If you’re looking for bodyweight exercises that you can do from anywhere (read: the comfort of your own home), you’ve come to the right place.
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We are very impressed with the simple yet effective exercises here at Marie Claire UK – Most of us are short on time as it is, so hour-long workouts that require driving to the gym wouldn’t be possible.
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However, a 20-minute session that you can do from your living room is quite another matter. You can zip up before the kids wake up or when you get home from work, if it’s your pajamas or your favorite gym set—whatever floats your boat.
However, many wonder if body weight exercises are In fact effective or worth your time. For those of you who don’t know, the basic definition of a bodyweight exercise is an exercise movement that you perform using only your own body weight – think of a pushup, squat, or lunge.
When exercising with your body weight, you will be using resistance to create muscle tension, thus enhancing strength levels and overall fitness.
According to Lucy Campbell (Opens in a new tab), the UK’s Fittest Woman, PT and CrossFit Instructor, There are a lot of benefits to working out simply using your own body weight. “Being able to control your weight can be very powerful and is a great way to build muscle as well as increase awareness of your body,” she explains. “Just look at the gymnasts—they use their own body weight pretty much and they’re incredibly strong.”
Benefits include improved fitness, strength, and muscle mass, and improved blood flow, plus it puts less stress on your joints, if you’re recovering from an injury.
“Body weight training also allows you to build a strong base with a variety of exercises that can be made more challenging with reps, tempo, and incline,” Campbell continues.
Not to mention Jess Rossart (Opens in a new tab)Gym Manager, Trainer and Personal Trainer at WIT House London (Opens in a new tab)Bodyweight movements can feel a lot less intimidating than, say, weight training (Opens in a new tab) Dumbbell exercises (Opens in a new tab) or kettlebell exercises (Opens in a new tab) (The gym anxiety disappeared.)
To improve your fitness from week to week, experts recommend aiming for progressive overload — that is, gradually increasing the number of repetitions or sets of exercises you do until your body adapts and gets stronger. “As long as you’re consistent with the movements and your sessions, you can see results within a month,” Campbell shares.
Are you ready to read about their favorite moves? Keep scrolling. Don’t miss our guidelines for how much weight you should start lifting (Opens in a new tab) In the gym, as a first-timer, strength training for beginners (Opens in a new tab)while you are here.
Bodyweight Workouts: Top 10 Workouts You Can Try Anytime, Anywhere
1. Squat air
According to Campbell, the air squat is a great bodyweight move to try at home. “It is a multi-purpose movement as it can be used to warm up and mobilize your body before lifting weights, performed with volume to build leg endurance, or performed as part of a recovery routine by enhancing blood flow to your legs and glutes.”
Rossart agrees, adding that it’s a great lower-body move to improve mobility of the ankles, knees, hips, and also leg strength.
How do: Imagine that you are sitting on a chair, with your hips back and your knees forward. Keeping your chest lifted, continue to sit until your hips are perfectly below the line parallel to your knees. Then stand up. Sometimes raising your arms to eye level as you descend can help to maintain your chest position in this movement, so try this if you find you’re leaning forward too much.
how long: Start with five rounds of 20 air squats. When you get used to it, try adding time under tension, Campbell advises—try taking 4 seconds to go from standing to down into a squat, as a starting point.
2. Lunges
Next? humble rush. Often overlooked, this bodyweight exercise has many benefits and can be performed in a variety of ways, experts share. “It works on your stability and balance plus it requires the strength of one leg to drive from the bottom position,” Campbell shares.
How do: Bring one leg in front of you and as it lands your foot on the ground lower your back knee to touch the ground with your front leg creating a right angle. Drive backward from the front leg to standing.
how long: Start with 5 rounds of 20 and build from there.
3. Jumping Lunges
Jumping lunges, according to Campbell, are great for explosive strength and building endurance with lactate threshold training (aka when lactate acid builds up in the blood faster than the body can clear it). “This means you’ll be able to work out longer and at a higher intensity,” she explains.
How do: Do regular lunges—as above—but instead of going into each pose, jump explosively.
how long: Build to low sets of 10 to 16 reps.
4. Push up
The push-up is one of the best shoulder exercises (Opens in a new tab) You can do in addition to the basic form of momentum. “It can also be easily scaled to fit all abilities,” Campbell shares.
