Are you a regular gym-goer whose fitness goals usually rely on weights? We know how frustrating it is to not be able to do your workout. It’s not like everyone has gym equipment at home either. Fortunately, fitness goals don’t just have to be about how much you can deadlift or press.
There are other kinds of fitness goals for body weight exercises that are just as challenging. You can still build strength even without any equipment. If you have a more advanced fitness level, then the usual body weight exercises might be too easy for you now. Step it up by mastering these pro exercise variations at home.
Pistol Squat
Squats are one of the easiest and simplest workouts there are. It activates multiple joints and bones on your hips, knees, and ankles. Regular static and low-angle squats can even improve knee osteoarthritis for those aged between 54 and 65 years old. Also, squats are able to work your quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves all at once. When properly done, it should also work your abdominal muscles.
At some point though, regular squats just aren’t enough because you already have lower weight and more strength. What most people do to change it up is to shift to weighted squats. Since weights aren’t an option, in this case, you can start doing pistol squats. It’s like a squat but with one leg raised straight in front of you.
It may look like nothing much has changed, but it is actually one of the hardest squat variations there are. More than just using your muscles to lift your weight, you are also using them to maintain balance. Pistol squats also improve flexibility because the raised leg has to stay straight the entire time.
Crow Pose
You’ve seen those yoga poses where people have their legs tucked in and raising their entire body through just their hands? That’s what they call the crow pose. It improves your core and upper body strength as well as your balance. If your core isn’t engaged enough, you won’t be able to maintain your position and end up falling over.
It looks easy, but there’s definitely more to it. The best way to learn how to do this is by learning the basics of Ashtanga Yoga. You learn the basic poses and breathing techniques for progression. It is actually more physically demanding, making it the hardest of all the different kinds of yoga.
This isn’t even the hardest yoga pose there is. Yoga has a lot of difficult poses where you’re just balancing on one hand or having to hold complicates positions.
One-Arm Push-ups
When it comes to full-body exercise, push-ups definitely make the top of the list. A study by Harvard shows that middle-aged men who can do more than 40 push-ups lowered their risk of cardiovascular disease by 90 percent. In hindsight, it generally strengthens your upper body, back, and core muscles. However, being able to do multiple push-ups also improves your endurance and builds muscle mass.
If normal push-ups are too easy for you, there are tons of variations for you to challenge yourself such as elevated push-ups or clap push-ups. One-armed push-ups are about twice as hard as regular ones because most people have an imbalance arm strength. You may find that it is easier for one arm, so it likely means that was the side that has been doing most of the work before.
Dragon Flag
Get fit like Bruce Lee by using his signature exercise, the dragon flags. Other people always sleep on core exercises, but this exercise will make you question all your core workouts. You’ve probably seen this flashy move in Rocky IV, and it really does show signs of good athleticism because it requires full-body strength.
You need strong ab muscles to maintain a straight position while you lower your body. Your lower body needs to be activated when you lower your body. Lastly, upper body strength is needed to hold you down and lift you off the ground.
This is a classic exercise that not many are doing because of its difficulty. You can progress towards it by doing various leg raise variations or by curling your lower body first.
It may be a while before gyms are allowed to open again and even so, you may be hesitant to go without a cure for the virus. In the meantime, you can always work out at home with body weight variations. Having weights isn’t the only way you can improve your strength and maintain your performance. You may find that some body weight exercises are a lot harder than what you’re used to.
