There are many people who want to train and stay in shape but either don't have time or have access to a gym or fitness center. Many people also do not have the space to use free weights or some other type of exercise machines in their house. All they may have is space for a treadmill and an exercise mat. For these people there are still numerous ways to get in shape, build muscle, and exercise their cardiovascular system. There are numerous routines that you can use to train at home that just use your own body weight as resistance. These routines consist of floor exercises such as jumping jacks, push ups, squat thrusts, body weight squats, mountain climbers, and various abdominal exercises like crunches, half sit ups, leg raises, and bicycles. Here is a brief explanation of some of these exercises. The squat thrust is performed by dropping to a crouched position with your hands on the floor, thrusting your legs behind you, then returning to the crouched position and standing up. This can also be performed with a scissor movement with the extra steps of after thrusting your legs behind you, you scissor them out and then back in, and then return to the crouch and stand up. A third version of this is sometimes called the 8 count bodybuilder. This is simply adding a push up to the exercise before you do the scissor movements.

Push ups can be done numerous ways. A standard push up is performed with the hands shoulder width apart. A wide push up is performed with the hands slightly wider than the shoulders. A narrow push up is performed with your thumbs touching. You can do decline push ups with your feet on a chair. You can do a staggered push up with on hand in front of your head and the other behind it and alternate halfway through your set. There are many variations of the push up and you can choose which ones to perform during your workout.

Mountain climbers are performed by getting in the standard push up position, keeping your upper body stationary-rapidly alternate bringing your knees to your chest. Your legs should move as if you are running in place. Every other knee should count as one repetition.

One of my favorite routines consists of using the above exercises in a sequence where I go through the exercises in a cycle that I repeat three or four times. I start with a warm up on jumping jacks for 20 to 30 reps. I then do squat thrusts for 10 reps, body weight squats for 15 reps, lunges for 15 reps for each leg, standard push ups for 15 reps, wide push ups for 15 reps, close grip push ups for 15 reps, mountain climbers for 20 reps on each leg, and crunches for 50 reps. I then repeat the sequence substituting squat thrusts with a scissor for regular squat thrusts and decline push ups for close grip. For a third sequence I will do 8 count bodybuilders for the squat thrusts and a staggered push up for the wide push up. I may also do bicycles or leg raises instead of crunches. You can rest between exercises or try to go as quickly from exercise to exercise as you can.

This workout will not only build strength and power but will also give your heart and lungs an excellent workout.