3 Bodyweight Exercises for Building Strength and Tone

Bodyweight exercises are great. They’re so simple, require no or very little equipment, and are very easy techniques to learn. Here are three of the best that you can do, to build strength and muscle tone.

1. Push ups - Push ups are a great upper body and core strength builder, which will tone your arms, shoulders, chest and stomach.

Place your hands on the floor, a little wider than shoulder width apart and extend your feet out behind you. Bend at the elbow and lower your chest down to the floor. Push yourself back up to straight arms.

If you need to make it easier, have your knees, rather than your feet, on the floor; or elevate your hands on a bench so that your body is angled up.

2. Glute bridges - Glute bridges, sometimes called hip bridges or hip lifts, are a perfect exercise to strengthen and tone the muscles of the butt and back of the legs.

Lay on your back, with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Tense the abs, squeeze the butt muscles and push the hips into the air, through your heels. Maintain the position at the top for a second by squeezing the butt muscles, and then slowly lower back down.

To make it harder, you can do it on one leg at a time, or elevate the feet on a step, to increase the range of motion.

3. Body rows - Body rows will strengthen and shape the important back muscles, which help you to maintain good posture. They also tone the arms and abs.

Find a bar that you can walk out underneath. Grip the bar with hands just wider than shoulder width, and walk the feet forwards. The further you walk the feet - and more horizontal your body is - the harder the exercise will be. To make it easier, simply walk your feet back.

Pull yourself up by pulling the elbows towards the ribs, while squeezing the shoulder blades back and together. Hold for a second at the top, while keeping the shoulders pulled back, and then slowly lower back to the start point.

All three of these exercises can be done just about anywhere, with little or no equipment, but are great exercises that have a large impact on your strength and body shape.

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