You don't have to go to the gym to stay fit, healthy and fit. You can do this at home, giving it just 40 minutes several times a week. The most effective form of home training is resistance training. Thanks to them, you can quickly tighten the muscles and improve the quality of the body. The main thing is to choose the right equipment for home workouts and work out the exercise technique.
The benefits of strength exercise
Strength exercises at home are recommended for both men and women. They are used not only for muscle gain, but also for weight loss.
This is due to the fact that strength training helps activate the fat burning process. After all, the greater the muscle mass, the lower the fat, as the body spends a large number of calories on serving the muscles.
Therefore, as a result of weight training at home, you can get rid of excess weight and get beautiful muscle relief.
Home training equipment
It is convenient to use dumbbells as equipment for doing exercises at home. Several pieces of different weights are available. But it is worth considering that strength training involves load progression. Therefore, over time, you will have to buy new ones. In order not to have to do this, you can buy folding dumbbells, the weight of which can be easily changed by removing or hanging additional discs.
Some exercises are easier to do with a barbell. In this case, you will need a bar and some pancakes. There is no need to buy a lot of heavy discs, as it is difficult to carry a lot of weight home. This requires special safety frames, supports, etc. And taking a loaded bar from the floor is harmful and dangerous for the back.
For girls, weights will come in handy for some exercises. They are usually used to strengthen the legs and buttocks.
In addition, it is worth paying attention to sports equipment such as fitness bands. They practically take up no space, are easy to use and are suitable for any fitness level thanks to their varying degrees of stiffness. When you work out, these tapes stretch, creating resistance that your muscles have to overcome.
For starters, you can do without purchased inventory and use bottles of water or sand instead. A backpack with heavy books will also work. But soon such a load will not be enough, so you will have to visit a sports equipment store or join a gym. Otherwise, progress will stall and you won't be able to get a better result.
The best exercises
The best exercises for both weight loss and muscle building are core exercises. Sources often advise girls to perform numerous kicks and other isolation exercises. This is believed to help lose weight in the hips and make the butt firm. But you have to understand that fat is not burned locally. The nature of the fat layer is such that the excess is left evenly throughout the body. The exercises performed in no way affect what will lose weight in the first place.
Isolation exercises don't usually consume too many calories. Therefore, they need to be performed not for weight loss, but to finish the muscles at the end of the workout.
Basic exercises consume a lot of energy. They involve different muscle groups, stimulate the production of growth hormones and activate metabolic processes.
Squat
One of the most effective exercises for losing weight and strengthening lower body muscles are squats. Many girls do it, but not all of them do it correctly, as it is quite difficult to fully master the technique.
Therefore, it is not recommended that beginners immediately take weights. The first few workouts should be done with your own weight.
Technique of execution:
- Put your feet wider than your shoulders, turn the socks slightly to the sides so that they are directed in the same direction as your knees. Straighten your chest and shoulders, keep your back straight.
- Bringing your pelvis back, sit at least parallel to the floor. It is advisable to go down a little lower. This will maximize the load on the buttocks.
- The position of the body should be such that the body is perpendicular to the surface and the knees do not go beyond the toes. To do this, you need to be flexible enough. Therefore, in your free time, you should pay attention to stretching.
- At the lowest point, it is necessary to make sure that the lower back is not rounded and "does not bite". At first you can rest your palm on it. Then it will be clear what it is.
- It is necessary to return to the starting position due to the strain of the gluteal muscles.
- To avoid unnecessary stress on the joints, the knees cannot be fully extended.
Once you have learned and ensured the correct squat technique, you can take dumbbells or a barbell. The weight should be gradually increased. This will help you avoid injuries and keep progressing.
Lunges
After squats, lunges are recommended. Such a ligament allows you to stretch the buttocks even more and strengthen the muscles faster.
There are many options for performing lunges: with a step forward, backward, sideways, diagonally, lunges while walking, etc.
You can try several and choose the one that works best for you. From time to time you can alternate variations to diversify your training program.
For all types of lunges, the basic rules for performing will be the same:
- the step should be wide enough;
- the knee angle of the working leg (forward) must be straight;
- the back should remain flat and perpendicular to the floor throughout the entire exercise;
- the knee of the supporting leg must not touch the floor;
- body weight should fall mainly on the heel of the working leg.
By following this technique, you can strengthen your glutes and front thigh muscles in a short time. For faster results, you can take dumbbells. But this should only be done after the exercise has been carefully worked out.
