Body Weight Training

Most women and men do not necessarily want to develop a muscular physique and are likely to be more interested in toning up and getting in shape. That’s where body weight training comes into play. As you get fitter with body-weight training, you will be able to perform more repetitions of a given exercise, but since the weight you are working with remains constant, your muscles will become conditioned and more defined as opposed to larger.

Upper Body - The muscles of your upper body can be divided into two groups: muscles that pull and muscles that push. Your biceps and the muscles of your back constitute the pulling group and can be trained with pull ups or renegade rows. Your triceps, chest and shoulder muscles make up the pushing group and can be effectively worked with pushups.

Legs - Your legs can be divided into three main muscle groups: the quadriceps at the front of your thighs, the hamstrings at the back of your thighs and your calves. Target your quadriceps with wide-leg squats, tone your hamstrings with deadlifts or good mornings and shape your calves with one-leg toe raises. These exercises also involve your buttocks and muscles of your inner and outer thighs.

Abdominals - Although your core is often engaged during body-weight exercises, your abdominal muscles will still benefit from isolated training. Perform crunches and reverse crunches to tighten your rectus abdominis at the front of your abdomen, and work your obliques with side bends and trunk rotations. Concentrate on feeling your muscles contract when training your abdominal area.

Sound familiar?