home exercise program:

Exercise probably is the most underrated topic when it comes to daily healthy lifestyle. It’s true that people are getting more health conscious day by day and lots of people are flocking into the gym. But still, only 5% of the adult population today spend more than 30 minutes in physical fitness activities everyday. If you weigh all the benefits of regular exercising up, you would also concur with me that exercise is definitely one of the most underrated habits.

Unfortunately, in our consumer-centric society, most of the physically active people are centered around fancy exercise machines. Don’t get me wrong. Various exercising machines offer different facilities essential for bodybuilding. But if your concern is staying fit, relaxed, and leading a healthy life, you don’t need any kind fancy gym equipment.

In this article, I am going to cover some basic freehand home exercise programs, which are perfect to keep your body fit, agile, and healthy.

1. Superman Exercise

This is a great stretching exercise you can do regularly. This super home exercise routine works great for your butt, hips, back, and shoulder. This is a very easy exercise that requires no equipment. The details of this super exercise are provided below step by step.

Superman workout: best for abs

Directions:

Step 1: Lie on the floor on your stomach extending your legs. Stretch your ankles slightly and keep your forearms extended over your head, both palms facing each other. Keep your head aligned with your spine.

Step 2: Exhale and slowly contract your core and abdominal muscles while raising your both legs upward without any type of bending and arching. Simultaneously, raise your both arms off the floor. Hold this position for a brief moment.

Step 3: Inhale slowly and bring your legs and forearms down to the starting position gradually.

2. Push Up

Push up is a very popular free hand exercise. It impacts the shoulder, arm, and chests muscles. You will feel the burn immediately after a couple of push-ups.

Push up: The proper way

Directions:

Step 1: Kneel on the floor mat keeping your both legs behind. Slowly tilt forward and place your hands (slightly inward facing) on the floor palms facing towards the floor. Slowly transfer your weight on your hands and prepare to lift the knees off the floor. Reposition your hands and feet to take the full body weight. Remove your knees off the floor and keep your legs straight without bending.

Step 2: Slowly lower your upper body, keeping your torso position intact. Lower your chest close to the floor and then lift up. You must keep your body straight.

Step 3: Pause for a second and then lift your chest by straightening your arms. Inhale while you lift your chest and exhale while going down.

Hand Position: Your hand position during push-up is very crucial to determine which muscles your push-ups going to impact. There are three different versions of push-ups based on your hand position. They are:

  • Regular Position: This is the normal push up position, where your hands should be in a slightly wider position from your shoulders. Thus, your chest, arm and shoulder muscles get the most work.
  • Diamond Position: It is a slightly advanced position where most pressure goes to the arms. In this position, your both hands should be inwards and close to each other forming a diamond position together.
  • Wide Arm position: Wide arm push-up is meant to work on your shoulder muscles. In this position, your hands should be placed in a much wider position from your torso.

3. Contralateral Limb Raises

Another super easy exercise for your upper body. There are many variations of this exercise, which you can try after getting adjusted to this free hand exercise.

Directions:

Step 1: Lie on your stomach extending your arms over your head. Keep your arms and legs straight to your spine.

Step 2: Exhale and contract your abdominal muscles. Then raise your one hand a few inches higher than the floor without arching or bending the arm. Pause for a second and then slowly bring down the arm.

Step 3: Raise the other arm in a very similar way. You can also try lifting your cross leg once you get used to it.

4. Crunches / Bent Knee Sit-Up

Bent Knee Sit-up is a strong and easy-to-do home exercise program that you can try to make your core abs muscle strong.

Directions:

Step 1: Lie on your back with your knees bent on flat feet. Your feet should be 12 to 18 inches away from your tailbone.

Step 2: Place your palms beneath your head and squeeze your shoulder blades.

Step 3: Exhale and contract your abdominal muscles. Then slowly pull your chest up by curling your torso to your thighs. Hold this position for a second. Your neck should be relaxed all the time.

Step 4: Inhale briefly and uncurl your torso to the previous normal position slowly, keeping it under control. Don’t do this exercise too rapidly. That way it will put extra pressure on your lower back.

5. Front Plank

This exercise is one of the most effective exercises you can add in your daily home workout plan. It may seem very easy but it requires great core muscle strength to do front planks.

Planking: The ultimate core workout

Directions:

Step 1: Lie on your stomach keeping your hands beside your shoulder, palm to elbow touching the ground. Keep your legs straight and toes pointing to the ground, same as push-up positions.

Step 2: Gently pull your whole torso up without arching your lower back. Avoid any type of knee bending and shoulder squeezing. Keep your palms and elbows to the ground and hold this position for 5 seconds minimum. Prolong this time period gradually.

Step 3: Slowly lower down your torso, keeping it stiff. If you feel any kind of pain in your lower back during this exercise, stop immediately and consult with your physician.

6. Full Plank

This is almost same as the front plank. Full plank requires more strength and it puts more work on your shoulder and arm muscles. Once you get used to front plank you can try the full plank.

Full plank

Full plank is the same as the front plank, just instead of putting the weight on palms to elbow, carry the body weight with your palms only.

7. Reverse Crunch

This is an advanced free-hand exercise which effects your lower abdominal muscles. It also makes your core more flexible. If you have any problems in your lower back, consult with your doctor before doing this exercise.

Directions:

Step 1: Lie down (on your back) on the floor mat. Spread your arms to both sides facing your palms down. Lift your both legs simultaneously and bend the knee to form a 90 degree angle with your hips.

Step 2: Now, exhale and lift your hips upward without changing the angle too much. Try to move your knees close to your head. It’s like curling your lower spine. Your hands and shoulder should provide balance and stability while doing this exercise. Briefly hold this position.

Step 3: Now inhale and slowly bring down your hip or uncurl your spine to the reset position without changing the angle at your knees.

8. Squat

The squat is one of the most effective free-hand exercises of all. This exercise is great for your overall core muscle strength, increasing endurance power. However, it is important to do it correctly to get the most out of it and avoid injuries.

Directions:

Step 1: Stand with your chest and head facing forward. Position your feet together maintaining a slight distance. Spread your hands in front of you.

Step 2: Sit down on an imaginary chair with your upper body forwarding a little bit. Lower down yourself as long as your thighs become parallel to the floor.

Step 3: Then, push your body up all the way back to the starting position.

9. Glute Bridge

Glute bridge is another effective free hand exercise. It may not seem like it, but this is an intense workout. It works with your abs, hips, and butt muscles.

Directions:

Step 1: Lie on your back on the floor. Bend your knees and keep your feet slightly away from your tailbone. Relax and contract your torso.

Step 2: Exhale and contract your abs muscle. Then push your hips up by squeezing your glutes. Hold this position for a brief moment. Use your feet to stabilize. Don’t push too high that makes your lower back arch excessively.

Step 3: Inhale slowly and release the pressure in your glutes and bring down your hips to the reset position.

These freehand workout ideas are perfect to cover all of your major body muscle groups. You can try these full body workout at home to ensure a flexible and super agile body.

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