10 Effective Bodyweight Exercises For Women

Did you know that bodyweight exercises have gained popularity to be the most convenient and yet not less effective way to build muscles, burn calories, and of course build your strength?

Hitting the gym is alluring since you can socialize with others and access the service of a personal trainer to keep tabs on your progress or lack thereof. The truth is, now for women especially, it might be too tiring to aim for a perfect female body like they see at the gym and simultaneously be motivated enough to move on with the training. 

This all begins with a feeling of self-loathing and ends with a desire to escape from the gym and never go back. At some point we have all had that feeling of failure before getting into a new activity. 

Nevertheless, the best bodyweight exercises for women will get you out of that embarrassing cycle of feeling down. The only equipment that you need at your training is your body. No weights, no bars, no resistance bands. Even without this equipment you can tone your body and enjoy impressive results after just a few weeks. 

This article is dedicated to 10 effective bodyweight exercises for women that you can do at home to your favorite music. 

Why Are Bodyweight Exercises Good For Women?

Gym or at-home full bodyweight workout? – that is the question. We all get used to the idea that only professional equipment and high level trainer supervision can positively affect our physique. 

In reality, the benefits of home workouts for ladies are so versatile that it is strange to hear someone question them. 

Check out 5 essential benefits of bodyweight exercises for women: 

#1 No Spot Limits

Convenience is the top priority for every human engaged in sports. No matter where you are – at the gym, at home, at your father’s farm, or hotel, you are not restricted from being active. With enough space and comfy sports clothing you can rock your body in various moves. 

#2 You Engage The Whole Body

A full body weight training workout for females is meant to include all your body muscles into action. Consider mountain climbers, for instance. They involve your upper body, lower body, and core which works perfectly for beginners and advanced masters. 

#3 You Build Strength, Balance, And Flexibility

Performing a bodyweight exercise trains your body to stabilize itself and gain new power. Such exercises strengthen your body by using it as a resistance (1). Every woman who engages herself in a full-body activity may feel strong progress in her sporting abilities after a couple of weeks. In fact, the more organized you are, the more sets and reps you are able to complete. Astonishing, isn’t it?

Read More: Reap Your Back Muscles With An Inverted Bodyweight Row

#4 It Is Fun

The number of exercises for women is so much that you can experiment with different sets every month and still not get bored. On the internet, you can stumble upon 44 bodyweight exercises for women and more. Most importantly, by using imagination it is possible to create your own sets and go at them any time you want. And don’t forget to turn on your motivational songs.

#5 It Is Quite Cheap

Besides amazing effects on your body, we naturally pay attention to the effect of the workout on our “wallets”. Here’s the deal, you will spend money on sports clothing, gym membership, and the trainer (it will be hard to get the hang of the equipment on your own). Plus, if your fitness facility is far away from your home, you need to pay for transportation as well. Imagine this, you don’t need to do all these things if you choose at home workouts. Sound too good to be true?

How To Build Strength From Bodyweight Exercises For Women

Completing bodyweight back exercises and other types of full body training requires strength building. The stronger you become, the more stamina and power you get to go on to harder exercises that will bring you the desired body shape. 

There are effective and simple ways to organize your female bodyweight workout program for better body strength. Prepare your notebooks and jot down these essential points: 

• Increase the number of repetitions. On average, the beginner starts an exercise with 10 to 12 reps. Once you get stronger, you can improve your strength with a bigger number of repetitions. From 10 to 15 or 20 repetitions per one set is enough to upgrade to a new challenge. 
• Rest between sets. This is the part where we are going to dismiss a myth about working up a sweat on a non-stop loop without rest that allegedly can help you burn more calories and make you stronger. In reality, it works the other way around. The rest intervals between sets may positively affect the efficiency, effectiveness, and safety during trainings (2).
• Increase the number of sets. Multiple sets can bring superior training benefits compared to single ones (3). Beginners start with 3-4 sets and upgrade to 4-5 after a few weeks. It depends on your stamina, overall productivity, and health condition. 
• Increase time under tension. Usually, one exercise takes about 30-40 seconds to complete. By shifting to 10-15 seconds longer you can feel more tensity in your muscles which is a great sign for development. 
• Decrease the rest time. As far as you understand, rest time is obligatory during bodyweight training for women. However, to become stronger you will need to shorten the rest time between sets to build stamina, which affects general body strength.

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Can You Get In Shape With Just Bodyweight Exercises?

So, you don’t need to spend a lot of money on gym, trainers, and can still get in shape with the help of bodyweight workout routines. What’s the catch?

Truth be told, there is no catch since our body rarely cares about the equipment and the place where we work out. All it cares about is the intensity and our ability to complete full-body sets weekly.

Hence, you can get in shape with just bodyweight exercises. We have highlighted the top 10 effective full body workouts that target all the essential muscles.

Squats

• Stand with your feet at shoulder-width apart and turn them out with your weight in your heels.
• Sit your butt back and bend your knees keeping your thighs parallel to the ground.
• Stand back up straight.
• Squeeze your buttocks and keep your core tight as you stand.

Reverse Lunges

• Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart.
• Step backwards with your right foot, land on the ball of your foot and bend your knees to create two 90-degree angles.
• Push through your left heel to return to standing.
• Repeat on the other side.

Single-Leg Glute Bridges

• Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
• Lift your right leg above you with your toes pointing at the ceiling.
• Keep your right knee directly over your right hip.
• Raise your hips and lower them back to the ground with one lifted leg.
• Repeat on the other side.

