Ian Paa / June 24, 2020
Have you ever woken up and dreaded the fact that gyms worldwide would be closed until an unforeseeable future? Well chances are, that day has arrived, and for the most of us, we just have to accept the fact that this self-quarantine situation is fate giving us that permission to slack off and abandon our fitness goals completely. WRONG!!!
While it's definitely the perfect excuse to go south and literally devour that moist delicious cake that mom made in the fridge, it's NOT the end of the world, and certainly doesn't give you the jail-free card to skip out on getting your body fit from the comfort of your own house. I am here to let you know that you can get a quick bang for your buck, just as you would in the gym, with nothing but your own body-weight.
Here are 5 effective but simple body-weight exercises to get you fit in quarantine:
1. Good-morning to Backward Lunge
Lower body exercises are great to start with as legs make up half of your body, not to mention legs have the largest group of muscle fibers overall.
Performing a goodmorning(a forward bend hinging at the hips) primes your glutes for extension, and then a backward lunge, which is not only safer for your knees but also great for leg development.
2. Hand-release Pushups
This along with the exercises on this article all require quality form, but this definitely will test your mental aptitude. Perform a regular pushup, all the way until your chest touches the floor, release your hands from the floor for a second, plant them on the floor again, and pushup. Repeat. Releasing your hands ensures you go through that full range of motion without having to rely on going back up as soon as you feel that you've reached the peak of the extension of your chest(bottom of the movement), and thus develops your chest even further compared to a regular push up. Perform this on your knees to make it easier.
3. Superman Y Raise
Who says you can't work your back muscles at home. Don't neglect them. Get on the floor face down, extend your arms in a Y position and with a neutral spine, flex your lower back, as if you're free falling from skydiving, raising your arms. Relax and repeat the contraction. This exercise is not only great for your posterior shoulders(rear delts), but is a healthy way to work your back muscles all the way down to your lumbar spine.
4. Plank climbers
You never experienced the longest minute of your life until you've performed a plank. Add mountain climbers to that and you have yourself a recipe for working on your entire midsection, developing and strengthening your core muscles.
5. Controlled Bicep curls and Bent over Tricep kickbacks
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, and perform a bicep curl whilst squeezing your arms into your ribs, performing this with a 3 second contraction of your bicep. Bend and over, hinging at your hips, drive your contracted elbow slightly behind you, and perform a tricep kickback, performing a 3 second extension of your arm. These are done squeezing your arms to your side at all times, and feeling the extension and contraction of your biceps and triceps throughout the movements.
Give these exercises a go, let me know what you think, and get moving at home!