What are the best workouts to do at home? 

As gyms are closed, many are trying to figure out what workouts can be done at home and how to do them most effectively. Although you may not have the same equipment at home as you can get at the gym, you don't need the latest and greatest equipment to have a great workout or to be able to focus on the areas that you want to build and tone. 

Here at LegionGears, we want to help you get in the best shape possible and we're sharing our trusted tips and secrets to do so. 

Without further ado, let's get into the best workouts that you can do at home, which spots they focus on, and how to find alternatives to your favorite gym exercises. 

 

How can you do a lower chest workout at home?

Your chest muscles are considered as some of the most powerful muscles you have in your upper body.

These muscles in your chest play a significant role in whatever pushing movements you're doing, starting from pushing the door up to lathering up your hair inside your shower room.

It is rarely mentioned in the literature about the so-called abdominal head or the lowest chest of the chest muscle. As a result, it leads people to neglect this part of the muscle in their everyday routine and later, underdeveloped their chest muscles.

The most preferred method is building muscle with bodyweight exercises, as it brings multiple different benefits to the body. Your body is known as not picky when it comes to resistance. It will provide the tension needed with anything: barbells, a gallon of water and your own weight. 

There are a lot of options for you to choose which exercise you're gonna do. 
But how are you able to pump your upper chest at home effectively? 

Here are some options you can do at home: 

• You can always do push-ups on the bench, sofa, chair, and bedside table.

• You can also do push-ups on the bars ( you didn't mistakenly read it, you can always go to the yard or perhaps purchase bars to do push-ups)

 

But the reality is that... You can do push-ups at any place.

You can even do push-ups in the horizontal bar ( again, you can go to your backyard if you want to have a strong and beautiful chest)

You can follow simple sets like this, in the freedom of your living room or backyard, needing nothing more than your own body weight. 

How many push-ups should I do? 

The recommended reps for the exercises below is 3 rounds with 30 second rest in between. It is critical that all of these movements are executed in proper form. 

• 10 regular push-ups
• 60-second star jumps
• 10 incline push-ups
• 60-second star jumps
• 10 decline push-ups
• 60-seconds star jumps
• 5 regular push-up with time under tension
• 30 mountain climbers

 

As being said, the classic push-ups and all of the variations it has is one of the best exercises you can do to help in strengthening your chest. It always depends how you position your body and the time you'll be spending doing the push-ups exercise, how it can hit different areas on your chest. 

 

Types of Push-Ups

That said, below are the kinds of push-ups you can do simply at your living room, bedroom or any part of your house with sufficient space. 

 

1. Regular push-ups

Regular push-ups are one of the classic bodyweight exercises and are widely known as excellent to start your workout and as for keeping as a training staple for any upper body workout or any full-body workout. Take note that you need to use a wide grip, as this will be effective working on your chest muscles more than using a  narrow grip technique. Just a  simple tip, the higher you place your feet, the harder your exercise will be.

2. Incline push-ups

If you think doing a standard push-up is too challenging for you to start your workout, then you can always have the option to start with an incline push-up. As the steeper the incline is, the less body weight is needed to work the push. Plus, this is also a good exercise to target the lower part of your chest.

 

3. Decline push-ups

This type of push-up is effective in helping you to target the upper part of your chest and deltoid muscles to be specific.  Moreover, it will also help to add more of your body weight to the exercise you're doing compared to standard push-up, which makes it harder.

 

4. Plyometric push-ups

This type of push-ups can be done in different fun and fantastical ways. As said that the bursts of powerful plyometric movement will be helpful and effective to have your muscles firing on all cylinders.

 

5. Time under tension push-ups

Whether you believe it or not, slowing down your movements and putting much attention to correct form will deliver great conditioning results to your body. You can very slowly lower yourself into a push-up and push back equally at the same slow pace into your starting position.

 

Push-Up Form Mistakes to Avoid 

Experiencing problems and mistakes while doing the exercise can cause great pain to your lower chest part.  Here are some of the things you can do to avoid lower chest pain.

Often, people just don't know what is the accurate or correct technique to do, so during the chest workout, they're working on triceps. When you begin to train them, it will be ended that there's no strength left. It is also the same as the lower pectoral muscles.

That's why it is very important to strictly observe the correct technique. But don't worry cause as time passes by, you'll surely learn to feel what's best that works for you and what does not. Plus, while doing your workout you can as well experimentally find what exercises are the most effective to use for your body.

If you feel tension in your muscles after working out, what's important is to make sure that you are preparing your body adequately before working out and after working out too. The best way to do so is with a massage gun that you can use before and after working out to loosen up your muscles and relieve tension.  

In addition, put in mind that if you're gonna ignore the techniques and recommendations that are given to you, some difficulties may arise.

