Training without a studio has its advantages. These include, above all, the training of muscle groups as a group. As a result, imbalances in the musculature, which can occur through isolated training on equipment in the gym, are less likely. The most effective way to challenge your body during home bodyweight training is to train it holistically and to give each muscle group the attention it deserves. For this purpose, we have compiled our top 16 full-body exercises, which show once again: With a little basic equipment, you can make your body sweat properly and stimulate your muscles efficiently!
How to strengthen your back!
The mother of all exercises for a strong back in bodyweight home workouts are the Pull-ups. By doing pull-ups you train all muscle groups of the back as well as the arm muscles. Considering the fact that the back muscles can hardly be challenged efficiently by bodyweight training, pull-ups are an absolutely necessary element. How convenient it is that you can draw from a variety of variants! Because there is no such thing as a special pull-up. We would like to introduce you to three important variations for your back training:
Standard pull-up
For the standard pull-up in the overhand grip, stretch your arms straight up, jump or grab the pull-up bar from a platform shoulder-width apart and begin to pull yourself up in a controlled manner until your chin is level with the bar. Then slowly lower yourself to the lowest point without letting yourself hang. The muscles are always under tension! From the lowest point, pull yourself back up in a controlled manner. Repeat this exercise several times.
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Chin-Ups
Chin-ups are basically the same with the only difference being that you grip with an underhand grip. So the wrists point away from you during the exercise. The brilliant effect of this exercise is that you're putting more strain on the biceps. This means that by varying the upper and lower grip, you can specifically work on individual muscles more and on others less. This allows you to customize your workout.
Australian Pull-Ups
A simpler exercise that you can use to prepare for pull-ups, for example, is the Australian pull-up with rings. Here you lie on the floor while the rings hang above you. You can do this exercise on a waist-high railing, for example, because the pull-up bar is too high for this. While lying on your back, grab the rings above you. Now pull yourself up while 1) tensing your entire body to form a straight line and 2) pulling your shoulder blades together. This will give you a better workout of the shoulder muscles as well.
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For a broad chest: dips and push-ups as classics!
Since time immemorial - for decades in the military, in movies and in studios - push-ups and dips have been associated with deadlift training. They are essential for training chest and triceps muscles. They also work your shoulder muscles. An important note: due to their familiarity and straightforwardness in execution (compared to pull-ups, for example, no bar is necessary), push-ups and dips are usually preferred over other exercises or trained more intensively. Remember that the workout should be evenly distributed over your entire body so that you don't suffer from an unaesthetic appearance in your muscles.
Dips train the triceps more than push-ups, but the chest less. It is a good idea to do both exercises during your workout. Since the triceps muscles are the smaller muscle group of the two, push-ups should be done first and then dips. To perform dips you need equipment, namely handles that are above the floor and with which you press down and up. For this you can use our Parallettes grips are at your disposal:
1. you place them to the side of you while sitting on the floor.
2. now grab them in an overhand grip. While your feet are on the floor, push your butt and thus your upper body upwards from the strength of your arms. 3.
Then lower yourself back down, keeping your butt just above the floor to keep the tension on your triceps. 4.
4. repeat this process several times.
If you are more advanced, you can do the same exercise with your legs tightened and raised. Then you will train the triceps and chest even more intensively, as well as the entire rest of the body through the required tension.
Push-ups
When performing push-ups you have several variants. The classic variant with the greatest effect on the chest is when you hold your arms close to your body at chest level and lie down on the floor. Then push yourself up using only the strength of your arms, keeping your elbows close to your body. With your feet you are on your toes and your entire body forms a straight line. You slowly move up and down several times, always maintaining tension at the lowest point and staying above the floor.
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Legs: The largest muscle group needs attention!
Admittedly, it's a pity for leg training if the gym stays away. Legs have a special position: they have been under daily strain since you were able to walk. The more and more intensive the training has to be, so that it comes to muscle growth. The fact is that leg training with your own weight has its advantages, especially during longer periods of rest. It has been proven that muscles grow during rest periods and not during training. If you don't go to the gym for a longer period of time, you have the possibility to 1) set a new stimulus by moderate bodyweight home training for the legs at home and 2) still offer your muscles enough space for regeneration due to the low intensity of the stimulus. This gives you the opportunity to promote muscle growth in the short term.
If you don't train in the gym at all, leg training at home is all the more important to strengthen your leg muscles and to maintain good mobility in the long term. This is where squats and, as a special sub-variation, Bulgarian Split Squ ats are useful in bodyweight home workouts.
Squats
For squats, stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width. The feet point minimally outward, but almost straight forward. At the beginning of the exercise you start to slowly move downwards with your thighs. Keep your back straight. The goal is to move the thighs down so that they are parallel to the floor. The lower legs do not move and the feet remain straight on the floor. Then move back up, with the pressure coming from the thighs and moving the upper body up at the same time.
