Body Weight Exercises... Your Body Weight Home Gym

Body weight exercises are THE low-tech way to train.

Think you can't get a muscle building workout this way?

Let me show you how!

Your Portable Home Gym

Bodyweight exercises can be as simple as the basic press up for the chest. For variety, and for the more advanced, I perform handstand press-ups which give the shoulders, arms, chest and core a terrific workout!

Unlike a conventional weights workout, building muscle without weights challenges the muscles in a uniquely different way...

Here control and coordination play a vital part in an exercise's execution. Furthermore, this different way of exercising can sometimes make a welcome change and push you onto greater, unexpected gains!

Do you want to get fit? Do you want to lose fat?

Let's see how it's done:

Click here to share your best body weight exercises!

Photo courtesy of Ari Bakker

The Press Up

1. Using the press up as our chest exercise, elevate the feet to increase the exercise's difficulty. Still too easy? Then kick your feet up high onto the nearest wall and make your press ups from there! Not so easy now, huh? ;-)

Important Tip: An excellent bodyweight exercise that mirrors the press up is the dip exercise. Grip the backs of two strong chairs and lower your full body weight between them. Here, unlike the press up, the upper body gets to do ALL the work!

For more fantastic tips go to: UNIQUE-BODYWEIGHT-EXERCISES - a site dedicated to building muscle and fitness through bodyweight exercise.

2. If press ups are now too easy, and you want to get a 'feel' for the handstand press up but aren't yet strong enough, perform a 'static hold'. Simply, kick your feet into position and hold your body in a handstand. Hold your handstand for a count of thirty progressing up to one minute. A further benefit to exercising this way, is you get to build connective ligament tissue - a valuable goal for the muscle building trainee!

3. When a static hold is easy, begin lowering yourself slowly and hold this position. Again hold for a count of thirty. This is a great way of training the shoulders, arms and chest as you build to a full bodyweight handstand press up.

4. Further improvements can be achieved by performing partial repetitions. Here you lower your upper body one-half of a repetition then slowly push back up. In time, you will manage a full, perfect repetition in good style.

Too easy again?!!

More difficulty can be achieved by:

• More repetitions
• Slower repetition speed!

In Summary

Body weight exercises are a terrific way to get fit, boost metabolism, and build muscle fast - and you get to do it for free...

And your Number 1 benefit?

Your home gym travels with you!

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Body Weight Exercises That You Love? Write About Them Here!

Body weight exercises are the ultimate portable home gym - what is your best? Do pull-ups get your vote, or maybe you're a fan of the dip? Share your favorite body weight exercises tips and secrets!

Click on the links below to see some great body weight exercises tips. They were all added by visitors to this page...