No need to leave your home to get your heart rate up. Use your own bodyweight to exercise without equipment!
Although fancy gym gear may help inspire your fitness routine, it certainly isn’t needed to get a great workout done. All you really need for a quality workout is your body and a little bit of space.
In fact, bodyweight training has just as many benefits as working out with equipment – and maybe even more.
The main benefits of bodyweight training include:
- Better body control and spacial awareness
- Helps maintain cognitive function
- Improves lean muscle mass
- Burns fat
- Strengthens bones and joints
- Creates “functional” strength that aids in normal daily activities
- No equipment necessary – most moves can even be done without sneakers!
- It’s free and customizable for everyone
If you haven’t done bodyweight training before, then you’re in for a treat. You’ll notice some of these advantages immediately, and reap even more benefits as you start incorporating this kind of training regularly.
By performing bodyweight exercises in circuit format, you also get the benefit of a cardio workout and additional strength in one.
This simple, no-equipment, beginners level circuit workout will take you only about 10 minutes to complete, depending on the length of your rest periods and speed of your reps. You can also increase the challenge by adding more reps, moving faster, and/or taking shorter rest periods.
I recommend including this quick bodyweight training 2-5x per week. Limit your workouts to every other day, and allow your body to rest for a day to gain the most benefit out of your efforts.
No-Equipment Circuit Workout
Complete one set of the given reps for each of the five exercises as a circuit, taking no more than 20-30 seconds rest between exercises. Repeat the circuit three times for a complete bodyweight workout.
Squats | 10 reps
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Keeping your weight in your heels and your knees pointed straight over your toes, inhale as you lower back and down as if you’re sitting in a chair.
- Make sure your spine stays straight as you reach your arms out in front of you.
- Exhale and flex your butt and legs as you stand up and thrust your hips forward.
- Complete 10 reps.
Push-Ups | 5 reps
- Start in a plank position with your hands directly under your shoulders and your body in a straight line.
- Inhale as you bend your elbows to lower your chest towards the ground.
- Keep your chin up and your gaze straight ahead.
- Once your elbows are at a 90-degree bend, exhale to flex press your palms into the floor to rise back to plank position.
- Complete five reps.
Reverse Lunges | 5 reps per side
- Stand tall with your feet about shoulder-width apart and hands on your hips
- Inhale as you take a big step back with your right leg and lower down until your left knee forms a 90-degree angle.
- Exhale to push into your back foot to rise back up to standing.
- Alternate sides, completing five reps per side.
Mountain Climbers | 5 reps per side
- Start in a plank position with your hands lined up directly below your shoulders.
- Raise one knee up towards your forearms while maintaining that straight plank.
- Switch sides quickly and lift the other knee.
- Continue switching sides quickly as if you are jogging in place, completing at least five knee lifts per side.
Plank Walk-Outs | 7 reps
- Start in a squat position and place your palms on the floor.
- Inhale, and walk your feet back all the way into a plank position.
- Form a strong plank, then exhale to start walking your legs back up to your hands, bending your knees at 90-degree angles and keeping your hips low.
- Keep your hands pressed into the floor throughout the movement.
- Complete seven reps.
If you still enjoy going to the gym, you can also do these bodyweight exercises mixed in with weighted exercises. The true benefit of bodyweight workouts is their versatility!
(Your Next Workout: 10 Bodyweight Exercises You’re Doing Wrong & How to Correct Them)
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