When you don’t have time to get to the gym or you don’t have the budget for the currently trending equipment it is important that you know that you can get a complete workout using just your body weight. A bodyweight exercise regimen will allow you to become strong and healthy using your own bodyweight and strength as a foundation for transforming your physical fitness.
The key to a solid workout using only your own body weight is to start with foundational moves and then modify using your strengths and skills while maintaining good form and technique for optimal results.
Table of Contents
Burning Body Fat with Bodyweight Workouts
Are Bodyweight Exercises Good for Weight Loss?
Yes! Bodyweight exercises are a solid choice for weight loss because they tone muscles, build strength, and burn calories, provided that you are doing the right exercises. Some of the best choices for this purpose will include burpees, dips, pull ups, tuck jumps, lunges, push ups, squats, mountain climbers, step ups, stair climbs, lunge jumps, and wall sits. These exercises all offer all-over body benefits as well as cardio benefits which make them a solid choice for weight loss.
How Fast Can You Lose Weight with Bodyweight Exercises?
How quickly you lose weight using bodyweight exercises ultimately depends on your workout regimen, how often you work out, and whether or not you stick to it. Although there is no magic number, you can expect to begin losing weight using bodyweight exercises within two to four weeks with good nutrition. What ultimately matters is that because you are losing weight through muscle sculpting and healthy progress, your weight loss will more likely be the healthy, lasting type of weight loss.
How Many Calories Do You Burn Doing Bodyweight Exercises?
A study published in 2014 established that doing pull ups burns nearly 10 calories per minute. Burpees, similarly, can burn as many as 10 calories a minute and give a similar full body workout. You can expect to burn between five and 10 calories per minute doing bodyweight exercises depending on which move you are doing. What makes High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and other forms of training using your body weight such a profoundly impactful option is that you can burn a high number of calories in a short amount of time with no equipment if you employ the right moves in the right quantities on a regular basis, keeping intensity and consistency in mind.
Which Exercise Burns The Most Calories?
Bodyweight exercises that engage more muscle groups and require greater intensity will burn more calories in a shorter amount of time, so opt for moves such as pull ups, push ups, burpees and lunges when you are looking to torch quick calories. For example, a crunch is estimated to burn only three calories per minute according to the study, however burpees burn around 10 calories per minute when you perform them non-stop.
What Bodyweight Exercise Burns The Most Belly Fat?
To burn belly fat you will need to focus on a bodyweight workout that targets the muscles of your belly. However, it is important that you do not only focus on your abdominal muscles if you want to experience healthy weight loss, because all your muscles need to benefit from your workout. During your workout, make sure that you are engaging your core during each exercise, and take seriously exercises like burpees, crunches, plank exercises, bicycles, jackknifes, mountain climbers, dips, and pull ups. As you work through these exercises you will feel how you must engage your core, and that is the first step to burning fat in your stomach.
How Many Calories Does 30 Push Ups Burn?
According to the study cited above, which was performed by Arizona State University, consistent push ups can burn around nine calories per minute. How many calories you burn doing 30 push ups will depend on how quickly you can complete 30 push ups, and you will want to make sure that you have proper form when doing them. You can also choose different modifications to intensify the calorie burn, such as inverted push ups where your feet are raised higher than your head, and diamond push ups, where your hands are closer together for a deeper intensity.
How Many Calories Does 50 Squats Burn?
The number of calories you will burn doing squats will be dependent on your weight and how intensely you’re working out. If you complete 50 squats very quickly, versus much more slowly and deliberately, you will burn more calories. Maintaining proper form is also essential. To determine how many calories you will burn by doing squats, most nutritionists will suggest you take your body weight in pounds and multiply it by 0.096 to get calories per minute. In other words, someone who weighs 160lbs would burn approximately 15.36 calories per minute. If you know approximately how many squats you can complete in a minute, while maintaining form, you can then do the math to determine how many calories you burn in 50 squats.
How Many Calories Do You Burn Doing 100 Jumping Jacks?
