Building and toning muscle doesn’t always have to require additional weight. Sometimes your own body weight is enough, especially if you’re increasing reps and focusing on fatiguing the muscle.
There are plenty of bodyweight exercises that you can easily do anywhere, anytime, without needing a lot of space. This gives you amazing opportunities to exercise, whether you’re in a hotel, on a beach, or even on a plane. Here are some of the best bodyweight exercises you can do to help build muscle.
squats
You can’t go wrong with squats. One of the staple exercises of all possible training programs, simple bodyweight air squats can do a lot for activating and toning the muscles of the legs and glutes. They work the entire posterior chain, but also require active quads and hips. This makes them the perfect exercise for your lower body and you can do them even when you are brushing your teeth.
Start standing with your feet hip-width apart. Extend your arms in front of you, at chest level, and activate your core. As you inhale, begin to slowly drop your hips as if you are trying to sit on an imaginary chair behind you. Tilt your pelvis forward to avoid arching your back too much. Try to be as close to parallel to the floor as possible at the bottom of your inhalation.
Once you begin to exhale, begin to extend your legs and return to the starting position, squeezing your glutes at the top. Repeat 25-30 times, rest for 30 seconds, then do two more cycles.
You can intensify air squats by adding small pulses into your deepest squat and burning your glutes, or turn them into air squat jumpsexploding at the end of his lift, activating his legs to the max.
lunges
Another basic exercise that can be performed in various ways is lunges. You can front bow, reverse bow, side bow, or a combination of all and really target all of your leg muscles to the point of exhaustion.
If you’re new to lunges, start with the basic reverse lunge, as it requires the least amount of stability and poses the least risk of injury. Start standing with your feet hip-width apart. Place your hands on your hips and activate your core muscles.
Inhale and step your left leg back, bending at the knee and lifting the toe of your left foot. The goal is to make two 90-degree angles: one with the front ankle, knee, and hip, and the other with the back ankle, knee, and hip. Exhale and return to the starting position, squeezing your glutes at the top.
You can continue with the same leg for 20-25 repetitions and do the same with the right one, or alternate each time you get to your starting position. Repeat the entire cycle two more times for a total of three sets of 20-25 reps per leg.
Lizards
Push-ups are rarely done with additional weight. You can sometimes see people challenging themselves with a heavy weight plate on their back, but that’s reserved for the more adventurous gym goer as the setup itself isn’t the most comfortable to get into.
Regular basic pushups are more than enough when it comes to challenging and building your chest and shoulder muscles. And along with a plank position, your upper body will really get a bodyweight treatment.
Start in a four-legged position, hands under shoulders, knees under hips. Engage your core and push the floor away from you, slightly rounding your upper back and creating space between your shoulder blades. Extend your legs and rise up on the balls of your feet.
Now, if you’re a beginner, you’ll drop your knees to the ground and create a straight plank line from your knees to your shoulders. Take an inhalation and bend your elbows, opening them slightly, and lift your body an inch off the floor. Try to place your chin on the floor so your chest stays up. Exhale and push yourself back onto your board.
If you’re familiar with push-ups and find knees on the ground easy, start from a full plank. Once you drop your body an inch off the floor, as you exhale, you are pushing your entire body up like a board. Make sure your quads are active and your body really feels like a strong, sturdy board.
Do as many reps as you can to failure for maximum results. Rest and repeat two more times.
I’m asking
Another great bodyweight exercise that really challenges your upper body is dips. They can be easily performed with a bench on the ground or on an elevated surface that lifts your entire body off the ground, literally making you lift your entire body weight. These may look easy, but you’ll run into trouble after the third rep.
If you are a beginner, start with a bench. Place your hands on the end of the bench, fingers facing forward. Bend your knees and lift your hips in line with the bench. Engage your core muscles and as you inhale, begin to bend your elbows, stopping when they are in line with your shoulders. Exhale and push your body up, extending your arms.
You can intensify by extending your legs out in front of you and digging your heels into the ground, or try using bars or a raised surface from which you will hang, cross your feet behind you and literally lift your entire weight while extending your arms.
Whichever option you choose, repeat until you fail. Rest 30 seconds and do another two cycles.
dominated
One of the most difficult bodyweight exercises you can do, pull-ups take ages to master. They require a lot of upper body strength and are really effective at building muscle. That said, there are plenty of mods to start with.
The basic pull-up begins by hanging from a stable bar, with your hands gripping the bar and your arms extended. Activate your body and as you exhale, begin to pull your body up, elbows close to your core, trying to bring your chin over the bar. Your movement should be slow and controlled, avoiding jerky movements or jerks from the lower back. You can keep your legs extended or flexed and your ankles crossed. Basically, there is no set count for pull-ups. You do everything you can. Then rest and repeat twice.
If this is unattainable for you, come to a reverse plank or inverted row, with your hands gripping the bar in front of your chest. Extend your legs out in front of you, digging your heels into the ground. Inhale, and as you exhale, pull your body straight toward the bar. Repeat 15-20 times, really trying to isolate her arms so she feels her whole body being lifted. Rest and repeat two more cycles.
Add these bodyweight exercises to your next muscle-building routine and feel yourself getting stronger with every rep. And if you really want to focus on your legs, check out these hamstring exercises you can also do without stepping on a gym.
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