Bodyweight Exercises

When most people think about building strength or gaining muscle, they usually think about weight training in a gym.

This can be very intimidating for first timers and also expensive once you factor in memberships and personal training to ensure you’re using the correct technique to prevent unnecessary injuries.

Building muscle in the gym often involves using cable machines and free weights such as barbells and dumbbells to perform heavy lifting exercises that concentrate on a specific muscle group.

Sometimes push ups or sit ups are included, but generally only to warm up for more heavy lifting. Whilst lifting in the gym is a great way to build strength, it’s of course not the only way so today we’re discussing some alternative ways to tone up, build strength, balance and muscle stability using nothing but your own bodyweight!

Benefits of Bodyweight Training

There are many benefits of bodyweight training, the first being that you can do the exercises anytime you want without the need for equipment, except for maybe a park bench or a bar to do pull-ups on (monkey bars anyone?!). Because bodyweight exercises don’t require weights, they are perfect if you’re looking to kick start your fitness routine without equipment or expense.

Functional Fitness

In contrast to gym lifting, which mainly focuses on specific muscle groups, bodyweight exercises develop strength across a large range of motions, working the muscles from different angles to build stability that protects your joints.

When you adjust your bodyweight positioning to effect the intensity of your workouts, you learn how to make use of your whole body in many different movements to make your workouts harder or easier.

Flexibility Strength & Balance

Compared to heavy lifting, bodyweight exercises often require much more flexibility and balance to perform. Many bodyweight exercises can be adjusted to meet your personal abilities. This allows people of all ages and abilities to get involved.

Bodyweight exercises can also be used to effectively strengthen your core muscles by performing certain exercises on an uneven surface that requires you to balance your body while completing the exercise.

How Bodyweight Training Builds Strength

Strength isn’t just about how much weight you can push in one direction or how big your muscles are. It is a combination of muscle tension and stabilisation to focus force that generates strength in any given movement.  This is often left unattended in traditional weight training.

By using a range of strength and balance positions, bodyweight training gets your muscles working by forcing them to learn how to create more strength in order to move your bodyweight where you want it to go!

In weight training, you increase the weight over time and wait for your muscles to adapt to build strength, in bodyweight training your muscles still rely on increasing load to develop strength, but this is done by decreasing the angles and leverage used by the muscle group that is working.

An example of this is widening or narrowing of your arm positions during push up exercises, keeping your core stable while moving your extremities or holding legs at a difficult angle whilst doing leg raises.

20 Body Bodyweight Exercises to Try

Now that you’re familiar with the benefits that bodyweight training provides, we’ve listed some common exercises below. Please remember to consult your regular health care professional prior to undertaking any new training regimes to ensure your body is up to the challenge.

1. Inchworms

Standing tall with your legs straight, bend over and touch your toes. Keeping your legs straight but not locked, place your weight on your arms and walk your hands forward. Once you’re in the push up position, take tiny steps until your feet meet your hands.

2. Bear Crawls

Once you try this one, the reason for its name becomes pretty obvious. Starting on your hands and knees rise up onto your toes and tense your core. Slowly “walk” forward with your right arm and right knee, followed by the left side. It feels weird but you’ll eventually get the hang of it.

3. Mountain Climbers

Starting on your hands and knees, bring your left foot forward under your chest while straightening your right leg. Keep your hands on the ground and core tight. Keeping your weight on your arms and your hands on the ground, jump and switch your feet in the air. Your left leg should now be extended behind you with your right knee forward. An alternative version is to try and touch your knee on your elbow as your leg comes to the forward position.

4. Push Ups

With hands shoulder width apart, keep your feet hip distance apart behind you. Tighten your core and bend your elbows until your nose gets close to touching the ground, then push back up. Keep your head facing forward as if you’re watching a friend complete a push up in front of you – your head position should be as it is when you are standing, eyes looking at a point between your hands.

5. Plyometric Push-Ups

Starting on a soft surface, complete a traditional push-up. Then, push and explode up hard enough that your hands and feet come off the floor. Remember to catch your body softly on the way down and explode up again.

6. T-Bar Push-Up

If you’re looking to take your push ups to the next level, after returning to the a starting push-up position, rotate your body backwards lifting one hand to point to the sky, forming a T with your arms and body. Return to the starting position, do a normal push-up, then rotate the other side.

