Fitness
10 Effective Workout Moves You Can Do From Home
This past year has taught us that many of our everyday activities can be done effectively from home...including workouts!
If this past year has taught us anything, it’s that many of our everyday activities can be done effectively from home. One such activity is exercising and building your strength, balance, and overall health. Working out is an essential part of keeping your body healthy and strong, and it can improve your quality of life by improving your mental health. Many of us do not have time to get to the gym several times a week. Furthermore, the gym can be intimidating if you’re not already in shape or if you’re not well-versed in the fitness equipment and cardio machines. That’s why working out at home can be a comfortable and efficacious option for beginners and fitness enthusiasts alike.
It can be difficult to know exactly what moves to do when you’re building up an at-home workout routine. If you want to learn about effective workout moves you can do from home, here are 10 of the best ones around, from abdominal moves to leg exercises to arm workouts.
1. Bicycles
Bicycles are a simple move with big abdominal muscle benefits. To complete this move, lie on your back on a towel or yoga mat, with your feet in the air and your knees bent. Tuck your arms behind your head with your hands touching your upper neck. Then, start pumping your legs in a cycling motion, challenging yourself to touch your elbow to the opposite knee as you pump. If you’d like to make this move even more difficult, try slowing it down to increase your muscle control.
2. Starfish Crunches
If you’re not a fan of classic crunches, you’re not alone. The good news is there are numerous types of crunches, and all of them are effective in building and maintaining strong abdominal muscles. Starfish crunches can be performed by laying on your back on a yoga mat or towel, with your arms and legs splayed out in a star formation. Make sure your arms and legs are floating just above your floor, then crunch inward toward your core and stretch back out into the star formation. You’ll start feeling the burn in your abs almost instantly.
3. Planks
Good old-fashioned planks are some of the best ab exercises around. To perform a plank, hold your body up on your elbows and toes, keeping a nice straight back and a tight core. This move can get tough quick, but there are alternatives available too. You could try a bear plank, side plank, or simply drop your knees to the floor before you get comfortable with a full plank.
4. Straight Leg Drops
Straight leg drops are yet another abdominal muscle workout move that draws upon the concept of crunches without the potential injury to your back. To do a toe touch ab exercise, lie on your back on a yoga mat or towel, with your feet straight up in the air in flex position—as opposed to pointing your toe. Then, alternate dropping each leg down and tapping the yoga mat with your heel, all while keeping the other leg in the air and your back flat.
5. Squats
Squats are the king of leg exercises, but people are often intimidated by them or skip them due to the soreness they often cause the next day. However, they are a cornerstone to any good leg exercise routine. To properly squat at home, you can choose to use free weights or not. Keep your back straight and your feet at shoulder-length apart. Then, drop down, bringing your glutes to knee level, and come back up, bracing your core and glutes all the while. Once you get a good squat form down, you can start adding more weight.
6. Split Squats
Split squats are an alteration of the classic squat, but, well, split. Each split squat focuses on the quad muscles on the corresponding leg you’re working out. To complete a split squat at home, use a chair, bench, or sofa to hold up one of your legs. Keep the bottom of your feet out and the laces of your shoe down. Then, perform a squat with the other leg, using your leg propped on the couch as support.
7. Lunges
Similar to split squats, lunges are a great way to tone your quadricep muscles. To perform a lunge, start with your feet together and your hands at your hips. Then, take a big step with one leg and bend your knee over your foot. Drop the other leg down as you bend, offering support. Push back up with the leg you bent so that you’re back in standing position. Alternate between your right and left legs, feeling the burn at every step.
8. Dips
When it comes to arm exercises at home, you don’t need to do a push up just to get some good toning in. Dips are a great way to use what you have in your living room to tone your triceps. To do a dip, sit on the very edge of a sturdy chair, bench, or couch. Hold the front edge of your seat, with the base of your palm on the upper side of the seat. Scoot forward until you’re suspended in the air parallel to the chair. Then, drop your arms down, dipping your torso and hips, and pull yourself back up. Repeat.
9. Bicep Curls
If you have free weights or barbells at home, you’ll be able to do numerous arm workouts. Even if you don’t have weights, you can use weighty objects, like wine bottles, soup cans, laundry detergent bottles, milk cartons, and more. Bicep curls train your biceps and are a great complement to dips. To perform a bicep curl, stand up straight with a weight in each hand. Keep your elbows at your sides and your forearms out on either side of your body. Curl the weights in by bringing your forearms in toward your shoulders. Hold, then slowly return to the forearm out position.
10. Rear Delt Fly’s
Rear delt fly’s help tone the muscles you may not think about: your back and shoulders. To complete these moves, pick up a weight in each hand, keep your knees bent a bit, your feet apart, and hinge down toward the floor. Keep your back straight. Then, hold the weights out in front of you, and bring them out laterally on either side of your body, like you’re opening your wings. Return to the front position and repeat.