It’s no secret that exercise comes with a plethora of benefits for mental and physical health, but for some people, the real motivation stems from the desire to achieve a certain physique. While increasing muscle mass in a healthy way does require consistency and hard work, you don’t have to spend a fortune on expensive weights and machines to get results. In fact, it’s perfectly possible to build muscle using just your own body weight. Keep reading to learn more about some of the most effective exercises to try.
Push-Ups
Push-ups are one of the absolute best ways to target the muscles in your chest, shoulders, and triceps without using machines or weights. To maximize muscle growth and get the most out of your push-ups, be sure to vary your hand positions, practicing with a combination of wide, narrow, and diamond push-ups. As you become stronger, you can even try increasing the difficulty by adding claps between reps.
Squats
If you’re looking to increase strength and create definition in your legs and booty, you can’t go wrong adding a few squats to your workout routine. Squatting engages muscles throughout the entire body, but it’s especially effective for building strength and mass in the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes. Just be sure to use proper form by keeping your back straight and your knees aligned with your toes.
Pull-Ups
Pull-ups are notoriously difficult, but once you get the hang of them, wow, are they a game changer. Practicing pulls-ups regularly is one of the most effective ways to build up your biceps and back muscles, so if you’re looking to increase muscle mass in these areas but aren’t yet able to do pull-ups on your own, start with assisted variations until you feel more comfortable.
