10 Effective Home Workouts Without Equipment
Research has shown that regular exercise and physical activity have the quality of preventing 46% of deaths caused due to an inactive human body system. It also strengthens our immune system as we grow old and our movement decreases, lowering the risk of heart disease and failure, maintain normal high blood pressure and sugar levels, helps cope up with dementia, various types of cancers, strokes, tumors etc. It has also shown to be beneficial in enhancing mental health, reducing anxiety and depression levels. Hence, physical activity ensures you a healthier and happier living.
Unfortunately, not many of us are able enough to maintain regular exercise routines due to various personal, environmental, social factors or barriers. The most common reasons people are not successful in adopting more physically active routines are insufficient time to adjust their exercise schedule, low self-motivation, lack of self trust to be physically active, fear of being injured or being injured recently, lack of support and companionship from friends and family, non-availability or long distances to neighborhood parks, or safe and pleasant walking.
For those of us who cannot make up in their busy schedules to head to the gym, home workouts are nearly as effective as the gym, and bring along a number of surprising benefits too. There is still place for gyms as they have always dominated the fitness industry during past, being as the only “go-to” places technically, where one goes for training and fitness. Whereas, after the disastrous impacts of COVID-19, this practice has begun to change. Many of us prefer home workouts, feeling satisfied in a safer and cleaner environment where we can exercise as and when we feel like! So, let’s dive in and see what effective home workout ideas we have brought without the need for expensive and enormous workout equipment.
Effective Home Workout: "Big 5" Bodyweight Exercises
As the name itself reflects, bodyweight exercises are strength-training exercises that use the body’s own weight as a resistance, targeting various muscle groups and can be easily performed at home without equipment. The founder of CORE Cycle Fitness, Denise Chakoian and a certified personal trainer states: “utilize your own body weight to provide resistance against your own gravity.” And when we talk about effective home workouts without equipment, bodyweight exercises can be modified to accommodate different fitness levels and abilities, making them suitable for beginners and experts alike.
1. Push-Ups
- Begin with a plank position, ensuring your hands are slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and fully extend your arms.
- Keep your body in a straight line from head to toe. You will feel pressure in your feet and shoulders.
- Slowly lower your body by gently bending your elbows until your chest nearly touches the floor.
- Keep your elbows close to your body as you lower.
- Come upwards, back to the starting position by straightening your arms.
- Repeat for at least 10 times.
2. Squats
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and toes pointing slightly outwards.
- Keep your chest up and straight, shoulders back, and core engaged.
- Slowly lower your body by bending your knees and hips, keeping back as straight as possible, in the position of sitting into a chair.
- Put weight on your heels and lower yourself down until your thighs are nearly parallel to the ground. Beginners may do to the extent they feel comfortable.
- Keep your knees aligned with your ankles.
- Carefully, pushing through your heels return to the starting position, straightening your legs and back.
- Repeat for at least 10 times.
3. Lunges
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and place your hands on hips.
- Move a step forward with your right foot, keeping your upper-body straight and shoulders relaxed.
- Carefully lower your body by bending both knees, your knee at the back should nearly touch the floor and your front thigh should be parallel to the floor.
- Ensure your front knee is in line with your ankle and does not extend past your toes.
- Push through your front heel to return to the starting position, dragging your right foot backwards to align with your left foot.
- Repeat the same movement, but with your left foot stepping forward.
- Repeat alternatively with each leg, performing an equal number of lunges on each.
- Continue at least 5 times with each leg.
4. Planks
- Being in the push-ups position and your hands straight beneath the shoulders, the body should lie in a straight line from head to heels.
- While involving your core muscles, squeeze your glutes (the large muscles of your buttocks) to maintain a stable plank position.
- Keep your neck in center, aligning with your spine.
- Hold this position as long as you feel comfortable, keeping your body straight and firm.
- For beginners, a duration of 20-30 seconds initially is okay and gradually increase the time limit as you build strength.
- To feel less strain in the beginning, you can press your forearms down on the ground instead of being on your palms.
- To make it harder, lift one arm or leg off the ground in the air for around 5 to 8 seconds, or try making variations such as side planks or plank with leg lifts.
- Heavy breathing throughout the exercise is preferred and avoid arching your back.
5. Burpees
- Start by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and arms straight by your sides.
- Lower your body into a squat position, bend your knees and place your hands right in front of you on the floor.
- Hop back so you end up in a plank position, with your body in a straight line from head to heels.
- Perform a push-up by lowering your chest to the floor while keeping your elbows close to the body.