According to HealthStatus, if you weigh around 150lbs, you can burn up to 153 calories by doing 100 jumping jacks, however again this depends on the intensity of the workout and the duration of the workout. The calories burned will increase with the weight of the participant, the intensity of the workout, as well as the duration of the workout, though the number of jumping jacks does matter. It is also important to maintain good form here, as noted above.
How Many Sit Ups Burn 100 Calories?
As noted with the bodyweight exercises above, the answer to this question is going to depend on a number of factors including your body weight and the intensity at which you are working out. If you complete the sit ups very quickly you are likely to burn more calories than if you were completing them more slowly and deliberately. Good form is important. According to studies, crunches burn about three calories per minute. If you are working at a good intensity and sitting up with proper form, you might burn up to 10 calories with every 10 sit ups due to the additional strain required. So you could expect to burn approximately 100 calories in 100 sit ups with proper form and intensity.
How Many Calories Do Planks Burn?
Holding a plank position is not going to burn as many calories as some of the higher intensity bodyweight activities, however it is vitally important that you engage in this activity because of the impact it has on your overall strength and fitness. Because you engage so many muscles holding the plank position, it has a long-term impact on calorie burning even if it only burns about three calories per minute for a 150lb person.
How Many Calories Does 100 Burpees Burn?
Burpees are a high impact bodyweight exercise, working most of your big muscle groups all at once. This includes your core muscles, shoulders, hips, and knees. You can expect to burn between 88 and 154 calories in only 10 or 11 minutes by completing 100 burpees, making this an important addition to any bodyweight exercise regimen. Make sure that you are landing softly on your knees so that you get all the benefits of this high-intensity workout without overdoing it.
How Many Calories Does 50 Crunches Burn?
Crunches do not burn as many calories as sit ups, but they still burn about a decent number of calories. The reason why crunching feels so intensive without burning a ton of calories is because you are only concentrating the work on a small grouping of muscles: your abdominals. The bad news is that you may only burn between three and five calories per minute, which for 50 crunches at a decent intensity, is probably only up to 10 calories. The good news is that the benefit to your core will last for longer than those couple of minutes.
How Many Jumping Jacks Burn 3500 Calories?
You’re not going to like this answer: To burn 3,500 calories, it’s likely you’re going to have to do around 23,000 jumping jacks. This is based on the calculation that a 150lb person would burn around 550 calories doing jumping jacks vigorously for one hour, 1 per second. This means one jumping jack is burns around 0.15 calories for an average person.
Building Muscle Mass with Bodyweight Exercises
Can You Build Muscle Mass with Bodyweight Exercises?
You can! The key to building muscle mass using bodyweight exercises is to continually challenge yourself by implementing exercises that increase in difficulty much in the same way that you would increase reps and weight if you were in the gym. By demanding greater levels of resistance and tension in your workout, you will improve your strength gains. Most bodyweight exercises have modifications that make them more difficult, allowing you to build muscle mass.
Do You Need to Lift Heavy Weights to Build Muscle?
Lifting heavy weights is just one way to build muscle, but it is not the only way to build muscle. Your body is a heavy weight too, and so if you learn how to harness your own body in your workout you can build strength and gain muscle without ever lifting a weight.
How Fast Can You Build Muscle with Bodyweight Exercises?
Bodyweight exercises don’t promise the “massive gains” that strength training using weights promise, but they will help you build muscle steadily if you stick to your workout, and work all the major muscle groups in the right ways. This is because bodyweight workouts increase difficulty by increasing reps and difficulty without increasing load, improving your muscle endurance and strength but not necessarily size.
Increasing Stamina and Strength with Bodyweight Exercises
How Do You Build Stamina with Bodyweight Exercises?
The best way to build stamina using bodyweight exercises is by performing higher repetitions of easier bodyweight exercises using shorter rest periods, which is what causes the heat sensation in your muscles when you train. Building up your lactic acid tolerance, your ability to handle this sensation, comes with endurance training.
How Do You Build Strength with Bodyweight Exercises?
