Line BreakAuthor: Steven Aitchison (442 Articles)
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Top 5 exercises to do in the home
ProBlogger.net is having another group writing project and I have decided to join in this time. You can still take part in this up until Thursday
Here are my favourite exercises to do in the home
- Push ups
This is my all time favourite exercise to do in the house and can be done almost anywhere. If done correctly it can strengthen stamina and build your Pecs and triceps.
How to do a standard push up:
Lie face down with your palms on the floor, about shoulder width apart. Push your whole body up with your back and legs in a straight line and then lower yourself back down towards the floor. To strengthen your chest more place your arms wider apart. To strengthen your triceps and back more, move your arms closer together.
Muscles used:
Chest muscles (pectoral)
Triceps (backs of the upper arm)
As a guide I have shown some stats for pushups from the armed forces. These charts come from wikipedia
Men’s United States Armed Forces Fitness Levels
United States Army
|
|
Number of pushups in two minutes |
|
|
Age |
Pass basic training |
99th Percentile |
| 16-21 | 42 | 71 |
| 22-26 | 40 | 75 |
| 27-31 | 39 | 76 |
| 32-36 | 36 | 75 |
| 37-41 | 34 | 73 |
Women’s
United States Armed Forces Fitness Levels
United States
Army
|
|
Number of pushes |
|
|
Age |
Pass basic training |
99th Percentile |
| 17-21 | 13 | 42 |
| 22-26 | 11 | 46 |
| 27-31 | 10 | 50 |
| 32-36 | 9 | 45 |
| 37-41 | 6 | 40 |
2. Sit ups
This is another great exercise to do in the house and aging can be done almost anywhere. There are lots of ways to do sit ups. I am using the standard sit up.
How to do a sit up:
Lie on your back with your knees bens and feet flat on the floor. Cross your arms across your chest and raise your body up to try and meet your knees. This can cause strain on the back, so if you have a weak back it may be better to
do a crunch instead.
Muscles used in sit ups:
Abdominal muscles
Back muscles
3. Jumping on the spot
This might look a bit silly but it’s a great workout and is used to get the heart pumping and build stamina. It can put strain on the knees. This will also build your leg muscles.
How to do it;
Literally just jump up and down raising your whole body off the ground 1 inch or more.
Muscles used:
Calf muscles
Thigh muscles
4. Squats
Another easy but very useful exercise for your thighs and buttocks. It helps to shape your buttocks, strengthen thighs and build stamina.
How to do it:
Stand up straight, bend your knees with your arms stretched outright parallel to the floor. Bend until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
Muscles used;
Thigh muscles
Buttock muscles.
5. Back extension
I have had back problems for years especially when I get up first thing in the morning. I bought a back book and tried all the exercises in it for 4 weeks and I found it made a big difference. I could stay in bed longer, if I wanted without getting so much pain. One of the best exercises was the back extension.
How to do it:
Lie face down with your arms at your side. Slowly lift your head toward the ceiling and look up as far as you can go. You can extend this by lifting your legs and your head up as far as you can and hold for 5 and release.
Muscles used:
Stomach muscles
Back muscles
What are your favourite exercies to do in the home? let me know by leaving a comment.
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{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice list. Exercises must be done safely inorder to avoid body pains. There are some who complain that sit ups strain their neck. I think they are not doing it properly.
I use 1, 2,4 and 5 of the above exercises along with a few others:
I have a door frame which I can just about get a grip on for pullups.
I also do these strange sit-up exercises where you lay with your legs out streight on the floor and prop your upper body back on your elbows (with your forearms straight on the floor). You then lift your legs, exercising the stomach muscles. I tend to repeat this 20 times or so and then try to hold my legs up for as long as I can.
I also spend 15 minutes or so shadow boxing around my room. This exercise my legs, arms and gets the heart going.
and Number 6 could be head stand push ups. Get a cushion, line it up against the wall, and do a head stand with your head resting on the cushion. No try push your self up as many times as you can.
I have seen some very fit people fail utterly at this, and that is because it works a very small muscle, the deltoid, with a lot of weight. Secondary muscles are chest, and stablisers include back and abdonomals, used to keep you up and straight.
Beware this is not to be tried by the faint hearted!
I believe that those are perfect exercises to do at home if done properly. We don’t have to be at the gym inorder to exercise. Those simple exercises are enough to keep us fit, consider the part we want to develop.
