Fit and Cool

Best Exercises for Body Toning – Bodyweight Exercises

Bodyweight exercises use a lot of different muscles in one move.  These are better than the usual weight lifting exercises that target just one muscle at a time.  Bodyweight exercises can be done anywhere, help you stay energized and keep you from overeating.  Because they use multiple body parts, bodyweight exercises help you burn fat fast – and best of all, no special equipment is needed. A good program  will include 3 – 4 bodyweight exercises.

Complete 8-12 repetitions of each exercise with no rest in between.  This will be one circuit.  Rest 60 seconds and do the same thing again for at least three circuits.  You can use any bodyweight exercise, but here are a few to get you started:

The Plank:

1.  Lie on your stomach with palms and forearms flat on the floor, forearms at a right angle to upper arm. 
2.  Raise your hips off the floor and raise up onto your toes so your body forms a flat line from head to heels. 
3.  Your abdominal muscles should be contracted to keep your rear end from sticking up in the air or hanging down toward the floor.
4.  Keep that form for 20 – 60 seconds, lower and repeat.

You can watch yourself in the mirror to ensure you are doing the exercise correctly.  Start the exercise like the top motion of a push up – hands flat on the floor and resting on your straight arm – to make the exercise more difficult.

The Side Plank:

1.  Lie on your right side,legs straight – rest on your right arm with your forearm resting on floor and palm flat on floor.
2.  Make your body form a diagonal by lifting your hips.  Put your left hand on your hip.
3.  Contract your abdominals.
4.  Keep that form for 20 – 60 seconds, lower and repeat.
5.  Repeat on the left side.

You can also make this move more difficult by starting with your arm straight.

Decline Push Up:

Do a push up with your feet resting on your weight bench.

Some other bodyweight exercises you can try are the wall squat, lunge, jumping jacks, quadracep crunch, front squat and bodyweight row.  Pick one or two exercises that work primarily your abdominals (plank and side plank), one or two that work mostly the lower body (front squat and lunge) and one or two that work mostly the upper body (bodyweight row, decline push up). 

Perform this routine every other day and combine them with cardio exercises and a good diet and you will soon see your body start to change shape!

Another great health, fitness and nutrition resource is Truth About Abs by Mike Geary. Check out Girlwithnoname’s review of this awesome eBook here:

Related posts:

1. Body Building for Starting Body Builders Body Building for Starting Body Builders...
2. Development of Muscles through Dumbbell Exercises Development of Muscles through Dumbbell Exercises...
3. About Toning Abs Training stimulates abdominal muscles pretty well creating the premises for...
4. A Natural And Affordable Body Weight Workout   A lot of book guides for muscle-building are being...
5. Body Building Myths Body Building Myths...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.