Some might think bodyweight exercises are not worthwhile, however, bodyweight training can build muscle, improve mobility, and be done from virtually anywhere.
Unlike gym machines or free weights (which usually only target one or two muscle groups at once and take time to use), with bodyweight exercises you can transition from one move to the other extremely quickly, so you are building strength while incorporating cardio.
Bodyweight exercises are suitable for any fitness level and any age. All you need to do to increase or decrease intensity is to modify the rep scheme or timeframe!
Please find below seven of the best bodyweight exercises which you may have probably heard of before. These moves have survived the test of time and will help you achieve total body strength and mobility.
Push Ups
This is one of the most basic and effective moves for improving upper body strength. The move is simple to do. Start in a high plank position with your shoulders directly over wrists, glutes tight and feet just wider than shoulder-width apart. Lower body to the floor, keeping a straight line from your shoulders to toes. Lift hands off the floor by pinching the shoulder blades together. Press palms back on the floor and push your body back into a high plank position working the chest, triceps, and shoulders in the process. Your core will also benefit, too, as the push-up is essentially a moving plank that forces your entire body to stabilise.
Squats
With the squat you will improve mobility as the squat has your body move through multiple planes of motion to complete the exercise. Meaning you will gain more leg muscle as the squat targets your glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves, and hip flexors.
Again a simple but effective move. Stand tall with feet about shoulder-width apart. Bend at the knees and squat down, driving the hips back simultaneously. Keep squatting until the bottom of your thighs are at least parallel to the floor or lower, if comfortable. Drive through the heels to stand back up.
Pull ups
This is the ultimate test of upper-body muscular strength and one of the very few bodyweight moves that works your back (lats, rhomboids, and traps) and biceps.
Hang from a pull-up bar with your palms facing towards you, set about shoulder-width apart. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and pull up until your chin is at or above the bar. If you can’t do a chin-up yet, try jumping up to get into the top position, hold yourself in that position for 10 seconds. Do this a few times, aiming to increase the time of your hold.
Squat thrusts
This multi-faceted move works everything from your shoulders to your core to your glutes and calves. Plus, it gets your heart rate pumping!
Simply start in a high plank position with your shoulders directly over wrists, glutes tight and feet together. Jump your feet inside of your hands which stayed glued to the floor. Jump your feet back into a high plank position.
Glute Bridge
This exercise is a popular choice among trainers to target the glutes while eliminating the potential for back and knee pain. You can also load the glute bridge to increase your glute strength for use accessories, or perform sets of them unweighted as a warm-up.
Lie on the floor, with your heels planted firmly on the ground. Contract the core and pull the belly button and ribs into the body. Drive through your heels to lift your hips and lower back off the floor. Contract the glutes and hamstrings. Note that if pressure is felt in the lower back, tuck your pelvis into your body to decrease lumbar extension (minimize lower back arch). If you are unsure, please consult a physical trainer.
Sit ups
Introducing sit ups to your workouts is one way to help boost your core strength. It can also help improve your digestion, as the motion strengthens the abdominal muscles which allow the intestines to function correctly. One of the many reasons sit ups are ever-popular is that they're easy to modify (e.g. doing them on an incline or while holding weights) so you can continue to challenge yourself as your core strength improves. For a V Sit up, start on your back in a hollow body position, with your head, shoulders and feet hovering off of the ground. Think of the curved shape of a banana—that's how your body should look. Compress the core to bring the upper- and lower- body together in an upside down pike position. Balance on your glutes and reach hands to touch (or get close to) your toes. Slowly lower back to a hollow body position.
Bear Crawl
The of the best things of the bear crawl is the development of mobility from continually mobilising the shoulder, hips, knees, ankles, and wrists joints.
The move is simple, get on all fours, with your hands underneath your shoulders and your knees directly underneath your hips. Now, raise the knees an inch off of the ground. Keeping your back straight, simultaneously move your right hand and left foot forward a few inches. Then, repeat on the other side. Keep repeating to crawl forward. You can also actively squeeze your muscles and hold in this position to perform a bear plank.
Should you be interested in using workout accessories for your bodyweight training, please search the ab buddy store for more information.
Now that you have the basic's, start by finding how many reps you can complete for each bodyweight exercise before your form breaks. Then, start by performing three sets of that move for five reps short of your max. Each week, or workout session, add one to two reps to each set. Once you reach your max reps for all three sets, drop the rep count back to your starting number and add a set.
Good luck!
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