Recommended home fitness exercises

Bodyweight squats, bent over rows, kneeling push-ups, glute bridges, lateral step squats, planks. I have been practicing these exercises on and off for almost two years without spending a penny on equipment. My body fat has dropped by 4%, and my old problem of lumbar protrusion has not occurred again.

Damn, speaking of it, I encountered a lot of pitfalls when I first started working out at home. I followed the trend and bought adjustable dumbbells, elastic bands, and sliding discs, which ended up gathering dust on the balcony. I also practiced burpees with Internet celebrities for a week, but I didn’t lose a few pounds. My knees hurt for half a month. When the neighbor downstairs knocked on the door in the early morning, I was so embarrassed that I almost crawled into the cracks of the floor. Only later did I realize that the core appeal of home fitness is to have a low threshold and be easy to persevere, so fancy movements are unnecessary.

Let’s talk about the most controversial bodyweight squat first. In the past two years, there was a lot of quarrel on the Internet about “can the knees pass the toes in a squat?” In fact, both opinions are reasonable. If you have an old knee injury or your quadriceps are weak, try to keep your knees behind the vertical line of your toes. Squatting against a wall can also achieve the exercise effect. ； If you are young and have no joint problems, it will be fine if your knees are slightly over the top of your squat, as long as your knees are not buckled inward and the line of force is along the direction of your toes. Every time I squat until my thighs are parallel to the ground, my knees will be 1-2 centimeters above my toes. I have never had any pain in my knees after practicing for so long. On the contrary, my thigh strength has increased, and I can climb ten floors without gasping for breath.

After talking about the basic movements of the lower body, many people will ask how to train the upper body? You can’t just train your legs every day, right? Rowing after leaning over is especially useful. When I didn't buy dumbbells before, I just used two 2L mineral water bottles filled with water as equipment. With my feet shoulder-width apart, bend my hips and bend my upper body to about 45 degrees to the ground. Sink my shoulders and pull the mineral water bottles to both sides of my waist. There are also different schools of training methods here: Powerlifting circles require the scapulae to be locked, and only the latissimus dorsi muscles are used to pull. It is not easy to shrug the shoulders and train the trapezius muscles, which is especially friendly to novices. ； Those in the bodybuilding circle will allow the shoulder blades to be slightly pulled forward and then retracted to fully stretch the stroke. The soreness and swelling in the back after training will be more obvious. Now I usually switch between the two, and the effect is good.

Oh, by the way, don’t listen to people on the Internet who say “kneeling push-ups are only done by noobs”, that’s pure nonsense. I used to have a male colleague who weighed 180 pounds. He couldn't even do a standard push-up at first. If he pushed hard, his waist would collapse like an arch bridge, which would injure his lumbar vertebrae. He started practicing from the kneeling position and did a set of 12 at a time. After two months of practice, he was able to do standard push-ups. Now he can do 20 in one breath. This action has a good activation effect on the chest muscles and anterior deltoid muscles, and can also reduce core stress. Novices can definitely start from this, and no one will laugh at you.

If you come home from get off work too tired to move and slump on the sofa to watch TV shows, the Glute Bridge is simply tailor-made for you. You can do it while lying on the sofa or on a yoga mat. Put your feet on the ground, push your buttocks up, tighten your gluteus maximus and then lower it. Sometimes I watch a variety show and can do 3 groups of 20. After the exercise, my sore buttocks and back pain caused by sitting for a long time can be relieved a lot. I would also like to remind you here that I used to train with a certain blogger. He asked me to push until my hips are fully extended or even my lumbar spine is arched. My back hurt the next day and I couldn't straighten up. Later, the rehabilitation teacher told me that it is enough to push until my body is in a straight line. Don't straighten your waist too much, otherwise it will cause waist compensation and injure your waist. You can adjust according to your own feelings. As long as the soreness is in your butt and not your waist.

The lateral step squat is an action that many people will ignore, but it actually makes up for the shortcomings. I always had knee pain when running before. When I went for a rehabilitation evaluation, the doctor said that I had weakness in my side hips and unstable alignment, and asked me to practice more. If there is enough space at home, take long steps. If there is little space, take small steps and move sideways. Squat down until your thighs are parallel to the ground every time. After practicing, the soreness of the hip will be particularly obvious. After practicing for a month, the pain in my knees from running disappeared. When I wore tights, my hip line also improved a lot, which was an unexpected surprise.

Finally, when it comes to plank support, don’t follow the trend and compare who can hold it longer. I’ve seen people hold it for 5 minutes in the gym before, and their waists were so collapsed that they could hold a bowl. It’s completely useless. As long as the core is tight, the butt is not collapsed or tilted, and the body is in a straight line, one set of 30 seconds is enough. I now practice 4 sets of 40 seconds each time. The feeling of tight core is particularly obvious after the exercise, which is much more effective than holding on for 3 minutes.

In fact, after all, home fitness really doesn’t need to be too formal. Sometimes I can do 20 squats when I get up in the morning to brush my teeth. When I change my shoes after get off work, I can do 10 glute bridges. I don’t have to make up the whole hour, and I don’t need to buy those fancy equipment. The movements that you can stick to are the ones that are really suitable for you. If you are really too lazy to move, even if you take 5 minutes a day to do a few glute bridges or squats, it is better than paralyzing, right?