Exercises to strengthen your back muscles at home without weights

Why do you need bodyweight training?

With the right selection of an effective program, bodyweight exercises give excellent results for both weight loss and weight gain.

Mass gain

Many people believe that without the use of additional weights, developing grip strength with your own weight is impossible. This is wrong. There are sets of exercises that help develop strength, endurance and lean body mass.

If you wish, when training with your own weight, you can additionally use what you have at home, for example, a backpack filled with something heavy. This way you can achieve a good result. To do this you need to perform a number of exercises.

For example, push-ups are very effective:

vertical (3 to 10);
rear (3 to 6);
from the floor (2 to 15);
between the supports (2 to 10) the pectoral muscles are pumped;
reverse grip pull-ups (3 to 8).

Weight loss

If the reflection in the mirror stubbornly insists that it’s time to get rid of excess fat, and you agree with this, then you don’t have to immediately run to buy a gym membership. You can lose excess weight and restore muscle tone by exercising at home or on the street.

To get rid of weight that you consider unnecessary, there are basic exercises. They will take only 15 minutes a day, and this will be the initial stage in order to form a slim figure. It is necessary to set a high pace of training, since slow training will not have the desired effect on the body.

The initial stage includes the following exercises:

10-minute warm-up;
any squats;
push-ups from the floor (horizontal);
twisting the torso;
bar;
jumping lunges.

A bodyweight training program for men and women at home helps not only fight excess weight, but also develops muscles and keeps them toned:

has a beneficial effect on the body;
with systematic training you can build muscle mass;
you can get rid of unnecessary folds on your body and say goodbye to excess weight, becoming the owner of a toned figure;
the skin will become more elastic;
When the first results appear, the emotional mood rises.

Moreover, almost everything you need for training is at home.

Back exercises with your own weight

Wide grip pull-ups

Grab the horizontal bar with a normal grip, with your fingers facing away from you.
Place your hands much wider than your shoulders so that when you lift, your elbows form a 90-degree angle.
Move your head back slightly and pull yourself up straight until the bar is near your collarbone.

Any horizontal bar exercise uses your back to a greater extent for pushing power, especially at the starting point. You can change working muscles by turning your elbows. For example, as was said earlier: if you move them forward, the biceps are activated, if to the side, then the lats. A wide grip is more difficult than a standard grip, but more effective. In order to get results from such training, you must, as with push-ups, do it 7 to 10 times. Despite the fact that it is easier to perform a floor press, the rest in such sets is also less, and therefore the same number of repetitions.

Necessary equipment

One of the advantages of training with your own body is that there is no need for a huge number of exercise machines.

For classes you will need a minimum amount of equipment:

a pair of chairs (will serve instead of bars);
jump rope;
several thick books;
crossbar;
long towel (to rock your neck);
roller (to pump up the press);
rubber expander (useful if this is your first time doing pull-ups).

Moreover, at the initial stages of training it will be possible to do without some of them. It depends on what exercises are selected for the class.

Shoulder workout with dumbbells

Dumbbells are one of the best exercise equipment you can use to develop your shoulders. They are convenient to store at home because they do not take up much space. They are versatile and can be used to perform a huge number of exercises. Unlike bodyweight exercises, dumbbell exercises allow you to perform different types of movements. Bodyweight exercises often limit shoulder movement to a simple press, while dumbbells allow a wider range of motion, in all directions.

Best exercises

There are many bodyweight exercises. Each of them gives a certain effect. But there are a number of exercises that are considered the best due to their effectiveness and a large number of variations:

Push ups. The load can shift to the desired muscle if you change the position of your hands correctly.
Squats. The entire lower body gets an excellent workout.
Pull-ups. An exercise that uses a large muscle group (particularly the back and arms).
Twisting. When performing this exercise, the abdominal muscles, back muscles and many others are actively worked.

These exercises were, are and will be in leading positions. After all, thanks to them, large muscle groups work. And by changing the position of your arms or legs, you can shift the load on the necessary muscles.

