Kenko Desk
- Oct 25, 2022
- 5 min read

Push Yourself! One Set At A Time! 💪

We’ve learnt to stay at home, work from home and even shop (from home) but are we staying fit from home? Read now, make no excuses later...

The home fitness equipment market grew by over 73% from 2020 to 2021. That’s the year of the pandemic. It went from Rs 329 crore during 2019 to Rs 570 crore during 202121. Of the Rs. 570 crores, over Rs. 313 crores were from online sales.

Since June 2020, the sale of treadmills, exercise bikes, and dumbbell sets has skyrocketed. When outdoor spaces and public gyms were shut, people started taking matters into their own hands (literally!) and moved indoors.

But you know what? We’ll make it even easier. Here are five exercises you can do at home without any equipment!

1. Pushups

Pushups are one of the most effective basic core-building exercises. A single pushup activates numerous muscles: chest muscles, triceps, anterior deltoids, core muscles, abdominal muscles, back muscles, and leg muscles.

How do I do a pushup?

Keep your core tight, lay down with your face facing the floor, stretch your hands, and place your palms below your shoulders.
Keep your spine straight and your toes on the floor in line with your legs. This is known as the high plank position (more on it later) and the start position.
Next, maintain a straight back, engage your core, glutes, and legs, and align your spine.
Now start folding your elbows, looking straight, and descending in a controlled manner till your chest almost touches the floor. Remember to keep your elbows tucked in throughout.
Exhale and push your palms to rise again to the starting position.

Alternative: If a regular pushup seems challenging, you can start with a simpler version called the knee pushup. The only difference is that instead of planting your toes, you plant your knees on the ground, reducing resistance and simplifying the movement.

To know more, watch this video. Recommended reps & sets:

	Beginners	Intermediate	Pro
Repetitions (Reps)	5-10	10-15	20-25
Sets	1-2	2-4	5

2. Squats

Done working your upper body with the pushups? It’s time to work on your lower body. What pushups do for the upper body, squats do for the lower body: They increase your lower body’s strength. Additionally, your body burns a whole lot of calories when you do squats.

The correct way to squat:

Keep your core tight, stand straight, feet a little over shoulder-width apart, and arms at your side. This is your starting position.
Keep your chest, and chin lifted, push your hips backwards, and bend your knee as if trying to sit on a chair.
Go down till your thighs are parallel to the floor.
Exhale as you push yourself back up.

Alternative: If you feel squats are too intense, you can start doing step-ups. They will build the muscles you need for squats, and then you can move on to squats. As the name suggests, step-ups are simply stepping up and down a raised platform.

To know more, watch this video. Recommended reps & sets:

	Beginners	Intermediate	Pro
Repetitions (Reps)	10-15	20-30	35-50
Sets	2-3	3-4	5

3. Planks

Abdominal crunches are the most effective exercise for building the six-pack of your dreams. However, there is a better exercise that is more effective. And it even strengthens your core: Plank.

Core training is about much more than having a beach body; it is about improving stability, reducing injury, and maintaining mobility. Doing planks will help you achieve all this and much more.

To plank like a pro:

Keep your core tight, lay down with your face facing the floor, your forearms must be parallel to the ground, and your elbows will be below your shoulders, keep your spine straight and toes planted on the floor in line with your legs.
Remember to keep all your hand joints perpendicular at all times.
Another vital thing to remember is that you need to keep your shoulders, hips, and legs in a straight line.
Hold this position for as long as you can.
Finally, remember to breathe throughout.

Alternative: If you feel that planks are difficult, you can start by doing high plank switches. They will also help build your core muscles. Once you master them, you can move on to planks. High plank switches are alternating between the starting positions of planks and pushups. To know more, watch this video. Recommended reps & sets:

	Beginners	Intermediate	Pro
Hold for	5-10s	15-30s	> 35s

4. Lunges

Next, we recommend you plunge into a lunge. Lunges are an excellent way to work out for people coming out of an injury or are prone to one.

When doing lunges, you work on your quadriceps, gluteals, hamstrings, calves, transverse abdominals, erector spinae, and other muscles.

How to plunge into a lunge:

Keep your core tight, legs a shoulder-width apart, arms at your side, and toes planted on the floor. This will be your starting position.
Take a step forward and bend your knees while doing so. Stop when one thigh is parallel and another perpendicular to the ground.
Ensure that your knee joints always end in perpendicular angles.
Go back to the starting position. Repeat with the other leg. This will be your one repetition.

Alternative: Well, lunges should be easy. However, you may feel that maintaining your balance is difficult. You can try side lunges in this case. Instead of taking a step forward, you take a step sideways. The foot you take the step with bends, and the other foot needs to be straight like an arrow.

To know more, watch this video.

Recommended reps & sets:

	Beginners	Intermediate	Pro
Repetitions (Reps)	10-12	15-20	20-25
Sets	2	3-4	5

5. Jumping Jacks

All work and no play make Jack a dull boy. All weight training and no cardio will make your body rigid. One of the best exercises to pump up your workout routine is jumping jacks.

You don’t need to maintain an accurate posture every time. However, doing them right does have certain additional benefits.

Jumping jacks don’t target a particular region of your body. However, they’re an efficient total-body workout. They are vital for the most important muscle in your body: Your Heart.

How to NOT jump like a Jack:

Start in an attention position: legs and arms by your side, standing up straight.
Jump and spread your feet beyond the length of your shoulders. Bring your hands above your shoulders and touch your head.
Breathe while doing it.
Jump again to return to your original position.

Alternative: Spot jogging is an alternative to building stamina and doing cardio at home. To know more, watch this video.