You'll be experiencing a darkened vision; tinnitus; high blood pressure.

This becomes very undesirable for people at over 30. Therefore, make sure that you didn't lower the bench under 30 degrees. 

Extreme conditions are not needed as well. And it's being said that doing push-ups on the bars and in the crossover is much better.

Moreover, to check whether you can actually do the bench press or not is simply an easy task. You just have to lie down in that position for about 30 seconds. Then you stand up abruptly. If you notice that there are ripples in your eyes, tinnitus, you feel dizzy, then it's dangerous for you to train in such a position. 

 

How can you proper dips at home? 

One of the foundational bodyweight exercises that you can do at the comfort of your home is the dips.

This type of exercise focuses much on the strength of your triceps as well as your endurance. Commonly, this is used by all types of athletes in multiple various ways to increase the strength of the arms.

Moreover, dips are said to be an ideal upper bodybuilder when talking about home-made physiques.

If you have zero weights playing with and planning on working out with only your bodyweight, this exercise becomes even more true and a good start for your home gym.

 

Steps to the Perfect Dips at Home Workout

If you're planning now to do dips at home, here is the to-do-list you may follow.

Step one is placing your arms shoulder-width apart and grabbing a sturdy surface.

You can use either a dip bar, a bench, a coffee table, or anything as long as it has a sturdy surface. Depending on what you think comfortable for your shoulders and elbows, you can always change your grip whether it's wider or narrower.

Always be mindful of how you place your hands for the duration of the dips since it can be easily torqued disparate joints.

You may also rotate your wrist in different ways depending on which place you're performing your dips. Take note that your grip should only be neutral if you're holding a dip bar.  To perform your exercise properly, you should rotate your wrist slightly when you are using an edged bar to perform the dips.

Step two is to lower your body

To balance your dips, you can start by bending your elbows and slightly leaning your chest forward. At the depth of this exercise, put in mind that your wrist should be barely behind your shoulders.

Furthermore, your shoulders need to come under the level of your elbows. To brace your spine and help you to stabilize during your exercise, you can always use your abs.  Plus, it also helps you to put much focus on your mind to muscle connection and help you get better results from each rep you do.

 

Step three is extending your arms

The next thing you need to do is extend your elbows, pushing your body back up. After, for the height of the exercise, you need to completely straighten your elbows.

You've just finally done your dip. Always make sure to put control in your exercise the whole way through. You can easily cause injury to yourself if you're jerking through a dip exercise.

 

What can you use at home for dips?

Additionally,  here are a few options listed if you want to perform dips at the convenience and comfort of your home.

 

1. You can use  HOME DIP BARS

You can always purchase new home dip bars that you may use for your regular scheduled dips. You can choose to have a home dip bar that can be easily attached to your doorway or that can simply stand on the ground.

Usually, the cost of home dip bars ranges from $30-$200 but of course, it always depends on the variety of the product. You can always pick what product is best suited for your needs and your budget.

Besides, you can also add resistance by using a weight belt for your home dip bar but look for a belt that has a chain attachment on it.

All you need to do is wrap the belt around your waist, through the hole of your weight plate you can always thread the chain, thereafter, you need to attach the chain to the opposite side of your belt.

 

2. You can do the dips at BENCH

If you notice that you have a bench-like shape or structure in your home, then you can do the dips on it.  All you have to do is put your back to it and grip it behind you. Remember that you'll not be using the total body weight as your legs will be on the floor.

In order to make your exercise much harder, you can always pull another piece of equipment below your feet and then elevate them off the floor. In this way, you'll be able to increase your resistance as well as the difficulty of the exercise you're doing. 

 

3. You can do the dips at EDGE SURFACES

Performing the dips on almost any surface as long as it has an edge is another option for you. Your coffee tables, kitchen counters, etc. can all be used for your exercise.

Sometimes, doing at-home dips just needs some bit of creativity. If you figure it out soon, then you'll gain massive arms in no time.

As you notice, performing dips are one of the great options to work the upper body. Dips are just simple to perform and you can do it anywhere. This will help your triceps to grow as well as increasing strengths on your shoulder,  chest, forearms, and abs. 

Moreover, this can be done for all levels of strength. 

You can always continue to do dips to get yourself stronger and stronger, whether you're already adding weight to your dips or just simply starting.

To make sure that you're always maintaining the proper form and using your mind to muscle connection, put much more focus on what you are doing to complete the exercise.

 

A bit of warning about dips! 

Lastly, always be mindful of any pains that dips may cause your body. For some people, they found grip as awkward, so always make sure that you adjust your grip width as well as your wrist rotation to customize the dips for your body.

 

How can you properly stretch your triceps at home? 