Men’s Health says the key to building strength with bodyweight exercises is speed of movement, descending slowly into the movement slowly, pausing, then exploding quickly into the movement as quickly as possible. Press ups, chin ups, jump squats, dynamic lunges, push ups, and similar exercises can go a long way in building strength quickly and effectively in this manner.
How to Build A Bodyweight Workout
How Many Sets and Reps Should I Do to Lose Weight?
There is no single clear-cut answer here. The answer lies in increasing the sets and reps that you are doing over time so that you are challenging yourself consistently. As you increase the number of repetitions you complete with each set, and the number of sets you do, you are going to notice improvements in weight loss. Choose a number that feels comfortable for you when you start out for each exercise, then gradually increase sets and reps for weight loss success.
Can Pushups Help You Lose Belly Fat?
Believing that you can target belly fat is essentially a myth, because while exercising can help you to burn calories and lose fat, it’s difficult to target fat cells in any specific area. The American Council on Exercise says that strength exercises recruiting the abs will not have any impact on fat loss, however because they will improve your overall strength and wellbeing, they will have a positive impact overall.
Do Push Ups Get Rid of Man Breasts?
Push ups are often recommended for whittling away “man breasts” because they involve so many muscles in the upper chest, requiring that you support all your body weight. If you want to have the best impact on this area, try utilizing different types of push ups such as inverted push ups, diamond push ups, and wide-arm push ups.
How Many Sets and Reps Should I Do to Build Muscle Volume?
If you are training for muscle size, hypertrophy, then you should be aiming to get to the point of muscle failure in your workouts, which means working out until you cannot continue. You should be, for example, holding plank until you cannot continue to do so. Another example would be to continue doing sit ups or push ups until you cannot continue, then rest, then repeat. By continuing until muscle failure you’re stimulating growth in your muscles.
Can You Build Muscle with High Reps?
This is the way you will want to build muscle with bodyweight exercises. Although this would not be the ideal way to build muscle with traditional weight training, because you are using your bodyweight as your resistance, you need to gradually increase the challenge level and raise the level of reps and sets so you are stimulating growth in the muscles you are activating with each exercise.
How to Increase Bicep Size with Bodyweight Workouts?
The best bodyweight exercises for increasing bicep size include chin ups, isometric chin ups, negative chin ups, commando chin ups, doorway curls, and towel bicep curls. Chin ups play an important role in increasing bicep size especially when you consider how much bodyweight you’re working with while doing different types of curls.
How Many Bicep Exercises Should Be Done Per Workout?
A good starting point is to do between 6-12 reps per set, and then continue to do sets until you feel like you are close to failure or at failure for that muscle group, in order to truly benefit from the bodyweight workout. This is especially important if you want to grow the size of your biceps. You can also increase the number of reps per set.
Are Push Ups Good for Building Your Chest?
Push ups are a great exercise for the chest because they work so many muscles in the chest, shoulders and back at the same time. You can improve the quality of your workout by experimenting with different types of push ups, especially as traditional push ups become easier.
How Many Sets and Reps Should I Do to Increase Stamina?
When you’re looking to increase stamina your focus should be higher repetitions with brief rests in between and moderate to high volume sets. For example, you might aim for 15 or more repetitions, a rest of 30-60 seconds, then repeat for between 5-10 sets.
How Many Sets and Reps Should I Do to Increase Strength?
When you’re looking to increase strength your focus should be lower to moderate repetitions with longer rest periods and a smaller number of sets. For example, you might aim for between 3-5 per set, then a period of two minutes of rest, and then repeat for 3-4 sets.
How Long Should You Wait In Between Sets? Does the Wait Period Vary for Different Goals (E.G. Losing Weight Versus Building Muscle Volume)?
The rest period does vary depending on whether you are looking to lose weight or build muscle volume as well as whether you are looking to build strength or endurance. Your body is consuming energy stores and burning oxygen as you exercise, and it needs to replenish these things during your rest periods. How long you rest between sets impacts your ability in the next set.
