by John Mckinsey

Created on: June 09, 2009   Last Updated: June 10, 2009

So, you want to have that perfect beach body? The bulging biceps, the huge pecs, the cut abs and the wide shoulders that make up the t-shirt body. I think I'm correct when I say, we all do. Most men would love to have a body that caused everyone at the beach to take a second look. However, many men don't have the time, and these days, the finances to maintain a decent workout routine at the gym. Don't let your schedule or finances be a deterent or an excuse to keep you from reaching your fitness goals.

Before there were gyms on every corner with hundreds of thousand of dollars of state of the art equipment, men had six packs and huge muscles. So, the secret is that all of those machines and trainers do help make working out more efficient but aren't required. When you get down to the basics of what makes muscles grow, you can get down to the basic and typically more effective exercises. Here are some exercises that you can do in your living room, bedroom, wherever you want without any equipment.

The first and most common bodyweight exercise is the push up. It is an oldie but a goodie. The push up utilizes the majority of your major muscle groups. It works your back, abs, arms, shoulders, legs and chest. I would recommend you do about between four and five sets three days a week. The amount of push ups per set will depend on how many you can do. When doing these start with your hands a little more than shoulder width apart. Push all the way up, then slowly drop down, then back up. That's one complete push up.

The next exercise is the crunch. Now, this is not the same as a sit up. Sit ups, for the most part use the same muscles as a crunch but put you at a much higher risk of injury. Most people do more harm than good by straining their neck and back while doing sit ups. To start the crunch, lay on your back with your hands on the back of your head. You want your finger tips touching. Use your stomach to pull your chest up. Keep your head and neck straight. It is very important not to pull your head or use your hands to lift up. Lift up until your head is a foot off of the ground and then slowly go back down. That is one complete crunch. Do as many as you can three times a night.

The next exercise that works the core muscles is the Pikes Peak. You lay in the push up position and then move your arms so that you're resting on your forearms and your toes. Your body should be close to parallel with the ground. Hold that position as long as you can. Do this three times a night.

Now, all of these focus on strengthening your upper body. While that may be the only thing you're interested in building, you must give your legs some attention too. You need some sense of balance in your routine so you don't end up with huge arms and chicken legs. Here are a couple quick leg exercises.

The squat, while typically done with weights can be done with just body weight. You want to start with feet shoulder length apart and your back and neck straight. Keep your hands behind your head, fingers touching. While keeping your back straight, lower your body until your thighs are parallel with the floor. That's one rep. Do three sets of twenty reps three nights a week.

The next is very simple, but much more difficult. You want to get into the same stance. Now lift one leg up in front of you. Lower yourself down as far as you can as many times as you can. Then switch legs and repeat. These will be very difficult at first but your balance should improve quickly.

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