Five Body Weight Exercises to Build Muscle

You don't have to have an expensive gym membership to build muscle and get into shape.  You can do so right from the privacy of your very own home.  In many cases if you have just a little bit of ingenuity you don't have to purchase any equipment.  You can simply use your own body weight.  In other words, your body becomes your machine when you use body weight exercises. 

Simply using your body weight to perform exercises can prove very challenging.  So let's dig into the five exercises that I believe can begin to pack on the muscle that all of us are desiring.

Pull ups are the mother of all body weight exercises. They are quite difficult to do for most people. In some instances, people are unable to do even one pull up. There is no better exercise to improve strength. The pull up will greatly work your upper back, as well as, your biceps and forearms (not to mention your grip). Some of the largest biceps I have seen are on individuals who are capable of doing large amounts of pullups.

You have many different options on what to do in order to perform pull ups. Rather than go too deeply into your options for that here in this hub I have created another hub just to show you different options for performing pull ups. Needless to say, if you are serious about packing on muscle then you need to be performing pull ups. Dedicate yourself to making it happen.

Pull ups are the mother of all body weight exercises.  They are quite difficult to do for most people.  In some instances, people are unable to do even one pull up.  There is no better exercise to improve strength.  The pull up will greatly work your upper back, as well as, your biceps and forearms (not to mention your grip).  Some of the largest biceps I have seen are on individuals who are capable of doing large amounts of pullups. 

You have many different options on what to do in order to perform pull ups.  Rather than go too deeply into your options for that here in this hub I have created another hub just to show you different options for performing pull ups.  Needless to say, if you are serious about packing on muscle then you need to be performing pull ups.  Dedicate yourself to making it happen.

Handstand push ups can be quite challenging, even for those that consider themselves fairly strong. The best part is that all you need is a wall that you can kick up against and you are good to go. If you are not sure what these are then check out the video below. Handstand push up will pack on muscle to your shoulders, upper chest and your triceps. The more vertical you get the more challenging they become. If it is too difficult for you to perform a handstand push up against a wall then you can merely start out in a pike position on the floor. Then when that becomes easier, you can then place your feet on a chair. See the pictures below if you are unsure that this would look like. You can also use a tool such as the TRX. The TRX is a great tool for performing body weight exercises and building not only muscle but stamina as well.

As you can see, in just three exercises you have been able to get a great workout for your upper back, chest, shoulders, triceps and biceps. Let's take a look at the final two exercises that will focus a little more on the lower body.

The single leg squat is also referred to as the Pistol.  It is a difficult body weight exercise to perform.  It requires a great amount of strength in your quadraceps and requires core strength to keep your balance when performing them.  Since, single leg squats are quite challenging
you may need to begin by performing regular bodyweight squats to build up your strength.  Set yourself a challenging goals to build up the strength in your legs.  Once you begin performing single legs squats you can use aids to help you get up if you need it.  I can hold onto a doorknob with one hand.  You can tie a rope to something overhead and use that as a crutch or you can use something like the TRX again. 

All you need is something to hook the back of your feet under (or have someone hold your feet) and something to pad the area where you place your knees and you are ready to perform what is for my money the most difficult bodyweight exercise to perform. Most people who begin this will have to perform a modified version of this exercise. I recommend only lowering yourself to a point where you know you will be able to raise yourself back up. You can also slowly lower yourself down until you can't resist any longer and then catch yourself as your hit the floor and then use your arms to propel yourself back up to the point where you can return to the starting position. Once again watch the video. There is nothing like seeing an example of what you will be trying to perform. The hamstring curl starts at about the 45 second mark.

If you attempt to perform these exercises on a regular basis you will definitely build strength and begin to pack on the muscle. Work hard.