Burpee movements
Prisoners living at California detentions centers favor this particular exercise. I bet you’re wondering why this is so. Oddly, the reason is that the movement requires only a small amount of space to perform, thus rendering it idea for those living in extremely small cells within the jail. This particular bodyweight exercise begins by standing with your feet at what is approximately the width of your shoulder’s apart from each other. In a single, smooth motion, squat down and lay your palms on the ground, a little to the outside front of both feet. Then shift your weight to your hands as you throw your feet behind you, such that you are in the traditional position to do a regular push-up. After doing one push-up, pull your feet back to your hands and stand up, reversing your initial actions. This counts as a single repetition of this bodyweight fitness exercise.
The burpee movement appears easy, though it is not; rather, they are very taxing and serve as a terrific bodyweight fitness exercise for increasing endurance, muscle strength and coordination. The breathing technique used while performing this movement is critical, and you must utilize a pattern that is tolerable for you.
When you first start doing burpees, you will want to start out slow by doing sets of 20-30. As you get fitter and stronger, you can start increasing the number of sets you do. A good way to do this is to increase them in increments of 20 – so after starting with 20, you move on to 40, then 60, and so on, keeping minimum breaks in between sets.
The Bear Crawl Exercise
You’ll need to move around in order to do this particular bodyweight fitness exercise, so make sure you have enough space in which to do it. In the same way that a bear would, get down on your hands and feet, then move forward and backward in the space that is available to you. You may initially think this sounds simple, though this bodyweight fitness exercise is one that will exhaust you quickly. Before participating in sports or moving on to other bodyweight fitness exercises, doing burpees is an excellent way to warm up your body. Crab Walking
This movement is not terribly unlike the bear crawl, as you will use your hands and feet to move, though rather than facing the floor, this bodyweight fitness exercise requires you to face the ceiling. Moving in this position is very counter-intuitive, making it difficult but extremely effective for strengthening your core muscles and improving your balance.
Crocodile Walking
You’ve probably noticed that when a crocodile moves, it drags its belly along the floor. Mimicing that movement as closely as possible is the goal of this bodyweight fitness exercise. Your torso should be just off the floor as you are moving around on it. As long as your torso remains close to the floor, you are doing this bodyweight exercise correctly, so it’s really not necessary to describe the position your hands and feet should be in. The Jack Knifes Exercise
Perhaps one of the best bodyweight exercises you can use to strengthen your torso and abdomen muscles is the jack knife. You begin this exercise by laying down flat on the floor on your back with your legs together and straight, and your arms straight as well up over your head. From this position, contract your stomach muscles to bring both your arms and legs up, as if you were trying to touch your hands to your feet. It’s important to keep both your arms and legs as straight as possible all the way through this bodyweight fitness exercise.
Neck Nodding
Many boxers swear by the effectiveness of this particular bodyweight fitness exercise in building stamina and strength in the muscles of the neck. Doing this bodyweight fitness exercise is supposed to help you recover more quickly from being punched. Begin by lying prone on your back and let your hands rest at the sides of your body. Start by bringing your chin forward to touch your chest, then let you head fall back down slowly, using only the muscles in your neck. This bodyweight fitness exercise should be done continuously, in sets of between fifty to a hundred repetitions, depending on how many you can do before becoming exhausted.
The Lunges Exercise
Lunges are a simple bodyweight fitness exercise designed to strengthen your legs. Just start off by standing with your feet together and then take a step forward as far as you can without losing your balance, with the forward leg bent and the back leg straight. Something to keep in mind, though, is the make certain that your knees do not pass your toes on the forward stepping leg. Begin this exercise with approximately 10 to 20 lunges for each leg, as this bodyweight exercise does a lot more strengthening muscle work that it may initially appear when you first get started. When you find yourself thirty to forty repetitions on each leg without tiring, you can also add weight to this bodyweight fitness exercise by holding a weighted plate or dumbbells. Be certain to maintain a straight back if you add hand weights while performing this bodyweight fitness exercise, because it is possible to sustain a back injury if you do not.
