The Mom Buff: Resistance Training With Your Body Weight

Let’s talk resistance training. Resistance training is how you will gain muscle and lose fat. A common method of resistance training is lifting weights. But, some of my readers have said they cannot afford to go to the gym, nor can they find the time.

Well, you can use your own bodyweight as a tool with resistance training, and you can do these moves at your house and/or local playground. Once I start naming these exercises, you are going to have memories of gym class!

1. Pull-ups:
Pull-ups are TOUGH for women. Women generally have more lower body strength and less upper. Men tend to have the opposite! Pull-ups target your back, bicep, shoulders and chest. At the gym there are often pull-up assist machines, so you can start working towards being able to lift your own body weight. But, you don’t need a machine to train. If you go to the park, use a monkey bar while your kids go down the slide. Grasp the bar so that your palm is facing away from you and your grip is wider than your shoulder width. Cross your ankles and bend your knees. Next pull your body weight up slowly and down slowly.

If you cannot lift your own body weight, you want to do what are called negatives, which will help you build your strength without the use of the assist. You can jump up to grasp the bar at the “top” of the pull-up, then lower yourself down slowly.

When doing pull-ups, concentrate on your back! Think of the muscles you are using to help pull up and lower yourself down.

2. Push-ups:
Yet another exercise that I hated in gym class. But I can surprisingly do them now that I hit the gym! Push-ups work out your chest, triceps, shoulders and even your abdominals. To do a push-up you place your palms on the floor, wider than shoulder width. Rise on your toes and keep your body straight – like a plank. Bend your elbows and lower your chest to the floor, keeping your body straight. Stop when you are 2 inches from the floor and rise again. You can also do push-ups by bending your knees, crossing your ankles and keeping your ankles in the air. This makes the exercise easier, so try to graduate to the full push-ups.

3. Plank:

Plank is a yoga pose, usually done after downward dog. It’s also a position that is similar to a push up. You keep your back straight, toes on the floor and hold your body weight up with your arms. This strengthens your back and spine. Try to hold for a minute – do it four times.

4. Squats:

At the gym I love Smith Machine Squats, but most of us don’t have a Smith Machine at home. Well, since I am trying to build my quads (the muscle on the front of your leg) my personal trainer just added Wall Squats to my routine. You put your back against the wall, then lower yourself into a position where you are sitting on an imaginary chair. When you do this, you do  not want to feel pain in your knees – stop if you do! My knees are tricky, so sometimes I have to move my feet around to get comfortable. Now when my husband told me to do this, I thought it would be so simple. The first time I tried, I struggled to hold it for 20 seconds. Now I hold the position for a minute and I do it 4 x. So hold a minute, relax 30 seconds, hold a minute, relax 30 seconds and so on.

5. Lunges:

Lunges are actually tough for me, I lose my balance so easily! But these are great for your butt. My husband (aka personal trainer) says to have your hands at the waist for balance, take a step forward then lower your torso. Keep an eye on your knee so that when you are lowering yourself your knee doesn’t pass your toe/ankle. Your leg should be perpendicular to the ground, so try to lean back a little for proper form. Then switch legs.

5. Calf Raises:

Find a step in your house, hold onto something for balance, cross one foot behind an ankle and then lower and raise the heel of your foot up and down. Do that around 10 to 20 times per rep. You want to do 4 sets.

These exercises cover pretty much all of your body parts. Try to do it 4 -5 times a week! Try to do 3 sets of each exercise. Good luck and get buff!