Are you looking for a fast, convenient, and effective way to exercise right from the privacy of your own home? Exercising using just your bodyweight is a great alternative to gyms, weights, machines, and other expensive equipment. Let’s take a look at several of the basics and benefits ofbodyweight exercises for women.

Basic Exercises:

Push-upsare a great way to exercise your chest, shoulders, and arms. They also exercise your abs, back, and legs, as well as a variety of other stabilizer muscles. Give them a try in the traditional position or do them with your knees on the ground (when just getting started), and experience for yourself all the different muscles being exercised.

Crunchesare fantastic way to isolate and exercise your abdominal area. Crunches are similar to sit-ups, but they isolate your stomach muscles better. Simply lie down with your back on the floor and your legs (bent at the knees) in the air. Cross your feet at the ankles, cross your arms on your chest (with each hand on opposite shoulder), and attempt to sit up by moving your torso and head toward your legs. Slowly go up as far as you can, and then slowly come back down. (Tip: Don’t come down all the way…this will allow you to keep constant tension on your abs and get the best results).

Squatsare great bodyweight exercises for women. They isolate the major muscle groups of your upper legs and butt, as well as a variety of stabilizer muscles. The basic squat can be done by standing with your feet shoulder with apart, with back straight, head looking up (not down), hands behind head, and, keeping your weight centered over your legs with your heels on the ground, slowly bend at the knees until your upper legs and butt are parallel to the ground. Hold that position for a moment and then slowly return to your starting position.

Lungesare another exercise that really get results. Start in a standing position with your feet just slightly apart. Keep your weight well-centered so you do not lose your balance. Take a long stride forward with either leg until the knee of your opposite leg barely touches the ground, hold position for just a moment, and shift your weight backwards, returning to your starting upright position. Then repeat with your opposite leg. This will really target your thighs (front and back) and your derriere.

These are some great basic bodyweight exercises for women. These 4 exercises should really help you get started on targeting your core muscles. Both push-ups and squats can be done in slight variations (depending on how close or far apart your hands and/or feet are positioned), and can place more emphasis on different parts of your targeted areas. With push-ups you can target inner our outer chest, and inner and outer thighs can be targeted with squats.

There are also some nice benefits of doing bodyweight exercise. You never have to go to the gym to workout. This saves you time and money, and makes it very convenient to exercise. Another key benefit is you do not have to use or purchase weights and exercise equipment, which can be dangerous to use or expensive to purchase on your own. All of these exercises can be done in the privacy of your own home, allowing you to feel much more comfortable than you might at a gym where you may have an audience. You can do a bodyweight workout no matter where you are, at home or out of town, making it a very convenient and efficient way to exercise.

The biggest benefit is that all of these bodyweight exercises for women will help you get the results you desire. Looking to gain muscle? Wanting to shape and sculpt your legs? Hoping to tone up your butt? Maybe you are trying to firm up your chest, abs, and arms. More than likely you really want all of the above…a whole new and improved you, so to speak. Well, you can have it, and it won’t cost you a fortune. Simple bodyweight exercises are really all you need.

But there is one important key. You need to take action and get started. You are now officially out of excuses. So get started with some of these basic exercises today and start experiencing the benefits and results as soon as possible. You will be glad you did.