Let's look at some bodyweight exercises that target different muscle groups.

For the neck

The development of these muscles is more suitable for men, because many of them dream of a muscular and beautiful neck:

Use your fingers to press on your forehead, gradually increasing this pressure. The neck will offer resistance, thereby tensing the muscles. This exercise will not bring instant results, but it will help develop the muscles, and the neck will be ready for increased loads.
You need to bend over and place your head on the floor. Thus, bend in different directions. At first, you can help yourself with your hands, since this exercise is not so easy to do. But then you need to do it without using your hands.

For shoulders

A muscular neck should flow into pumped up shoulders. Therefore, it is unlikely that anyone will leave this part of the body without attention. Push-ups are great for your shoulders. It is important to take into account the fact that the triceps and pectoral muscles will receive the main load. Therefore, in the exercises this position changes:

take a lying position;
palms and shoulders should be at the same level;
increase the width so that the forearm should be almost perpendicular to the floor.

The exercise must be performed efficiently and at a fast pace.

For hands

Let's consider exercises that involve all the muscles of the arms (biceps, triceps, forearm).

Reverse grip pull-ups:

You need to hold onto the bar a little narrower than shoulder width, with your palms facing you;
there is no need to lower yourself completely, this will relax the biceps and relieve the necessary load;
During the pull-up, the shoulder and forearm should form a 90-degree angle. You should not rise higher, as the load on the desired muscle will go away.

Close grip push-ups:

elbows almost pressed to the body;
palms straight, below shoulder level.

This exercise puts maximum stress on the triceps. But the forearms are also involved.

For the back

Men dream of a wide, pumped-up back with beautiful relief. For girls, the main thing is a straight back and graceful posture. Our exercises are suitable for both purposes.

Low bar pull-ups are good for beginners to prepare for more advanced pull-ups:

you need to lie under the crossbar;
grab it with a wide grip;
pull your body up until it almost touches the bar.

Wide grip pull-ups are a more difficult but also more effective exercise:

grab the bar with a straight grip slightly wider than shoulder width;
pull yourself up in this position.

For the buttocks

Lunges are considered one of the most effective bodyweight exercises:

stand up straight, straighten your back;
hands at the seams or resting on the hips;
take a step forward and lower yourself so that your knee almost touches the floor;
stay in this position for 2-3 seconds;
stand up;
alternate legs.

Shoulder exercises with body weight

Close grip push-ups

Take a lying position.
Place your palms facing each other at chest level so that your index fingers and thumbs form a triangle.
Lean forward slightly to keep your back straight.

Always keep your back tense so that your pelvis does not sag. Otherwise, you will not only reduce efficiency, but also experience lower back pain. The exercise is quite difficult for beginners, so it should be performed from 7 to 10 repetitions in your set for several approaches.

Read more about all types of push-ups →

Rhino push-up

Take a lying position.
Raise your pelvis so that your body forms a triangle.
Place your hands slightly wider than your shoulders.
Lean forward, touching your head to the floor.

To make it more difficult, you can place your feet on a hill or at least raise your pelvis.

In the future, you can raise your legs higher and higher, up to a handstand. Just like with the previous exercise, do push-ups 7 to 10 times.

Types of bodyweight training

Functional training

At home, at work, at the dacha - every day a person is faced with performing some tasks. After some of them, muscle pain is felt.

Working with your own weight is aimed at the deep development of the human body so that everyday stress does not cause unpleasant consequences. Such training can be called universal. They develop in a person the physical qualities necessary in everyday life. This complex is aimed at developing strength, coordination, endurance, and reaction. When doing functional training, flexibility and plasticity appear.

Circuit training

This is a set of exercises that together work the whole body. The number of repetitions for each exercise will depend on your physical fitness. The number of exercises in a complex ranges from 5 to 10. All exercises must be performed one after another, without breaks. This is one circle, which is repeated after a short break from three to six times.

