Body weight exercises are the latest craze on late night infomercials, but is there any truth to all the hype? Surely Chuck Norris, Christie Brinkley, Wesley Snipes and even Olivia Newton-John have found a remarkable fitness discovery which revolutionizes how people can strengthen muscle, lose fat and tone up their body, right? However, besides the costly Total Gym, is there any other way to capitalize on body weight exercises for weight loss and physical fitness? Continue reading to discover 5 free, yet amazing effective body weight exercises which will help you lose the weight and get in shape.
When you first begin your body weight exercises be prepared for some muscular discomfort the next day. Most people don't realize how powerful a body weight workout can be, so they push themselves harder than they should in the first 2 to 3 weeks. The discomfort is a natural byproduct of the lactic acid accumulating in the muscles. Jogging or deep knee squats will help to burn off the lactic acid and take away the muscular discomfort.
Squats are one of the most effective body weight exercises a person can perform. When done properly squats provide a full body workout even though it may appear that only the lower body is exercising. Squats workout the entire lower body as well as many of the large muscle groups in the upper body.
A body weight squat is basically a simple deep knee bend. Keep your spine slightly arched backward by thrusting your chest out. As you bend down at the knees make sure to keep your spine in a good position by slightly thrusting your butt outward. To help you maintain balance, hold your hands out in front of you.
The secret for losing weight with this exercise is that you need to perform them relatively quickly with a goal of being able to do at least 50 in a row in quick succession. Take deep breaths as needed while you perform squats by breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. A great example of squats would be doing 60 squats in about 2 minutes or less. You will be out of breath when you're done.
Pullups or Chinups are a great upper body workout because these exercises make your largest upper body muscle group work very hard. The main muscles worked are the latissimus dorsi (aka, 'lat' muscles) but also the biceps, forearms and abdominals. Simply grab a bar which can support your body weight and see if you can do more than 3 pullups.
[Note: when performing body weight pullups or chinups, you can choose to grab the bar with your palms facing back at you, or you can face your palms away. The difference between the exercises is simple: palms facing toward you is a pullup and greatly involves the biceps; palms facing away is a chinup and also uses the biceps.]
Pushups are probably the most popular type of body weight exercise known. You need to incorporate pullups into your normal, every-day exercise routine. Pushups primarily focus on strengthening the chest muscles (pectorals) with a slight benefit to the triceps and abdominals. When starting out, target a goal of doing 20 pushups in a row.
Chair Dips are an amazingly simple exercise to incorporate. Simply grab two chairs with backs and arrange them so that you can fit inbetween them. Place your hands on both chairbacks and pull your feet up so you are supporting your full body weight with only your arms. Now simply lower your body in what feels like a modified, upright pushup position. You will get a tremendous arm and chest workout on this.
Jogging or Walking are two of the most underused body weight exercises. Simply get out there (or on your treadmill) and start walking or jogging. Go at a pace which requires your heart to elevate its pulse rate while remaining in your target heart rate zone. You should be able to maintain a conversation while you do this exercise, so if you're out of breath, then it you need to slow down a bit and take it easy.
Helpful Tips. Because body weight exercises don't require any extra equipment you can perform body weight exercises anywhere at anytime! So, the next time a commercial comes on TV, you should take that opportunity to improve your physical fitness and lower your weight.
Do some body weight exercises every day. Get into a routine and establish a habit of daily performing body weight exercises. In less than 2 months you will see results - you will look and feel much better - and your cost will be zero!