Bulgarian Split Squats
In Bulgarian Split Squats you do squats for each leg separately. This way you work your leg muscles more intensively. To do this, place one of the two legs stretched out behind you. It is best if you place it slightly elevated on a chair or on our Parallettes (see above: Dip exercise). Then you perform the squats as already described, just with the muscle work from one leg.
Shoulders: For a strong side!
Shoulders are emblazoned on the side of your body and are essential for an aesthetic transition to the upper arm muscles. Over-trained shoulders make the upper arms appear narrow, while under-trained shoulders put an unaesthetically strong emphasis on the upper arm muscles.
Pike Push-Ups
Pike push-ups use a special variation of push-ups to train your shoulders during bodyweight home workouts. On the one hand, you form a straight line with your lower body from the feet to the buttocks. Secondly, you form a straight line with your upper body from your lower back to your head. This results in a position where your body forms a triangle: The feet are one bottom corner, the butt is the top at the top, and the hands form the other bottom corner. In this posture, lower your head straight down toward your hands. At the bottom, just above the floor, briefly hold the tension and push yourself back up. Repeat this sequence several times.
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Shoulder press with band
In the shoulder press with band you put two feet on the round band. Grasp the free part of the band and stretch it upwards. At the top point your arms point straight up. Now slowly lower them against the resistance until the band and your hands are just below your chin. From here, push up again. Repeat the exercise several times. Note: At the top point, never fully extend your arms so that the load doesn't affect your joints.
Arms: Let them burn out nicely!
How do they say it in the gym? After the large muscle groups have been challenged - in our case it was the muscles of the back, chest and legs - you should let the small muscles burn out. They are already preloaded by the larger exercises. Now they're brought to complete exhaustion by isolated exercises. For biceps, when training without a gym, curls with rings or band are a good choice. For triceps, triceps press with rings or band is optimal for bodyweight home workouts.
Biceps curls with rings...
The rings can be attached to your pull-up bar on your chin-up bar. For biceps curls, stand in front of the pull-up bar with the rings in your hand. The rings should still hang loosely. Now carefully tilt backward while keeping your feet in the same place. Now, if everything went right, you should be hanging from the rings at an angle. Then pull yourself up by pulling your upper arms until you can't go any further. Slowly let yourself sink back and repeat several times. This is how you train your biceps with rings.
...or biceps curls with bands
If you want to train with bands, it's easier to train without a gym: it's best to choose resistance bands in different strengths. Stand on the band with your feet, grab it with your arms and pull it upwards against the resistance. Grasp the band with an underhand grip so that your wrists are facing you or down. You start the curl with your arms extended downward and your upper arms close to your body. Then, moving only your forearms upward, you pull upward from the strength of your biceps against the resistance. Go up and down like this several times.
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Triceps press with rings...
When doing triceps press es with rings, it works similar to biceps curls with rings. However you lean with the rings on the pull-up bar and pull yourself upwards, but lean forward with the rings and push yourself backwards. This way, the push exercise will challenge your triceps. It is important here that you always keep your elbows close to your body and do not let them drift outward.
...or triceps press with bands
The triceps push with bands runs by you the band above your head with your arm stretched straight up. While doing this, one foot is again on one end of the band to create resistance. From the position above your head, slowly move your arm backward by bending your elbow to slowly move your forearm behind you. The upper arm stays in line with the rest of the body, pointing straight up. Only the forearm moves. Repeat this exercise slowly several times.
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Abdomen/Core: Prepare for the beach figure!
The most popular abdominal exercises can be easily performed when training without a gym, because abdominal training is usually done with your own body weight anyway. In connection with diets, the desire for a six-pack or at least a tight stomach is great. The best thing for a successful diet is indeed the change of diet and a high calorie consumption through cardio training, but with the right abdominal training you get out the last few aesthetic percentages in the bodyweight home training! Therefore, make abdominal training a regular part of your bodyweight home workout. Good exercises for this are:
Ab-Wheel roll
With the Ab-Wheel roll you use a special wheel. This ab roller you grab the handles with your arms, squat down on your knees and start to roll forward with the wheel until you are completely stretched out. Keep your knees where they are. Your upper body is always above the ground and tense. This is how you roll forward and back.
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Leg raises on the pull-up bar
The chin-up bar leg raise works in bodyweight home workouts by hanging from the top of the chin-up bar and dangling straight down. While hanging, extend your legs completely straight up; preferably always high enough so that the tops of your feet are just above your belly button. The upper body remains hanging straight.
One Leg Dragon Flag
For the Dragon Flag, lie down straight and hold on to a stable thing or a parapet with your arms above your head. Now pull one leg with the thigh to your chin and leave it there. Stretch the other leg straight up as far as it will go. Then go back down and from just above the floor back up. Repeat this sequence several times for one leg and later for the other leg.
Are you looking for the right Calisthenics accessories to complement your Calisthenics training?
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More recommended articles:
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Push-ups made easy - your perfect training plan for more push-ups
Benefits of Calisthenics - For these 6 reasons, you should start with calisthenics
The top 10 most effective deadlift exercises for home and on the go
