Core Workouts At Home

Regular exercise is the key to relieving stress and promoting physical and mental health. People who balance personal and professional responsibilities often don’t have enough time to devote to their physical fitness. You may not be able to go to the gym regularly or go out for a daily run, but you have nothing to worry about. There are core workouts at home without any equipment that will keep you fit.

How do you start a core workout at home?

For home workouts no additional equipment is required, they are convenient because you do not need to get to the gym. But there are also cons in that there is often a lack of motivation and consistency for such workouts. What do you need to do to maximize the benefits and enjoyment of a workout at home?

Find enough space to workout

This can be a place in your bedroom, living room, or even in the hallway. At a minimum, it should have enough room for a rug and for you to stretch your arms out in all directions without hitting anything.

Plan your workouts

Designate days and times to exercise and get your attention with an alarm or reminder on your smartphone. If you’re having trouble getting motivated, team up with a family member or friend. Fitness tracking apps or workout apps and videos can also help you motivate yourself to exercise.

Don’t forget the warm-up and warm-down

Walking, cycling, or running in place are great warm-up options. Light stretching and walking in place are good ways to cool down and restore your heart rate after exercise.

Use your body weight

Exercise with your own weight, when used correctly, can be just as effective in building muscle mass as lifting weights. By varying your workouts and increasing the intensity or duration over time, you will get the most out of them. Keep in mind:

• Use planks, lunges, squats, stair climbs and push-ups as alternatives to strength training with free weights.
• Increase the effectiveness of your own weight training by increasing the number of repetitions per workout and reducing rest between sets.
• Learn proper exercise technique to prevent injury. Watch instructional videos and read sources about movement biomechanics. It is very important to understand which muscles and how they work in any particular exercise; with understanding these processes comes the awareness of the correct movements.

Nutrition for workouts at home

Pre-workout nutrition

Increasing physical activity increases the burning of active calories. The goals of good nutrition can be different: some people want to lose weight, some want to gain muscle mass, and some want to improve their health.

In order to lose weight, a significant caloric deficit must be achieved. The results of studies prove that only a combination of “healthy eating and exercise” allows people to lose weight without losing muscle tone and strength. In addition, the results of this approach remain with a person for a long time.

So what can be eaten before a workout so that the fat burning process will start and work for you? If you do not have gastrointestinal health problems, the option of training on an empty stomach is available to you. Keep in mind that such a workout should be low-intensity and not exceed 40 minutes in time. Be sure to drink water before and during such a workout.

Most moderate-intensity athletes who regularly do short workouts (no more than 40 minutes) throughout the day should pay attention to proper water balance (0.8 to 1.2 pints for an hour and a half before and 0.3 pints for every 20 minutes of physical activity). But those who exercise for 30 to 60 minutes may benefit from a light snack consisting mostly of carbohydrates.

If activity is planned for longer or with high energy expenditures, you should not worry about the caloric content of the meal, the more important aspect here will be the timing of the snack – it should be no later than one hour before physical activity.

Food options that can be eaten before a workout:

• Protein shake – a perfect combination of carbohydrates, proteins and liquid to fuel your strength training.
• Greek yogurt with berries: the mix is rich in vitamins and minerals, as well as carbohydrates and protein. It will provide both a quick burst of energy (thanks to the carbs) and long-lasting energy (thanks to the protein), and protect your muscles from exhaustion.
• Protein bar with carbs: make sure it contains macronutrients for optimal energy and muscle protection (many protein bars are low in carbs. Check the composition of the product).
• Nuts. Contains a lot of fat, but also the protein and calories needed to gain muscle mass. For those whose goal is to lose weight, this snack option is not suitable. Do not eat more than seven nuts an hour before your workout, or you will get heavy and indigestion.

Post-workout nutrition

Exercise tends to deplete glycogen. The first 30 minutes after exercise provide an opportunity for recovery due to factors such as increased blood flow and insulin sensitivity. This increases cellular glucose uptake and glycogen recovery. Give your body a powerful boost to recovery immediately after a workout with these protein and carbohydrate-rich snack options:

• Yogurt with granola and blueberries.
• Apples, dried fruit.
• Peanut butter or almonds.
• Protein shake.

Be sure to drink water as soon as possible after completing your workout. A sports drink that replenishes lost electrolytes is ideal. Such drinks are called electrolyte drinks. Isotonic drinks will also work.

Your next meal a few hours after your workout should also consist of protein and carbohydrates. Although daily protein needs vary from person to person, consuming 0.5-0.8 ounces of protein within one hour of a workout will maximize recovery and muscle recovery.

Post-workout nutrition options:

• Whole-grain pasta with tomato sauce.
• Whole-grain bread with stewed vegetables. Fruit.
• Chicken sandwich on whole-grain bread, with cottage cheese and tomato.
• Roast or grilled lean beef, chicken, turkey, or fish with steamed brown rice, whole-grain bread.

Exercises for home workouts

Burpee

Burpees are great for raising your heart rate and engaging almost every muscle in your body.

You work your lower body as you squat down and bounce up. Your torso and shoulders are engaged when you do push-ups and when you are in the plank position.

Technique of the exercise:

1. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Tense the muscles of the body and the buttocks.
2. Bend your knees and reach forward to put your hands on the floor at shoulder width.
3. Extend your legs straight behind you and immediately lower your whole body to the ground, bending your elbows so that your chest touches the floor. Perform the push-up.
4. Use your hands to quickly push your body back up while bouncing your feet toward your chest.
5. Place your feet on the floor below the projection of your chest. Jump up vertically with your arms outstretched above your head.

You can modify the burpee by removing the push-ups or jumping up and down. Or complicate it by adding dumbbells.

Glute bridge with an elastic band

Performing glute bridges activates the gluteal muscles and strengthens the lower back, protecting the lower back from injury. They target the middle gluteus maximus, an important part of the gluteus maximus that helps stabilize the body in walking and running.

Technique of the exercise:

1. Lie on your back with your hands at your sides, knees bent, feet shoulder-width apart on the floor. Wrap a medium-strength elastic band around your hips just above your knees.
2. Tense your glutes and abs and push up with your heels to lift your hips off the floor until your body forms a straight line from your shoulders to your knees.
3. Hold this position. Stretch the elastic band and return to the original position. Repeat the movement 10-15 times.

Side lunges

This is a great exercise for an active warm-up before a run or any other cardio workout, as well as for pumping the lower body with your own weight.

Technique of the exercise:

1. Stand up straight, feet together. Take a big step to the right with your right foot and bend your right knee, squatting backwards with your hips to drop into a side lunge.
2. Keep your left leg straight and your chest spread out. Make sure your right knee stays above your toes and does not go beyond their projection.
3. Push off with your right foot to return to the starting position, then repeat the movement to the other side.

The exercise can also be performed with weights.

Push-up in the “dog face down”

This unusual version of push-ups develops strength and mobility in the hips as you squat, and the “dog face down” and roll from this position helps with spinal mobility. It’s a great exercise with your own weight.

Technique of the exercise:

1. Start with the plank position. Palms on the floor, hands shoulder width apart (or wider if that’s how you usually do push-ups). Shoulders over wrists, legs straight, body tense.
2. Bend your arms at the elbows and lower your chest to the floor. Keep your body low, bend your knees, slide your hips back to your heels and straighten your arms. Your knees should hover a few inches off the floor.
3. Lift your hips toward the ceiling and straighten your legs. You should now be in a “dog face down” position.
4. Slowly move your body forward, returning to the plank position.

This is quite a difficult exercise. If you feel that this kind of push-up is difficult for you, focus on normal push-ups and return to more difficult ones once you have built up upper body strength.

Squat in a lunge with the support of the leg behind

This is a terrific way to develop leg strength as well as strengthen the glutes and stabilizer muscles. When performed correctly, it can also improve hip mobility and engage the inner thigh.

Technique of the exercise:

1. Stand with your back to a bench or similarly elevated surface (at home, it could be a couch or chair). Place your left foot on the floor a wide step away from the support. Place the top of the foot of your right foot on the support with the laces facing down.
2. Tense your core muscles and bend your knees to drop into a lunge. Ideally, your left knee should form a 90-degree angle so that your thigh is parallel to the ground and your right knee hovers above the floor.
3. Your left leg should be set far enough back so that you can do this without letting your left knee go beyond the toes of your left foot-if the position is incorrect, correct it by jumping forward or backward.
4. With the support of your left heel, return to the starting position.

Foot swings on all fours

All variations of the swings strengthen the hamstrings and work the gluteal muscles. Strong gluteal muscles protect the lower back from injury and help relieve sitting pains.

Technique of the exercise:

1. Get on all fours with your knees under your hips and your palms under your shoulders.
2. Bend your right leg and lift it off the floor while straightening it back up.
3. Use your gluteal muscles to lift your leg. If you start to feel any tension in your lower back, don’t lift your leg high.
4. Do 15 reps on one side and then move to the other side.

Pulling with the hips

This is a low-impact exercise that can be performed almost anywhere using your own weight or dumbbells. It has tangible benefits in the form of strong glutes, legs and lower back.

Technique of the exercise:

1. Sit on the floor with your back to a bench or similar elevated surface (a chair or chair can also be used here). Bend your knees and place your feet on the floor hip-width apart. Place your upper back (shoulder blades) on the edge of the elevated surface.
2. Move your heels to raise your hips toward the ceiling while your upper back stays on the bench. If doing the exercise with a weight, place it on your pelvic area and hold while doing the exercise.
3. Pause at the top point and squeeze your glutes.
4. In a slow and controlled movement, lower your buttocks to the floor without touching it.

A systematic approach is the most important thing in any workout. Adjust each exercise to your goals and condition. If you have doubts about the correctness of an exercise or feel pain, it is necessary to consult with specialists in the field of sports.