3 SLEEK, SCULPTING, ‘BETTER THAN WEIGHT LIFTING’ BODYWEIGHT EXERCISES
All across the country fitness centers are vacant. The regulars have all vanished, machines are no longer humming, but cold and gathering dust.
National franchising behemoth, Planet fitness says, “We believe we have sufficient liquidity to carry us well beyond the end of this year, even in the event that clubs remain closed for the rest of 2020.”
The question is though, will people want to return to the gym, once stay-at-home orders are lifted, I guess we’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, people all around the globe are busy overcoming the mental resistance that comes with following through with a proper at home workout routine.
We’re in the process of creating a new normal, when it comes to how we move our bodies. Will you prefer this new way of training over gym-culture, or will you be rushing back to the weight room and arc-trainer?
To challenge your idea of what it takes to get lean and sculpted, we’ve put together a list of three super challenging moves, all without machines. Dare we say, these bodyweight moves are even harder than weightlifting at the gym.
Incorporate these three movements and variations into your routine to take control of your body and build sleek sculpted muscle, that leaves your favorite dresses skimming perfectly over all the right places.
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The lack of knowledge regarding bodyweight training and its proper progressions is what prevents more people from getting the results they should from it. Bodyweight exercises can build muscle rapidly, especially if you keep progressing to more difficult variations of each of them.”
1. Get An “Ab” lift, With These Down Dog Variations
Adho Mukha Svasnasana, is a classic yoga pose, you're going to do dozens of them in a single class. The best part about them though, is you don't have to be doing yoga to include them in your home workout routine. These lively adaptations are real core-burners, meant to fire you up from fingers, shoulders, and toes.
Where are you weak? strong? tight? flexible? Practiced consciously, Downward Dog can train you to balance strength and flexibility in your whole body. To start, focus on your upper body. If your shoulders are tight, your work is to open your chest, stretch through your armpits, and straighten your arms."
1. Down Dog Toe Touches
Self magazine, published these three down dog variations back in 2016, who knew they'd be so relevant in 2020. These super challenging down dog modifications will get your whole body burning (in a good way.)
2. Down Dog, Plank, Hold, Repeat
Fitness Trainer Trish Stratus, says make sure to hold your plank for a couple breaths, and then push your hips back into down dog.
3. Rotating Down Dog Knee Drives
This 3-part variation we are going to lift one leg straight back into the air until we're in three-legged downward dog.
Step 1. From there you're going to drive your knee to your nose, while lowering into a plank.
Step 2. You'll bring your leg back up into the air behind you, returning to three legged down dog. This time you'll drive your knee to the right elbow while lowering into a plank.
Step 3. Repeat this movement returning to three-legged down dog, this time drive your knee toward the left (opposite) elbow.
That's one repetition, on one side, you'll have to repeat with the other leg.
2. Keep Working The Whole Body With Hindu Pushups
We've included a great short video for you on how to properly execute a Hindu pushup. They're a complex, compound movement that can easily be confused with Down Dog to plank, or the Dive Bomber push up. If you've been struggling to properly work your upper body this is how!
The Hindu push up is a compound movement that engages the major muscles in the legs, arms, back, chest, shoulders and the abdominal muscles. As such it is a great exercise for building holistic strength of the kind we aim for in calisthenics. Due to the deep yogic breathing that is required to complete this exercise properly it is also beneficial for your heart and cardiovascular system."
Keep in mind, to return to down dog, you are not reversing the movement. You will be able to return to down dog from the last pose in the sequence, by pushing back with your hips.
3. Get Those Shapely Legs You've Always Dreamed Of With Bulgarian Spilt Squat Jumps
You'll need a sturdy chair or box. This is an explosive movement, promoting muscle growth and stability. You're putting all of your weight on one leg, that adds the necessary tension and weight for developing sleek sculpted muscles.
Bulgarian split squats work the glute muscles as well as the upper leg muscles. The target muscle is the quadriceps with the gluteus maximus, soleus and adductor magnus working to assist. The hamstring, gastrocnemius, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus all act as stabilizers." -Livestrong.com
These 'three' moves work almost every muscle in your body. They are challenging, while providing all the necessary tension to really wake up with gratifyingly sore muscles the next day. Make sure to perform them at a comfortable pace that allows you to really focus on form, stability, and properly executing the movement. Speed doesn't always make things better, it's all about mind-muscle connection. Meaning pay attention to every motion, and you'll be rewarded with muscle growth, stability, and endurance.
---BCRX Content Writer, Klarrisa Arafa