How Many Sets Should You Do for Each Muscle Group?
If you are training each muscle group twice weekly, then a solid goal is to begin around 5-12 repetitions per set, and 6 sets per workout. This way, you’re doing around 30-60 reps for each muscle group for each workout.
How Many Chest Exercises Should You Do?
From a general standpoint a good place to start is 20-25 sets of chest exercises. Vary the different exercises that you choose. You could choose to do anywhere between 3-5 sets of each exercise depending on which you choose, and then vary the number of reps depending on how challenging each exercise is for you. You may be able to do more traditional pushups and fewer inverted pushups, for example.
How Many Times A Week Should I Do Abs?
To make sure you are getting results while preventing overtraining you should focus on hitting your abdominal muscles between two and three times a week. Training your core muscles is essential but you can overdo it if you work them too often or too hard.
How Many Pushups Should I Do A Day to Get Ripped?
You will find different recommendations depending on where you look, and you should balance different bodyweight exercises rather than focusing solely on pushups, but since pushups are a foundational exercise, they are well worth including in your workout plan. According to most military workout sources, a good number to aim for is 200 pushups a day, throughout the course of the day, but you have to be willing to take days off when you feel like you need a break to keep from burning out.
How Many Pushups Can the Average Man Do?
A great way to determine your physical fitness is to see how many pushups you can do to failure, which means until you can no longer maintain proper form. You should aim to maintain proper push up form, which means you should be straight from shoulders to heels, lowering your chest down to the ground at the same level with each push up. Average number of successful push ups is 19-34 for teens, 17-29 for men in their 20s, 13-24 for 30s, 11-20 for men in their 40s, 9-17 for men in their 50s, and 6-16 for men in their 50s. More than this is considered above average, and fewer than this is considered below average.
How Many Sit Ups Can the Average Man Do?
The sit up test is designed to measure strength and endurance not only in your abdominals, but also your hip-flexor muscles. Some people test how many sit ups they can do until failure, or rather until they can no longer maintain good form. Others test how many they can do maintaining good form in one minute. The average number of sit ups in a minute should be 38-40 for men in their teens, 34-36 for men in their 20s, 28-30 for men in their 30s, 24-25 for men in their 40s, 19-21 for men in their 50s, and 17-19 for men in their 60s. Fewer than this is considered below average, and more than these ranges is considered above average.
How Many Times A Week Should You Train Each Muscle Group?
One of the biggest benefits of bodyweight exercises is that because you are using your own bodyweight rather than consistently increasing the amount of weight you are working with, you can train the same muscle groups more regularly without putting as much strain on your body. Although you would notice the same worn out muscles and need for rest and repair as you would with traditional workout plans, you may still feel the need to alternate your muscle groups if you notice a strain on your joints. There is no hard and fast rule on how often or infrequently you should train each muscle group, however, because it ultimately comes down to what your body can take.
Is It OK to Do Bodyweight Workouts Every Day?
The trick to doing bodyweight exercises is knowing when your muscles need rest, and this includes both your large and small muscle groups. You can train the same muscle groups nearly every day or in a high frequency routine without issue because you are generally lifting the same weight every day. Rest is necessary in workouts that require you to increase the weight you’re working with on a regular basis, but since you are the weight, and you will not be dramatically increasing the difficulty of your workout, there is no reason why you cannot train more regularly using your own body as the foundation for your workout.
Further Reading
- “Overcoming Gravity: A Systematic Approach to Gymnastics and Bodyweight Strength” — Steven Low
- “You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises” — Mark Lauren
- “Bodyweight Strength Training: 12 Weeks to Build Muscle and Burn Fat” — Jay Cardiello
35 Bodyweight Workouts to Burn Fat and Build Muscle
In our busy lives, it can be difficult to find the time to get to the gym and working out is not always easy or even intuitive, however it is still an essential part of our daily routines that we cannot avoid. Skip the time and money commitment required of a gym and learn to use your own body to build muscle and burn fat in the healthy, natural way. There is a myriad of bodyweight exercises that you can employ to build a healthy, strong body, and the greatest benefit is that you can do them just about anywhere in only a few minutes at a time, meaning that there is little reason not to start today.
