I intended to buy a weight bench this past weekend, but after discovering that my muscles needed a bit of waking up, I decided to hold off. Instead, I went in search of some bodyweight exercises to help develop some basic muscle and get me to a point where a bench and some weights make sense.
I went to the r/bodyweightfitness subreddit and found this amazing fourteen-day beginner workout. It addressed the situation I had with struggling with pushups and I knew that this program was on my level. I’m only a few days into it, but I’m really enjoying it. Not only is it easy to use, it doesn’t cost anything and the creator doesn’t just go through the moves, he educates. When there are videos, they are just seconds long to show you how to do the moves, and I love that. It’s a no frills, no BS exercise program and it’s getting the thumbs up from me.
A quick example of how things work, the first day was doing four sets of five pushups. If you are unable to do pushups, he offers suggestions of finding something sturdy that will allow your legs to take some of the weight off and isolate your arms. I began with a desk at my work, and while doing these exercises at home I’ve used the bathroom counter.
The second exercise (on day three) involved doing rows. Since I didn’t have anything at my disposal, he recommended reverse pushups, which consist of finding a corner in your home, and leaning back against it. You then use your elbows to push yourself forward. It was surprisingly effective and something I had never seen before.
Anyway, if you need something to get started with, that doesn’t cost anything and doesn’t need any equipment but seems to be effective, I’d check out Nick’s Bodyweight Primer.
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