Circuit training should be done at least three times a week, but no more than five. So that there are days when the muscles can rest.

Split

This complex is based on a separate program. That is, for each day of training, one muscle group is determined. On the first day you work the arm muscles, the exercises on the second day are aimed at developing the pectoral muscles. The whole body does not work at once, but parts of the body take turns.

Workout

This is street training. Aimed at improving physical indicators and parameters. The name literally means “warm-up” or “training”.

A relatively new direction that quickly found its fans. Classes on outdoor horizontal bars are free and very effective. A set of such exercises allows you to work the muscles of the whole body. Plus, you can choose exercises depending on your level of training. For starters, pull-ups, hangs, push-ups are suitable. It will be possible to complicate things further.

300 Spartans by Steve Maxwell

The workout includes bodyweight strength exercises, and the program is divided into levels. Levels vary in difficulty. The set of exercises included in the workout will need to be repeated 300 times within the allotted time (hence the name).

The bodyweight training program includes three complexes of varying complexity. You have 40 minutes to complete the level. When this result is achieved, you can proceed to the second level.

The level includes 10 exercises, and each requires 30 repetitions. You need to give yourself rest as needed. And strive to complete the workout in 40 minutes.

Upper body workout

As part of the upper body workout, efforts are aimed at pumping up the shoulders, chest and arms: push-ups (forward and reverse), biceps exercises.

Push ups

The best exercise for bodyweight training, the push-up, is performed as follows:

2 seconds while inhaling, move down;
1 second pause;
2 seconds while exhaling, move upward.

Then it repeats without a pause.

Options:

narrow or wide hand position (grip);
lifting with a push and clap of hands;
push-ups on one hand (with and without support).

As you can see, this exercise presents the opportunity to use variations with different levels of load.

Reverse push-ups

Reverse push-ups target the same muscles as straight ones - pectoral, anterior deltoid, triceps. By changing the geometry of the body, it is possible to shift the emphasis and make the training more effective.

Starting position: legs on one bench, arms on the opposite bench, body suspended, the angle between the hip and torso tends to 90 degrees.

Important tips for implementation:

Don't go too low as this can cause shoulder injury.
Do not spread your elbows to the sides.
Chest forward. Don't slouch.

Biceps exercise

A bodyweight training program for men necessarily includes close-grip (“chin-up”) pull-ups. Beginners should do a minimum number of repetitions, since the exercise involves lifting a lot of weight without support.

Tips for implementation:

The position of the hands is as close to each other as possible. Palms to face.
Leg position – ankles crossed. It is also recommended to bend your knees.

A set of exercises at home

For girls

Girls, as a rule, start training with one goal - to achieve an attractive figure, rid the body of unnecessary pounds and increase skin elasticity. In this case, the main impact will be on the abs, buttocks and chest.

It is these parts of the body that the main bodyweight training program is designed for in any set of exercises intended for girls:

You need to start with a 10-minute warm-up.
Lying on the floor, lift your legs 12 times. Do three approaches.
From a lying position, do 10 crunches. Three approaches.
15 bench push-ups. Two approaches.
12 calf raises with dumbbells. Three approaches.
Dumbbell press. 15 times, three approaches.

For men

Workouts for men are designed slightly differently. They are aimed at other muscle groups, unlike girls.

In such exercises, the main load will fall on the chest, shoulders, and neck:

10 push-ups, 2 sets.
15 push-ups between chairs, 4 sets.
Push-ups with wide and narrow arms. 6-12 times 2-3 approaches.
10 squats, 4 sets.
10 single leg squats, 2 sets.
While standing, do 15 calf raises, 3 sets.
Pull-ups 15 times, three sets.

Single leg squats have their pros and cons:

this exercise uses a huge number of muscles;
there is a large load on the joints;
you need to be careful to avoid injury.

Bodyweight exercise options

There are many bodyweight exercises. They are convenient because the entire workout is carried out without additional hardware: you don’t need barbells, dumbbells or exercise machines.

