BODY WEIGHT WORK OUTS [Use No Equipment But Your Body]
Abdominals
Ab Roller
Using the ab roller, start on the floor on all your hands and knees. Hold the ab roller in your hands while in this position. Slowly roll the ab roller foreward, stretching your body into a straight position. Go down as far as you can without touching the floor with your body. Pause and pull yourself back to the starting position. Repeat for the desired number of reps. Go slow and do not touch the ground!
Air Bike
Lie on your back and put your hands behind your head. Raise your legs so your thighs are perpendicular and your lower legs are just above parallel to the floor. Curl up and bring your left elbow toward your right side while drawing your right knee in to meet it. It is like you are riding a bike. Alternate sides, continuing the motion back and forth. Remember, don’t just flap your elbow across your body, actually rotate your shoulder across and squeeze your abs.
Alternate Heel Touchers
Works your obliques. In order to complete 1 repetition, each heel must be touched once. So, get into position, crunch over and touch your right heel once, then crunch over and touch your left heel once, and now you’ve completed 1 repetition. Lie down on the floor. Bend your knees and keep your feet 18-24 inches apart. Keep your arms straight down at your sides. Crunch forward and up about 3-4 inches. Remember to keep your lower back pressed flat against the ground. Keep your head in a neutral position. Alternate touching your right heel and then your left heel. Remember, touching each heel once is one rep!
Bent-Knee Hip Raise
Outstretch your hands to your sides with your knees bent at a 60 degree angle and your feet just off the floor. Using your lower abs, roll your pelvis backward to raise your hips off of the floor. Your knees will be over your chest. Squeeze your abs and then return to the starting position slowly. You can straighten your legs to make it harder or wear ankle weights.
Butt-Ups
Begin a pushup position but with your elbows on the ground and resting on your forearms. Your elbows should be bent at a 90 degree angle. Arch your back slightly out rather than keeping your back completely straight. Raise your glutes toward the ceiling, squeezing your abs tightly to close the distance between your ribcage and hips so you end up in a high bridge position. Lower back down slowly to your starting position. Repeat. Don’t let your back sag downwards.
Cross-Body Crunch
Lie on your back and bend your knees about 60 degrees and keep your feet flat on the floor. Place your hands loosely behind your head. Curl up and bring your right elbow and shoulder across your body while bring your left knee in toward your left shoulder at the same time. Reach with your elbow and try to touch your knee. Do one side for all your reps, then switch to the other side. Try to bring your shoulder up towards your knee rather than just your elbow.
Crunch – Hands Overhead
Lie on the floor with your knees bent. Keep your feet flat on the floor. Stretch your arms overhead and cross your palms. Curl your upper body forward and bring your shoulder blades just off the floor. Keep your arms aligned with your head, neck and shoulder. Don’t move them forward from that position! Slowly lower down after squeezing your abs tight!
Crunches
Lie flat on your back with your feet flat on the ground, or resting on a bench with your knees bent at a 90 degree angle. If you are resting your feet on a bench, place them three to four inches apart and point your toes inward so they touch. Place your hands lightly on either side of your head keeping your elbows in. Don’t lock your fingers behind your head! Push the small of your back down in the floor to isolate your ab muscles. Begin to roll your shoulders off the floor. Continue to push down as hard as you can with your lower back. Your shoulders should come up off the floor only about four inches, and your lower back should remain on the floor. Focus on slow, controlled movement – don’t cheat yourself by using momentum!
Frog Sit-Ups
First, sit on the floor with the soles of your feet touching each other. Next, lay down on the floor and TRY and push both soles to as near the crotch as possible. Your upper thighs should optimally be very close to the floor. Picture a diamond shape that’s formed when you’re in this position. Now, with your hands crossed and touching opposite shoulders or lightly touching your ears, exhale firmly through pursed lips and flatten your lower back to the floor while curling the torso upwards. (Like the first 1/4 movement of a sit up.) Hold at the top position for a two count, if you wish. Slowly lower to the floor or mat, relax the abdomen completely and then repeat.
Jackknife Sit-Up
Lie on the floor on your back. Place your arms straight back behind your head. Bend at the waist while raising your legs and arms to meet in a jackknife position. Lower arms and legs back to the starting position. Keep your elbows and knees locked!
Knees In Side Rotation With Weight
Lie on your back with arms extended overhead. Hold a medicine ball or weight. With knees bent slowly draw in legs bringing your left knee across the body toward the right knee. Keep tension on the abs for best results.
Leg Pull-In
Lie on the floor with your hands under your butt, your palms down, and your legs extended. Bend your knees and pull your upper thighs into your midsection. Return to the starting position. Concentrate on your lower abs. You can hold a dumbbell between your feet to make it harder.
