Body Building Exercise

Bodyweight exercises are an amazing way to keep fit and are a great way for a fitness beginner to get accustomed to the fitness world. Bodyweight exercises are wonderful tools for developing the your physique, and perhaps best of all, they don't cost a dime!

Probably the most simple and known bodyweight exercise is the push-up. Push-ups have many varieties but they all target the same general muscle groups: the triceps and the chest. Normal grip push-ups work the chest the most while "tricep" or "diamond" push-ups - done with hands together and directly under the sternum - work the triceps more.



Once you are able to crank out 15 or more reps easily, you may wish to increase the difficulty better encourage strength gains. This can be done by either filling a backpack with weights and wearing it while you do pushups, or by elevating your legs (e.g. doing pushups off a sofa).

Another great bodyweight exercise is the pullup. Pullups stimulate mainly the biceps and the lats(the upper back). Similar to pushups, pullups come in all shapes and sorts, usually distinguishable according the grip used.

 When your hands face towards you, it is called a chin up and utilizes the biceps more directly. When your palms face away, it is usually called a pull up and works the lats and forearms more. Something to remember on top of these differences, is that the wider the grip, the more focus is put on the lats, while the narrower it gets, more focus is put on the arms.

The last bodyweight exercise in this article is probably not the most well known but it is definitely one of the most useful: the hindu squat. Hindu squats were used for centuries by Hindu wrestlers to strengthen their enormous and powerful legs.  Contrary to what one might think at first about the exercise, they are not bad for your knees at all, and have been in fact proven to be good for your knee health. The starting position of a hindu squat is a standing position with your arms extended in parallel to the floor.

You then start to lower your body into a squat position while lowering your arms until they are perpendicular to the floor at the same time. The squat position of a hindu squat is not the same as a traditional squat position because you should be on your toes and your knees should be pointing forward, as opposed to being on your heels with your shins perpendicular to the floor.

Bodyweight exercises are extremely valuable to people of fitnesses of all levels. It is wonderful to be able to experience noticeable gains without having to spend any money or leave the house at all.

Exercises done correctly will build the lean muscle and increase your metabolism in the same way as performing exercises at a gymnasium, but without the time constraints and associated costs.

These exercises can be easily done in a bedroom, hotel room, a park, school yard, ceiling rafters in a garage or in a doorway and all you have to do is use your imagination.

There will always be a way to add more resistance to your workouts.

Please remember: It doesn't matter where you are working out — at home, a hotel, or a park — always warm up properly before beginning your session, and cool down and stretch when you are finished.


Leg Exercises

Squats -  

They build muscle in the thighs, shape the buttocks and improve endurance.   Position your feet about 13 to 17 inches apart or at shoulder width, keeping the back straight and your head up.  If you want you can use something that will give you some support, i.e. a desk, bookcase, sink etc.

Now squat down to where the tops of the thighs are parallel to the floor, hold for a second and then stand up, but don’t bounce at the bottom of the movement, use a nice fluid motion. Always exhale your breath as you stand up.

Lunges –

Stand straight in correct posture; now stand with one leg forward and one leg back.

Keeping your abdominal muscles tight and chest up, lower your upper body down, bending your leg (don't step out too far).

You should have about one to two feet between your feet at this stage, the further forward you step, and the more your gluteus and hamstring muscles will have to work.

Do not allow your knee to go forward beyond your toes as you come down and stop where your feel comfortable (try not to let your back come forward) then push directly back up. Do all your reps on one leg then switch legs and do all your reps on the other leg.