Glute bridge
Buttock isolation exercise - lying on the back of the pelvis. Many consider it exclusively female. But men, especially those who lead a sedentary lifestyle, also need to strengthen the gluteal muscles. Therefore, this exercise can be safely included in the home training program for the stronger sex.
Technique of execution:
- Lie on your back with your lower back pressed firmly to the floor. Stretch your arms along the body.
- Squeezing your buttocks, raise your pelvis as high as possible.
- It is important to make sure that there is no discomfort in the cervical spine. If your body weight falls on the cervical vertebrae, you can rest your shoulder blades on a bench or other object.
- At the end point, pause for a few seconds, straining the gluteal muscles as much as possible.
- So you have to slowly lower yourself. The washbasin must not be placed on the floor. In order for the load to be continuous, you need to immediately start the next repetition.
By placing a barbell pancake on your pelvis, you can increase the effectiveness of the exercise.
Row of dumbbells at the waist
The back muscles at home can be strengthened with dumbbell pull to the waist.
Technique of execution:
- Take the starting position, leaning your body forward about 45 degrees and bending your knees slightly. In this case, the back should be flat with a slight flexion in the lower back.
- Take the dumbbells in your hands and lower them.
- As you exhale, bring your shoulder blades together and raise the dumbbells up to your waist, making sure your elbows are parallel to each other.
- Stopping at the highest point, you need to slowly lower the dumbbells.
The back muscles, not the arms, should work in this exercise.
Bicep curls
To strengthen the arm muscles, you need to do biceps and triceps exercises. This is necessary not only for men who want to increase their volume, but also for women. In fact, due to a lack of physical activity, the skin in this area begins to sag and becomes flabby.
The most popular exercise for the biceps is the dumbbell curl. It is quite simple to perform. The main thing is to lift the dumbbells due to muscle tension and not lift them from the force of inertia.
To do this, you don't have to jump back to the starting point and make sure your elbows remain motionless throughout the entire movement.
Extension of the arms in the slope
To strengthen the triceps, you can do the arm extension with the dumbbells on an incline.
Technique of execution:
- Bend your knees slightly and lean your body forward 45-60 degrees. Keep your back straight.
- Grab the dumbbells and bend your elbows at right angles so that your shoulders are parallel to the floor.
- As you exhale, straighten your arms completely backwards.
- Pause at the end point, feeling the tension in the triceps.
- Then slowly bend your arms again, returning to the starting position.
At the end of the approach, a characteristic muscle burning sensation in the triceps should be felt.
Bench with dumbbells
To give relief and remodeling to the upper body, it is necessary to perform exercises on the shoulders. One of the most effective is the standing dumbbell press.
Technique of execution:
- Stand straight, raise the dumbbells to shoulder level. The elbows should be perpendicular to the floor.
- As you exhale, you need to squeeze them so that they practically touch each other. The dumbbells should follow the same trajectory. Do not fully extend your elbows.
- Then the dumbbells should be lowered to the shoulders in a controlled manner.
Girls should also do this exercise. Women are often afraid of swaying their shoulders, but they will not be able to significantly increase their size. As a result of the classes, they will acquire only a slight relief, which will relieve them of vagueness and make the contours of the body clearer.
Training program
Circular workouts are most effective for weight loss, in which the exercises as a whole are performed without pausing one after another. In one of these classes, the muscles of the whole body are trained. It is necessary to make 3-4 circles with breaks between them for 2-3 minutes.
The table shows a circuit training program that includes the exercises discussed above. Two abdominal exercises are performed at the end of each round.
Exercise | Replicas |
Squat with dumbbells | twenty |
Lunges with dumbbells | 15 |
Glute bridge | twenty |
Row of dumbbells to the stomach | 15 |
Lifting dumbbells for biceps | 15 |
Extension of the sloping arms to the triceps | 15 |
Shoulder press with dumbbells | 15 |
Crunches on the press | 20-30 |
Raise your legs lying on your back on the press | 15-20 |
It is worthwhile to conduct such training 2-3 times a week. It is not necessary to train more often, as the muscles must have time to recover. On days off, you can do cardio workouts that will speed up the weight loss process.
It is worth considering that losing weight is impossible without proper nutrition and a calorie deficit. The result depends on this by 70%. In addition, a strict diet is not required, but a balanced diet. Then the muscles will be strengthened and the body will become lean and fit.