A bodyweight training program should work all the muscles of the arms, legs and core. This can be achieved if you approach this issue wisely.

Note that such training without iron can be done at home.

Exercises on the horizontal bar

Since climbing trees is not common nowadays, for training you can use horizontal bars and parallel bars, on which you can do strength exercises with your own weight in various variations.

On the horizontal bar you can:

Pull up with different grips, with different hand widths.
Pump up your abs by lifting your legs, twisting, and simulating the movement of car windshield wipers with your legs.
Do forceful exits and various elements of workout.

For example, an imitation of wipers on a press is done like this:

Hang from the horizontal bar, grasping it with a wide, straight grip.
Raise your legs straight up. Imagine that these are wipers, and now you will wipe the car glass with them.
To do this, describe a semicircle with your legs pressed to each other from left to right or vice versa. This is a very difficult exercise.

You can do pull-ups with a straight or reverse grip; you can place your hands with your palms facing each other. The width of your grip will determine the degree of load on the latissimus dorsi and biceps. The wider the grip, the more the wings will have to work to bring the elbows towards the body.

The listed abdominal exercises (leg raises in different variations) place more load on the lower part of the abdomen. In order to pump up your upper body, you can hang on the horizontal bar upside down and do body lifts. But this is rather exotic and unsafe.

There are plenty of other non-horizontal options you can use to strengthen your upper abdominals. First of all, these are crunches on the mat.

To train the triceps and chest, you can use an element such as muscle-up.

Bars

Bodyweight exercises are also performed on parallel bars. These are classic push-ups for the chest and triceps muscles and sit-ups.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izsj_sZqTmM

To do a press on the uneven bars, you need to climb on them, place your pelvis on one pipe, lean back a little and place your legs under the second pipe. Now you can lean even further back, while your legs will support your body so that it does not tip over. From this position, with your arms crossed behind your head or on your chest, you can pump up your abs.

You can do push-ups in different ways. Again, the position of the hands decides a lot, as well as the angle of inclination of the body forward. If you lean forward, the load will go to your chest, if you keep your body vertical, the load will go to your triceps.

You can pump up your press on the uneven bars in one more way:

Hang on the bars, lean forward, press your chin to your chest.
Raise your legs, bent at the knees, up to your chin. You can lift your legs straight, but then you will sway. Or you can imitate walking by moving your legs alternately.

Hyperextension

How to pump up your back muscles without exercise equipment? There is only one answer - hyperextension. This exercise is often used when creating complexes for spinal health.

You can do hyperextension at home or exercise outside.

In the first case, you need to lie on your stomach on the mat, stretching out your arms and legs. Next, raise your arms and legs up. Hold for a second and lower. This is one repetition. You can fix your legs and lift only the upper body. Choose the most convenient option for yourself.

In the second case, you need to find two adjacent horizontal pipes of different levels. This design is often found on sports fields. Fix your legs under one pipe, rest on the other with the front of your thighs. From this position, perform back flexion and extension.

Squats

Bodyweight squats not only help strengthen muscles, but are also good cardio exercises. Try to sit down 50 times and count your pulse – it’s off the charts, right?

Squats can be made significantly heavier by squatting on one leg. The exercise is called “pistol.” Not everyone can do it. And not so much because of lack of strength, but because of incorrect technique. Therefore, before you begin, clarify all the nuances for yourself. It is not advisable to do this exercise if you have bad knees.

Calf raises

Calf raises to train the calf muscles without weight make sense to do on one leg and on the condition that the heel hangs in the air. This is necessary so that you can pull the toe towards you, lowering the heel as far as possible. This way, you can work your calves to the fullest possible amplitude.

Pushups

You can do push-ups from the floor in a horizontal position and at different angles. The most difficult variation, affecting the shoulders, chest and triceps, is the upside down push-up.

The effectiveness of push-ups for individual muscles can be changed by varying the position of the elbows and palms.

It mainly works the triceps, deltoids and pectoral muscles.

