12 effective exercises that will make your figure ideal

Learn these exercises and you'll never pay for a gym membership again.

You can exercise anywhere using only your own weight.

We suggest exercises that use only your body weight as resistance, such as push-ups and lunges. They do not require the necessary equipment.

These movements are a staple in many high-intensity workouts. These workouts are intense and fast.

You get through the exercises quickly in less than 30 minutes. This means you can be in great shape without having to go to the gym, spend hours working out, or use special workout equipment. (Seriously, it's science.) Just knowing the right moves is enough.

Here's a list of exercises created by personal trainer and exercise physiologist Albert Matheny.

These 12 exercises are important for those who want to exercise anytime, anywhere.

The trainer also gives 9 workout options that are combinations of these movements. You can use these 12 exercises as building blocks for a variety of fast, high-impact workouts that are possible anywhere.

Some of these movements come with instructions on how to make them more comfortable. Just try to perform the movements that don't have "facilitating" instructions as best you can. Know that it is better to do just a few repetitions of each movement perfectly, rather than doing many movements incorrectly.

Once you've mastered these exercises, learn how to combine them into a full 20- or 30-minute workout.

Push ups

What to do:

Place your hands directly under your shoulders.
Place your feet shoulder-width apart.
Maintain a plank position. Your body should be straight from the back of your head to your hips.
The neck should be in line with the shoulders.
As you lower, keep your elbows close to your body.

Not recommended:

Sagging or protruding buttocks.
Tilt your head up or down.
Allow your shoulders to rise toward your ears.

How to make it easier:

Place your feet wider for better stability.
Perform push-ups as described above, but instead of a plank position, do push-ups with your knees on the ground. Just make sure your back and hips are in a straight line.

Useful tips for losing weight

The main advice that can be given to all people who set a goal to lose weight is that you should not expect results instantly. The process of changing body weight is also associated with adaptation of the body. At the moment, your body is adapted to the weight you have. By changing this weight, your body will experience stress. Therefore, get ready for a long period of fruitful work on yourself.

It is also necessary to monitor your diet. Fitness is directly related to what you eat. Eliminate fast carbohydrates throughout the day and any carbohydrates three to four hours before bed. Remember to eat food immediately after training, preferably something high in protein. Remember to eat breakfast, trying to get most of your carbohydrates in your first meal.

Don't forget to warm up before starting any workout. Your sleep will also play a big role in losing weight. Try to get at least eight hours of sleep.

Plank

How to do:

Place your hands under your shoulders, or slightly wider.
Tighten your gluteal muscles.
Your body should be in one line from head to toe.
Tighten your chest.
Tuck your chin.
Direct your gaze to the floor.

Not recommended:

Lifting or sagging of the buttocks.
Raise your head.
Staying in a position if your body is not in a straight line is only a good exercise if you do it correctly.

How to make it easier:

Hold the position for a shorter period of time.

Hip abduction

An excellent exercise to work your abs. While doing this, it is important to stretch your stomach and open your ribs.

Duration:

40-60 seconds.

Technique:

We stand in a side plank on the elbow, bend the leg that is below;
We put our second hand behind our head;
twist so that the free leg and arm are connected;
unbend;
repeat the same with the other side of the body.

Bella Hadid

Photo: instagram.com/bellahadid

Spider Lunge

How to do:

Starting position: as for push-ups.
Place your right foot near the outside of your right hand.
Land on your entire foot.
Return to the starting position.
Repeat with the other leg.
Maintain a firm plank position.

Not recommended:

Allow your shoulders to move out of line directly above your hands.
Sagging hips.

When will the result be?

Guys, do you think it’s possible to pump up six-pack abs in two weeks? CAN! A very positive video that gives faith and motivation:

How long will it take for the results to become noticeable? You won’t be able to instantly lose extra pounds at home just by reading articles. To make your dreams come true:

Create the right menu for every day.
Exercise regularly.
Feel free to pamper yourself with sports corsets, body creams, high-quality panaceas, and weight loss belts.

Any investment in your goal gives you motivation!

