If you want to build strength but can’t join a gym and buying equipment is completely out of the question, do bodyweight exercises. It’s the way armies have gotten and stayed fit for centuries. The Spartans are known for their rigorous dedication to fitness. It started at the age of seven in the Agoge program. The modern military undergoes even more grueling training, using bodyweight exercises for strength. It’s been noted that the Spartans, with all their training, wouldn’t have a chance against today’s elite forces.
Get back to basics with push-ups, chin-ups, and pull-ups.
Fighting against gravity using your body weight is no simple task. That’s why it increases strength. That’s what you do when you use bodyweight exercises. Whether you’re on the ground using your muscles to push your body up or hanging from a bar pulling it up, it builds muscles, but not always the same ones. Push-ups build chest muscles, shoulders, and triceps. Pull-ups build lats and biceps and engage the trapezius, rhomboids, and deltoids. Chin-ups strengthen the upper back and arms, targeting the biceps, latissimus dorsi, trapezius, and forearm. They all build core strength.
Squat down or lunge forward to strengthen core and lower body muscles.
There are multiple types of squats, all of which build strength in your lower body. You work different muscles by adjusting the width of your feet. The traditional squat primarily works the glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps femoris. The side squat works the adductor longus and adductor magnus. The plie squat primarily works the hip adductors and glutes. There are many variations of the lunge. There are sideways lunges, forward, backward, walking, and curtsy lunges to work the lower body muscles.
Do combination exercises to build strength.
Burpees are a favorite for building total body strength because it combines several exercises. You start by dropping into a squat, then place your hands in front of you on the floor. Jump your feet backward into a high plank position. Lower your body into a push-up. Raise your body. When it’s in the up position of a push-up, jump your feet forward to the squat position. With your legs, push your body upward in an explosive movement back to a standing position.
- You don’t have to move your body to build strength. Do a plank and hold it. It develops total body strength, focusing primarily on core muscles.
- Yoga poses are all bodyweight exercises. While you aren’t always lifting the body, holding the pose can be grueling. Yoga builds strength and flexibility.
- Test your leg strength with a simple exercise. Sit on the edge of a chair with one knee bent and the foot flat on the floor. Extend the other leg. Try standing without using your hands. Strengthen your legs until you can.
- You can modify most basic bodyweight exercises to match your fitness level. By adding weights or doing variations, you can make them more difficult. Starting push-ups on your knees makes them easier.
For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym