fitness
12 Best Home Exercises To Get An Hourglass Figure
By Forever Expert
2021-07-26
Exercises To Get An Hourglass Figure
An hourglass figure is one of the most sought-after body shapes by women across the world. As the name suggests, this type of body shape is identical to the shape of an hourglass. To illustrate, a slim waistline with a bigger bust and hips is what an hourglass figure is. To build this kind of physique, you’ll need to consume the right food. Furthermore, you’ll need to perform certain exercises, which mostly include weights or equipment. However, some women can’t go to a gymnasium due to various reasons. But don’t worry as here we’ll explore the 12 most effective home exercises for an hourglass figure.
Push-Ups
Target Muscles – Triceps, Shoulders, Chest, Back, Abs
Push-ups are a classic exercise that helps to build and strengthen the upper body. This exercise helps to shape your shoulders while eliminating excess fat from the arms. Furthermore, it’s a great workout for toning your abs and back.
How To Do Push-Ups Correctly?
- Get down on the ground on all fours by bending your knees and extending your arms straight.
- Place both your palms right under the shoulders and extend your legs straight backward. Stop when your head, back, hips, knees, and ankles are in a straight line.
- Now bend your elbows to lower down your body until your nose is almost touching the floor.
- Use your arms strength to raise your body back to the initial position by straightening both arms.
- Repeat these steps 15-30 times per set.
Bench Dips
Target Muscles – Triceps, Shoulders, Chest, Back
Bench Dips (Chair or Triceps Dips) are one of the best exercises to build and strengthen the upper body. This exercise helps to reduce excess fat from the shoulders and triceps while providing them the perfect shape. Furthermore, it helps to tone the back and chest muscles too.
How To Do The Bench Dips Exercise?
- Sit straight on a strong chair or a gym bench with your legs extended straight frontward.
- Firmly hold the chair seat with both your hands on the outer side of your thighs.
- Now slide your hips off the chair seat in the forward direction. Thus, you’ll be balancing your body on your heels and arms strength.
- After that, lower your hips towards the floor by bending both your elbows while keeping your legs straight.
- Stop when your hips are almost touching the floor.
- Return to the initial position by using arms strength, and repeat these steps 15-20 times per set.
Lateral Raises
Muscles Worked – Shoulders, Biceps, Triceps
Generally, Lateral Raises are a gym exercise done using dumbbells. However, you can also do this amazingly effective exercise at home. It’s a great workout for the toning and strengthening of the shoulders and upper arms. Furthermore, it helps to improve the overall lifting power of the arms. To do this exercise at home, you’ll need 5-10kg kettlebells.
How To Do The Lateral Raises Exercise?
- Stand straight with both your feet apart at a shoulder-width distance.
- Hold a 5-pound kettlebell firmly in each hand on the outer sides of your thighs.
- Now slowly raise both arms laterally (on sides) up to the shoulder level. Make sure to keep your arms completely straight while doing so.
- After that, slowly lower your arms to the initial position.
- Repeat these steps 15-30 times per set.
Pull-ups
Target Muscles – Lats, Shoulders, Triceps, Back, External Obliques
If you want a broader and stronger upper body, pull-ups are one of the most effective exercises. This amazing workout helps to tone, build, and fortify your shoulders, back, and arms. Furthermore, it improves the overall mobility and pulling strength of the upper body.
How To Do The Pull-Ups Exercise?
- To do this exercise, you’ll need a sturdy pull-up bar fixed at least one foot higher than your height. Make sure that the pull-up bar is fixed firmly and can easily bear all your weight.
- Now hold the bar firmly with both your hands wider than your shoulder-width.
- Bend your elbows and use your arms & shoulders strength to lift your body off the floor.
- Stop when your nose is right in front of the bar.
- Slowly lower your body to the initial position but don’t allow your feet to touch the floor.
- Repeat these steps 10-20 times per set.
Plank Hip Dips
Target Muscles – Obliques, Abs, Lower Back
To get the perfectly shaped slim waist, plank hip dips are a super-effective exercise. Thus, if you want to build an hourglass physique at home, perform this exercise regularly. Apart from abs and obliques, this also strengthens the lower back. Thus, it helps to prevent lower back problems and injuries.
How To Do The Plank Hip Dips Exercise?
- Get down on the floor on all fours, i.e. straight arms and bent knees.
- Now bend your elbows to place your forearms right beneath your shoulders.
- Also, extend your legs backward to straighten your entire body. Stop when your head, back, hips, knees, and ankles are in a straight line.
- After that, twist your hips on the right side down towards the floor.
- Return to the initial position and do the same steps on your left side. Don’t let your body dip while doing these steps.
- Repeat these steps 15-20 times on each side per set.
Mountain Climbers
Target Muscles – Core, Abs, Shoulders, Triceps, Hamstrings, Quadriceps
Mountain Climbers is an all-inclusive exercise that targets several body muscles at one time. For this reason, fitness experts even call it one of the best full-body workouts without equipment. This exercise will help to eliminate extra fat from your abs and core region. Furthermore, it also helps to strengthen and build your shoulders, triceps, hamstrings, and quadriceps. Also, it’s a great exercise to boost stamina, speed, balance, and stability of the body.
How To Do The Mountain Climbers Exercise?
- Get down on the floor into the extended arms plank position. Thus, your whole body will be completely straight and balanced on your straight arms and toes.
- Now lift your right foot off the floor and bring your right knee towards your chest.
- Return the right foot to the initial position and immediately do the same with the left leg.
- Keep doing these steps with alternate legs as if you’re running up a vertical wall.
- Stop when you get tired and repeat 2-3 sets.
Russian Twists
Target Muscles – Abs, Obliques, Back, Lats, Hip Flexors
Russian Twist is an effective exercise to target obliques, which people often overlook while working out their core. This amazing exercise helps to eliminate extra fat from abs and obliques while strengthening the back and hip flexors. Furthermore, it improves the mobility and flexibility of the upper body. To make this exercise more effective, you may hold a kettlebell with both your hands.
How To Do The Russian Twists Exercise?
- Sit down on the floor with your legs extended straight in front of you.
- Now bend your upper body slightly backward and lift your feet off the floor, forming a V-shape. Thus, your entire body will be balanced on your buttocks.
- Hold the kettlebell near your thighs without letting it touch them.
- After that, twist your torso to your right side and touch the kettlebell on the floor (right side).
- Return the kettlebell to the initial position and then do the same step on the left side.
- Repeat these steps 15-20 times on each side per set.
Bicycle Crunches
Target Muscles – Abs, Obliques, Hips
If you want a slim waistline with perfectly trimmed obliques, Bicycle Crunches is the best exercise. This amazing workout specifically targets the abs and the area right under the sides of the ribs. Furthermore, it also strengthens and builds the hip muscles.
How To Do The Bicycle Crunches Exercise?
- Lie down straight on the floor on your back.
- Now, place both your hands behind your head by bending your elbows and intertwine the fingers.
- After that, raise both legs slightly above the floor, along with your head.
- Then, bend your right knee to draw it towards your chest. At the same time, twist your torso to bring the left elbow towards your right knee.
- Return to the initial position and do the same step with the other leg and elbow.
- Repeat these steps 15-30 times per set.
Glute Bridge
Target Muscles – Glutes, Hamstrings, Core, Lower Back, Abs
As the name suggests, Glute Bridge is an exercise that primarily targets the gluteus muscles. Thus, it helps to tone and build perfectly-shaped buttocks for an hourglass figure. Furthermore, it also strengthens the hamstrings, core, and abs. For people experiencing lower back pain, Glute Bridge can help alleviate it easily.
How To Do The Glute Bridge Exercise?
- Lie down on a yoga mat on your back. Place both your palms on the outer sides of your thighs on the floor.
- Bend your knees to bring your feet closer to your buttocks. Stop when the sole of both your feet is entirely flat on the floor.
- Now squeeze your glutes to lift your hips off the floor. Thus, your body will be resting on your heels and shoulders.
- Stop when your shoulders, back, hips, and knees come in a straight line. Hold this position for 2-3 seconds and then slowly lower down into the initial position.
- Repeat these steps 10-15 times per set.
Lateral Lunges
Target Muscles – Glutes, Quadriceps, Inner Thighs, Outer Thighs
Lateral Lunges are a highly effective lower-body home exercise without equipment. This amazing exercise helps in toning, building, and fortifying the glutes, quadriceps, and thighs. Furthermore, it helps to improve body balance, stability, and mobility of the lower body.
How To Do The Lateral Lunges Exercise?
- Stand straight with both your feet apart at twice your hip-width.
- Now bend your right knee while keeping your left leg completely straight. With a straight back, lower your body as low as possible towards your right side.
- After that, stand back to the initial position.
- Then, do these same steps on the opposite side i.e. left side.
- Repeat these steps 15-20 times on each side per set.
Sumo Squats
Target Muscles – Glutes, Inner Thighs, Calves, Quadriceps, Hamstrings, Hips
As you can guess, sumo squats are a variation of the traditional squats exercise. Apart from all the muscles targeted by squats, this exercise also targets the inner thighs. Thus, it’s an all-inclusive exercise that targets most of the lower body muscles. Furthermore, it helps to improve the stability, explosiveness, balance, and athletic performance of the lower body.
How To Do The Sumo Squats Exercise?
- Stand straight with your feet slightly more apart than your hip-width.
- Twist the toes of both feet away from each other at approximately 45-degrees.
- Bend your knees and extend your hips backward to lower down your body. Make sure to keep your back straight, while not allowing your knees to extend beyond toes.
- Go as low as possible without losing balance and then stand back up to the initial position.
- Repeat these steps 15-20 times per set.
Bench Hip Thrusts
Target Muscles – Glutes, Hamstrings, Quadriceps, Core, Hips
Last but not least, Bench Hip Thrust is one of the best exercises to sculpt perfectly shaped buttocks. Along with glutes, this exercise also tones and strengthens the quadriceps, hamstrings, hips, and core muscles. Furthermore, it helps to improve the athletic performance of the lower body by improving stability and explosiveness.
How To Do The Bench Hip Thrusts Exercise?
- Sit straight on a sturdy bench, with legs extended straight in front of you.
- Now slide down on the bench to bring your upper back on the bench surface. Stop when your knees are bent at 90-degrees and your upper body is parallel to the floor.
- After that, lower your hips towards the floor by bending your body at the pelvis.
- Then, squeeze your glutes to raises your hips until your heels are lifted.
- To make this exercise more effective, keep weight on your core while doing it.
- Repeat these steps 15-20 times per set.
That’s all folks!
So these are the 12 expert-recommended home exercises to build an hourglass figure. By combining these exercises with a nutrient-dense diet, you can easily get the perfect body shape. As per medical research, your overall fitness depends 70% on your diet and 30% on exercise. So eat healthily and exercise daily to keep yourself physically and mentally fit.
Since I’m stuck at home during these times of pandemic, I’ll better try these home exercises! I’m glad how you shared each of these exercises with easy-to-follow steps. Thank you so much!