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6 basic Bodyweight exercises – Crucial for Muscle strength and endurance

Why Body Weight Exercise?

Body weight exercises

As you guys know that in todays lifestyle, we get very less time for going to the gym, yoga classes, outdoor games or sometimes even for a walk. So, the key to be fit is “at home workout”. You just need your body and shape. 

There are lots of content about body weight workouts out there, but in this particular blog, I am going to explain some basic movements/exercises that everyone can do within a small amount of time.

Is warmup needed?

The answer is yes, you need to warm your body up for any kind of exercise so that you wont tear or damage any ligament or muscle tissue. These are some basic warmup exercises that you should be doing before starting working out:

1. Dynamic stretching: This kind of stretching wakes up your muscles for the workout which helps avoid any kind of cramp or muscle tear. Here you stretch the muscle for around 2-3 seconds and then release it and repeat the same for three to four times per muscle.

2. Shoulder circles: Stand upright with your feet shoulder width apart, extend your arms parallel to the floor, draw circles with your finger tips slowly. This will warmup your shoulder cuffs.

3. Neck circles: Draw simple circles using your nose tip, 10 secs or 10 reps in clockwise and 10 anticlockwise directions. This will warmup your neck muscles, ligaments and nerves.

4. Wrist and feet circles: Make a firm fist and rotate your wrist in clockwise and anticlockwise directions for 10-20 reps. Do the same with your feet but without folding the toes.

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Basic body weight exercises

1. Plank

Yoga poses
Place your forearms shoulder width apart on the floor with your body straight from head to toe and feet together or close enough. Hold this pose for as much time as you can. You can repeat this for 2-4 times.
 
Try doing this facing upwards which will target the lower back and glutes. 
 

2. Pushups

Calisthenics
Keep your palms shoulder width apart on the floor, with your body straight from head to toe. Now bring your chest closer to the ground and then return to the normal position. Repeat this motion as many times as you can. Do this exercise for about 2-4 sets. 
 
Here, you can try some other variations by placing your palms wider, nearer, or close to each other. As you go wide, you target chest. As you come closer, you target triceps.
 

3. Squats

Burn fat
Place your feet a little wider than shoulder width, place your hands either together at the chest or extend them forward. Now try to bend the knees by going downwards, go as far as you can. Make sure your knees do not cross  your toes when seen vertically. Do this for as many reps as you can. Practice this for 2-4 sets.
 
Try keeping your legs wide for targeting glutes (butt) and closer to target quads (thighs).


4. Pull-ups

Calisthenics
If you have a pullup bar, that’s awesome. But if you do not, you may look up to something on which you can place your hands and hang. Pull you body upwards. Do this for 2-3 sets.
 
Here, wide grip provides activation of lats (wings), and close grip activates teres (behind shoulder muscle) major and minor.


5. Lunges

Exercise
Keep your one foot flat in front of the other nearly one meter apart with the front knee bent at right angles. Now repeat this movement with the other leg. Do as many reps and for 2-3 sets.
 
You can do 10 on each side and then shift to another instead of doing alternatively.


6. Jumping jacks

Jumping jacks
Place your feet wider than shoulder width, now jump as high as you can. Do this as many times and for 2-4 sets.
 
 


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