- Push back up to the plank position.
- Jump your feet back to the squat position.
- Explosively jump up into the air, reaching your arms overhead.
- Land softly and immediately lower back into the squat position to begin the next repetition.
Cardio Exercises
Cardio exercises such as running, cycling, rope jumping, swimming and dancing are great ways to improve heart health, burn calories, weight management, boosts mood and energy levels, enhances lung capacity and improves immune system. A few home workouts without equipment are shared to provide you at gym-at-home experience. Let’s dive in!
Effective Home Workout 1: High Knees
Begin with a slight warm-up of jogging 3 to 4 minutes. Stand tall with feet hip-width apart and arms by your sides. Tighten abdominal muscles for stability. Lift right knee towards chest while driving left arm up, then quickly switch legs and arms. Keep back straight and knees pointing forward. Take deep breaths. Follow this pattern for the next 5 to 7 minutes. End with 3-5 minutes of light jogging or walking.
Effective Home Workout 2: Jumping Jacks
Stand straight with your feet joint together and arms relaxed at your sides. Jump and spread your legs wider than shoulder-width apart and raise your arms straight above your head. Clap! Your body should form an ‘X’ shape while jumping. Jump back to return to the starting position and bring your feet back together and lower your arms straight to your sides. Continue this jumping pattern for at least 15 to 20, maintaining a steady rhythm.
Effective Home Workout 3: Mountain Climbing
Go to a high plank position with your hands directly under your shoulders, body in a straight line from head to toe. Tighten your chest and engage your core to stabilize the body. Bring your right knee towards your chest. Use your legs alternately, moving forward in a crawling position, keeping your body in a straight plank position. Maintain a proper form, with your hips levelled and a controlled, steady movement. Inhale and exhale naturally as you practice.
Effective Home Workout: HIIT Workouts
HIIT is the short form for High-Intensity Interval Training and it involves short bursts of intense exercises followed by brief resting periods and low-intensity exercises. It works in a way that you engage in high-intensity activity phases for 30 seconds and then low-intensity activity recovery phases of duration 30 seconds. These cycles are repeated in an alternate manner. They are highly beneficial in burning calories in a short amount of time, improve cardiovascular fitness by challenging the heart and lungs and engage multiple muscle groups, improving overall muscle strength and endurance. The good thing is that it can be customized according to different fitness levels and can be done without equipment.
Effective Home Workout: Tabata
A HIIT workout that consists of 4-minute rounds of high-intensity exercises. Each round consists of 20 seconds of intense activity followed by a rest of 10 seconds, repeated 8 times. You can use a variety of exercises such as burpees, squats, push-ups etc. for high calorie burnout, improved cardio-vascular health and improved muscle endurance. The workout video below will surely help and motivate you!
Effective Home Workout: AMRAP Circuit
It stands for As Many Rounds As Possible, and it is a time-effective and efficient workout that challenges your strength, endurance and cardio-vascular fitness. By aiming to complete as many rounds as possible within a set time, you can continually push your limits and track progress over time. A good example of an AMRAP Circuit to help you understand better could be you set a time limit of 15 minutes during which you aim to do 10 push-ups, 15 squats, 20 mountain-climbers and 10 kettlebell swings. The video below will help you understand follow properly.
Tips For Staying Motivated and Consistent With At-Home Workouts
- Define SMART🎯goals and break them into milestones. Keep a record of your workouts and monitor your progress each passing day to count on your accomplishments📅.
- Plan and stick to a routine.
- Set up a designated exercise area at your home with proper air ventilation.
- Incorporate a variety🔄of exercises each day to prevent getting bored or lazy.
- Find a workout buddy or join online communities🤝.
- Reward yourself for reaching milestones 🎁.
- Ensure adequate sleep and a balanced diet with proper hydration 😴.
- Focus on the positive aspects and be flexible with your routine 🌟.
- Create a playlist of your choice or listen to your favorite audiobooks 🎧.
- Wear appropriate workout clothes and shoes for comfort.
- Visualize your goals and use motivational quotes 🌠.
Remember, incorporating regular exercises in your everyday fitness routine is a powerful, sustainable, long-term investment. These exercises not only enhances your energy by fighting fatigue but also release a hormone called endorphin which reduces stress and anxiety and improves your mood. It reduces the risk of chronic diseases and helps maintain a healthy and balanced body composition. It enhances your immune system and leads to a more restful sleep. Setting and achieving fitness goals is a sense of accomplishment. So, the wait is over, head over to your home gym and start regular exercise from today, without the need of any equipment!