7. Burpees

Burpees are without doubt one of the most effective exercises around, working your entire body. Starting in a standing position, squat to a low position and place your hands on the ground beside your feet. Next, kick your feet back to a push-up position, perform one push-up, and then bring your feet both together with a jump the squat position, keeping your hands on the ground. Next, jump up and raise your arms in the air before landing into a squat and repeating. To make this exercise easier, kick your feet back into push up position without going down for the push up.

8. The Plank / Hover

You’re probably already familiar with this one. Lie face down with your forearms on the ground. Extend your legs behind you and rise up on your toes. Keeping your back straight, tighten your core and hold the position for as long as you can. Think about keeping your body in a long plank like position, pulling your bellybutton to the sky.

9. Plank to Push Up

Starting in a plank position (as above), place one hand on the ground at a time and push with your back straight and your core engaged up into a push up position. Then move one arm at a time back into the plank position and repeat, changing the arm that makes the first move each time.

10. Side Plank

Get into a regular plank position as described in exercise eight above. From here, roll to one side and hold your weight on one foot and elbow, making sure your hips are lifted and the core is engaged. Hold as long as your can or 30-60s on each side. Repeat if you feel up to it. For an extra burn try holding your top leg in the air at a 45 degree angle.

Side Plank

 

 

Advanced side plank

11. Wall Sit

Lean against a wall and slide your back down until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Make sure your knees are directly above your ankles and keep your back straight. Hold this position for as long as you can, you should feel a good burn!

12. Lunges

Starting in a standing position, step forward and lower your upper body until your back knee is close to touching the ground and bent to 90 degrees. Ensure that your front foot is far enough away that your front knee doesn’t lunge further forward than your toes .Return to the starting position and repeat with your other leg. Try for 10 on each leg to get started.

Lunges

13. Lunge Jumps

Just like the regular lunges above, perform a lunge. Whilst in the lunge position, spring up and switch legs, landing into the next lunge position. This one can be tricky so keep your arms out wide for balance and see how many you can do!

14. Bodyweight Squats

Standing with your feet parallel just wider than shoulder width about or with toes slightly facing outwards, crouch down into a squat position where your thighs are parallel to the floor, keeping your heels on the ground and your back straight with your head up facing forward. Push back up to standing position and repeat.

15. Donkey Kicks

Starting in a push up position, with your legs together. Tighten your core and kick your legs into the air with knees bent, pulling your feet back toward your backside and landing softly. Repeat without pausing.

16. Superman

Laying on your stomach with arms and legs extended in front and behind you, keep your torso as still as possible. Raise both your arms and both your legs in the air and hold with all four off the ground. Lower back down and repeat.

Superman

17. Dips

For this exercise you’ll need a chair, a log or a park bench. Sit on the bench with your hands on the edge of the bench by your hips. Extend your legs out with your feet on the ground in front of you and move your buttocks forward off the bench holding the weight on your arms. Lower your weight to toward the ground until your arms are at a 90-degree angle, keeping elbows tucked in and then straighten your arms, lifting your body up, but not back onto the chair. Keep your head up and shoulders back! Repeat as many times as you can.

18. Arm Circles

This one is great for a warm up, but also as a strength exercise when performed for a longer period of time. Standing with your arms extended at 90 degrees to your body, make small circles forward, slowly increasing the size of the circle and then reversing the motion and bringing the circles back in.

19. Ride The Bike

Laying down on your back with knees bent and hands behind your head. Move your knees toward your chest and bring your right elbow towards your left knee as the right leg straightens. Continue alternating sides in a pedalling motion for as long as you can.

20. Knee Touch Crunches

While these may look easy, with correct technique crunches can boost your core strength incredibly. Laying on your back, bend your knees while keeping your feet flat on the ground. With your hands flat on your thighs, place your chin down slightly and engage your core. Lift your shoulders off the ground and slowly and without an initial jerk to gain momentum, slide your hands up your thighs until your fingertips slide over your knees. Hold for a second and return slowly back to starting position, keeping your hands on your legs.

By performing a variety of bodyweight exercises regularly, not only will you build strength, but endurance, flexibility and balance, keeping your body limber for many years to come. The best part, is you can scale these exercises to your abilities so no matter what your age, get outside and give these exercises a try!

References:

The art of bodyweight training
50 bodyweight exercises you can do anywhere