Hi Steven,
I don’t belong to a gym but I exercise regularly – 5 days a week walking in my THR, and resitance training. It’s a good point that your post is making — you cannot use the fact that you don’t belong a gym as an excuse for no exercise.
Good luck in the Problogger drawing on Friday!
All the best,
JoLynn
Top 5 bodyweight exercises I recommend:
* Push-ups
* Pistols
* Chin-ups/pull-ups
* Dips
* Plyometrics
My wife and I tried your diet and we love it!
Seriously, when I was in my early twenties the push up served as an interesting if humiliating illustration of the degree of differences there are in muscle power.
I’d been doing push ups for a few months and had worked my way up to 23. One day a friend of mine was over – very athletic. I made the mistake of mentioning push ups. He was curious how many he could do. He was in the hundreds when we both got bored and he finally stopped. He really hadn’t started to slow down significantly…
The guy was an exception, probably the most athletic person I’ve happened to personally know. But it was quite a revelation!
Great list! If you like lists like this one – check out http://www.listafterlist.com/
It is a great place for YOU to find and create lists about anything and everything.
You can create a list just like this one at ListAfterList.com.
Hii,
really nice lesson on excercise, now i can lose some weight. tahnks
Best regards,
eliena andrews
Its wonderful 5 gym exercise and my dear friends please do this exercise daily and be healthy in your life. Enjoy this happiest life without disease..
I can’t wait to try some of these exercises out. I don’t have time to make it to the gym, so these should work great. I like the Basic Training figures. They really give me a benchmark to work towards.
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Thanks for the helpful list of exercises. My main exercise is walking since I’m a senior citizen.
I love these tips for days when i skip the gym. I will def be trying them out. You should check out this article i did. it’s in the same vein.
Top 5 Ab Exercises
http://snagwiremedia.com/24fitclub/2008/04/top-5-ab-exercises.html#more#b!#b!
I like this list: simple, sensible – with no equipment required.
is this all that we need to do to keep our body in shape or do we require some extra effort other than this .i am 18 plz tell me what is the exact reppurcussions reqd and how many sets should i perform these.plz help me with this????
I recommend doing:
3 sets of 20 squats
3 sets of 20 pushups
3 sets of 30 crunches
with no rest in between sets.
The best thing about these exercises is that you can do slight variations on them. I’m very surprised that pull-ups weren’t mentioned though
nice list
you have forgot to put that people must warm up first in order not to strain anything. good list though i will try these!
@ ripped you recommend doing:
3 sets of 20 squats
3 sets of 20 pushups
3 sets of 30 crunches
with no rest in between sets. Won’t that be painful?
Nice exercises and information. One of my favorite exercises is push ups and I also do the decline push ups for added difficulty targeting the upper pectorals. A good body weight compound exercise for chest, triceps, shoulders.
thats a really good advises and exerc.for better body thank u
i do this exercises at home veryday and i build slim body
thanks for top5 exercises list
For upper body do:
Dips, Push ups, chin ups(both grips)
For Core: Sit ups, the plank(1. Lie face down on mat resting on the forearms, palms flat on the floor.
2. Push off the floor, raising up onto toes and resting on the elbows.
hold for 30-60secs
And for legs squats, lunges, sit 90 degree angle against wall for thighs.
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No mention of yoga? The all-time fantastic exercise that requires no gym, no supervision (if you have some experience), no video or instructor or fancy equipment…..and it is a thousand plus year old proven method of achieving mental, physical and emotional happiness!
I’m looking at starting a non gym exercise regime and this seems to be a great article. I do like your site as well especially with the amout of health related stuffs you have here. Thanks
Jerry
Jerry OKorie´s last blog ..SEO Doorway
I try to take a walk around work every few hours for a few minutes at a time. This helps combat the drinks and snacks sitting around and lets me clear my mind so when I come back to my work I feel refreshed and ready to go.
You can also use this time to converse with your peers – as long as it doesn’t interrupt them from something important.
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Hey, great article.
I agree on pushups, squats and back extension.
I’d have to replace the situps with crunches though, thanks for noting it right in the article, many people destroy their backs because they don’t know that they should replace situps with crunches when they can’t handle them.
Also I’d want to replace the normal jumping with a cheap jumproap to jump with, that’s a lot more fun and you can feel like rocky or some other boxer that you like
Those are all good exercises. Other exercises that you should be able to do anywhere are assisted dips (using a chair or edge of bed), leg raises and good old fashioned burpees. Burpees are a fantastic cardio and muscle endurance exercise and require no more space than a push up does.
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