Donkey Whips

• Get on your fours.
• Lift your left leg and extend it behind you.
• Swing your left leg to the left side and then back to center.
• Repeat on the other side.

Read More: 12 Of The Best Bodyweight Tricep Exercises

Lateral Plank Walks

• Get in a high plank position with your shoulders above your wrists and abs tight.
• Step your left foot and left hand to the left, simultaneously following with your right foot and right hand.
• Take a couple of “steps” in one direction, then walk in the opposite direction.

Push-Ups

• Start in a high plank position with your hands flat on the floor and wrists under shoulders.
• Bend your arms and lower yourself as close to the floor as you can.
• Keep your elbows at about a 45-degree angle to your torso.
• Push back up to start.

Plank-Ups

• Get in a high plank position.
• Bend one arm to bring the elbow and forearm to the floor.
• Bring the other arm down to create a forearm plank.
• Push back up to the starting position, and place each hand where your elbows were.
• Repeat this pattern.

Burpees

• Stand with your feet apart at shoulder-width and arms by your sides.
• Bend your knees and move forward to put your hands on the floor.
• Jump your legs straight out behind you, lowering your entire body down to the ground, bending at the elbows.
• With your arms, quickly push your body back up and hop your legs back under your body.
• Jump up, reaching your arms overhead.
• End the workout with your knees slightly bent.

Hip Bridges

• Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and your heels a few inches away from your butt.
• Keep your feet about hip-distance apart.
• Lift your hips up and lower them back to the ground.

Bicycle Crunches

• Sit on floor bent knees and feet lifted.
• Place your hands behind your head.
• Lean back to engage your abs keeping your chest up.
• Twist to bring your left elbow to your right knee, straightening your left leg.
• Alternate sides with control.

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Is It Okay To Do Bodyweight Exercises Every Day?

At home workouts for women are loaded with varieties which means we can do them every day. Nevertheless, even though bodyweight exercises seem easier compared to lifting weights, you still need rest days between your bodyweight workout programs. 

If you exercise daily at a high level your level of cortisol and adrenaline lift up causing you to feel stressed out. Not allowing your body to relax properly leads to belly weight gain, higher blood pressure, and weaker immune system (4).

Rest day workouts, on the contrary, help lower your adrenaline and cortisol levels. They give your body enough time to recharge glycogen levels. Glycogen is the fuel your body needs for energy which is stored in muscles and liver. 

You need rest after the workout if: 

1. Your muscles are always sore.
2. You feel exhausted.
3. You can’t sleep well. 

However, you can indulge in low-intensity rest exercises between bodyweight training. Movements help you improve endorphine, dopamine, and serotonin hormones. These hormones are essential for making us relaxed and happy (4).

The examples of low-intensity activities are: 

• Strolling
• Slow jogging
• Biking
• Yoga or tai chi
• Swimming
• Dancing
• Rock climbing
• Kayaking
• Rowing

Hence, don’t exhaust yourself with bodyweight activities daily but engage in rest low-intensity workouts instead.

What Is A Good Workout For A 60 Year Old Woman?

There are two types of seniors – one group thinks they are too old for working out, the second group is sure that a bodyweight training is obligatory even at this age. Bodyweight exercises for older women cannot be as intense as for younger people but they have the right to stand out. 

Nonetheless, strength trainings after 60 can help your body in the following ways: 

• Build muscle mass
• Build bone density
• Promote mental health
• Lower the risk of chronic disease
• Decrease body fat

Now we have prepared 5 great bodyweight exercises for seniors. Perform 8-12 repetitions for each exercise and rest for 30-40 seconds between exercises: 

Modified Push-Up

1. Get on your knees with hands below shoulders and knees behind hips.
2. Tighten abdominals, tuck toes under, and bend elbows to lower the chest toward the floor.
3. Keep your gaze in front of your fingertips.
4. Press your chest back up to starting position.

Bird Dog

1. Start with your fours on the mat.
2. Reach one arm, draw in the abdominals, and extend the opposite leg behind you. 
3. Repeat 8 to 12 times and switch sides.

Single Leg Hamstring Bridge

1. Lie on back with your knees bent hip-distance apart, and feet flat on the mat
2. Lift hips off the mat into a bridge squeezing your glutes. 
3. Do this for 8-12 reps and repeat on the other side.

Basic Squat

1. Stand tall with your feet hip-distance apart. Make sure your hips, knees, and toes face forward.
2. Bend your knees as if you are going to sit back into a chair. 
3. Keep your knees behind your toes and your weight in your heels. 
4. Rise back up and repeat.

Forearm Plank

1. Lie on the floor with your forearms flat on the floor, so that your elbows are aligned directly under your shoulders.
2. Engage your core and lift your body off the floor keeping your forearms on the floor and your body in a straight line from head to feet. 
3. Engage your abdominals and try not to let your hips rise or drop.
4. Hold for 30 seconds. If it hurts your lower back, or gets too difficult, place your knees down on the ground.

The Bottom Line

To sum up, a bodyweight training program for women is a good way to shed calories and strengthen your muscles. They are loaded with benefits that can keep you fit, engage the whole body, build strength and flexibility. 

You can build strength with bodyweight exercises by increasing repetitions, sets, time under tension, and decreasing the time of rest. 

Rest days between workouts are essential to muscle recovery. During this time you can engage yourself in low-intensity workouts. 

In this article, you have discovered 10 effective bodyweight exercises for women and the ways to complete them.

In addition to this, you have learned about bodyweight workouts for seniors that allow older women to hit amazing results with the help of their body resistance.