How do: Start in a high plank position with your hands under your shoulders and lower your chest to the floor while maintaining the same body position. Once your chest hits the floor, push yourself back up to the starting position. This can be scaled to lower yourself into a bench or box – this is better than the kneeling push up because it involves the full range of motion and maintains basic demand for motion.
how long: To build strength with these, you’ll want to aim for a gradual increase in load as you increase the reps or sets you perform each session. For example, in one week you can do 3 sets of 6-8, then the next week, aim for 3 sets of 8-10. Either way, your workload increases so your body is working harder and will need to adapt to get stronger.
5. Describe the loop
This is another great move that can easily be adapted to make it challenging for people of all abilities. “It’s incredibly understated and is a great way to build back line and back strength as well,” Campbell shares. do note: You’ll need rings for this, so it’s best to perform them at the gym or at Crossfit bos.
How do: With your feet flat on the floor, either full feet for extra support or just heels to make it more difficult, start with your arms fully open and shoulder width apart by pulling your shoulder blades back and down. Pull the rings to touch your chest and lower back to the starting position in a controlled manner. To make it more difficult, keep your body more horizontal or prop your feet up on a box or bench.
how long: Like push-ups, you want to build up your reps week after week as you push yourself a little more each session. Aim for 3 sets of 6 to 8 and progress from there. Try adding a pause at the top or a cadence on the way down to get the best out of your efforts.
6. Pull up
The pull-up is another very simple yet effective bodyweight move – it’s one of the purest and most simple forms of strength and is motivating more women to get stronger in the task of getting a pull-up. Again, unless you have a strong enough bar at home, try this set at the gym as well.
How do: Start with your arms fully extended hanging from a bar and begin the movement by squeezing your shoulder blades together to avoid overusing the traps. Pull up until your chin is higher than the bar, squeezing your legs together throughout the exercise. Lower yourself in a controlled fashion to the starting position.
how long: If you can do one rep or less, practice negative pull-ups so you can eventually do more. “This means that you jump to the top of the pull-up position and control the descent,” explains the expert.
If you can perform at least two reps, she advises gradually adding reps or sets each session.
7. Wall walks
Wall walking is a simple movement but at the same time very deceptive and humbling, Campbell shares. It’s a great way to build shoulder strength in a slightly different way, plus it’s a little more fun than the other moves, you guessed it.
How do: Start with your body face down on the floor, your hands by your shoulders, and your feet touching the wall. Push back into a downward dog position before placing your feet on the wall and then simultaneously move your hands and feet up the wall until your hands are two inches away from the wall and body in one line. Lower yourself back to your starting position in a controlled manner. To extend it, perform with your feet on a box or bench and stop when your hands are under your hips.
how long: To build your capacity, add more reps or sets each time you perform it. Start by getting into 3 sets of 6 to 8.
8. Sit ups
Roserate rates rise to boost your core strength. First tip: Fold a towel and place it under your lower back for support and full range of motion.
How do: Start by lying on your back with your feet flat on the floor and your knees bent. With your hands at the sides of your body, brace your core and lift your upper body off the floor, squatting towards your knees until you are upright. Then, bracing your core again and being careful not to strain your neck, lower yourself back down toward the floor. repeats.
how long: Aim for 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps.
9. Plank
You’ll all hear about the plank, but for good reason—according to the trainer, it’s a great move for core stability that will carry over into other moves, like squats and deadlifts, as well as improve your posture.
How do: Start with your elbows, forearms, and toes on the floor so you keep your body in a straight line. Keeping your core tight, spine neutral and your shoulders back, hold this position, remembering to breathe.
how long: Aim for 3 sets of 45 to 60 seconds.
10. Burpee
Last but not least, another bodyweight move you’ve heard of is the burpee—a high-intensity interval training move that will raise your heart rate and boost your cardio.
How do: Start standing with your feet under your hips and your arms by your side. Lower yourself into a standard squat position, place both hands on the floor and jump your legs back into a plank position. Brace your core, bring yourself back to the starting position and repeat.
how long: Aim for 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps.
What happens if you only do bodyweight exercises?
As Campbell explains, it’s a good idea to incorporate bodyweight exercises — such as aerobic squats or lunges — into light or active recovery sessions. Many athletes share them in their training programs and studies have shown that they can greatly benefit your training.
She continues, “Done at the correct intensity for each individual, it will enhance blood flow to the muscles which helps speed up recovery without putting them under too much stress with the weight.”
In addition, the time that the muscle is under tension can be easily manipulated in these exercises through modifications in the rhythm of movement, or by adding pauses.
In short, body weight exercises are a great way for beginners to build muscle and strength.