In this age of technology, we have come a long way, but in this race, healthy living has been left far behind us. The modern age may have made life very easy, but at the same time it has also created a situation in which we do not want to get up from our place even for the most important work. As a result, this situation has made our lifestyle such that physical activities are constantly decreasing and we are getting surrounded by many diseases.
As per the World Health Organization (WHO), an adult should do at least 150 minutes of physical activity every week. However, it is not easy to do this considering the current lifestyle. In such a situation, if you are not able to go to the gym, then you can keep your body healthy by doing some simple exercises at home every day. 150 minutes of exercise in a week means about 30 minutes of physical activity five times a week. Which is not a very difficult task if you are determined.
It is not difficult to keep yourself healthy if you practice some bodyweight exercises at home without going to the gym and expensive fitness center. In this article, we will tell you which bodyweight exercises you can easily do at home and what things you need to be careful about during this time.
What are the benefits of bodyweight exercises?
Even if you are unable to do all the steps of daily exercise due to lack of time, you can still get many benefits by doing bodyweight exercises. Which can improve the quality of your life.
Calories are burned: Bodyweight exercises use all the muscles in the body, which not only burns a fair amount of calories but also helps in shedding unnecessary fat that gets accumulated over the body due to sitting all day .
Muscle development : Increasing physical effort helps in increasing and strengthening muscles. During continuous different exercises, muscles of different parts of the body are activated, which increases the possibility of their development.
Compound exercises: Bodyweight workouts are primarily compound exercises, which means that many muscles of the body are used during a single exercise. Exercising these muscles separately can also take a lot of time.
Functional Strength: Full-body exercises give you strength that can be useful for a variety of household chores.
You feel less tired: You may feel tired after returning from work all day. But if you include bodyweight exercises in your lifestyle on a daily basis, then energy remains in your body throughout the day.
Helpful in maintaining balance, stability: Bodyweight exercises help in bringing all the muscles of your body into active state. Exercising all the muscles at the same time brings stability to the body. While working sitting in front of the computer, browsing on the phone or even while working at home, the body position is such that it is quite harmful. Body posture can also be improved through bodyweight exercises.
Flexibility in the body: If you do not exercise for a long time, the body becomes stiff and the muscles become contracted over time. Regular exercise increases the flexibility of the body, activates the muscles and helps in keeping the body dynamic.
Helps to boost immunity and fight disease: The body needs regular exercise to use all the nutrients that we get from food. Exercising builds immunity in the body which prevents you from falling sick.
Fights stress and mental health: Exercising produces a large amount of endorphins in the body, which creates positivity. This keeps you stress-free and away from its related symptoms and factors.
How many types of bodyweight exercises are there?
There are many bodyweight exercises that you can include in your daily life to stay absolutely fit. These exercises not only help you burn calories, but they are also very beneficial in building muscles and giving them a better shape.
jumping jack exercise
You may have done many such exercises during physical education in school or at home with your parents in the morning. Jumping jacks are one such great cardio exercise . You can also do it as a warm-up before doing more strenuous forms of exercise .
How to do this exercise
- To do this exercise, first stand straight. Keep your legs slightly apart.
- Now jump and open your legs and raise your hands above your head.
- In this exercise, hands and legs have to be moved together.
- Now come back to your previous position again.
- In the beginning, this exercise can be done for one to two minutes. This duration can be increased over time.
Push-ups exercise
Push ups are the simplest and most effective exercise for building muscle strength according to your body weight. In gyms, push ups are done as a warm up before heavy exercises for big muscles, but it is an excellent exercise in itself. This one exercise helps in strengthening the chest, triceps, shoulders as well as the core muscles.
How to do this exercise
- Lie on your stomach on the floor. Place your hands at your sides below your shoulders, palms open.
- To lift your body up, push the ground with the help of your hands. When your arms are fully extended, your neck, back and legs should be in a straight line.
- Return to the starting position without letting any part of your body touch the floor. This is one wrap.
- Try to do at least 10 reps in one set.
