seconds.
What I personally like about the plank is that it doesn’t take up much time, it works on your core, and you can do a few variations as well.
So, whenever I am not in the mood to do a complete exercise routine, I spend a few minutes doing plank exercises.
- Plank helps build core strength and stability.
- You can do it anywhere and do not require any other equipment or prop.
- Planks can be performed by almost anybody, as long as you’re still physically fit.
- You can do a quick workout
So for how long should you hold any particular pose?
The recommended time for most beginners is 30 seconds, but if you’re unable to hold it for long, feel free to hold it for a lesser amount of time, and increase gradually over the days.
Here are various plank exercises that you can try out, at home or in the gym.
Plyometric training
Plyometric training seeks to improve the reaction of individuals through vigorous muscle contraction because fast extraordinary contractions.
Examples of lower body plyometric exercises are: standing jumps, tuck jumps, split jumps and long jumps. Upper body plyometric exercises may include press and hand claps.
Another method for developing one’s upper body may be done with the use of a medicine ball. A partner drops a medicine ball towards the chest of another person who catches the ball and throws it back This method is considered a high intensity exercise and should only be done after basic conditioning.
Dynamic Tension
Dynamic tension is a self-resistance exercise training which includes pitting one’s muscles against each other which gives the feeling as if a heavy was being lifted.
These kinds of exercises builds strength, endurance, muscle definition and size.
Dynamic tension gives these benefits without causing injuries. Because it is nearly impossible for one to get injured because the muscles provide the force. As these muscles tire, the force that provide the tension also decrease. Dynamic tension is a safe and productive form of exercise. Muscle relaxants and other pain-relieving drugs may not be necessary if one properly performs tension exercises.
Summary
Exercising and other physical activities provide benefits like proper blood flow, lessens anxiety and other forms of stress, releases endorphins that give one a sense of euphoria, and so on.
But not having access to fitness equipment is now no excuse to start exercising, you can always use your body weight to workout effectively, without requiring any equipment.
Bodyweight training exercises are excellent exercises for building strength and for burning fat. These can be done at home or a hotel room, without needing any special equipment. You just make use of your bodyweight for these exercises. So no excuse now for taking a break from your exercise routine!
Leave a Reply