In this period of forced closure of gyms, home workouts are the lifeline of many fitness enthusiasts who do not want to lose the motivation and results obtained with so much effort.
Workout at home without equipment yes you can and it's also a lot of fun: find out which are the best bodyweight workouts for a do-it-yourself workout plan.
Home Workouts Without Equipment: Are They Effective?
Many people wonder if thefree body training is as effective as weight training. The answer is yes, they are simply two different ways of training!
Are you familiar with the physique of athletes? calisthenics? Here, they are the clear example, taken to the extreme, of how you can train your muscles even without using weights.
Our body is in itself an overload that we can use for our workouts: the important thing is to choose effective bodyweight exercises and modify the intensity of the workout according to our needs.
In this article I want to show you some free body exercises, divided by muscle districts, from which you can start to create your own training plan at home.
Free body exercises for the upper body
The most effective exercises for training the upper body are those that involve the majority of the muscles in the movement. Let's see the main exercises and variations:
Push-ups
Also called push up or improperly push-ups, is a complete exercise that trains the pectorals, back, and arms (especially the triceps).
If performed with hands wider than shoulder width, the focus will be on the pectorals; by tightening the grip, with the hands under the shoulders and elbows closed, the triceps will be the muscles most involved. For beginners, you can do the push-ups with knees on the ground. Those who are more trained can try the advanced variation by placing the feet higher, for example on a chair.
Pull-ups
The main exercise for those who want to train their back, which consists of pulling yourself up on a bar. Movement also involves the shoulders and triceps depending on the grip (wide or narrow). The pull-backs are not simple, but they are very complete. If you don't have a barre at home or have never tried this exercise, you can try the Australian Pull-Ups: lie down under a table, grab the edge with your hands and pull as if it were a normal bar.
Tricep Dips
The dips They mainly train the triceps and pectorals. They can be performed comfortably at home with the use of a chair to be placed behind you for the support of the hands.
The advanced version involves using a second chair as a foot rest; with the legs raised, the exercise becomes more intense.
Free body shoulder exercises
The exercises we have just seen are excellent for training the entire upper body. If you want to train your shoulders specifically, you can try these exercises:
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Incline Push Ups: Like push-ups, but using a chair or step to provide a raised surface to rest your hands on. By keeping your upper body higher than your lower body, you will work the anterior deltoid muscle in your shoulder more;
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Alternatively, you can perform the lateral raises, front raises and forward lunges using household items to replace the two dumbbells, such as water bottles;
Abdominal exercises
Train your abs with free body? You're spoiled for choice!
Here are the main abdominal exercises for a flat stomach to do at home:
- Crunches and variations: reverse crunch, book crunch, seated crunch, lateral crunch, straight-legged crunch, sit up...
- Mountain climber: to add a cardio component to your workout;
- Plank: holding exercise, intermediate difficulty;
- Hollow body position: advanced position, involves not only the abdominals but a large part of the muscles;
If you are a beginner, I recommend starting with classic crunches, alternating them with mountain climbers to also train your workout resistance.
You may also find it useful to read our article Belly Fat: How to Eliminate It.
Exercises to train legs and glutes without equipment
To train legs and glutes with free body we have many free body exercises to do at home, here are the main ones:
Squat
One of the fundamental exercises to tone your legs and buttocks can also be easily done at home. The muscles involved are mainly quadriceps and glutes; if we widen the support of our feet, we also train the inner thigh (sumo squats).
For those who want to increase the intensity of the exercise, I recommend trying the squat jump or the Bulgarian squats with the help of a chair to rest one foot and perform the exercise with only one leg.
Step up
For this exercise all you need is a raised surface to place one foot on and step on; trivial, right? And yet it is one of the most effective exercises for training the legs and especially the buttocks. The higher the rise, the more difficult it becomes!
Make sure you choose a stable step or chair and also try the variation lateral step up to train the outer thigh area.
Alternating lunges
You can perform lunges by alternating one leg and the other on the spot or, if you have a large enough space, try the walking lunges. Looking for a higher intensity? Try to do the jumping lunges to improve your explosiveness in jumps and leg strength.
Glute bridge
As the name suggests, the glute bridge has a particular focus on the butt, but also on the femoral muscles. The execution is simple: lie flat on the ground with your knees raised and feet flat. Lift your hips by squeezing your buttocks; complete the movement by returning to the ground.
If you are used to doing this exercise in the gym with a dumbbell or barbell as an overload, you can try these variations:
- Single leg glute bridge with raised leg
- Glute bridge on raised platform
- Isometric glute bridge
You may also be interested in: How to get firm buttocks in a week.
Home workout plan for women
This training with the exercises divided into three circuits:
1 circuit x3
- Shoulder press in ginocchio x12
- Lat pull down a terra x12
- Walking squats x10
2 circuit x3
- Butt bridge x10
- Abductor in squat x20
- Side lifts x10
3 circuito x3 (no rest)
- Plank 40”
- Plank twist x10
- Sit up x12
In the video Carolina uses elastic bands and some dumbbells to increase the intensity of the exercises such as the glute bridge. If you don't have any elastic bands at home, you can simply do the workout without them, or choose one of the variations I suggested in the previous paragraphs, for example the glute bridge on a raised platform.
Tips for a good workout at home
We know: those who are used to going to the gym probably don't feel the same energy when working out at home.
For this reason, we want to conclude this article with some final advice to find the motivation for a nice regenerating free body workout, even within the four walls of your home:
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Workout together: Even if you live alone, call a friend, connect on Skype and train on the same video workout. As they say: in friendship you share joys and sweat...pains, right?
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Dress Comfortable and Sexy: Just because we are at home doesn't mean we have to work out in our pajamas. Or at least, not always. Do not underestimate the power of a beautiful sporty and refined outfit: the mere idea of wearing it will make you regain lost motivation. You can find some ideas here.
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Finally, have fun! Do not think of the workout as a duty, but as a moment of leisure. Put on your favorite playlist, put on a workout outfit that makes you feel comfortable, do a little dance to warm up and start feeling more energized than ever!