Abdominal exercises on a fitness mat

All abdominal exercises that are performed lying down are bodyweight exercises. When you lift your body, twist, you lift your body. The same can be said for leg raises.

By combining different options for lifting the body and legs, you can very well strengthen your abs and achieve their definition.

If you use inclined benches, the effect of the exercise will be much better.

Explosive exercises

To increase the effectiveness of all exercises, use the “explosion” effect. That is, make maximum effort at the last moment.

For example, when doing push-ups, push your hands up as you rise. Strive to get your palms off the floor. You can try clapping your hands at this time.

While doing squats, do jumping exercises accordingly.

Plank

Static exercises strengthen your muscles by staying in a specific position for long periods of time that requires physical exertion.

The plank exercise helps strengthen the muscular corset (core muscles). Due to the fact that gravity will pull your pelvis down, and you need to maintain an elongated “string” position, you will have to make efforts to stabilize your torso. The longer you stand in this position, the better these muscles are trained.

Various hangs

If you place your hands on the bars and stretch upward as much as possible, your trapezius will be tense. Try hanging like this for 60 seconds - the thing that gets tired will swing. This way you can experience everything for yourself.

Pull yourself up on the horizontal bar, and on the reverse movement, when the angle of flexion at the elbow reaches 45 degrees, freeze. In this position, you can train your biceps a little by giving it a static load. Don't get carried away with this exercise; you don't need to hang for more than 30 seconds.

If you just hang on the horizontal bar, you will train your grip. The more you can hang, the stronger and more resilient your forearms will become.

We stand on our hands

Handstands will train your vestibular system, arms and shoulders. Start performing the exercise at the wall, then you can smoothly move to a position without support.

Differences between men's and women's training

A training program designed for men will be different from a women's one. Men and girls are focused on different results. Girls want to become the owners of chiseled figures, men want to build strong and sculpted muscles.

Therefore, more exhausting cardio workouts are good for girls to burn calories. Strength exercises are more suitable for the stronger sex.

Useful tips

Whatever the reason that prompted you to start working with your own weight, aim for the result. Objectively evaluate your physical fitness in order to choose the right set of exercises. You can start with light exercises, gradually increasing the complexity and load.

Don't forget about warming up. No matter how ideal the set of selected exercises may be, without a warm-up it can not only be ineffective, but can also cause harm to the body. Unwarmed muscles are not ready to perform many exercises.

But perseverance, work and a clearly defined goal, combined with a bodyweight training program, will help you achieve significant results!

Bent-over dumbbell raises

This exercise works the posterior deltoid muscle. Developed rear deltas give the shoulders a fully developed, rounded appearance. Of all the shoulder muscles, this is usually the most difficult muscle to tone. It is worked out during a pulling movement with weights, but when the body is not straightened, but tilted forward.

How to do it:

Stand up and bend your torso forward towards the floor. Keep your lower back straight so that your torso is almost parallel to the floor. Keep your head in a neutral position and do not pull your neck upward.
Take dumbbells in your hands. Hands are lowered in front of you, palms facing each other. Make sure your elbows are relaxed and slightly bent.
Engage your rear delts and pull your elbows up, spreading your arms out to the sides. The dumbbells should be at the top, almost parallel to the floor, with your palms facing down.
Avoid body rocking. Keep your core tight throughout the movement.
Aim for 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps.

Conclusion

To properly work out your shoulders, you don’t need to have some fancy equipment on hand or go to the gym. If you incorporate these exercises into your regular workout routine, you will see noticeable improvements within a few weeks.

Just remember to use proper form and go through a full range of motion to ensure your shoulder muscles are working and developing correctly. Once you have mastered these exercises, begin to make them more difficult by gradually increasing the number of repetitions.

Articles on our website are presented for educational and informational purposes only. We do not recommend using article materials as medical advice. If you decide to take dietary supplements or make fundamental changes to your diet, first consult with a specialist.

Translation: Farida Seidova

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