Ab Exercises
1. Prone Walkout
Begin on all fours with your core engaged, then slowly walk your hands forward, remaining on your toes but keeping them in place. Gradually walk your hands backward to where you began, maintaining your stability and balance.
2. Burpees
Although they are often dreaded, the burpee is one of the most effective core and full-body exercises known to man, making it an essential part of your bodyweight workout. You should begin in a low squat position with your hands planted on the floor, then kick your feet back so you are in a push-up position. Complete a full push-up, then immediately jump your feet back up and rise into a squat position. Leap up as high as you can, then squat back down to complete the burpee.
3. Standing Oblique Crunches
Begin by standing with your feet about hip-width apart, and place your hands behind your head, elbows out. Lift one knee up toward your elbow, bending your torso up and over. You should be aiming to connect your elbow with your knee or get as close as you can. Repeat the process with the opposite knee and elbow.
4. Plank
Although this appears to be a simple move, its difficulty compounds on itself with simple time, and the health benefits are also tremendous. Begin lying face down with your forearms down on the floor with your hands clasped together. Extend your legs behind your body and rise up on your toes as you would in a push up position but hold your forearms and hands in the starting position. With your back straight, tighten your core and hold your position for between 30 and 60 seconds or as long as you can hold it. As you progress in your ability you will find that the health benefits increase as well.
5. Push-Up Plank
Beginning in the plank position described above, place each of your hands down one at a time so that you are lifting yourself into a standard push-up position. Take care to keep your back straight and to keep your core engaged. Now carefully move each of your arms back into the standard plank position with your forearms on the ground, clasping your hands together. Repeat this process while alternating which arm makes the first move.
6. Down Dog Tap
The position you begin in for this move is called Downward Dog, which is to say that you should begin with your feet shoulder with apart, then bent forward so that your hands are touching the floor as far forward as you can go while maintaining flat feet on the floor and a straight back and engaged core. Now lift your right hand from the floor and reach back toward your left ankle, then gently tap either your foot or your ankle, depending on where you are comfortable. Return your right hand to its original position. Repeat with the opposite hand. Maintain downward dog throughout this exercise.
7. Mountain Climber
For this move you will want to begin in a high plank position, your arms straight and hands flat on the floor. Draw your right knee up underneath your torso with your toes up off the ground. Bring your knee up as far as you can for a good stretch. Return to the starting position. Repeat with the opposite side. Continue at a good pace, as if you were running in place.
Chest Exercises
8. Traditional Push Up
This one is a no brainer! If you want to build a strong chest and core, you need to add push ups to your bodyweight workout regimen. Begin on the floor in a traditional push-up position with your hands shoulder-width apart, and keep your abs braced and your body in a completely straight line as you lower yourself down, squeezing your shoulder blades together.
9. Star Plank
This is another outstanding position if you want to build a strong chest, and it begins in the same position as the push up above. From the push up position, simply move your feet and arms apart as wide as you can, until your body resembles an X or a star shape. With your abs braced and your torso as straight as you can manage, hold this position for as long as you reasonably can.
10. Plank Reach-Under
Begin in a high plank position, but with your arms placed straight beneath your shoulders. Maintain yourself in a proper plank position with a strong core while reaching back with one hand to touch the opposite knee, left arm to right knee, or right to left. Alternate sides.
11. Dive-Bomber Pushup
Begin in the traditional push up position, then drive your hands down into the floor so that with a straight back your hips rise into the air with feet flat on the ground. Now lower your body in an arc so that your chest swoops down along the floor without touching it, mimicking “Upward Dog” until your torso is vertical and your weight is on your toes with straight legs. Return to the original position to complete one repetition.
12. Chaturanga
Begin in a high plank position, then lower your elbows until they are shoulder height and pressed against the sides of your body. It is essential that the chest, upper arms, shoulders, and elbows all be in alignment. Hold this position, then push back into plank position. Chaturanga is a yoga move that builds core stability by anchoring the body from the torso.
