5 Essential Bodyweight Exercises for Beginners

Even the most dedicated bodybuilding training plan should include bodyweight exercises. Bodyweight exercises are easy to do - just move the coffee table to the side, and you're ready to go. These workouts also help you get bigger and stronger without going to the gym or have a pricey home set-up.

You don't need a spotter to increase the difficulty of these exercises. You use a wide range of stabilizing muscles, which makes your workout more effective. Bodyweight exercises are the best way to do HIIT. There's no way around it: bodyweight exercises are the building blocks of solid gains.

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Bodyweight Exercises for Beginners

Check out these five bodyweight exercises for beginners:

1) Bodyweight Squat

Deep knee bends are another name for bodyweight squats, which can be done anywhere and don't require any equipment. They're a good way to get the lower body in shape and warm up the core. When done correctly, bodyweight squats are a good way to train the lower body muscles.

Here's how you do this exercise:

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and turned out slightly. Put your weight on your heels.
• Turn your hips back to sit your butt back, and bend your knees till your thighs are parallel to the ground.
• Put your weight on your heels to stand up straight again. As you stand, squeeze your buttocks, and keep your core tight.

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2) Reverse Lunge

The core, glutes, and hamstrings all get a workout when you do a reverse lunge. They are easier on your joints and make your front leg a bit more stable. This workout is perfect for people with knee problems, trouble keeping their balance, or less hip mobility.

The reverse lunge is a unilateral exercise that can be used by strength, power, and fitness athletes to build strength, increase muscle size, and improve their body movement.

Here's how you do this exercise:

• Start by standing with your feet about as far apart as your shoulders.
• Step backwards with your left foot, landing on the ball of your foot and bending your knees to make two 90-degree angles.
• To get back up, push through your right heel.
• Repeat on the other side.

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3) Marching Glute Bridge

Both the bridge and the squat involve extending the hips and knees, so they use the same group of muscles - the gluteus maximus and the quadriceps. Bridge means to lift your hips off the mat.

The main muscle used in the bridge is the gluteus maximus - the biggest muscle in the buttocks. This workout makes the core muscles stronger, helping you with everyday tasks, other exercises and sports. It helps you stand up straight, keep your balance, and feel less pain in your back.

Here's how you do this exercise:

• With your face up on the mat, keep your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
• Lift your right foot off the floor while your right knee is bent. Try not to move your hips.
• Take a five-second pause. Put your right foot on the ground slowly, but keep your hips up.
• Repeat on the other side by lifting your left foot off the ground.

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4) Push-up

The push-up is a common calisthenics move that starts with the body on the ground. Push-ups work the pectoral, triceps, and front deltoids by lifting and lowering the body with the arms.

Push-ups are a basic exercise that are often done in physical education or athletic training for civilians and in the military. Interestingly, they're also often used as a way to punish people in the military, school sports, and some forms of martial arts.

Here's how you do this exercise:

• Start in a high plank position, with your hands flat on the floor about shoulder-width apart and wrists under your shoulders.
• Bend your arms, and lower yourself as close to the floor as you can while keeping your body in one long line. The angle between your elbows and body should be about 45 degrees.
• Push back up to the starting position.

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5) Donkey Kick

Donkey kicks work on the large and medium gluteal muscles. You don't need any equipment to do this exercise. This workout tightens and tones the glutes and core, getting you ready for more advanced moves (like pulses) and improving your fitness.

Donkey kicks are a great way to strengthen and keep your balance. As your whole body has to stay still while your leg lifts, this exercise also works your core and shoulder muscles.

Here's how you do this exercise:

• Start on your knees. Bring your right knee to your chest while keeping your foot bent.
• Kick your right leg up behind you and towards the sky. Bring it back down while keeping your knee bent and foot flexed.
• Do it again on the other side.

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Takeaway

Include the aforementioned bodyweight exercises in your daily routine for a full body workout.