Easy Exercises at Home

By UKSF on 27 September, 2021

In the last few years, certain circumstances have meant that going to the gym has been...difficult. Many of you will be getting pretty used to outside workouts and working out from home, and while the gyms are slowly opening up, many people still feel uncomfortable with subscribing to a gym or spending money if they are going to have to be closed again.

Here are some exercises that you may not have tried at home or outdoors that are sure to get your blood pumping with minimal equipment.

Easy Exercises at Home to Lose Weight

For Callisthenics, by definition, you don’t need any equipment or even particularly specialised surroundings, you just need your body and the environment. Many callisthenic exercises are very straightforward and you probably know how to do them instinctively. Here are a few with additional notes on how to improve or change them up.

Press-ups

Press-ups are some of the most ubiquitous exercises in the repertoire of workouts, but there are many varieties of press-ups you can do, here’s a handy grid to make sense of them all:

Press-ups	How to	What for
Traditional press-ups	A traditional press-up is what you are probably used to. Simply place both hands on the floor and both feet together and get in a press-up position. You will want your hands to be about shoulder-width apart and simply lower yourself down and then back up. Remember not to arch your back too much and to not lower yourself all the way to the ground, you want to leave some space between you and the ground so as to maintain that tension.	A traditional press-up is great for the entire body, it works out your core, your arms and your shoulders. It is a great workout and ideally, you will want to be able to do at least 10 not on your knees.
Wide arm press-ups	This one name kind of speaks for itself. It’s essentially the same as a traditional press up but you will have your arms at a much wider margin than in a traditional one.	This press-up is great for increasing your chest size. Due to the wide space between your hands a press up, which already puts a great deal of pressure on your chest, will have even more of an effect on this part of you.
Diamond press-ups	As the name suggests you need to put your hand together in the press-up position and form a diamond shape in between your hands, then perform the press up as you would normally.	This one puts a significant amount of pressure on your arms and your triceps (that would be the back of your arm muscles). This one can be particularly difficult if you do now already have some good arm strength.
Russian press-ups	A Russian press up is a little more complex than your normal press up and a little more difficult. This one is only for people that feel they need to get more out of a traditional press up. Start in a plank position the same as you would to do a normal press up. Then lower yourself as though you were doing a press up, staying at the lowest point but not touching the ground push yourself onto your forearms, then move back up to the press-up position and repeat from the beginning.	This one is very difficult and requires a great deal of core and shoulder strength to pull of. The main benefit of a Russian press up is to the core, it is one of the hardest core exercises you can do, so get to it!
Staggered press-ups	This press up requires either a box or a raised position, as you will want to have one hand higher than the other, so as to emphasise one side more.	Naturally, this one is based on strengthening one side that may be weaker than the other. It is important to note that most people that work out will have one side that is significantly stronger than the other, so it is important to concentrate on the sides that are being neglected.
Clap press-ups	The same as a traditional press-up except you explode when coming up and perform a clap before resetting your hands.	This is a very difficult press up to pull off and requires a lot of explosive strength. Naturally, the main thing it will be working out will be your explosive strength and general arm strength, but also your general balance and core.

Press-ups can be performed basically anywhere there is flat ground and enough space for you to be on the floor, and it works out your body better than many exercises that require loads of fancy machinery. Strength training using your body weight is easy and practical anywhere there is space, so don’t be embarrassed to do some press-ups in the park, in all likelihood, there will be loads of other people doing exactly the same!

Pull-ups/chin-ups

The difference between the two is that a pull up is where you pull yourself up using your arms and your palms are facing outward, while a chin-up your palms will be facing inward towards you.

A chin-up is marginally easier and is more focused on your bicep and arm, while a pull-up puts more tension on your back and shoulders, while also working out your arms. Both are great and can take some time to get good at. The best way to improve your pull-up is to hold yourself at the top of the bar and slowly lower yourself to the ground and repeat.

Squats

Squats are one of the best leg exercises you can do, and will increase your core strength dramatically as well. Remember to push your butt out and keep your back straight, you don’t want to do a squat with an arched back and you want the tension to be on your legs. Don’t do a squat lower than you feel comfortable with and if you are finding them easy you can always use a kettlebell to increase the weight and make it harder.

Minimal equipment workouts

You don’t have to stop at callisthenics in your home/outdoor workout. There are a myriad of different exercises that can be done comfortably at home without having to go to an expensive gym. The value of many of these exercises will depend on your goals, and the frequency with which you do them, however in general these are great for your overall fitness, improving your heart rate and keeping off unwanted fat.

Skiping rope/box jumps: Both box jumps and skipping rope are fantastic workouts to improve the explosive power in your legs and to lose weight.
Shadowboxing: You may not feel like Rocky, but shadowboxing is a full workout when done correctly. Look up videos of professional boxers doing their shadowboxing routine and notice the amount of effort that goes into each movement and how concentrated they are. Even if you are not interested in perfecting your technique, it’s still a great and engaging way to improve your cardio, feel better and even potentially lower your heart rate.
Swimming: This one may be a little trickier to achieve if you are not near any body of water, but if you are then swimming is one of the best types of cardio fitness possible, it will work out your whole body and keep you cool, as well as not putting any stress on your joints and giving your body resistance training.

Easy exercises at home for over 60s

Workouts for over 60’s don’t need to be basic or boring, you can do just about any of the workouts listed depending on your physical condition. Ideally, you should be able to perform all of the listed exercises but with slight variations to make them more manageable and doable. For example:

A squat but using a chair to balance yourself. If you are able to do a full squat then go ahead, but be careful and pace yourself.
A press up against a wall. Simply put your hand on a wall with your feet behind you at an angle and lift yourself as though you were doing a normal press up.
Balance exercises. There are a variety of balance exercises you can do from home. You can stand on one leg (again using a chair to balance you if you need it) and try and put your hands together or one arm forward and another behind. Practising your balance is just like working out a muscle, and needs to be trained to improve.
Tai Chi. Tai Chi is a Chinese martial art developed for health improvement, awareness and meditation. Tai Chi is fantastic to train your body and develop all parts of your body as well as your balance. The slow movements improve strength and the preciseness increases your concentration.
Sit and stand. A great workout is simply sitting and standing up from your seat! If you do the exercise over and over you will find that it works out your legs and is an activity that you do on a daily basis so it makes sense to train for it.

Ultimately there are loads of different things you can do whether inside or outside your home when it comes to workouts, regardless of your age, and we at UKSF provide a variety of equipment that can help you with many of these. These include boxes for box jumps and kettlebells for weighted squats, and if you feel like you want to take your workout to the next level without having to go to a gym then we can provide a significant selection of equipment for a variety of tasks.