You are familiar with an intelligent workout program on the gym floor and know that bodyweight exercises can do the job when you are out and about, busy or just not in the mood to engage in a challenging fitness routine. Bodyweight exercises are a simple and effective method to improve balance, flexibility, and strength without using any fitness equipment.
Bodyweight workouts are exercises in which one’s own body weight is used to create resistance and improve strength, flexibility, stamina, and coordination. Below we offer basic bodyweight exercises for beginners and compare the results of bodyweight training with weighted cardio routines at the gym. So let’s learn more about the benefits of using your own body weight to get in shape and how you can make the most of your bodyweight training.
Bodyweight exercises move and force you to push and pull your own weight to tighten and slim your body and define your muscles. Your body is the best tool you have to do a great workout without needing any equipment.
This strength training helps you break sweat without resorting to fitness equipment. It is ideal for days when you can’t make it to the gym or are not on time due to travel. Take this workout if you want to train outside of a physical fitness routine.
No matter what, you can modify or intensify the exercises according to your fitness level. Switching from lateral lunges to planks, push-ups to climbers can of course be challenging. You need to make changes to your training to make sure you get the most from your time. If you use less resistance, you could add heavier weights or move from lateral lunges and planks into push-ups and mountaineering as you do higher repetitions to make sure you tire your muscles and make changes.
Use this super-simple bodyweight workout from Women’s Health Big Book of Exercises to burn fat, tone muscles and improve fitness. Bend your knees hard at 90 degrees and let your lower leg rest on the floor while exercising. After doing one set of each exercise, rest for two minutes and repeat the circuit one or two more times.
Keep your neck neutral and stretch your left arm and right leg straight out, keeping your hips square to the floor. Your palms should face each other, with the thumb pointing straight out on either side of your hand. Make a Y-raise by moving your arm so that it is perpendicular to your body, thumbs pointing forward on both sides of your hand and raising your arm as high as possible.
Some people find it easier to bend their elbows and place their forearms on the floor during a plank than to have arms and hands on the floor. Begin in a plank position with your abdomen pulled back into your shoulders, your wrists bent to both sides of your elbows, and then lower your chest to the floor and push into plank position. If you are just getting started, you can also try a board with your knees bent and the floor between your legs.
Also, you can try a side plank to spice things up and work on different areas of your core. This is a hip abduction plank with feet behind the knees for a full body hip abduction challenge.
A leg lift in which you have to contract your abdominal muscles hard and fast. And execute this hollow grip during the lift with pressure gauges on both legs, so that you have to contract your abdominal muscles completely.
Flex your core and lift your legs and upper body off the floor while holding them straight. Bend your elbows at 90-degree angles, like an upside down push-up, until your head moves to the floor and your legs stay on the wall. Tighten your core, kick both legs into the air with bent knees and reach your feet behind your buttocks.
Lift your legs, arms, chest and head off the floor. Push on each leg and reach up to the toes to bring the leg back to the middle.
Position your left knee on your right side, bend and place your foot directly in front of your right leg. Lie on your right side and pull back the spine, lifting the left leg with your foot at the bottom of the leg.
Push on the right heel while lifting the left leg and you will work the knee and gluteal muscles. Straighten the knee and return to the top position for a low knee jump. Stand hip-width apart, kick your right foot to the right a few feet away, bend your right knee and sit in the right glute as if trying to sat down from a chair.
Adding leg lifts to normal planks makes you more unstable and requires your core to work in overdrive as your three limbs carry more weight. Four-legged leg lift Start with stretched hands and knees, flat back and retracted core.
Keep your body on your knees with arms outstretched for hip abduction makes it a torso exercise. To do the exercise, take a kneeling side plank, lift your free leg, stop and lower it down.
One-legged and two-legged squats with glute bridge are both beneficial lower body exercises that activate gluten. Glute bridges during lunging or squatting help ensure that you actually get glute commitment when you squat or fail.
Bodyweight exercises are ideal for beginners, but also for advanced and advanced users. No equipment or trainers are required as long as the exercise is done with your body weight.