Bodyweight exercises at home

Introduction

Hello everyone and welcome to my website Sportsevery. In this article, we will discuss bodyweight exercises at home.

What are bodyweight exercises?

Bodyweight exercises are those exercises that use a person’s body weight and provide resistance against gravity. Body weight exercises are strength exercises. Examples of bodyweight exercises are lunges, squats, burpees, planks and many other exercises that a person can do easily without equipment.

Benefits of bodyweight exercises

1. No equipment needed: Bodyweight exercises like push-ups, squats or lunges can be done anywhere without any equipment.
2. Low barrier to entry: Many exercises have easier variations to suit beginners and a person can start at any fitness level.
3. Core stability and balance: Exercises like planks or burpees improve stability and coordination and make the body of a person more efficient in performing physical tasks.
4. Increases flexibility and mobility: Lunges and squats reduce stiffness by improving flexibility and range of motion.
5. Builds muscle endurance: Bodyweight exercises increase muscular endurance and a person can work for longer periods without fatigue as bodyweight training involves performing multiple repetitions of each movement.
6. Boosts metabolism: Many bodyweight exercises target the multiple muscle groups which helps to burn more calories during and after the workout and helps in weight loss.
7. Reduces risk of injury: Bodyweight exercises have less impact on joints and are safer for joints as compared to heavy lifting. This reduces the risk of injury.
8. Customizable to all fitness levels: By changing the number of repetitions, sets or tempo, bodyweight exercises can be easily modified to suit any fitness level.
9. Enhances cardiovascular health: Bodyweight exercises help to improve blood flow, and heart health and reduce the risk of heart diseases.
10. Mental benefits: Bodyweight exercises improve mental health by reducing stress and anxiety.

Benefits of working out at home

1. Convenience: Working out at home is very convenient as a person can do exercise anytime and can avoid travelling to the gym or ground.
2. Cost-effective: There is no need for membership fees for the gym or no need to spend money on equipment.
3. Flexibility: A person can choose any workout according to their preferences like yoga, HIIT etc.
4. Privacy: A person at home can workout comfortably with privacy.
5. Low risk of injury: Doing workouts without weights or machines lowers the risk of injury at home.

Warm-up

Warm-up before bodyweight exercises are important as they reduce the risk of injury and prepare the muscles for a workout.

1. Jumping jack (2-3 minutes): This will increase your heart rate and activate your muscles.
2. Arm circles(30 seconds in each direction): To warm up your shoulders, stand tall extend your arms out to the sides and make small circles forward and then backward.
3. Leg swings: Swing your leg forward and backwards by standing next to a wall for support. Do 10-15 swings per leg.
4. High knees: Jog in place, and bring your knees up towards your chest. Do this for 30 seconds.
5. Hip circles(30 seconds in each direction): To loosen your lower back and hips, place your hands on your hips and move your hips in a circular motion.

Bodyweight exercises at home

1. Push-ups: It targets the chest, shoulders, triceps, and core.

• Be in a plank position then keep your hands shoulder-width apart.
• Go down until your chest nearly touches the ground.
• Take a push from the ground and come back to the starting position.

2. Squats: It targets the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and calves.

• Stand still with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Go down by lowering the hip.
• Keep going down until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
• Take support from the heel and come back to the starting position.

3. Lunges: It targets the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and calves.

• Go back to the starting position and do it with another leg.
• Stand still in one place.
• By lowering your hips, step one foot forward until both knees form 90-degree angles.

4. Plank: It targets the core and shoulder muscles.

• Place your forearms on the ground with your elbows directly under your shoulders.
• Push up onto your toes, lifting your body off the ground.
• From head to heels, keep your body in a straight line.

5. Glute bridges: It targets hamstrings, glutes and lower back.

• By squeezing your glutes lift the hips upward.
• Go back to the starting position.
• Lie down on your back, bend your knees, feet flat on the floor.

6. Calf raises: It targets the calves.

• Lift your heel off the stairs, coming onto your toes.
• Go back to the starting position.
• Stand with feet shoulder-width apart on stairs.

7. Wall sit: It targets the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves.

• Stand with your back against a wall.
• Slowly go down until your knees are at a 90-degree angle.
• Press your back into the wall and hold this position.

8. Mountain climbers: It targets the core, shoulders and legs.

• Start in a push-up position.
• Bring your one knee towards your chest and then switch your leg in a running motion.

9. Burpees: It targets the full body.

• Stand, then go in a squat position then place your hands on the floor.
• Jump your feet back into a plank position then do a push-up.
• Again stand and jump up.

10. Triceps dips: It targets the triceps.

• Take a chair behind you and place your hand on the edge of the chair.
• Lower your body until your arms are at a 90-degree angle.
• Go back to the starting position by taking a push from the chair.

Cool down

After a leg workout, cooling down is very important as it helps in the recovery of the body and reduces the risk of injuries.

1. Light walking or marching(2-3 minutes): Bring your heart rate down by walking in place or around your space.
2. Seated forward bend: Sit with your legs extended in front of you and slowly try to touch your toes.
3. Quad stretch(30 seconds per leg): Stand on one leg and pull your opposite heel towards your glutes. Do this with the other leg also.
4. Hamstring stretch: Sit with one leg bent with the foot against your inner thigh and the other leg extended. Keep your back straight and try to touch your toes on the extended leg.

Conclusion

In this article, we discussed about bodyweight exercises at home. Bodyweight exercises are those exercises that use a person’s body weight and provide resistance against gravity. No equipment is required for bodyweight exercises. Bodyweight exercises improve core stability and balance and increase flexibility and mobility. Bodyweight exercises boost metabolism and enhance cardiovascular health. Working out at home is very convenient as a person can do exercise anytime and can avoid travelling to the gym or ground.

Always do warmup before bodyweight exercises to avoid injury. There are so many bodyweight exercises. Push-up targets the upper body, plank targets the core. Squats target the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and calves, lunges target the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and calves, glute bridges target the hamstrings, glutes and lower back, Calf raises target the calves, wall sits target the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves, dips targets the triceps and burpees targets the full body. After a leg workout, cooling down is very important as it helps in the recovery of the body and prevents injury.