Bootstrappers
You begin this exercise by starting in the traditional push-up tradition, but move your hands slowly back towards your feet until they are as much as 2-3 spans of your hand away from your feet. Keep your legs straight as you do so, and you should end up doubled-up in a ‘jack knife’ position. Then you bend your legs at the knees and bring your buttocks down toward your heels as you keep your arms straight. Stand back up again to complete a single repetition. You can use this particular bodyweight exercise as a means for improving your flexibility and for building functional strength in your knees. * Exploding Star Jumps
Prior to trying this bodyweight fitness exercise, it is wise to warm up first, to be certain that muscles and joints are correctly prepared. You should also only perform this exercise outdoors on grass or indoors on carpet while wearing sports shoes to maximize the cushioning effect and impact on your knees. Squat as if you are doing a full squat, then push yourself upward and forward in a single explosive movement, aiming to get as high as you can as fast as you are able. Throw your arms and legs out to create a star shape as you reach the peak of your jump. Then, as you are coming back down for your landing, flex your knees. If you are looking to develop power in your muscles and also improve on bodily co-ordination, this bodyweight fitness exercise is perfect for you.
Grape Stomping
This bodyweight fitness exercise consists of two different movements, and you will need to do both in order to benefit fully from the exercise. To begin, stand upright and bring a knee up to the maximum possible height. For those who are able, the knee ought to make contact with the chest while the remainder of the body is held very straight. Complete this movement in a relatively slow and controlled movement, do not move quickly or allow your body to jerk into place. The other component requires you to put both hands behind the head, with each foot directing out toward its respective side. If you are facing forwards, your toes should be facing to the left or right at a ninety-degree angle. Then raise each knee slowly towards the underside of your arm, bringing it as high as possible and lowering it slowly back down. Your hips will gain incredible strength and flexibility as a result of doing this bodyweight fitness exercise.
Deck of Cards
If you are looking for a type of bodyweight fitness exercise that you can use to keep your workout routine varied and interesting to prevent boredom, then this is the exercise for you. You begin with a simple deck of actual cards. Draw or deal cards one at a time after you’ve shuffled the deck. The cards represent a single bodyweight exercise for you to use in that day’s routine. Red cards are indicative of squats, while black cards represent push ups. The number value would add additional meaning, for example, the Ace card would mean doing a single push-up, face cards such as kings, queens and jacks would mean 10 push-ups, and all the other cards tell you to do the number of exercises that is equal to their face value. For instance, drawing a black nine requires you to perform nine push ups. A red queen means ten squats. To have a balanced workout, remember to select one bodyweight fitness exercise that works the upper body and one that works the lower body. Otherwise, it’s OK to vary the particular exercises that you choose to do. The goal should be to complete the commands contained in the entire deck of cards in under fifteen minutes. To challenge yourself even more, give the jokers a higher numeric value, say 20 or 30, and leave them in the deck. Using the deck of cards will keep you from getting bored, which can lead to stopping your fitness routine, and it will give you a great all-over workout as well.
You’ll discover that doing this particular bodyweight fitness exercise properly requires a great deal of balance. You don’t want to entirely defeat the purpose of doing this bodyweight fitness exercise by risking a twisted knee or ankle, so you’ll definitely want to have the requisite balance. Therefore, upon embarking on Hindu squats, it is important to place one hand on a stable surface to assist with balance until you have gained sufficient balance and strength so that extra assistance is unnecessary.
Janos Kovacs is editor of http://www.bodyweightexercisetips.com a website and blog dedicated to building functional strength and getting that truly fit chiseled look without the “puffy” look of body builders. If you want to look like an Abercrombie model, and not like a steroid-loaded gym rat, visit him at http://www.bodyweightexercisetips.com.
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