Wednesday 25 September 2013

No Gym Membership? No Fancy Equipment? No Problem! :)

Here's a list of some of the exercises I do that don't require a gym membership or any fancy gym equipment. I will do a separate blog post dedicated to Ab exercises because there is just so many :) 

Squats:
  1. Place your feet shoulder-width apart or slightly wider. Extend your hands straight out in front of you to help keep your balance.
  2. Sit back and down like you're sitting into an imaginary chair.
  3. Lower down so your thighs are as parallel to the floor as possible.
  4. Keep your body tight, and push through your heels to bring yourself back to the starting position.

Targets: Glutes, Thighs, Hamstrings, Calf Muscles


Lunges:
  1. Stand with your feet shoulder's width apart, spine long and straight, shoulders back, gaze forward.
  2. Step forward with one leg into a wide stance (about one leg's distance between feet) while maintaining spine alignment.
  3. Lower your hips until both knees are bent at approximately a 90 degree angle. Your front knee should not extend over your ankle, and your back knee should hover above the ground. Keep your weight in your heels as you push back up to starting position.

Targets: Glutes, Core, Back, Thighs, Hamstrings, Calf Muscles


Side Lunge:
  1. Stand with feet shoulder width apart.
  2. Step your right leg out to the side about a strides width apart.
  3. Lean onto the right leg, bending at the hip, until your right thigh is parallel to the floor.
  4. Push yourself back to the starting position.
  5. Repeat on the left leg.

Targets: Glutes, Guads, Hamstrings, Calves, Obliques


Hip Raises:
  1. Lie faceup on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
  2. Raise your body so your body forms a straight line from shoulder to your knees
  3. Pause for 5 seconds in this position and lower the body back to the starting position.

Targets: Glutes, Hamstrings, Back


Mountain Climber:
  1. Begin in the push-up position.
  2. Bring the right knee towards the chest, resting the foot on the ground.
  3. Jump to switch feet from right to left.

Targets: Abs, Legs, Core, Arms


Press-Ups:
  1. Lie face down on the floor, with feet together.
  2. Place your hands on the floor, shoulders width apart.
  3. Raise your body up on the hands and toes until elbows are nearly straight, and then lower to a point where the elbow is at a right angle
  4. One “up and down” is one push-up repetition.

Targets: Chest, Arms,Core


Plank:
  1. Get your body into the traditional press-up pose
  2. Lower your body onto your forearms
  3. Hold the position here, holding your bodyweight as a resistance.
  4. Keep holding the position until your body drops to the floor.

Targets: Arms, Core


Plank-Ups:
  1. Start in the plank position.
  2. On the right side of your body, raise up onto your right palm.
  3. Follow by doing the same on the left side so you are in full press-up position.
  4. Drop back down on the right side and do the same on the left side so you are back in the plank position.

Targets: Lower Back, Chest, Shoulders, Arms


Tricep Dips:
(ok this one involves a chair but that doesn’t count as fancy equipment :P )
  1. Sit on a bench or chair and slide your butt forward off the chair so your supporting the weight of your body on your hands.
  2. Lower your body towards the ground until the elbows are at a 90 degree angle.
  3. Push your body up to the starting position and repeat.
  4. Start with your legs bent at 90 degrees, feet flat on the ground. Extend your legs as you get stronger at “dipping”.

Targets: Triceps, Bingo-Wings, Shoulders,Chest


Burpees:
  1. Stand up straight.
  2. Get into a squat position with your hands on the floor in front of you.
  3. Kick your feet back into a push up position and lower body to the floor.
  4. Return your feet back to the squat position as fast as possible.
  5. Immediately jump up into air.

Targets: Whole Body Workout



Give these a try :) Try doing three sets of as many of the exercises as you can manage with as many repetitions as is possible for you. Give yourself a 30sec (max. 1min.) break between each set. Add in some ab work and enjoy! :)

I try to do 45mins of resistance training followed by 15mins of cardio. 

I couldn't do every exercise on the list when I started so just keep going and you will eventually build up enough strength to complete everything on the list :) 

Check out youtube videos on any of the exercises you want to see in action!

Catherine xx

Facebook:

Twitter:

No comments:

Post a Comment