You don’t have to be at the gym to do strength training exercises. Even if you don’t have weights at home, you can do strength training exercises by using the weight and resistance of your own body to help train and strengthen your muscles. Here are four of the best strength training exercises that you can perform at home.
Jumping Jacks
This isn’t the ideal exercise to do if you live in an apartment above other people, since they won’t be too happy about the noise it creates, but jumping jacks are a great way to get your heart rate up and build some strength for your entire body. In order to tone up even more and add extra resistance, you can do jumping jacks while holding small weights (2-5 pounds).
Planks
The plank has only recently become a popular strength training exercise, but it’s a great way to train many different muscles in your body. Not only is planking great for your core strength, but it’s a step down from push-ups for those who struggle with the movement, and it can build strength in your upper arms and your thighs too. When starting out, you should plank for around 15 seconds, increasing it around 5 seconds per day until you can plank for 2 minutes without stopping.
Curls
You may be wondering how you can possibly do any type of curling exercises without weights, but you can easily do it by finding items around your home. If you don’t have any weights to use at home, you can exercise using items such as large bottles of water or cartons of milk. They don’t have to be incredibly heavy, and you’ll start to feel your muscles pulling even with lighter items if you do enough reps.
Push-ups
You can do push-ups no matter where you are, and it’s one of the best ways to build extra strength across your entire body. You might struggle to do push-ups at first, and some people can only manage one or two, particularly if they are very unfit or carrying lots of excess weight. If you can only manage one at first, try again the next day and gradually build it up until you can do 20-30 without stopping. As mentioned previously, planking is a good way to introduce yourself to push-ups, so if you find them difficult, start off with a few seconds per day of planking.
