Workout at home or a gym does more than just losing the flab. Exercising, even if it is only a couple of days a week improves the overall health of a person. However, it should be noted that not all exercises focus on all parts of the body and they do not give the same results. So it is important to know the various categories of exercise.
Exercise is broadly categorized into endurance, balance, strength, and flexibility. The focus of this article will be on knowing all about exercise for beginners on strength training mainly bodyweight exercises.
What are bodyweight exercises?
Bodyweight exercises are also called bodyweight workouts or bodyweight training by gym experts. These are exercises that use the person’s body weight as resistance against gravity. This essentially means you are not using any fancy gym machine or dumbbells for workouts. Initially, bodyweight training was done by professional athletes but these days it is popular among all gym-goers. The best part of it is that it is not just a great exercise for beginners but there are variations to it that are great for advanced trainers. Some of the basic abilities like sit-ups, push-ups, and pull-ups are utilized for exercises.
Benefits of bodyweight exercises
Bodyweight exercises show that getting fit need not be complicated. If you are looking for exercises that help you gain flexibility, strength, and overall health bodyweight workout is ideal. Here are some benefits that can you chalk out a full bodyweight workout plan for yourselves.
Builds flexibility and balance
Performing a full bodyweight workout at home or a gym stabilizes the body. It helps to strengthen the muscles and stretches the tendons and ligaments. That, in turn, enhances the body balance and aids in performing daily activities like running, walking, and other household chores. Having a full bodyweight workout plan also prevents injury.
Obtain core strength
The core is more than just the six-pack abs. Simple bodyweight exercises can be used to engage all the other muscles that make up the core of the body including the abs. Apart from gaining core strength, it also helps in better posture and improves overall body performance. Include bodyweight back exercises and you get relief from lower back pain too.
Works out the full body
Bodyweight exercises like mountain climbers, push-ups, jumping jacks can provide a full bodyweight workout at home. These engage the core, legs, arms, and back giving all the body muscles a stretch.
Helps to lose fat
Aiming to lose a few pounds quickly? Bodyweight exercises even for a few minutes can help you with that as it has a great impact on the metabolism. It also has an afterburn effect which means fat loss even after your workout is over.
You will never get bored
With Bodyweight exercises, there is never a period where you get bored. It can be modified to add more challenges. Also, do these exercises faster or slower and you will see noticeable differences.
It is inexpensive
One of the best things about these is that bodyweight exercises at home or at the gym need no equipment. Even if you are doing Pilates for strength training all you need is an inexpensive band. So it is a cost-effective way to lose weight.
Best bodyweight exercises plan for a full body workout
Now that you know the benefits of bodyweight exercises, to get the full range of advantages combine the below exercises to workout each muscle group.
Chest
Push-ups
One of the best bodyweight chest exercises is pushups. Start with the hands and knees on the floor. Hands should be slightly wider than shoulder-width. Stretch your legs behind and with the support of your hands stand on the balls of the feet. The body should be in a straight line from head to toe. Bend your elbows, lower the chest until it nearly reaches the floor. Pause for a few seconds and move back to the start. Repeat this best bodyweight exercise 10 times.
Push-ups shuffle
This is a variation of the pushups. Do a pushup and then shuffle to the right with a right hand and right foot. Repeat the same on the other side all the while keeping the core engaged. This is another of the good bodyweight chest exercises.
Arms
Pushups are great bodyweight bicep exercises but it is also important to work on the triceps. A tricep curl is a good exercise for this. To do this; Sit at the end of a couch or the front of a bench. Put your legs out in the front away from the couch/bench to do this bodyweight shoulder exercise. Place your hands shoulder-width apart on the top of the couch and behind you. Straighten the elbows and pull yourself up and down towards the floor. When you do it in the right form, your entire body weight is on the arms. A few more bodyweight bicep exercises that are effective are plank ups and triangle pushups.
Back
One of the best bodyweight back exercises is the spiderman. Lie on the stomach with your arms extended so that it forms a Y. Extend your legs behind and using your back and shoulders lift the chest and arms off the floor. Hold and then get back to the start. This is also a good bodyweight shoulder exercise. Birddog is another good bodyweight back exercise where you use both hands, legs, and back.
Legs
Jump squats and reverse lunges are good bodyweight leg exercises that are simple to perform and are self-explanatory. If you need more bodyweight leg exercises then add exercises like burpees, donkey kicks, mountain climbers and bear crawls.
Some of the above exercises can also be included as part of the core and full-body bodyweight exercises.
People are under the impression that you have to pile on the weights or hit the gym to build muscles. However, these days bodyweight exercises have become extremely popular as they can be done at home without equipment. Because of the myriad benefits, it offers even professional athletes have switched to this. That should be convincing enough for you to start bodyweight exercises at home too!
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