Exercise At Home: Top 5 ‘No Equipment’ Muscle Building Exercises
Whether you’re an extremely busy person or someone who doesn’t have money to pay for a personal trainer, there is no reason why you can’t exercise at home and build stronger muscles. The truth is there are several muscle building exercises that you can engage in that require little space, no equipment and will cost you absolutely nothing. These exercises also take up little time and are therefore ideal for busy people. Here are 5 of the best ways to exercise at home to build muscle and that need no equipment.
Exercise 1 – Bodyweight Squat
- Begin in a standing position with your feet shoulder width apart and angled out slightly. Your upper body should be upright with your chest out and your shoulders back.
- With your head up and hands held together in front of you, slowly squat by bending your knees and sticking your butt out behind you. As you squat, keep your knees in alignment with your ankles and avoid leaning too far forward at the hips. Your knees should also not bend past your toes.
- Extend your knees and push yourself back up to the starting position.
- Repeat steps 2-3 for as many reps as you can manage.
Exercise 2 – Push Up
- Assume the push up position with your hands planted on the floor directly beneath your shoulders at shoulder width length and your legs stretched out behind you. Make sure to ground your toes into the floor to stabilize your lower body. Keep your body perfectly flat by not sagging your hips or holding them too high.
- Bend your arms and lower your body down until your chest nearly touches the floor. Keep your whole body from the head all the way to the toes flat as you go down.
- Straighten your arms and push your body back up to the starting position, keeping your body flat and core tight.
- Repeat steps 2-3 for as many reps as you can manage.
Exercise 3 – Chin Up
- Firmly grip the chin up bar or doorframe with your palms facing your torso. Keep your arms fully extended and the distance between your palms at shoulder width or closer. Then bend your knees and bring your feet off the floor while fully supporting your bodyweight with your arms and shoulders.
- Slowly pull your torso up until your head is around the level of the chin up bar or doorframe, making sure that you keep your torso straight as you pull up.
- Slowly lower your body back down to the starting position.
- Repeat steps 2-3 for as many reps as you can manage.
Exercise 4 – Handstand Push Up
- Start with your hands placed on the floor and around 5 inches from a wall. Then kick up against the wall to bring the heels of your feet to rest on the wall. You should end up in an upside down position with your arms and body straight.
- Slowly bend your arms and lower your head and torso towards the floor, stopping when your head lightly touches the floor.
- Slowly straighten your arms and push your head and torso back up to the starting position.
- Repeat steps 2-3 for as many reps as you can manage.
Exercise 5 – Plank
- Start off by kneeling on the floor, then lean your body forward and place your forearms on the floor. You can hold your hands together or keep them slightly apart.
- Push your legs back and dig your toes into the floor. Make sure to keep your body as straight as a plank and your core muscles tight.
- Hold the plank position for as long as you can manage.
Summary
As you can see, it’s perfectly possible exercise at home and build up all the muscles in your body without any additional equipment. You can do each of the exercises above in isolation if you want to target specific body parts or alternatively you can do all five exercises in a sequence to get a quick and effective full body workout at home.
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