It’s up to you how soon you put on a beautiful dress. This system worked for 3 months, then, I admit, I became lazy and relaxed. Now I want to set a new task for myself - namely pumping up visible muscle definition, because phrases from neighbors that “I need to eat more” still haunt me to this day. Therefore, I decided to enter the 3rd category of people who are not discussed as fat or thin, but more on that later.

Share this information with your friends on social networks, in case some of them have something to add, let's discuss it together. Good mood to everyone and see you soon!

Squats

How to do:

Place your feet somewhere between hip-width and shoulder-width apart.
Spread your toes as needed to be flexible as you move.
Keep your back straight.
Look forward and slightly up.
Make sure your knees are in line with your toes.
Squat down as deeply as possible.

Not recommended:

Allow your knees to move out of line with your toes.
Bend your knees inward.
Raise your heels off the ground.
Shift your weight to your toes.

How to make it easier:

Squat shallowly if you find it difficult to squat or have discomfort when standing up.

Warm-up

Home workouts should begin with a warm-up to avoid the risk of injury. We focus on the calf muscles.

Duration:

1 minute.

Technique:

rise on your toes and stretch up;
walk on your toes.

Yoga with Regina Todorenko. 15 minutes to start your day productively

Jump Lunge

How to do:

Keep your front knee at a 90-degree angle.
Lunge as low as possible without your back knee touching the floor.
Keep your torso upright.
Distribute your weight evenly between your front and back legs.
Jump to switch the position of your legs - your front leg goes back and your back leg goes forward.
Coordinate your arm movements so that your front arm moves forward as your opposite leg lunges back.
Land softly.

Not recommended:

So that the knee touches the floor.

How to make it easier:

Take your time - just do regular lunges.

Single leg lift

How to do:

Keep your back straight.
Distribute your weight evenly on the leg you're standing on.
Raise one leg straight behind you. Lean forward and stop at hip level. Bend as low as your flexibility allows.
Pull yourself back to a standing position using the hamstring (back) of the leg you are standing on.
Keep your head in a neutral position.

Not recommended:

Reach toward the floor with your fingertips: This bends your back. Instead, focus on keeping your back flat and locked through your hips.
Try to touch the floor if flexibility does not allow.
Change legs on every rep. Do the exercise with one leg for one set, and then switch to the other leg for the next set.

The most effective exercises for weight loss

Before choosing exercises, you should decide on the ultimate goal: do you just want to reduce body weight or do you want to make it more prominent? Or do you want relief to appear in a certain muscle group? If you want to develop a specific muscle group, do not forget about exercises for other parts of the body. This means that you will divide the exercises in your training program into basic and maintenance.

For example, you want to get the famous “cubes” on your stomach. What to do in this case? Work your abs seven days a week? No. In this case, you risk putting too much stress on your body. Muscle development occurs not through training, but through proper recovery after training. Ideally, do about 70% of your workout on your abs and 30% on the rest of your body. For example, Monday, Wednesday and Friday you strengthen your abdominal muscles, Tuesday and Saturday you work on your lower body and arms, and for another two days you rest.

Run

The simplest exercise for losing weight is running. At the same time, it is important to approach running correctly, in such a way as not to harm the body. Nowadays, amateur running is turning into a cult; many sources of information are appearing, by becoming familiar with which you will make running as beneficial as possible for the body.

To start running, running does not require any special financial expenses. You need sneakers and comfortable clothes for the weather. It is important to choose the right running shoes. You should not start running in sneakers, and if you have any structural features of your feet (for example, flat feet), then you should choose sneakers with the help of specialists.

Advice! When planning your running workouts, at least 80% of your weekly volume should be done at an easy pace, that is, at a pace where you can talk comfortably without shortness of breath. The remaining 20% of the time can be more intense.

The main mistake that amateurs make when starting to run is trying to run fast every time. This will not lead to weight loss, but will only harm your heart. In order for your body to use fat as energy when running, you need to run at a low heart rate. If you have a heart rate monitor, then aim for a heart rate of up to 150 beats per minute. If you do not have a special device, then run at a pace at which you can talk without shortness of breath or difficulty. If you have difficulty breathing even when running slowly, alternate running segments with walking segments. Over time, your heart will adapt and you will be able to run fully. It is also important not to overdo it with loads: count not the kilometers, but the time spent on training, and do not increase the volume by more than 10% per week.

