Using your own body for workouts

Gyms beat home workouts, but sometimes it may be hard to honour training plans.

Traffic jams, the unavailability of proper fitness facilities in most estates and the high subscription fees make it difficult for many people to go to gyms.

But this should not deter fitness enthusiasts from exercising as there are numerous ways to tone muscles at home using body weight only or a combination of body weight and props.

Movements made during a body weight training are geared towards toning, improving endurance and in building strength.

Rasheed Omar, a personal trainer encourages people taking up body weight training at home to do so with a partner.

“Body weight work training is a simple and affordable method of keeping fit because it allows people to do workouts anywhere and at their own pace. It is important to do the workouts with the help of a partner; this will ensure that a person stays motivated because the flexibility of the workouts can encourage laziness to some extent,” he said.

Worldwide survey of fitness trends for 2017 report published by American college of sports and medicine notes that body weight training will remain the most preferred form of workout by people all over the world.

“Body weight training has been used previously; in fact, people have been using their own body weight for centuries as a form of resistance training. Typical body weight training programmes use minimal equipment, which makes it a very inexpensive way to exercise effectively,” the report said.

“Although most people think of body weight training as being limited to push-ups and pull-ups, it can be much more than that.”
Body weight training involves a variety of exercises suggested that can be used in various combinations to achieve full body workouts.

Incline push-ups

Incline pushups work the chest muscles, triceps, shoulders and back muscles. To do this exercise, stand facing a bench or any other sturdy platform- a short table or stool will do too.

Next you need to place hands on edge of the platform, with the gap between them being slightly wider than the width of your shoulders.

Move the feet back such that the upper arms are parallel to the body. Next move your body up until the arms are extended and repeat the motion.

Bodyweight Squats

This versatile exercise is good for all body muscles. To perform the bodyweight squats, stretch out your arms infront of you, with the palms facing the floor.  Your feet should be astride, with the gap between them being slightly wider than your shoulders.

Slowly bend your knees, ensuring to keep your back upright and your eyes looking straight ahead. Once your thighs are parallel to the floor, back up and repeat for up to 10 times before taking a break.  Squats exercise the gluteal muscles, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, back muscles and the core.

Walking lunges

This exercise works on the gluteal muscles, hamstrings, and quadriceps in addition to improving the hip reflexes. To begin the walking lunge, stand upright with your feet held together and then take a step forward, starting with your right leg, while lowering your hips toward the floor.

This will result in your knees bending at 90-degree angles, with the back knee pointing, but not touching, the ground. Hold for a second and return to a standing position and repeat the same movement with the left leg. You can increase the difficulty by holding equal-weight dumbbells on both your hands.

Hip thrusts

Hip thrusts are good for exercising the gluteal muscles, making them firmer and improving their strength. For this exercise, lie on your back with the knees bent.

Slowly lift your hips off the floor while keeping your weight on your upper back and heels, and keep extending until your hips form a straight line with your shoulders and knees.