Bodyweight exercises to build muscle – If you want a toned body like Henry Cavill’s, but you are too lazy to hit the gym or it’s closed because of the pandemic, you can get the same results by working out at home. Sounds too good to be true?
Well, all you need to do is use your body weight to build muscles. With bodyweight exercises, you don’t need any fancy gym machine. Let’s dive into the realm of bodyweight exercises without further ado!What Is Bodyweight Exercise?
Bodyweight exercises are workouts that don’t need the use
of any gym equipment or weights. Instead, you use the weight of your body as
the source of resistance.
The Benefits of Bodyweight Exercises
■ Saves money
■ Can be done anytime, anywhere
■ Gives better body balance
■ Builds muscles without injuries
■ Improves stability
■ Protects joints
Full Body
Crab
Walk
Sit on the floor and keep your feet apart and your knees
bent. Put your hands on the floor behind your back. While pushing up your hips,
crunch your core tight. Move your opposite arm and leg to start crab-walking
without your buttocks touching the ground.
Inchworm
Place a mat on the floor and stand on one edge with your
feet slightly apart. Breathe in, and while you breathe out, bend forward from
the waist to place your hands on the mat.
With your hands before your feet, inhale and start walking
your hands one after the other. Your heels should be off the floor as your
hands walk to a plank position.
Go beyond the plank position, walking your hands until they
are stretched out in front of you.
Once your body is in a straight line, use your feet to
start walking until they reach as close to your hands as possible. You can bend
your knees but only slightly.
Come back to the original standing posture by slowly
raising your upper body.
Bear
Crawl
Place a mat in front of you and get down on your hands and
knees. Lift your knees so that they’re an inch off the ground. Keep your legs
hip-width apart and your hands at a shoulder-width distance. Make sure your
back is flat.
Keeping the same distance off the ground, move one arm and
the opposite leg at the same time to move forward. Repeat with the alternate
arm and leg.
Crocodile
Crawl
Take a push-up position and keep your hands and legs
shoulder-width apart. Put your upper body close to the floor as if you were
doing a push-up.
To start crawling, bring your leg very close to your elbow.
If you’re starting with the right leg, then bring it close to your right elbow.
At the same time, move forward by bringing the opposite arm forward.
Keep moving forward by repeating with the alternate hand
and leg and keeping your upper body close to the floor.
Mountain
Climber
Assume the plank position. Make sure your toes and hands
are taking your body weight evenly to maintain a good balance.
Keep your back straight, your arms at a shoulder-width
distance, your abs pulled in, and your head in line with your straight body.
Bring your right knee close to your chest. Then pull out
your right knee while you bring your left knee close to your left chest. Make
sure not to raise your hips.
Increase the pace of pulling in and out your knees so that
you start running. Breathe in and out in tandem with switching your leg.
Frog
Stand
Put your hands on the floor beside your toes, aligned with
your shoulders, and spread your fingers wide. Put your knees next to your
elbows, on the outside. Now bend your elbows a bit.
Lean your knees on your elbows and slowly raise your feet,
keeping your focus on the floor.
Planche
The planche needs to be mastered step by step.
Step1:
Holding on to the parallel bars, lift yourself off the floor by bending your
knees at a 45-degree angle.
Keeping this position, push your shoulders a bit forward
while stretching your back. Hold this position for 20 to 30 seconds.
Step
2:
Pull out your legs as far as possible. As the gap between your knees and
abdomen increases, you will feel more tension in your shoulders. Try to hold
this position for 20 to 30 seconds.
Step
3:
Pull back one leg at a time while keeping the other one close to your abs. Try
to hold this position. Alternate with your other leg. Then go back to the
position in step 2.
Step
4:
The Straddle Planche is when you extend both your legs and spread them wide.
Then choose either step 2 or step 3 positions to continue for a while.
Step
5:
To come to the full circle of planche, just bring your spread legs back
together.
Back
Lever
You will need access to a bar.
Step
1:
While hanging on the bar, raise your legs so that your knees come close to your
chest. Continue to move your knees over your head and lift your hips so that
you complete a flip. Do the reverse to come back to the original position.