Of course, the emphasis when running is on the leg muscles, but the core and back muscles are also involved.

Walking

If we name the best exercises for beginners, then walking will be among the first. It is better to start with walking for people who have never exercised and are several tens of kilograms of excess weight. Walking primarily activates your heart. Heart function, also called aerobic fitness, is the basis for supplying oxygen to your muscles. Walking will not raise your heart rate too much, which means you can develop your heart muscle smoothly. Over time, you can increase your walking speed or move on to different walking variations.

Reverse Lunge

How to do:

Starting position: stand straight.
Step back with one foot.
Keep your front knee at a 90-degree angle.
Keep your chest up.
Distribute your weight evenly between your front and back leg.
The knee of the back leg can lightly touch the floor.
Push through the heel of your front foot to stand up.
Coordinate your arm movements so that your hand is in front as your opposite leg lunges back.

Not recommended:

Shift the weight of your front leg onto your toes.
So that the knee moves to the side.
Allow the front knee to bend inward.

General recommendations for beginners

Before you start doing strength exercises, you must undergo a full medical examination and consult with a sports doctor or fitness trainer. This will help to identify contraindications in a timely manner and avoid health problems.

During classes, it is recommended to adhere to the following rules:

Balance your diet. The ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates should be within 1:0.8:4. In a situation where you need to quickly burn fat, the amount of complex carbohydrates (rice, buckwheat, barley) should be reduced to 100 g per day, completely eliminating simple carbohydrates (sweet, starchy foods) from the diet.
Maintain drinking regime. You should drink at least 1500 ml of water during the day. It is best to consume 1 glass of liquid every 3 hours between meals.
Stick to breathing techniques. When loading, you should exhale, while relaxing the working muscles, inhale.
Do a thorough warm-up. Before each strength training, you need to perform a series of warm-up movements: tilting the body in different directions, rotating the pelvis, raising the knees to the chest, swinging the arms and legs.
Wear the correct clothing. During exercise, to avoid injury, it is important to keep your joints warm. This can be achieved by wearing sportswear that covers your knees and elbows.

The duration of any workout should not exceed 60 minutes. Otherwise, the process of catabolism (destruction of muscle tissue) may be activated, which will negatively affect the effectiveness of training.

Walking on your hands

How to do:

Your legs should be as straight as your flexibility allows.
Keep your back straight.
Bend at the waist and place your hands on the floor in front of you.
Keep your chest straight as you walk your arms forward until you are in a plank position. Then walk on your hands in the opposite direction and stand up.
Tighten your hips and dig your heels into the ground as you walk back on your hands.

Not recommended:

Walk your arms past the plank position.
Sagging hips.
Swing from side to side from the hips.
Raise your shoulders up towards your ears.

How to make it easier.

Bend your knees slightly if you are unable to reach the ground. Improve your flexibility and work on keeping your legs straight.
To turn these exercises into a full workout, follow one of these guides.
You can mix and match exercises to make your own workout.

Workout for a lean body (second round)

The second round of workout for a slim body at home can be done after a short rest for 2-3 minutes. Beginners are advised to divide the program into two days or morning/evening. A set of exercises will help you finally load the muscles of the whole body, which will lead to excellent results if the training is carried out systematically. First, the main work will be on the legs, after which you will focus on working the abdominal muscles.

At the end of your workout, do some muscle stretching for your entire body.

Sumo squat with 1-2-3 pulse

How to do it : The specificity of squats lies in the wider placement of the legs, which allows you to activate additional muscle groups of the lower extremities. Socks are turned away from each other. The squat is performed to a right angle in the bend of the knee joints. Move your pelvis back, your body is slightly tilted, your back is straight. At the bottom point, make 3 pulsating movements one-two-three times in a small amplitude. Then straighten up and repeat again. The work is carried out at an average pace without sudden jerks.