Oblique Crunches
Lie flat on your back with your knees bent (placing your knees on the floor or resting on a bench). Place your left hand over your left ear. Roll your upper body up to the right until your left elbow touches your right knee. Concentrate on tensing the sides of your waist and holding contraction throughout the movement. Slowly lower to the starting position. After completing a full set of reps on the left side, switch to your right side and do the same thing.
Oblique Crunches – On Floor
Lie on your left side with your legs on top of each other with your knees bent a little. Loosely cup your head with your right hand. Crunch up as high as you can go, keeping the movement in the lateral plane as much as possible to work the obliques. Do both sides.
Reverse Crunch
Lie on the floor on your back. Put your hands by your sides with your feet up and your thighs perpendicular to the floor. They should not go down lower than this during the movement. Using your lower abs, roll your pelvis backward to raise your hips off the floor. Your knees will now be over your chest. Return slowly to the starting position. You can use ankle weights to make it more difficult.
Russian Twist
Secure your feet either by placing them under something that won’t move or by having a partner hold them. Start in the position shown above, leaning slightly back and clasping your hands in front of you. Moving only at the trunk, rotate to one side. At the end of your range of motion, quickly reverse the movement and rotate to the opposite side. Repeat in a rapid fashion for the full number of reps. You can also hold a weight or medicine ball to increase the difficulty.
Scissor Kick
Start by lying on your back with your arms by your sides and your palms facing down. Extend your legs fully with a slight bend in your knees. Lift your heels about 6 inches off the floor. Make small, rapid up and down scissor-like motions as you lift each leg to about 45 degrees into the air and lower your heel until it is about 2 – 3 inches off of the floor.
Seated Leg Tucks
Sit across a bench and extend your legs so that your abs are contracted. Now slowly bring your legs to your torso/ribcage and return them to their original position.
Side Bridge
Lie on your side and support your body between your forearm and knee to your feet. Hold position for two to four seconds. Repeat on the other side. Build up to at least 60 seconds on each side of your body!
Side Jackknife
Lying on your right side and keeping your left leg over your right one, place your right hand in a comfortable spot and clasp your left hand behind your head. Bring your torso and left leg toward each other as you pull with your obliques. Squeeze for a moment and return to the starting position. You can use ankle weights to make it tougher!
Sit Ups
Lie on your back on the floor with your feet about shoulder width apart. You may find it easier to put your feet under something to hold them down. Lift your upper body, bending at the waist, until you’re sitting up vertically. Keep your arms at your sides, crossed in front of you, or behind your head, but do NOT attempt use your arms to pull yourself up. Do not raise your feet off of the ground. Smoothly lower your body back to the floor. Repeat.
Stomach Vacuum
To execute the Stomach Vacuum, stand upright and place your hands on your hips, and exhale all the air out of your lungs, completely. Expand your chest, and bring your stomach in as much as possible, and hold. Visualize trying to touch your navel to your backbone. One isometric contraction of “20″ seconds is one repetition. You can work your way up to 40 or 60 seconds. Can be done in standing, kneeling, seated or lying position.
Toe Touchers
Lie back on the floor and elevate your legs up into the air. Make sure you keep your lower back pressed flat into the ground. Exhale and crunch forward to touch your toes. (Touching any part of your foot will work!) Remember, don’t pull your chin down towards your chest. Keep your head in a neutral position.
Tuck Crunch
Lie on the floor with your hands either crossed over your chest or behind your head. Bend your knees and hips to form right angles. Keep your lower legs parallel to the floor and your feet crossed. Lift your shoulder blades a few inches off the floor by curling up. Slowly return to the starting position after squeezing your abs.
Biceps
Chin-Up
Hold the chin-up bar with a reverse grip (palms facing you) with your hands about 6 to 8 inches apart. Pull yourself up and try to touch either your chin or upper chest to the bar. Return slowly to the starting position. Do NOT swing back and forth! Using this grip works more of your biceps than your back or lats.
Calves
Ankle Circles
Draw a circle in the air with your big toe.
Knee Circles
To perform knee circles, stand with your legs at shoulder width apart. Move your knees in a circular motion while staying mobolized. Perform ‘circles’ with your knees.
Calf Raises
Stand on the edge of a stair, or a block of wood, positioning your toes and balls of feet on the stair or block of wodd with arches and heels extending off and resting on the floor. Raise your heels and ankles as much as possible.
Chest
Eagle Sit-Ups
Lay down on the floor in front of a power rack. Spread your feet wide, past the posts of the rack. Now, like you’re doing a hip adduction exercise, bring your feet inwards to ‘catch’ the posts of the rack. Now, perform partial/full sit-ups.
Isometric Chest Squeezes
Bend your arms and place your hands together in front of your chest. Push both hands against each other and hold for the required number of seconds. Remember to breath throughout the isometric contraction!
Push-Ups (Close or Wide Position)
Same as regular push-ups, but with your hands in a close or wide position.
