The fastest and most most efficient way of building muscle and strength is by using free weights and machines, but for one reason or another the use the equipment may not be convenient or accessible to you. You might not have access to a commercial gym or a home gym, but never fear there is a solution to the problem, you can do a strength-training workout without using equipment. The important thing to remember when doing any workout be it using your own body weight, machines or free weights, and that is overtime you need to increase the resistance. When you perform the excercises correctly you will build lean muscle and increase your metabolism in the same way as performing exercises at a gymnasium, but without the time constraints and associated costs.
The great thing about these exercises is that they can be easily performed anywhere you like such as in your bedroom, hotel room, a park, all you have to do is use your imagination in deciding where to work out and also find ways to add more resistance to your workouts.
Before you start any session always warm up properly and cool down and stretch when you are finished.
Leg Exercises
Squats - Squats build muscle in the thighs, shape the buttocks and improve endurance. To perfom a squart the starting position is with your feet at shoulder width, keep the back straight and your head up.
Now squat down so that the tops of your thighs are parallel to the floor, hold the position for a second and then stand up, one thing to make sure is that you don’t bounce at the bottom of the squat, use a nice fluid motion.
If you want you can use something that will give you some support, i.e. a desk, bookcase, sink etc.
Lunges – Start of standing straight ,now bring one leg forward and one leg back. Keep your chest up and your abdominal muscles tight , lower your upper body down, bending your leg .
You should have a distance of about one to two feet between your feet, the further forward you step, and the more your gluteus and hamstring muscles will have to work.
When you lower down don't allow your knee to go forward beyond your toes try not to let your back come forward, then push directly back up. Do all your reps on one leg then switch legs .
Back Exercises
Chin-ups - Chin-ups are a great upper body workout that workouts your biceps, deltoid and lat muscles. Use a doorway chin-up bar, ceiling rafters in a garage or grab the molding of your door frame.
Grab the chin-up bar with a reverse grip and your hands just beyond shoulder-width apart. Pull yourself up and try to touch either your chin or upper chest to the bar. Return slowly to the starting position and repeat until failure. Doorway chinning bars remove from the doorway when you are not using them and can be put up and taken down in seconds.
Bent Over Row - This exercise simulates a rowing action and strengthens the shoulder muscles and biceps in the arm.Take up a position with your right hand and right knee braced on a sturdy bed or some other flat surface that will provide a good support. Now pick up a dumbbell or something heavy that you can hold onto with your left hand.
Slowly bring the dumbbell up to the side of your chest at all times keep your back straight, then lower the weight back down to arms length.
Chest Exercises
Push-Up - They would have to be one of the best most simplest exercise that one can do to get overall body fitness. Push-ups don’t require any fancy equipment making them great for when you are at home or on holidays.Push-ups work the following muscles
Chest (pectoralis major in the chest),Triceps, Shoulders and also to extent your abdomen, thighs and back muscle.. To perform the basic push-upLie face down on the floor with your hands about shoulder width apart and keeping your palms turned slightly inward. Now push-up until your arms are straight, lower and repeat
To make the push-up more difficult elevate your feet.
Dips - Dips are a great tricep exercise. You can do full dips from two parallel bars or dip bars, bench dips or they can also be done between two sturdy chairs. It’s a compound movement as well and involves working all the muscles that the push up works.
Keep your head up and body as vertical as possible. For the beginning of the movement, start at the top (arms fully extended) and lower yourself until your upper arms are parallel to the seat of the chairs, hold and then push up to the top of the movement until your arms are fully extended again.
Adding Weight
Although your own body weight provides enough resistance for an effective workout but like i said at the start of the article in order to encourage our muscles to grow we need to overtime add resistance to become stronger. You don't need weight plates the body doesn't care what you use as long as it gets resistance you can a bag of books, bottles of water/sand or anything else that you can think of
The great thing about these exercises is that they can be easily performed anywhere you like such as in your bedroom, hotel room, a park, all you have to do is use your imagination in deciding where to work out and also find ways to add more resistance to your workouts.
Before you start any session always warm up properly and cool down and stretch when you are finished.
Leg Exercises
Squats - Squats build muscle in the thighs, shape the buttocks and improve endurance. To perfom a squart the starting position is with your feet at shoulder width, keep the back straight and your head up.
Now squat down so that the tops of your thighs are parallel to the floor, hold the position for a second and then stand up, one thing to make sure is that you don’t bounce at the bottom of the squat, use a nice fluid motion.
If you want you can use something that will give you some support, i.e. a desk, bookcase, sink etc.
Lunges – Start of standing straight ,now bring one leg forward and one leg back. Keep your chest up and your abdominal muscles tight , lower your upper body down, bending your leg .
You should have a distance of about one to two feet between your feet, the further forward you step, and the more your gluteus and hamstring muscles will have to work.
When you lower down don't allow your knee to go forward beyond your toes try not to let your back come forward, then push directly back up. Do all your reps on one leg then switch legs .
Back Exercises
Chin-ups - Chin-ups are a great upper body workout that workouts your biceps, deltoid and lat muscles. Use a doorway chin-up bar, ceiling rafters in a garage or grab the molding of your door frame.
Grab the chin-up bar with a reverse grip and your hands just beyond shoulder-width apart. Pull yourself up and try to touch either your chin or upper chest to the bar. Return slowly to the starting position and repeat until failure. Doorway chinning bars remove from the doorway when you are not using them and can be put up and taken down in seconds.
Bent Over Row - This exercise simulates a rowing action and strengthens the shoulder muscles and biceps in the arm.Take up a position with your right hand and right knee braced on a sturdy bed or some other flat surface that will provide a good support. Now pick up a dumbbell or something heavy that you can hold onto with your left hand.
Slowly bring the dumbbell up to the side of your chest at all times keep your back straight, then lower the weight back down to arms length.
Chest Exercises
Push-Up - They would have to be one of the best most simplest exercise that one can do to get overall body fitness. Push-ups don’t require any fancy equipment making them great for when you are at home or on holidays.Push-ups work the following muscles
Chest (pectoralis major in the chest),Triceps, Shoulders and also to extent your abdomen, thighs and back muscle.. To perform the basic push-upLie face down on the floor with your hands about shoulder width apart and keeping your palms turned slightly inward. Now push-up until your arms are straight, lower and repeat
To make the push-up more difficult elevate your feet.
Dips - Dips are a great tricep exercise. You can do full dips from two parallel bars or dip bars, bench dips or they can also be done between two sturdy chairs. It’s a compound movement as well and involves working all the muscles that the push up works.
Keep your head up and body as vertical as possible. For the beginning of the movement, start at the top (arms fully extended) and lower yourself until your upper arms are parallel to the seat of the chairs, hold and then push up to the top of the movement until your arms are fully extended again.
Adding Weight
Although your own body weight provides enough resistance for an effective workout but like i said at the start of the article in order to encourage our muscles to grow we need to overtime add resistance to become stronger. You don't need weight plates the body doesn't care what you use as long as it gets resistance you can a bag of books, bottles of water/sand or anything else that you can think of