Why : The main load here falls on the inner thigh and buttocks. The effect is achieved by turning the toes and widening the legs. Thanks to the exercise, you can easily develop adductor muscles, pump up your buttocks and get rid of fat deposits in problem areas.

How much to perform: 10-12 repetitions. Repeat in two approaches.

Pulling your knees to your elbows in a plank

How to do it : Assuming a standard plank position, begin to alternately pull your knees through your sides. The lift is carried out as far as possible: approximately to chest level, but you can even touch your elbow with your knee. Each new repetition is accompanied by a change of sides so that the load is distributed symmetrically.

Why : A complex element of training at home has an accentuated effect on the oblique abdominal muscles, while loading the entire body, since the work is carried out in the plank. Including arms, back and shoulders. Also, increased load is placed on the quadriceps.

How much to perform: 10-12 repetitions on each leg. Repeat in two approaches.

Side lunges

How to do it : Bring your arms together in front of you, then take a wide step to the side while sitting down. The squat must be performed until the supporting leg bends to 90 degrees at the knee joint. There is no need to do lunges that are too deep to avoid overloading your knees and ankles.

Why : Like any other lunges, the lateral variation has a complex effect on the leg muscles: buttocks, quadriceps, adductors, calves. Also, lateral lunges are an ideal tool for combating problem areas on the inner and outer sides of the thigh. Moreover, with the help of this element you can significantly improve stretching.

How much to do: 10-12 repetitions first on one leg, then 10-12 repetitions on the other leg. Repeat two approaches.

Stretching arms and legs on all fours

How to do it : While in a position on all fours, you need to alternately stretch opposite limbs along the line of the body (parallel to the floor). At the same time, the body itself should remain motionless without distortions or bends. Each new repetition is accompanied by a change of working sides.

Why : The main load during work is taken by the shoulders, back of the thigh and lumbar region; the buttocks, back and abs also work. Stabilizers are actively developing, since balance has to be maintained on only two support points. Additionally, the athlete improves neuromuscular communication, which is useful when performing any other exercise.

How much to perform: 10-12 repetitions on each side. Repeat in two approaches.

Crunches with knee raises

How to do it : Lying on your back, bend your legs and bring your arms behind your head. This exercise for a slim body has a relatively simple technique. You need to twist your body while lifting your knees. When the elbows touch the knees at the peak point, the tension on the abs is enormous.

Why : This is one of the main exercises for developing the abs. The abdominal muscles become stronger and more prominent. This exercise is especially relevant for athletes who want to achieve flat abs and effectively pump up all the abdominal muscles in one movement.

How much to perform: 10-12 repetitions. Repeat in two approaches.

Knee-elbow lying on side

How to do it : Lie on your side, focusing on your outstretched arm. Bend the lower leg slightly at the knee. Move your free hand behind your head, then simultaneously lift your body and knee, connecting them in the middle of the abdomen. The entire approach is performed on one side.

Why : A high-quality isolated exercise to work out the side of the abdomen. Additionally, the muscles of the legs and back work. This exercise for a slender body is especially popular among girls who want to make their waist narrower and more prominent.

How much to perform: 10-12 repetitions, first on one side, then 10-12 repetitions on the other side. Repeat two approaches.

Leg swing in the gluteal bridge

How to do it : Lie on your back, extend your arms along your body, focus on them and lift your pelvis into the gluteal bridge. Extend one leg forward. After this, begin to lift your leg up to your head, performing peculiar swings in one plane. After completing the required number of repetitions, change sides and continue training.

Why : A specific exercise for a slim body simultaneously develops the gluteal muscles, lower abdominal area, back of the thigh, quadriceps, and lumbar region. A simple but effective exercise for a slim body that helps combat all problematic female areas.

How much to do: 10-12 repetitions first on one leg, then 10-12 repetitions on the other leg. Repeat two approaches.

Ready-made training plan for girls for a week (without jumping):

Mon: Workout for a lean body (suggested above)
VT: Workout for hips and buttocks on the floor
SR: Fat-burning workout for a small waist
TH: Slim Body Workout (suggested above)
PT: Lower Ab Workout
SB: Easy cardio workout for weight loss without jumping