Bodyweight exercises: 4 ways to Freshen Up your home workouts

Go beyond pushups and planks

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Get into a relaxed state. You may not feel entirely together, and that’s okay. But find a way to let your body be still, whether that’s standing up or sitting down, and begin to consciously let different areas relax, including the muscles in the neck, chest, back and throat.

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start with four or five minutes of breathing on a foursecond count.

Breathe in through your nose for four seconds, then out through the nose for four seconds. Continue this for about four to five minutes. Try to breathe diaphragmatically, or in such a way that the air goes right into the lower ribs and stomach.

‘You’ll feel the expansion through the ribs and belly as you inhale,’ he says. ‘Although we should breathe like this all the time, it’s something that can get lost. Look at any baby, toddler, or small animals like a dog or cat; this is the way they breathe.’

Once you master the foursecond inhale and exhale pattern, consider moving on to longer intervals – maybe six seconds.

But what’s crucial for beginners, Bostock notes, is that you’re doing the practice at all, so don’t get too wrapped up in longer inhalations from the get-go.

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ideally, do this first thing in the morning. When you first wake up, the rest of the world isn’t there to distract you and your mind’s fresh.

‘Maybe you’ll have the first 30 minutes or hour to decide before the demands of the world start to come at you,’ he says.

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don’t overthink it. Anyone can do breathwork. ‘You don’t have to be an experienced yogi or meditator or go to a gym,’ to practice breathwork, Bostock says. ‘Anyone can benefit from breathing – it’s an incredible hack that we all have.’

– EMILY ABBATE

like your Diet or your lower BACK, your workout Routine HAS Almost Definitely

Been knocked out of Alignment During the CORONAVIRUS pandemic. Even with fewer restrictions, it can still be anxiety inducing to head to a gym or meet up with a few mates for a run. But there’s a thin workout-related silver lining to our new world of at-home streaming and app workouts: the best bodyweight workouts can still help you achieve a lot of your fitness goals.

Research shows that bodyweight workouts can boost muscular fitness, decrease body fat, improve aerobic capacity, and stave off injury. ‘When we go back to basics, we have an opportunity to fix poor mechanics, create more stabilisation, more range of motions, and, eventually, more strength.’ says Nike trainer and Rumble instructor Ash Wilking. ‘This’ll offer you more control when you do load a movement again, so once you’re back in the gym, you’ll be able to lift more efficiently.’

Bodyweight exercises also force you to move like an athlete, says Andrew Slane, group fitness instructor at Equinox and Variis instructor. “It’s rare in strength training to hit all three planes of motion, frontal, sagittal, and transverse,’ he says. ‘By training with your bodyweight only, you can move more freely and develop core strength and better spatial awareness, which will pay off in the long run.’

And given we’re all locked up, there’s no better time than now to think about the long run. Testdrive these bodyweight exercises and workout upgrades, and come back stronger than ever.

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work with your speed

The lowering phase of your lifts is called the “negative” or “eccentric” phase. When you slow this portion down, for example, spending four seconds in the lowering phase of a push-up then pressing back to start in one second, you spend more time with your muscles under tension. You’ll see pretty quickly that this is challenging. You may notice you’re a little sorer after an eccentric-focused workout.

‘This technique could result in more muscle tissue breakdown, which happens naturally in training and eventually creates mass,’ says Wilking. ‘The reality is that you may not build tons of mass with bodyweight training, depending on what level you’re at when you start, but you can maintain strength.’

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Get some air time

Plyometric training, which consists of things like jumps and throws, can take your bodyweight exercises to the next level. It also admittedly looks pretty impressive when executed correctly.

‘Things like plyo push-ups and jump squats work to recruit a different set of muscle fibres that we tend to overlook,’ says Slane. Granted, you won’t be able to rip through a set of plyo push-ups on your first try. Give yourself some grace, he suggests, and know that it’s normal if it takes some time to get the form down.

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add some instability

Simple accessories called gliders, or even a towel or a pair of socks (given how much at-home workout gear is sold out right now) will make your bodyweight workouts extra-challenging. By incorporating instability through these accessories, you’ll notice that everything becomes more difficult, adds Slane. ‘If you don’t have gliders, you can use paper plates on the carpet.’

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try new moves For those of you who’re willing to try more challenging bodyweight movements at home, Slane offers five fun options: Loaded BEAST To BUTT KICK

Start in a tabletop (otherwise known as the beast) position with your knees hovering 5cm above the floor. Send your weight back toward your heels, then jump up as if you were going to attempt a handstand, bringing your heels toward the glutes. Land back in your tabletop position; repeat. REVERSE PLANK with LEG LIFT

Start sitting on your butt with your legs out in front of you. With your hands by your sides, press up into a reverse plank position. While engaging through the core, lift one leg at a time, trying to put pressure into the opposite heel in the ground.

SPIDERMAN Push-up

Start in a high plank. As you lower down into a push-up, keeping elbows close to the ribs, drive one knee in toward the armpit on the same side. Press back to start for one rep; repeat on the opposite side. To amp up the difficulty, prop your feet on your couch and set yourself up in a slight decline position. ISOMETRIC squat To Lunge

Your goal here is to stay as low as possible the entire time. Start in a squat, where your thighs are at or close to parallel to the ground with the weight in your heels. Lunge back on the right foot, press through your left heel to return to that squat position. Repeat on the opposite side.

Body saw

Using gliders, two towels under your feet, or wearing socks, get into a high plank position. Push away with your forearms, lowering down toward the floor, then brace through the core to pull yourself back to high plank.

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