It's December and people are scrambling all over the place to get their "end of the year" affairs in order and get ready for the new year to start in January. For most people, that includes thinking about or re-thinking fitness goals in preparation for resolutions (see my post about New Year's resolutions!) and changes they want to make. If you check Craigslist regularly, like I do, you'll see that there is A LOT of fitness equipment for sale this month. People want to get rid of their unused treadmills, ellipticals, weight benches, fitness DVDs, etc. We're all guilty of purchasing equipment that eventually goes unused, myself included.
Where am I going with this? Here it is: YOUR BODY IS YOUR BEST PIECE OF FITNESS EQUIPMENT. You take it with you everywhere. Body weight exercises can be done almost anywhere. You can add things on to body weight exercises if you choose, like cable bands or dumbbells, but you don't have to.
I have researched some of the most popular body weight exercises and list them here:
-Tuck Jumps
-Squats (various types: single leg, wide base, etc)
-Pushups
-Bridges
-Lunges (front, reverse, side)
-Plank
-Triceps dip
-Single Leg Dead lift
-Bird Dog (also called spinal balance or quadraped)
-Bicycle abs
-Kick downs
-Burpees or squat thrusts
-Jump squats
-Lunge jumps
-Pull up/chin ups
-Jumping Jacks
-Butt Kicks
-Mountain Climbers
-Frog Jumps
(Source: Livestrong.com)
A few of my personal favorites include:
-Inverted Rows
-Step Ups
-Any sort of plyometric moves (i.e.- power moves that most times include jumping)
-Combination moves of any in the above list, like plank with pushup or plank jacks (planks with jumping jack legs).
Check it out for yourself and build a workout that you can do anywhere! It's fun to experiment and see results! Start with 2-3 sets of 12-20 reps of each exercise that you choose.