Push-Ups With Feet Elevated
Kneel down on the floor and place your hands flat on the floor and slightly wider than shoulder width apart. With your shoulders directly over your hands, straighten your arms. Move your feet back, placing your toes on a stand that is 18 inches high. The higher the stand the greater intensity of the exercise! At this point, your body should form a straight line from your shoulders to your ankles. Your body should remain straight throughout this exercise. Keep your head and neck in line with your body so that your are looking down toward the floor. This is the starting position. In a controlled fashion, lower your body down toward the floor, bending your elbows, until your body is nearly touching the floor. Now, push your body up away from the floor, straightening your arms, until you have returned to the starting position.
Forearms
Wrist Circles
Slowly moveyour hand drawing a circle with you finger tips.
Hamstrings
Flutter Kicks
On a step or platform, (or on your bed if you train at home) lie facedown with hips on the edge of the step, legs straight with toes resting lightly on the floor. (If you are using a bed, your legs will be off the edge and your feet high off the floor.) Squeeze your glutes and hamstrings and straighten the legs until they are level with the hips. Lift one leg higher then the other and alternate. Move each leg as though you are doing a flutter kick in water. Try doing 3 sets of 20 repetitions on each leg.
Lower Back
Superman
Lie face down on the floor with your arm stretched out directly overhead (like Superman flying, hence the name). Raise your arms, chest and legs off the floor and hold it there for 2 seconds and squeeze. Lower back to the ground and repeat. You can also do these one arm and leg at a time as follows: Raise your left arm and right leg into the air at the same time, also raising your chest slightly off the floor. Hold there for a second and squeeze the muscles of your lower back. Lower your limbs back to the ground then raise your right arm and left leg and hold for a second. You can push down with the hand that is on the ground to help raise your other arm and chest higher off the ground. This exercise, even though it only uses your limbs as resistance, provides an excellent way to strengthen the lower back muscles.
Neck
Isometric Neck Exercise – Front And Back
You can perform this exercise seated or standing. Place your head and neck in a neutral position. Place both of your hands on the front side of your head and gently push for the required number of seconds on your workout. Resist any movement of your head by “isometrically” contracting your neck muscles. Repeat with your hands placed on the back side of your head. This is an excellent way to strengthen your neck muscles with minimal risk of injury. Can also be done on the sides of your head.
Isometric Neck Exercise – Sides
You can perform this exercise seated or standing. Place your head and neck in a neutral position. Place both your left hand on the on the left side of your head and gently push for the required number of seconds on your workout. Resist any movement of your head by “isometrically” contracting your neck muscles. Repeat with your right hand on the right side of your head. This is an excellent way to strengthen your neck muscles with minimal risk of injury. Can also be done on the front and back of the head.
Quadriceps
Freehand Jump Squat
Cross your arms over your chest. With your head up and your back straight, position your feet at shoulder width. Squat down until your upper thighs are parallel, or lower, to the floor. Jump straight up in the air as high as possible, using thighs like springs. Immediately squat down and jump again. Can also be done with a barbell on your upper back or with dumbbells hanging at your sides.
Shoulders
Arm Circles
Start with hands straight out by sides. Slowly make circles with each outstretched arm, about one foot in diameter. Continue the circular motion of the outstretched arms for ten seconds.
Handstand Push-Ups
Kick yourself up against a stable wall with your arms straight. Make sure that your body is as straight up and down as you can. Keep facing the wall with your head, rather than looking down. Slowly lower yourself to the ground. Once your head almost touches the ground, push yourself back up slowly until your elbows are nearly locked. Repeat. A true test of strength!
Traps
Bench Dips
Place two flat benches parallel to each other, about three to four feet apart. Sit on one bench facing the other, with your hands grasping the side of the bench. Using your hands to support your weight, lift your feet to the top of the other bench so that the rest of your body is suspended between the two benches. Cross one foot over the other. Slowly lower your body toward the floor by bending your elbows until your upper arms and forearms form a right angle. Do not go below a 90-degree angle, as this can stress your shoulders. Slowly raise back up to the start position by straightening your arms. You can also place a weight plate on your upper legs for added resistance!
Push-Ups – Close Tricep Position
Kneel down on the floor and place your hands flat on the floor, closer than shoulder width apart. With your shoulders directly over your hands, straighten your arms. Move your feet back, placing your toes on the floor, so that your knees are off the floor and your legs are straight. At this point, your body should form a straight line from your shoulders to your ankles. Your body should remain straight throughout this exercise. Keep your head and neck in line with your body so that your are looking down toward the floor. In a controlled fashion, lower your body down toward the floor, bending your elbows, until your body is nearly touching the floor. Now, push your body up away from the floor, straightening your arms, until you have returned to the starting position. If you need to reduce the intensity of this exercise you can perform the pushups from your knees instead of from your toes!
