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danielthomasfitness
personal training
Home Body Weight Exercises
Push-Ups
For this exercise begin by lying on the floor face down. Place your palms on the floor, just slightly wider then your shoulders. Keep your body straight and only let your chest touch the ground. Exhale as you push your body up until your arms are straight, then inhale as you lower yourself down. Form is everything. It doesn't matter if you can only do 1 rep as long as you're doing the exercise right. If you struggle to do a proper rep then elevate your upper body by placing your hands on a table or window sill. Do as many reps as you can and keep pushing. When the elevated position is getting too easy, find a lower object to place your hands on and eventually you will be doing push-ups on the floor. This exercise will primarily work your chest. It also works your triceps and to a lesser extent, the front of your shoulders.
Dips
Place two chairs slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Make sure they are strong enough to hold your body weight. Place your hands on the back of each chair and bend your legs so you are holding yourself up. Let your body come down and press back up again in a steady movement. Exhale as you come up and inhale on the way down. This works your chest, shoulders and triceps. The further you lean forward, the more your chest will work.
Tricep Dips
Begin this exercise by facing away from a chair or table and placing your palms on it to hold your body weight. Then place your feet on another chair or table. Let your body slowly down towards the ground, inhaling as you do so. Then press back up again exhaling on the way up. If you find this exercise too difficult, take your feet down and place them on the ground. You can use your legs to help you with the movement, but try use them as little as possible. This exercise is for your triceps.
Pull-Ups
For this exercise you will need a chin-up bar or something similar to hold up your body weight. Begin by holding the bar approximately 12 inches apart, with your palms facing you. Start with your arms straight and your feet off the floor. Pull your body up, exhaling on the way until your chin is over the bar, then inhale as you lower yourself down slowly. With your hands in this position it will mostly work your biceps and you will be slightly using your back also. To have your back acting as the primary muscle, place your hand wider, about 4 feet apart, with your palms facing away. Your lats will now be the primary muscle being used. If doing this exercise is too difficult, you can modify it by using exercise bands as an aid or by standing on a chair and using your legs to help move your body up.
Rows
Begin by placing a brush on top of two chairs that are about 4 feet apart. Make sure it's secure and tie it if necessary. Lie down on the floor and hold the handle of the brush close to the chairs with your palms facing away. Keep your body straight, with your heels on the ground. Exhale as you pull yourself up as far as you can, then inhale as you lower yourself back down again. This exercise is good for developing and toning your back muscles.
Sit-Ups
Begin by securing your feet under a couch or something similar. Lie down and have your legs bent at about a 45 degree angle. Place your hands across your chest or abs. Lift your body up using only your abs, exhaling as you do so, then inhale as you slowly lower yourself down. This is good for strenghtening your mid to upper abs. When performing core exercises, it's important to keep your abs tight the whole time, as this will make a big difference to your results.
Leg Raises
Begin by lying down on the floor and placing your hands under your glutes with your legs stretched out. Exhale as you bring your knees up to your chest and inhale as you lower your legs back down to the stretched out position. This exercise targets the lower abdominals. Remember to keep your core tight throughout the entire exercise.
Crunches
Lie down on the floor and hold your legs up in the air so your lower abs are engaged. Your calves will be about 20 inches or so off the ground and parallel to the floor. Keep your hands to the side of your head but don't hold tight. Pull your upper body up off the ground towards your legs using only your abs, exhaling through the movement. Then inhale as you lower down again. Do as many reps as possible and then place your feet flat on the ground so you can do more. This is like combining the two exercises above and will tone both your upper and lower abs. Remember to keep your core tight the whole time.
Plank
Begin by lying on the floor face down. Elevate your body so only your toes and forearms are touching the ground. If this is too difficult, let your knees touch the ground. Hold this position for as long as you can. This is good for strengthening the core. You can modify this to use your obliques by turning over on your side as seen in the second picture. You can do reps with this by lowering your hip until it touches the floor, then come back up again. Exhale as you come up and inhale on the way down.
Kickbacks
Begin by getting down on your knees and elbows on the ground. Hold your core tight and raise one of your legs up in the air by kicking back. Hold it as high as you can for a second before returning to the start position. Exhale when you raise your leg and inhale when you're bringing it down. Do at least 10 reps before switching legs. This exercise targets your glutes.
Deadlifts
Begin with a stance approximately shoulder width apart. Place your hands across your chest and keep your core tight throughout. Lower your upper body towards the ground until its almost parallel with the floor. As you do this, bend your legs slightly and make sure you keep your back straight. Do not have an arch in your back or it will lead to injury. Once you are almost parallel, bring your body back up to the standing position. Inhale on the way down and exhale on the way up. This will target your lower back and also your hamstrings. You can modify this exercise by keeping your legs straight, as seen in the third picture. This will activate your glutes and hamstrings more.
Squats
Begin standing with your feet approximately shoulder width apart. Keep your arms across your chest or on your hips. Squat down until your quads are parallel with the floor, then rise back up to the standing position. While you do this movement keep your back straight, core tight and chest high. Inhale on the way down and exhale on the way up. This exercise is good for your legs and hips.
Calf Raises
Begin this exercise by standing on a book or object about 2 or 3 inches thick with your feet just a few inches apart. Only the top of your feet should be on the book and your heels should be on the floor. Raise your heels off the floor as high as you can, then lower them back to the floor again. Exhale as you rise up and inhale as you come back down. This exercise will target your calves. If this is too easy use one foot at a time.
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