13. One-Legged Push Up
From a traditional push up position, lift one of your feet off the ground by a few inches while maintaining straight legs. Maintain chest stability and keep your hips square to the ground, then bend your elbows to complete a push up. Try to complete up to ten repetitions before switching legs.
14. 90/90
Although this just feels like a stretch it will have a profound impact on your chest. Begin by lying on the ground on one side while tucking your legs against your torso at a 90 degree angle. Stretch your arms out so they are perpendicular to your body or parallel to your thighs, and then slowly rotate your chest to the opposite side so that your back is flat on the ground and your chest is open. Hold this position for two seconds before returning to starting position. You can repeat this about 10 to 20 times on each side, but you will want to rest in between sets.
Back Exercises
15. Reverse Snow Angel
Begin face down with your arms down at your sides, your palms on the ground. Press your shoulder blades together just slightly, lifting your palms from the ground, and then with a controlled motion and without lifting your head you will want to bring your arms up and past your shoulders until your thumbs touch above your head. Bring your hands back to the beginning position. Elbows should remain locked with arms straight in order to engage the back.
16. Superman
Begin lying down with your chin touching the ground and your eyes facing forward. Point your toes away from you so your ankles are touching the ground and reach your arms forward away from your head. While engaging your glutes, back, and shoulders you should attempt to pull your upper body and legs up away from the ground with arms and legs fully contracted. Your hands and feet should both be elevated to approximately the same position so you look like the “Man of Steel!”
17. Bridge
Begin on your back with your head resting on the floor. Place your feet flat on the floor and bend the knees so that the heels of your feet are directly beneath your feet. Your arms should be placed at your sides. Your palms should be placed downward. With a strong lumbar region and shoulders you should raise your hips up toward the ceiling and extend them fully. Ideally, you should be able to hold a position where you are straight and flat from chest to knees for around 10 seconds before lowering back to the ground.
18. Good Mornings
For this move you will want to begin by standing straight up with good posture and your feet slightly wider than hip-width, placing your hands on your hips. Engage your core and push your ribs down. Pull your shoulders back slightly and bend forward at the waist slowly and in a controlled manner while keeping your neck neutral and shoulders in line with your hips. You should bend forward until you are either parallel or almost parallel to the floor before rising back to the starting position. Form is really important in this exercise so take care not to round your back, because a neutral spine is really essential here.
19. Quadruped Limb Raises
For this one you’re going to want to start on your hands and knees, your hands about shoulder-width apart just below your shoulders. Bend the elbows just slightly, placing your knees beneath your hips. Your body should be parallel with the floor with your torso forming a straight line from the head to the buttocks. Now pull your shoulder blades in and then downward before extending your right arm forward and left leg backward, maintaining the straightness of your back. Maintain this position for between three and 10 seconds, then return to your original position before changing sides.
20. Locust
Begin on your stomach with your legs and arms straight back behind you and your palms facing up. Rest your forehead on the floor. Exhale, lifting your chest, arms, head, and legs up off of the ground. Aim to look up at the ceiling and to lift your legs as high as you possibly can. The aim here should be to balance yourself on your lower abdominals. As you inhale you will lower yourself back to the beginning position. Try to keep your arms and legs straight and engaged, and make sure to rest between repetitions.
21. Cobra
Lie face down on the ground with legs outstretched and arms down by the sides. Squeeze the glutes while pinching the shoulder blades both down and back until your chest is lifting as high from the ground as you can get it. Make sure you are keeping your head and spine aligned as you are rising from the ground. You can do this one as an isometric hold, or you can lift and lower in repetitions.
Arm Exercises
22. Inchworm
Begin standing with your feet about hip-width apart, and then hinge forward at the hips so that your palms are flat on the ground. Bend at the knees if necessary for your hands to reach the floor. Slowly walk the hands forward until you reach a high plank, stacking your shoulders directly above the wrists. If you want to add a little more challenge, build in a push-up. Walk your hands backward until you are standing again to complete one repetition.
