Using Your Body as a Gym: Six Exercises for a Full Body Workout

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Who needs expensive gym membership or costly equipment for a kick-ass workout? With a little innovation, you can utilize the weight of your own body to perform a full workout routine in your living room. The entire object of exercise is to make your body muscles work by putting them under tension. Making your body work harder leads to a heightened metabolism, an increase in muscle mass, and let?s face it ? a hotter body.

By the end of the first week, you?ll start to notice the difference in your energy and strength levels. If dedicatedly followed, by the end of a year, your body will transform into a figure so lean and toned; Michelangelo would have carved sculptures of you out of marble.

Six Exercises for a Full Body Workout

1.

Most people have done or at least attempted to do a push up at some point. However, to obtain maximum results, it is vital to get the form right. For this exercise, place your hands on the ground at shoulder width from each other. Balance yourself on your toes and keep your body rigid. Lower your body slowly till your upper arms are parallel to the ground. Hold this position for three seconds before raising your body back up. This is the part most people get wrong. You are not supposed to rise all the way, otherwise the weight of your body will be held by the bones of the arms rather than the muscles.

Increase the repetitions by one every other day till you reach an optimum number that suits your own endurance and strength levels.

Muscles worked:

• Upper back
• Triceps
• Forearms
• Pectorals
• Latissimi dorsi (lats).
• Abs

2. Squat Hold

The difference between a traditional squat and a is in the terminal position duration. Keep your feet apart at shoulder width and your arms stretched in front of you. Bend your knees while keeping your back straight and lower your body. When your upper legs are parallel to the ground, hold this position for as long as you can. Return to a standing position and repeat. Repeat as many times as you can.

Muscles worked:

• Quads
• Hamstrings
• Glutes
• Abs
• Lower back.

3. Crunch Twist

The is an exercise that, if not performed correctly, might lead to lower back injuries. Therefore, attention to proper form and pace is vital to reap the benefits. Lay flat on your back and raise your feet along with your head and shoulders. Place your hands behind your head for support then slowly try and touch your right elbow with your left knee.

Make sure all movement during this exercise are slow and deliberate. After your knee and elbow make contact, return to the position of raised head and feet. Repeat using your left elbow and right knee. Repeat as many times as you can without letting your abs rest.

Muscles worked:

• Upper and Lower abs
• Obliques
• Lower back
• Thighs

4. Calf Raise

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The will work the upper legs, for lower legs, is the most effective exercise. Simply stand with your feet together and raise yourself slowly on your toes. Hold this position for as long as you can then lower yourself gently. As usual, repeat until you can?t possibly do another one.

Muscles worked:

• Calves
• Various feet muscles

5. Close-grip push-up

A is exactly like a regular push-up, however, the hands are place as close together as you can instead of shoulders? width apart. The distance between the hands should be decreased as your strength and endurance increases. This type of push-up will be noticeably harder to perform than a regular one. However, after just a few repetitions it will become painfully obvious which muscle group it works on. A triceps exercise that is very effective for building muscle and strength, it will create a distinctive effect to the thickness of your upper arms making them look bigger.

Muscles worked:

• Triceps
• Upper back
• Forearms
• Pectorals
• Latissimi dorsi (lats)
• Abs

6.

is the cardio part of the workout. It is performed by going from a standing position to a push position, standing back up and jumping with your arms stretched upwards. Performed in quick succession, this exercise will get your heart racing in a very short time. Doing this until failure after taking a short break and then repeating is an ideal exercise to burn fat, raise your metabolism, and strengthening your core muscles.

Muscles worked:

• Triceps
• Shoulders
• Back
• Abs
• Legs
• Everything in between.