Homeworkouts - Bodyweight Exercises/No Equipment Pt 1

Now that we have covered the 5 components of Fitness which are cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, musculo-skeletal strength, flexibility and body composition, it is long overdue that I told you about exercises.
Basically the right time to exercise is now! And right now you might be at home, in the office or maybe somewhere other than a gym. Now many of us with the intent of getting fit tend to join a gym and then keep missing from actually going to the gym for some or the other reason or maybe you might complain that the membership fees are high or just a bill for a service that you might not use. So comes the need to exercise with your own body-weight after all it is your own. The best body-weight exercises that you can do and all have probably heard are push ups, squats, lunges, crunches, jumping jacks, press ups, burpees, mountain climbers and duck walks- quack quack! There are like hundreds of body-weight exercises including variations but these are the basic that one can easily do to cultivate a habit of exercising and getting fit and will hardly require 30-45 minutes of your time including a bit of stretching and warm-up exercises.

SQUATS- Squats is an exercise which is very beneficial as it works out the whole body(almost).Squats is the king of all exercises. It is a compound exercise meaning that many joints and muscles are involved in performing a squat and it is actually the easiest of all exercises as all you have to do is go down as if you are going to sit in a chair and then come up.

1. Stand tall with your feet hip width apart and your arms down by your side
2. Start to lower your body back as far as you can by pushing your hips back and bending your knees and pushing your body weight into your heels
3. As you are lowering into the squat your arms will start to raise out in front of you for balance
4. Keep a neutral spine at all times and never let your knees go over your toes
5. The lower body should be (minimum requirement) parallel with the floor and your chest should be lifted at all times not rounded.
6. Pause then lift back up in a controlled movement to the starting position.

 

Squats workout the thighs, hips and buttocks and also works on the core muscles and doing at least 10 repetitions for 3 sets in your routine will be beneficial and then you can gradually increase the repetitions.

LUNGES- Lunges are a good exercise for strengthening, sculpting and building several muscles/muscle groups, including the quadriceps (or thighs), the gluteus maximus (or buttocks) as well as the hamstrings. A long lunge emphasizes the use of the gluteals whereas a short lunge emphasizes the quadriceps. The lunge is a basic movement that is fairly simple to do for beginner athletes.

Method -

1. Stand up straight with your legs hip- width apart.

2. Step with your right foot forward for 2 to 3 feet depending upon your height and remember to keep your back straight while moving forward.

3. While stepping forward with right leg make sure that left foot's only heel has moved while the toes are still on the floor(try letting go off the floor if you want to fall)

4.While stepping forward both legs will come  to a bend at 90 degrees- pause in this position and push off by your right heel to starting position - do at least 8 reps for right leg then do the left leg.

5. For lunges do 8 reps for each leg for 2 sets and gradually increase sets as you progress.

PUSH UPS - Push ups is actually my favorite exercise as all it takes is for you to fall flat on your hands and start pressing to the floor and it gives you that beautifully sculpted upper body and the shape which can last for ages. It basically works the whole upper body from the arms, shoulders, chest, back and your torso. It is an exercise you can do anywhere any place.

Method-

1. Lie down on the floor with your hands slightly wider than shoulder width while holding your torso at arms length from the floor.

2. Next lower yourself downward till your chest touches the ground and then rise up to the starting position.

3. Try doing at least 10 reps for 3 sets and then gradually increase the number of reps as well as sets as you wish.

4. Now although the basic way to do a push up is as told above but for women they can position themselves on the knees instead of n the feet as shown in the pictures even males can do push up this way if they are over weight or are weak at the exercise. 

5. If even knee position is difficult you can do it at an angle- place your hands shoulder width apart on a table let your legs go back a certain distance from where in you can go into a push up and come up.

 

 So come on now and start exercising and get fit. Will discuss crunches, press ups, jumping jacks and mountain climbers as well as the benefits of these exercises in the next post. Till then keep moving.
This is your very own personal trainer 1103strengthfitness signing off with the bodybuilders' salute :)
Take care get fit...