The current pandemic situation has forced many of us to stay away from gyms, jogging parks and yoga studios. Even if your nearby gym is open, with adequate sanitizing and social distancing measures in place, you wouldn’t want to exercise with a mask on. But your home or garden is also a good place to sweat it out, even if you don’t have any kind of equipment. All you need is some place! At home, make sure there is no furniture or wires in that area and wear appropriate clothes and footwear.
If you think you can indulge in a calorie busting workout only if you have those imposing looking machines - treadmills, static bikes, cross trainers, TRX machines, etc., that you see at your gym, you couldn’t be more wrong. There are numerous ways to get fit and stay fit without any exercise equipment, not even dumbbells, and we will tell you how. What’s more, you won’t be disturbing your neighbors either! What you might only miss is probably your gym buddy!
An important reminder here – keep the music on, as it sets the tempo of the workout, and never skip the warm up – it mobilizes muscles and reduces chances of injury, and gets you the most from your calisthenics. Increase reps when you start getting comfortable with an exercise, or slow down the movement, or hold poses for longer as you get used to them. And as the saying goes – you might not always like the workout, but you will always love the results!
Push ups
The classic push-ups are simple, but among the most effective no-equipment exercises you need to try. Push-ups strengthen core muscles, enhance body balance and posture, improve cardiovascular health and are excellent to build strength. To increase difficulty level, you may place your feet on a chair or a stool, or do the clapping push-ups, or crocodile push-ups.
Squats
You may begin simple- sit on your chair and stand up, a few times, without using your hands. Then do away with the chair and mimic the sitting and getting up movement, try bringing your thighs parallel to the floor. Squats target your hamstrings, quads, glutes, calves and also your core muscles. Try variations like overhead squats or jump squats as you progress.
Burpees
Great for boosting cardiovascular fitness and burning calories, burpees are challenging full body movements - you need to spring into a push-up, spring back to a standing pose, jump and repeat. It works your shoulders as well as the big muscles – quads and hamstrings. If you are an absolute beginner, start with safe-burpees.
Frog pumps
Lie down on your back and bring the soles of your feet together, bending your knees, pointing them outwards. Press feet to the floor, pressing knees out and lifting hips. This is a sure shot glute burner, and you must keep shoulders and ribs down and chin tucked for best results.
Deadbugs
Great for core muscle strength, deadbugs make you move opposing limbs in sync while lying on your back. You will need to slow down the motions and keep your lower back fixed to the ground to get the full benefit of this seemingly simple but actually taxing exercise.
Jumping jacks
An amazing full-body exercise, jumping jack looks like child’s play, and is simple to perform too. But don’t be fooled by the simple looks of this exercise. You can even step your feet out quickly if you have week knees that might get injured, or have suffered severe knee injury in the past. Learn to land on the balls of your feet, and bend your knees to get into a squat to make it little difficult.
Reverse Lunge
Reverse Lunge is a great way to introduce single leg movements to your routine. It will help you improve your balance, stability and of course, build some muscle to your lower body. More importantly, reverse lunges are easier to the knee compared to other single leg movements. If you are doing this for the first time, you can start with taking some support before pushing towards doing unsupported reverse lunges.
Also check out how to perform Supported Reverse Lunge.
Parting words
Remember, having no equipment doesn’t mean that you cannot train your muscles and get fit. While walking, jogging, running and even dancing are also acceptable as bodyweight exercises, the exercises mentioned here are apt for reducing or maintaining weight, toning muscles, staying fit, boosting immunity, fat loss, mood boosting, gaining muscle mass, building strength, stretching muscles or whatever outcome you desire. Smart use of bodyweight and appropriate techniques can give you as good results, if not better, as a workout with equipment.