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YOUR GUIDE TO BODYWEIGHT TRAINING

Written by Menswear Style in Health & Fitness on the 28th October 2019

You don’t need dumbbells, reused sweat towels or a gym bench to increase your strength and reach your optimum fitness level. Men across the world are replacing gym memberships with healthier diets and intense home workouts. You’ll be surprised to hear that you don’t need a single item of high tech gym equipment to increase core strength and gain washboard abs! Bodyweight training is incredibly effective for building muscle mass, so put down those dumbbells and install that doorway chin-up bar, it’s time to get stronger at home!

Build arm strength

Upper body strength has been shown to increase posture and form within workouts. Toning your upper back, and arm muscles will help you get the most out of your at home bodyweight workouts. As you undertake these simple exercises you will find that lifting your own body weight becomes easier and your form will improve. So what arm exercises can you do to achieve peak strength and assist your training?

Incline pushups

- Use your table or sofa to take your weight and extend your legs straight behind you, creating a Plank position

- Keep your body as straight as possible!

- Tuck your elbows in

- Bend your arms, then straighten your arms to complete a push up

- Remember to keep your bum down!

- Repeat three sets - As many as you feel comfortable with

Tricep Dips

- Place your hands on the front edge of a chair

- Place your feet out in front of you creating a straight line

- Point your feet up towards the ceiling

- Keep your elbows tucked in

- Bend your arms to lower yourself closer to the floor, then straighten your arms to raise your body

- Repeat three sets, 20 reps

Chin-ups

- Using a chin-up bar pull yourself upwards, lifting your weight off the floor until your chin is over the height of the bar

- Lower yourself back down with a controlled and steady form to the starting position

- Repeat three sets - As many as you feel comfortable with

Building Your Legs

Often people forget to include leg workouts into their training routines. Working your legs trains your largest muscle groups, therefor burning the most calories which helps reveal washboard abs! As well as increasing strength and building muscle, research suggests that leg workouts are even linked to a natural boost in Testosterone. Challenge yourself with these fantastic leg exercises and see how improving leg strength with bodyweight routines can enhance your training.

Squat Jumps

- Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your knees slightly bent

- Lower your body into a squat position

- Keep your thighs parallel to the floor to maintain good form

- With ultimate power jump upwards, landing in a squat position

- Repeat three sets, 10 reps and increase with confidence

Pistol Squat

- Standing on one leg with upright posture, stretch your other leg out in front of you

- Remember if you are struggling to balance, start by holding on to something to keep you steady until you have gained core strength

- Lower yourself towards the ground on one leg, as though sitting in a chair

- Return to a standing position and repeat the exercise on the opposite leg

- As you continue to do this exercise, work on getting closer to the floor and making you thigh meet your calf

Back Leg Elevated Lunge

- Using a chair, raise one leg behind you using the chair as support

- Use your other leg as support and push into the ball of your foot, within this position get into a step forward lunge stance

- Keep your core engaged, with your hips square and back straight

- Lower your front leg so your thigh is parallel with the floor, ensure your knee does not go past your toes

- Raise upwards to the starting position and repeat for three sets, 10 reps and increase when you feel ready

Gain Washboard Abs

Core exercises are easy to achieve with body weight and help stability and strength. Working on your core muscles, trains not just your abs but also your lower back, hips and pelvis. To guarantee optimum workout capability, it is essential that you include core exercises into your regime. Why not start with these easy to perform core building exercises;

T - Stablisation

- Starting in a push-up position, rotate your body and place your weight onto one hand

- Keep your feet together in a stacked position

- Raise your right arm in the air and create a T-shape

- Hold this T-shape position for 3 seconds, then return to the starting position

- Remember to perform this exercise on the other side to ensure even muscle toning and growth

Oblique V-Up

- Lie on your side with your arms placed across your chest

- Keep your legs together and lift them off the floor

- As you raise your legs raise your elbow towards your hip using your opposite hand for stability

Vertical Leg Crunch

- Lying towards the ceiling ensure you press your lower back into the floor for stability

- Placing your arms behind your head, extend your legs up towards the ceiling

- Cross your ankles and ensure you do not lock your knees

- Engage your core muscles and lift your torso towards your knees

- Avoid placing your chin on your chest to keep correct posture and avoid injury

- Return to the starting position and repeat

Building Fitness

For home workouts and pounding the pavements to build fitness we recommend the Jabra Elite Sport wireless earbuds. They feature an in-ear precision heart rate monitor which works with an integrated Jabra Sport Life app to track and analyse your fitness, as well as provide personalised audio coaching. Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or just trying to get fitter, you can train smarter, not harder. Monitor your absolute fitness level, have your reps counted automatically, predict your race pace and finish time, and get recovery tips to avoid over training.

Many believe that strength and muscle growth can only be achieved by attending the gym and lifting heavy weights. Research has shown that muscle growth is just as possible to gain while training from home with no equipment. It is recommended that you include bodyweight training into your workout routines at least twice a week in order to train all major muscle groups and see muscle growth. Bodyweight exercises are not just limited to squats, push ups and ab crunches as we have demonstrated. Mix up your workout routine by including some of our easy to follow bodyweight exercises and see how your endurance, muscle mass and fitness level improve.