Bodyweight Exercises

Bodyweight exercises can help you stay fit at home and stay with a tight a budget. Here's are a few ideas of bodyweight exercises that you can do any time with no equipment. Perfect for traveling, home workouts or adding a bit of variety to your regular exercise routine.

Start with a light warm up for a few minutes. (This can be walking, marching in place or stepping side to side. The goal of the warm up is to get your blood circulating and you body temperature rising in order to prepare for higher intensity exercise).

Perform each exercise for 30 seconds to two minutes depending upon your conditioning and interest. Move to the next exercise smoothly, but quickly. You can continue the routine as long as you like (a twenty minute workout or an hour or more).

Common Bodyweight Workouts

• Push Ups
  Begin in push up position, on knees or toes. Perform 4 push ups, abs in and back straight. On the 5th push up, lower halfway down and hold for 4 counts. Push back up and repeat the series - 4 regular push ups and 1 halfway--5 or more times.
• Pull Ups
  The pull up exercise does require some basic equipment, or some creativity (go to a playground or find a low hanging tree branch, for example), but it's a great, simple way to build upper body strength.
• One-Leg Balance / Squat / Reach
  Stand on one leg and balance it as long as you can. If this is too easy, add a slight squat motion. Still too easy? Place an object on the floor, several feet in front of you (a book, perhaps), and slowly squat down, and reach out with one arm and touch the object and slowly return to an upright position. Stay on one leg at all times. Repeat on the other leg after a minute or so.
• Tuck Jump
  The tuck jump exercise ranks near the top of the list for developing explosive power using only an athlete's body weight.
• Chair Dips
  You’ll need two chairs, (or a bed and a chair or a counter, etc…) for this great tricep exercise. Place two chairs facing each other, about 3 feet apart. Sit on one chair with your hands palm down and gripping the edge of the chair. Place your heels on the edge of the other chair and hold yourself up using your triceps. Slide forward just far enough that your behind clears the edge of the chair and lower yourself so your elbows are at 90 degrees. Do as many repetitions as you can.
• Wall Sit
  With your back against a wall, and your feet about 2 feet away from the wall, slide down until your knees are at a 90 degree angle. Hold the position as long as you can. This is great for ski conditioning.
• Supermans
  Lie on your stomach with your arms and legs stretched out. Raise your arms and legs off the ground a few inches, hold a few seconds, and then lower. Alternate arms and legs as an option. Repeat.
• Reverse Crunch
  Lie on your back with your hands out to your sides, and bend your knees. Bring your knees toward your head until your hips come up slightly off the floor (don’t rock). Hold one second and repeat.
• Plank Exercise
  Get into push up position on hands and toes, or on elbows and toes. Contract your abdominal muscles (and core). Keep your back straight (don't collapse in the middle) and hold this position for as long as you can.
• Squat-Thrusts
  Stand with feet together. Squat down and place your hands on the floor next to your feet. In an explosive movement, jump feet backwards into a push-up position, jump feet back between hands and stand up.
• Jumping Jacks
  The basic jumping jack is a good cardio and strength training exercise.
• Side Jumps
  Stand with feet together. Jump to the right several feet, keeping knees bent and landing in a squat position. Jump back to the left and continue jumping from side to side. Use a small object to jump over if you like (book, pillow etc..).
• Mountain Climbers
  Start on your hands and knees and get into in a sprinter’s start position. Keep your hands on the ground and push off with your feet so you alternate foot placement (run in place) as long as you can. Be sure to keep your back straight, not arched. 

Sports Medicine