5 Home Workouts Without Equipment to Lose Weight

When most people think of exercise, they immediately imagine a gym with loads of equipment. While a gym is nice every once in a while, it is not necessary (thank goodness) for exercise. With the current health crisis, many establishments are not even open, so it is best to discover new ways of exercising without equipment.

Those who love to go to the gym and are used to working out with fancy equipment may balk at the idea of an equipment-free workout, but there are plenty of people who refuse to use equipment in their routines. The simple fact is that your body weight often provides enough resistance to help build and maintain muscle, especially when you combine it with a nutritious diet. Therefore, to prepare for your pandemic workout routine, consider the following.

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1. Cardio

A treadmill is not necessary for cardio, and neither is a bicycle. Heck, you do not even need to run to get your heart pumping. Instead of burdening yourself with the thought of running, consider going for a brisk walk. You can even take a stroll and experience the benefits of the cardio activity, as long as you are committing to a long enough trek. Most professional trainers recommend taking at least 10,000 steps per day, which is around a four to five-mile walk.

2. Strength Training

As you get older, strength training is both essential and potentially risky. However, you can eliminate much of the risk by relying on your body weight rather than dumbbells. Some excellent strength training exercises are squats, lunges and pushups. You can also try planks and hip raises if you are capable of getting down on the floor. If you cannot get down on the floor, try doing pushups against a wall. You can also use a chair to perform squats.

3. Yoga

Yoga is extremely popular, and it has many significant health benefits. For one, it helps a person relieve stress and anxiety, which is terrific for psychological health. However, on the more practical side, yoga is a practice of balance and flexibility.

As people age, their flexibility and balance become more restricted, leading to accidents, like slips and falls. To reduce the safety risks of aging, incorporating a healthy activity like yoga into a daily or regular routine is an excellent idea.

4. Core

Core strength is also vitally important as people age because it relates to posture. There are several exercises you can perform without equipment to aid in core development. For example, sit-ups tend to be the go-to option for building abdominal muscles but using the plank exercise is another excellent tool. Performing a plank exercise, which is essentially holding your body in the pushup position, helps build core, back, leg, arm and shoulder strength. It is a whole-body exercise.

5. Legs

If you wish to build your leg muscles, then consider using your stairs or performing lunges and squats. You can also perform knee lifts to strengthen your thigh muscles.

As you can see, a gym is not necessary for an exercise routine. If you are interested in more helpful exercise or health-related tips, then continue reading the Smarter Science of Slim.