Pull-ups
Experts consider this exercise, which involves pulling your entire bodyweight up with the help of your arms, to be very effective. Pull-ups not only strengthen your arms but also your back and core muscles. For this, you only need a strong bar, which can be easily installed at a height at home.
How to do this exercise
- Set your hands on the bar at shoulder width and make a good grip of the palms. Now lift the body upwards with the help of this.
- Try to touch the bar with your chest or chin, and hold that position for one to two seconds.
- Now with slow motion, return to the starting position. This is one rep.
- Try to do as many reps as possible in one set.
- If you are having difficulty doing the exercise, it can also be done while standing on a chair or stool.
triceps dips exercise
Tricep dip is also a bodyweight exercise in which you have to lift your body in the air with the help of your arms. During this exercise, the shoulders as well as the chest and core muscles are affected. If you do not have equipment that has rods attached to each other to help you do this exercise, then you can do this exercise at home with the help of a chair.
How to do this exercise
- Place your palms on the edge of a bench or chair facing back. Keep your feet flat on the floor and your knees straight.
- Slowly bend your elbows and try to bring your body down as much as you can. Keep your back straight during this.
- After reaching the bottom, pause for a few seconds. After this, lift the body again with strength, in such a way that your elbows become completely straight. This is one wrap.
Squat Exercises
This exercise, which involves repeated standing and sitting, strengthens the legs a lot. This exercise is also very helpful in keeping the lower half of the body in shape. This bodyweight exercise can be done at home. It can also be generally done as a warm-up before doing many other heavy exercises. The muscles that get strengthened by this exercise are the glutes, hips and thighs.
How to do this exercise:
- First of all, stand comfortably during this exercise. Now bend your knees and bring your body downwards. Keep your hands straight so that they maintain the balance of the body.
- Keep your back straight throughout the exercise.
- Try to go as low as you can. If you find it difficult, go below 90 degrees with respect to your thighs. Pause for a second after reaching the bottom.
- Now come back to the starting position, keeping your feet in a supine position. This is one rep.
- Do three sets of this exercise with at least 10-15 reps. Do this exercise at a time as long as you can.
reverse lunges exercise
Reverse lunges are another great exercise for the lower body. Apart from this, it also keeps the core and lower back muscles active. Any form of lunges can be used to improve stability and flexibility in the body.
How to do this exercise
- Stand straight with a little distance between your feet. Now take a step back with your right foot. Now bend both knees, so that the position of the feet is in the shape of a swastika.
- Your knees should not touch the floor, keep them slightly raised. Stop for a few seconds.
- Now come back to the starting position. Your back should remain straight during this exercise.
- Now repeat the same exercise by taking the left leg back and bending both knees in the same way. There is one wrap for both legs.
- Do at least 10 reps to complete one set.
Planks Exercise
Keeping your body straight during this exercise is a measure of the quality of your exercise. During the exercise, the whole body remains stable in the same position against gravity. During this, your core muscles are fully engaged. Planks are one of the best exercises to remove excess fat from the middle part of the body.
How to do this exercise
- Lie straight on the floor on your stomach. Place your hands under your shoulders, palms open.
- Now place your forearms on the ground and with their help lift your body up.
- Your body should be in a straight line from head to toe.
- Breathe normally and keep the body stable in this position for as long as you can.
- Once your strength returns, slowly come back down to the starting position.
Tips and Precautions for Bodyweight Exercises
You can do bodyweight exercises anywhere, at home or in a park. But there are some precautions and tips, using which you can get used to these exercises in less time. Not only this, you can also protect yourself from any kind of injury.
- Use a yoga mat for exercises like planks during exercise. This reduces the risk of scraping or injuring the elbow.
- Before performing these exercises, warm up with some general, on-the-spot running.
- Do not do these exercises immediately after eating.
keep these things in mind
Bodyweight exercises can help you stay fit without going to the gym. These exercises help activate many muscles in the body at the same time. Anyone can do these exercises anytime. Whether you are at home or outside, you can do these exercises because they do not require you to carry heavy exercise equipment. These exercises can help you increase your strength so that even slightly difficult exercises like pull-ups and dips can be done easily.