Step
2:
Lift your legs to get into an upside-down hanging position. Keep your body
straight by using the support of the bar. Try to hold this position for 20
seconds.
Step
3:
Now tuck in one leg while keeping the other straight and come down slowly until
your body is parallel to the floor. Hold this position for as long as you can
before lowering yourself to the floor. Repeat with the alternate leg.
Step
4:
Repeat step 3 with both legs parallel to the floor.
Front
Lever
It’s similar to the back lever but in this case, your body
faces upwards to the ceiling instead of facing the floor.
Start by hanging upside-down from a bar, keeping your body
straight. With your face toward the ceiling, lower your body so that it’s
parallel to the floor. Hold this position for as long as you can.
Muscle-Up
You need a bar that’s above your head. With your hands
holding the bar, raise your body as high as your groin or waist. Your legs
should be hanging. Hold this position as long as possible and come back down.
Human
Flag
You need a vertical pole for this exercise. Use an overgrip
for the upper hand. The bottom hand should grip the pole in a way that your
elbow faces the ground. Your upper hand position should be the opposite of your
lower hand one.
Step
1:
The Support Press step uses a vertical and a horizontal bar. Keep your lower
hand on the vertical bar and your upper one on the horizontal pull-up bar above
your head.
Place your foot at the bottom of the vertical pole and push
with your bottom hand while pulling with your upper hand to move your body off
the ground and away from the pole. Try to hold this position for 20 seconds.
Step
2:
In the Chamber Hold step, your hands should be above each other directly. Raise
your hips in the air by kicking your feet off the ground. Your hips must be
above your shoulders.
Put your knees close to your abs, and while you pull with
your top arm, push with your bottom arm. Hold this position for at least 10
seconds.
Step
3:
From step 2, gradually pull out your legs. Make sure your body is closer to the
vertical pole. Hold the position for 10 seconds.
Step
4:
Slowly put your hips down from step 3. You can keep either one or both knees
bent.
Step
5:
Keep both legs extended without bent knees.
Squat
Stand with your feet a bit wider than hip-width. Extend
your arms in front of you. Lower yourself to a sitting position with your hips
parallel to the floor and your knees at a 90-degree angle. They should remain
behind the toes.
Slowly raise yourself back to a standing position and
repeat.
Single-Leg
Box Squat
Stand on the floor with your feet hip-width apart. Put a
stool or box 6 to 12 inches behind you. When you sit on this, your knees should
be bent at a 90-degree angle.
Raise your extended non-dominant leg 6 inches from the
ground. Bend the knee of your dominant leg and sit on the edge of the box while
keeping your other leg raised.
Press down on the heel of your dominant foot to get back
up. Continue.
Skater
Squat
Stand with your feet slightly apart and a cushion behind
you. Extend your arms in front of you.
Lower yourself by bending the knee of your front foot and
tucking the other leg behind you so that the knee is bent and touches the
cushion behind.
Press on the heel of your front foot to get up. Repeat.
Shrimp
Squat
Stand on the floor and bend your non-squatting knee so that
you can hold it by the ankle behind your back. Keep the other arm extended in
front of you for balance.
Lower yourself by bending the front knee until your back
knee touches the floor. Get back up by
pushing down on the front foot. Repeat.
Pistol
Squat
Stand with your feet close together. Raise one leg to
extend it while fully extending your arms before you. Keep this foot off the
floor.
Keep your back straight as you lower yourself by bending
the knee of the leg that’s on the floor. At the same time, keep the other leg
out in a straight line.
Continue to a sitting position with your hips just above
the floor with your extended leg parallel to the ground.
Press hard on the foot that’s flat on the floor to raise
yourself. Repeat.
Are Bodyweight Exercises To Build Muscle Legit?
With hard work and dedication, you too can have the body of
your dreams without piling up hefty gym membership bills.
Plus, bodyweight exercises are easy to do anywhere,
anytime—even when you’re traveling. You just need enough space to move around.
Get also more flexibility and stability with regular
bodyweight exercises to build muscle. You can face each day feeling mentally
and physically energized and on top of the world!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment