Top 5 Exercises You Can Do Without a Trainer

Losing weight and eating healthy are the most popular New Year’s Resolutions. Most people start off with big dreams and picture-perfect goals. However, somewhere along the line, the will to excel gets lost.

It’s so easy to get derailed when you don’t have a rewards system in place. Unless you feel motivated to perform, you’ll lose interest and delay the task until further notice. This explains why the New Year Resolutions are a failure.

Not-so-surprisingly, losing weight is a global dilemma that affects both men and women. Both genders are obsessed with their beauty. Everybody wants to look great. The things we’ve been fed from the media have only worsened perceptions about beauty and fitness.

The sad truth is: beach body doesn’t happen overnight. All those amazing people flaunting their perfect curves have invested countless hours achieving it. And unless you’re willing to exercise, those extra pounds will not come off.

The road to fitness and health is long. It helps to find someone who’s pursuing the same route and hopes to achieve similar results at the end of the pre-determined timeline. But you need to define what those “results” are for you.

Do You Have Specific Fitness Goals?

You can’t leave it open-ended. You need to specify what you intend to achieve at the end of the year (if it was your New Year’s resolution). Fitness may be an abstract subject but you can’t leave it at that.

You’re hoping to enter a marathon and not end up as the last one to cross the finish line. Or there’s a swimming competition you’ve always wanted to be a part of.

Maybe there’s a mountain summit you’re hoping to complete. Or there are specific inches on your body that you hope to have attained after a year. You can even attach it to the numbers on the weighing scale.

Just wanting to get “a little fit” doesn’t qualify as a goal. How are you ever going to measure it? Whether it involves eating salads thrice a week or eating out once in a month only, you need something concrete to hold on to.

You need to have SMART fitness goals – specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. And you need to pen them down. You need to monitor progress over certain time periods, like two weeks or every month. Take it on as a full-blown project; there’s no other way to go about it.

Are All Personal Trainers Hoax? Pros and Cons

Once you’ve determined your fitness goals, you need to decide how to go about it.

For most people, this involves going to a gym and trying to figure out how those billion fitness equipment are used. If you’ve got a few hundred extra bucks, you can hire a personal trainer and sweat it off with them.

If both suggestions don’t fit your budget or your schedule, opt for free workouts like walking, jogging, running on the treadmill, or cycling. And if that’s not possible, the last resort is training at home.

This piece revolves around this last segment. However, this doesn’t mean personal trainers are a waste of money!

Personal trainers are masters of their fields. Sure they’re expensive but this cost comes with the peace of mind that your movements are being watched. These remarkable individuals won’t put your health at risk through inappropriate training positions.

They specialize in the human anatomy, understanding the intricacies of a wholesome workout. Also, they know how to access those muscles that are overlooked. They bring tons of experience and knowledge on the subject, capable of catering to your specific needs as well.

If you have known medical conditions, exercising on your own without supervision is highly not recommended. You could end up worsening your arthritis or whatever affects you. A personal trainer is your best chance at losing weight and not getting yourself into more trouble.

Are ‘At Home’ Workouts Effective?

People love gyms for their purpose-built ambiance. When you’re there, you automatically feel excited about workouts. You’re more focused and seeing others fulfilling their fitness dreams motivates you further.

Despite this, working out at home isn’t necessarily a bad decision. In fact, they are just as effective in losing weight as all other forms of exercise. The only trouble is sticking to a schedule.

Home is associated with comfort, great food, and lounging in your pajamas. If you associate it with exercise instead, it kills the sentiment associated with “home”.

If you can work around these issues, working out at home will be just as fruitful as the gym. The key is dedication and routine.

Most people prefer getting it out of the way early in the morning. The first thing you do when you wake up is getting into your training pants and sweating it off as much as you want. Not only does it mark a bright beginning to your day, it also means you’ve completed one daily task and there’s a whole day you can spend on other activities.

Workouts Without Weights – Is It Possible?

In one word – Yes! There’s a whole regimen of exercise built around using your own body weight for workouts. Calisthenics is what you need to be looking out for.

On the surface, it may look like a regular day at the kiddie gym back in school. But some of the most basic exercises that form a major part of these exercises can work wonders for your body.

Most beginners see weights and associate them with power. Weight lifting helps you get those muscles you want but they’re not the only thing. As someone looking for a holistic transformation, you need a bit of all – endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility training.

How Frequently Should You Work out?

Contrary to popular belief, you need not work out every single day to achieve that beach body. Fitness experts focus on rest days. If you’re putting in at least an hour of average-to-intense workout about three to four days a week, you should be able to get into good shape within the first few months.

When you work out, then your muscles are broken down. These are rebuilt during your sleep when your body is resting. That’s right. Your system can focus on the repairs while you rest. The new muscles are stronger and better. But if you’re not resting properly or you’re over straining your muscles. If overworked, muscles become weaker over time, hence the fatigue. When you work out, always remember to incorporate adequate rest days for optimal results.

Exercises You Shouldn’t Do Without Supervision:

Before we talk about the exercises, you can do without supervision, it is important to understand what you can’t do. For almost all exercises/positions, there are variations available. To keep yourself safe, you need to stick to the most basic forms.

Do NOT try the complex versions before mastering the basics. The toughest level is only meant to be tried when you’ve qualified the beginner and intermediate level. Read about the little things that make your exercises more effective. And for all the right reasons, follow nothing that comes from an unprofessional, seasonal exercise enthusiast.

You know what your body can deal with. You don’t want to lose it.

Top 5 Exercises You Can Do Without a Trainer:

This brings us to the most important question: what are the exercises you can do without a trainer. As emphasized earlier, stick with the basics. No matter how “ineffective” or “mainstream” these sound, they can prepare your body even for the Olympics!

1. Pushups:

These are nice and simple. Get down on all fours, much like our canine friends. Make sure your feet are close by even if not joined. Your hands should be placed shoulder-width apart. You’re now supposed to raise your body, supporting it on your feet and hands only. Your body should be perfectly aligned from your neck to your toes. Lower your body to bring your chest as close to the floor as possible and return to the initial position. During this movement, your elbows should work beside your body.

As a beginner, you can try incorporating 20 pushups into your routine. With time, however, you can increase it up to a 100. Pushups will strengthen your core and your shoulders. If you’re just beginning, you’ll have quite a few difficult days pulling out 20 of these.

2. Squats:

Fitness experts’ love squats for all the right reasons. These engage your glutes, core, and thighs. Hold your hands in front of you to balance. Go down as far as you can. In a perfect world, your thighs ought to be parallel to the floor. Hold for only a second and return up. Your feet should be placed shoulder width apart, not more than that. Keep your spine straight all this while.

Squats work well for toning your thighs and legs. Like pushups, start with a doable number of 20 squats. You can increase these over time as your body allows.

Now about squats, you’ll find a wide range of resources where fitness gurus perform squats with weights. You DON’T want to do it without supervision. Squats put a great deal of weight on your knees. Stick to the sweet basics until your body is ready for the complex routines.

3. Planks:

Planks are just like pushups with a few variations. Instead of using your arms to lower and lift yourself, you instead need to hold the plank position. And instead of being on the palm of your hands, you need to support your body weight on your arms. This position engages the core.

Begin with fifteen-second planks. Or if these are too much, you can try holding it for ten seconds and later increase the time (a minute). Planks work on toning the abs so much so that you’ll notice results within the first month.

4. Crunches:

Lie flat on the ground. Now bring your feet closer to the hips so that you can plant them firmly on the floor. Keep your hands behind your head and try to raise your upper body. You don’t need to touch your knees but being as close as possible would help.

Start off with 20 reps and gradually build it up. If you listen closely enough, you’ll be able to hear your abs scream. Don’t worry, it’ll soon be screams of joy when you see a flatter stomach.

5. Lunges:

You can consider these as a variation of squats. Some protocols are simple. However, instead of standing in one spot, a lunge involves a walking gesture.

Put your left foot forward and go down such that your right knee is close to the floor. Ideally, the underside of both your knees would be at right angles. Hold for a couple of moments and come back to the beginning position. Complete a set of 20 reps with your left foot forward. Change, and complete another set of 20 reps with your right foot forward. Keep your hands on your waist for better balance.

Start off with 20 reps and you can increase them up to a 100.

BONUS: Burpee and Rope Jump:

If someday, you don’t feel like doing the aforementioned five exercises, there’s a combination of two that’ll give you more or less the same result. These involve burpees and rope jump.

Rope jump isn’t something new. You would’ve probably done that as a child – the good old rope skipping. All you need to do is make sure the rope is suitable for you. There are quite a few rope workouts you can try out. It doesn’t have to be boring; you can create interest yourself.

Likewise; there are several variations of burpees. Traditionally, burpees are a combination of pushups, planks, crunches, and jumps. Pick something that suits your level of fitness. There’s nothing like mixing it up to keep the interest alive!

Special Circumstances Deserve Special Attention:

We don’t want you to hurt yourself on your way to fitness. It is important to understand every person’s road to fitness is unique. And there are things that’ll make your road more difficult than the others.

Medical conditions top everything else. If you have known medical conditions that can hamper your progress – weak knees, shoulder fractures, spinal issues, etc. – you must consider hiring a trainer and give him/her all the information about yourself. You don’t want to end up with wear and tears where your body can’t heal.

Also, for women, if you are pregnant or you’re in your post-pregnancy phase with a toddler, your exercise routine can’t be as rigorous. Your body has already been through a trauma and it makes little sense to put it through another, without medical or professional help.

Older men and women at risk of falls and bone issues also need special care. Understand this: if you’re training without a professional trainer, it would be a while before you see what went wrong. Keep your medical practitioners in the loop and understand your body requirements. 

Workout Apps:

Last, for the tech-savvy youth and adults, tracking your fitness has become easier too! A wide range of fitness and workout apps is available for download. From tracking your calories to reminding you about water intake, and from monitoring your daily routine to tracking your exercise progress, there’s an app for everything!

We won’t be taking any names. You can log on and surf a little to find your perfect app.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to set an alarm for tomorrow’s early morning exercise session! Some things never grow old after all!