Bodyweight exercises are a great ally for our well-being. The pandemic, forcing us indoors, has increased the popularity of this training method. Whether they integrate with the use of weights or not, the exercises we are going to talk about today will help us develop muscles in an athletic and proportionate way.
6 incredible bodyweight exercises to get strong and harmonious muscles
Let’s start with one of the most popular exercises among fans of physical culture: pushups. When doing this exercise, we need to pay special attention to the form. We touch the ground with our chest when we go down and in the ascent phase we fully extend our arms.
If we are trained, a normal push-up will not have much effect. So let’s focus on more difficult variants, which allow us to do a maximum of 12-15 repetitions in a row.
Explosive pushups, for example, are perfect for improving power. They are performed by pushing with energy and removing the hands from the ground after having extended the arms. If we want to put on a show, we can clap our hands before they touch the ground.
As versatile as pushups, but for the legs, is the squat. When we do it, we bend our knees making sure they don’t cross the line drawn by our feet. We never take our heels off the ground. Depending on the position of the legs, narrower or wider, we will work different muscles.
To improve cardio, we recommend the jump squat. We go down as in a normal squat, then, using the strength developed by standing up, we take our feet off the floor. When we land, we bend our knees slightly.
The dips are used to develop the upper body: pecs, triceps and deltoids. They can be done using the parallel bars or a bench, in the gym or in the park, but also at home. If we have space, in fact, we can take advantage of a corner of our apartment. We place our hands on a shelf with our arms outstretched and our eyes turned downwards. Keeping the legs suspended from the ground, we bend the arms and then return to straighten them.
Exercises at the barre
Pull-ups are the best bodyweight exercise for strengthening arms and back. By changing the position of the hands, closer or further away, with the palms facing us or outwards, we will use different muscles. Let us remember to make the movement without jerks. We bend our arms until we reach the bar with the chin (or, even better, with the chest).
The rows are also useful for growing our back. Similar to tractions, however, they are performed by placing themselves horizontally with respect to a low bar. Starting with our arms outstretched, let’s pull ourselves up until we touch the bar with our chest. Depending on the inclination, the legs are extended or bent, the feet touch the ground only with the heels or with the whole sole.
We conclude the overview of the 6 incredible bodyweight exercises to get strong and harmonious muscles with leg raises, the most effective abs. We can perform them on a bar or parallel bars. With outstretched arms, we bring the legs up without bending them. If we can, we try to touch the bar with our toes. It is important to maintain muscle control for the duration of the exercise.