There are times where we can’t get to the gym or maybe don’t even have the extra money for the membership. Or perhaps you are out of town on business or going on vacation without a gym anywhere in sight. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t mean you can’t exercise. There are tons of exercises you can do, just using your body weight, that can fill the gap of not having a gym. Or even if you are not a gym rat, you could implement some bodyweight exercises to get yourself in shape. Whatever your reason or purpose, bodyweight exercises can be great to whip you into shape no matter where you are either physically, or in your fitness career. Let look at a few exercises you can do anywhere…
Five Great Body Weight Exercises
- Push Ups – If you can’t do even one regular push up, that is okay. Grab a chair and perform an incline push up. This will make it easier. Work your way towards being able to do a regular push up. These are great for your chest, triceps, and core.
- Leg Lifts – These are great for working the abdominal muscles. Try to keep your heels from tapping the floor as you lift your legs up and down. If that is too tough, start with letting your heels touch the floor and then progress to no heel taps once you can!!!
- Squats – A great exercise for working your quadricep muscles and your buttocks. Hehe….it is funny to say buttocks. Anyways, squats can really help you tone down and improve your body shape. Do these at your own pace, but try to do them to failure. You want to feel that burn.
- Burpees – These can be tough, but are a great exercise to engage multiple muscles and get your body moving. They say a great way to lose weight is to get your body moving through space, and this one will have you going up and down constantly. If you are in decent shape, add a pushup to your burpee to make it a little more challenging.
- Supermans – Lay on your stomach, flat on the floor, and lift your head, arms, and feet off the ground trying to curl your body up towards the sky. Hold them for 3 seconds and then rest. That’s one. These are great for your lower back, hamstring muscles, glutes, and upper traps. The stronger you get, you will feel like you are flying like Superman (but not really…lol).
Make Them Into a Circuit Routine
Now that you have five of the best body weight exercises, you can turn them into a circuit routine you can do anywhere. A circuit routine is a routine where you perform each exercise, one after the other, without a break. Perform 10 repetitions of each exercise, and then move to the next exercise. Once you finish that last repetition of the last exercise, take a 1-2 minute break. After your break, perform another round of the circuit. Try to do at least three rounds and eventually work your way up to six rounds. This is a great, simple routine that can hit multiple muscle groups and help get you into better shape.
Conclusion
As you can tell from this simple, short routine of bodyweight exercises (that you can do anywhere), there really isn’t any excuse for anyone who wants to get in shape to not start now. Yes, this simple little routine can make a big difference in how healthy and fit you are. If you do not exercise regularly, try to perform this routine 3x a week. If you work out regularly, I would say to try this routine 5x a week. These exercises and this routine is great for helping you lose weight, get in shape, and get toned. A commitment to consistently doing this routine will net you some great results in just 4-6 weeks time. As the routine gets easier, try to increase the repetitions and change the order of the exercises to mix things up. These little changes will challenge you even more and help you progress towards your fitness goals. Good luck!!!