Bodyweight Exercises

Personally, I think weights are overrated. Don't get me wrong, they're great but I've found that body weight exercises are just as good if you're looking for good, lean muscle. I've listed below a few common but nonetheless effective body weight exercises and which muscles they train.

Bodyweight Squat - Quadriceps

• Stand with your feet shoulder width apart.
• Keep your feet as parallel as possible facing the front (don't worry if they're a few degrees off).
• Push your waist down whilst bending your knees. Think as if you're sitting in a chair, keep your butt down, don't lean forward.
• Keep your core tight and push up to your starting position.

Push-up/Press-up - Chest and Triceps

Now there are a few different forms of push-ups which work the chest and triceps to different ratios. Some variations include close grip, wide grip, etc. I'm just going to cover the standard but let me know if you're interested in an article covering different types of push-ups.

• From a lying position, place your hand on the floor shoulder width apart.
• Keep your body straight and your feet fairly close together.
• Use your arms, bending at the elbows to push yourself up and lower yourself down.
• When moving downwards keep your body straight and make sure you're lowering your chest towards the ground, not moving your hips or head downwards.

Chin-ups - Biceps, forearms, lats and traps (a few others but these in particular)

As with the push-up, there are a few variations. I'll just cover the standard one here. Now some of you might not have an actual pull-up bar. I don't either so I make do with using the bar of a swing set outside.

• Grab the bar at approximately shoulder width apart with your palms facing you.
• Do NOT jump, pull yourself off the ground until your chin is over the bar
• Lower yourself down without landing on the ground and repeat.

Well that covers a few simple but good bodyweight exercises, they might seem a challenge initially but after a few weeks you'll be noticing you can perform a lot more without a break in between.

Question: Is anybody interested in some basic nutrition posts?