Your triceps muscles are located at the back of your upper arms. Whenever you straighten your arm and lock your elbows, your triceps are in contract. When you are doing workouts such as pushing or pressing movements, your triceps are being fired up. In whatever throwing sports, they always play as a key role. As a result of your long day exercise, your triceps can be tightened or shortened.

You can always keep your triceps flexible, loose, and injury-free by doing some basic stretching that only requires minimal space and can be done without special equipment needed. Also, what is helpful is being able to stretch out your triceps after your workout too or making sure that you are relieving tension in the proper way with the proper nutrition and the proper at-home therapy equipment like a massage gun. 

Moreover, your triceps are known as necessary muscles that are largely needed for building the strength in your upper body. Most of the upper body workouts required the use of the triceps as well as even those exercises that focus a lot on the shoulders, biceps or chest.

Put in mind that you need to warm up and stretch your triceps before engaging in any type of upper body workout. Since your triceps also play an important role in moving your elbows and shoulders, then always make sure that they're prepared to give you adequate mobility you need while doing your workout.

In addition, you may end up damaging your triceps without doing any warm up and stretch beforehand and will hinder you to complete some other parts of your workout. This would never be good , especially if you have certain goals to achieve in doing your daily workouts.

 

Tricep Exercises to Try at Home 

Here are a few lists of tricep stretches you can do as your workout routine.

 

BASIC TRICEPS STRETCH 

You can start this stretch by standing up straight with your body straight and in an in-line position. Then you need to lift one of your arms straight up before you bend it backward where your elbow is located. Take note that your palm should always be flat against your back and your shoulder shouldn't be crouched over. Hereafter, you need to place your stationary arm's hand on your elbow and now push your stretching arm downward while also pushing it towards your head.  Stay in this position for about 10 seconds and then you can switch to other sides by repeating the same motion to your other arm.

RESISTANCE BAND STRETCH

Using a resistance band or exercise band, as they are also called, stretch out your triceps in order to have a deeper stretch. You can adjust the level of difficulty through the placement of your feet (how extended or how short you make the band available to be stretched will determine the difficulty) and is deal for spaces that don't have much room, because all you need is the resistance band and room to stand. 

This is a great way to build strength in your triceps and arm area in general. It's not just an exercise for before you workout! It's an exercise that you can do daily and incorporate into your routine. What's easy is that right after, you can use the resistance band for other sets and routines too, without breaking the flow of your routine. 

For any sort of tricep exercise, you can use a resistance band to maximize the effectiveness of the exercise. 

 

BEHIND-THE-HEAD TOWEL STRETCH

You can add a towel in your workout if you want your triceps to have a deeper stretch.

FRENCH STRETCH

Start the workout by standing straight and extending your arms in a straight position above your head with your hands holding together. Next is to bend your elbows in a backward position and touch your back. Then you can reach as far as you can until such time you feel the stretch and then hold in that position for 30 seconds.

FOAM ROLLER TRICEPS STRETCH

Foam rollers are said to be beneficial especially for stretching. If you're struggling with shoulder pain and it might be not easy for you to even just simply bend your back, then this foam roller will be helpful to you.

You can start this one by placing the roller on the floor. Then you need to lay flat on top of it with the foam roller is being located just under your shoulders on top of your back. Make sure that your head and upper body are lifted off the ground. Hereafter, you need to lift your arms up on each side with your arms bent at your elbow. Now you need to grab one of your arms with the other at either the elbow or the forearm and pull it back towards your opposite shoulder.

CROSS-BODY TRICEPS STRETCH  

This one is a simple yet popular exercise that will help you to stretch  your triceps in a variety of ways than when you're putting it behind your head.

As the usual start, you need to be in the standing position with your feet  shoulder-width apart. Next is you need to hold your arm out directly in front of you. With the use of your other hand that is not stretched, grab your elbow and pull it towards the opposite of your shoulder until such time that you already feel the slight pressure. Remember that your hand should be in a position of a straight horizontal line across your chest. You can stay in this position for about 10, minute's before switching to the other side.

CHAIR TRICEPS STRETCH

For this type of stretching, you will be needing a low chair or another same object to do the process. Better if you can find a chair or object that has a padding for your elbows.

You can start this stretch by kneeling with your knees firmly placed into the floor a little less than a foot away from the chair. And then from this position, you start leaning forward until such time that you can rest both of your elbows on the top of the chair. Hereafter, bend your elbows so that your arms will bend upwards. Hold your hands together and let the chair support your weight.

Afterwards, you need to look downwards and always make sure that your neck is in position in-line with your back. Remember that your head shouldn't touch the chair only your elbows should.

Then bring both of your arms back behind your head and put your hands back on your lower neck. Lastly, you have to push your chest towards the floor so that you'll feel the stretch and stay in that position for about 30 seconds.