23. Plank Taps
Although planks have already been discussed, you can make them more challenging deepen the workout for your arms. Here you should begin in high plank with your feet about hip-width apart. Tap your right hand to your left shoulder, and then tap your left hand to your right shoulder. Make sure you are engaging your glutes and your core, keeping your hips as still as possible for the best results.
24. Lateral Plank Walks
Begin in a high plank with your shoulders parallel to your wrists. Engage your abdominal muscles. Step out your right foot as well as your right hand, and then repeat the same process with your left foot and your left hand. Continue this process for a few steps so that you are walking in one direction, then repeat the process in the other direction. Take care to keep your abdominals tight.
25. Diamond Push-Ups
Although all push ups are great for arm strength the diamond push up is a real challenge. Begin in a high plank, and then walk your hands together until your thumbs and your forefingers are forming a triangle. Bend at the elbows until you have completed a complete push up. You can modify this by completing the push up from your knees rather than high plank.
26. Forearm Side Plank
Begin by lying on the right side with your hips and feet stacked. Position the bottom right elbow directly beneath your right shoulder, and then lift your bottom hip up off the ground so you have created a straight line. Lift up from your bottom oblique. Reach your arm up toward the ceiling, or if you don’t feel comfortable you can place it on your hip. Try to hold for between 10 and 30 seconds before switching sides.
27. Reverse Plank
For this one you will start seated on the ground with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Extend your arms behind you with your fingertips pointed at your feet. Keep your elbows bent slightly and squeeze your buttocks, and then raise your hips so that you are creating a straight line between your hips and your throat. Engage your muscles and lengthen your spine as you hold this pose for up to five breathes, and then release.
28. Pike Push Up
To begin this move you start in Downward Dog, discussed earlier, with your hands a little wider than your shoulders. Try to flatten your feet as much as you can, although raising up on your toes is okay if necessary for this move. Press your weight into your hands and adjust yourself so that you are looking at your belly button so that your neck is also in line with your spinal column. Now you will want to bend your elbows out and power yourself until the crown of your head is just above the ground, then straighten your arms and raise back up to complete one repetition.
Leg Exercises
29. Squats
This is another basic yet essential move for your arsenal. Begin standing with your feet at shoulder-width apart and turned out slightly so that you’re placing your weight into your heels. Hinge forward from the hips so that you’re sitting your butt back, bending your knees and squatting until the point where your thighs are parallel with the ground and no further. Now drive down into your heels in order to stand up straight again, keeping your butt and core tight as you stand.
30. Squat Jumps
Just as before you will want to begin standing with your feet at shoulder-width apart and turned out slightly so that you’re placing your weight into your heels. Hinge forward from the hips so that you’re sitting your butt back, bending your knees and squatting until the point where your thighs are parallel with the ground and no further. Now jump up in the air as high as you can while straightening your legs out and swinging your arms down to your sides to gain some momentum. Try to use soft knees when you land, and then go back into another squat immediately.
31. Knee-Lift Reverse Lunge
Begin in the same position as the squat above, and then step backward with your left foot so that you land on the ball of your foot while bending both knees so that you are creating a 90-degree angle with each of your knees. Now push through the right heel until you return to standing, thrusting your left knee up toward your chest as you are returning toward standing. Repeat this process on both sides.
32. High-Knee Toe Taps
Begin by facing something that you can step up onto, such as a box, a bench, or a chair, with your hands on your hips or down by your sides. Tap your left foot up on the bench, and then swap legs and tap your right foot. Alternate sides quickly while maintaining a straight back and a lifted chest the entire time.
33. Plie Squat Calf Raises
Begin by standing with your feet just a bit wider than shoulder-width distance and turn your toes out. Place your hands on your hips or in front of your chest. Squat down until your thighs have become parallel with the floor, and then lift your heels from the floor and hold for two seconds before lowering yourself back down while maintaining the squat.
34. Side Lunges
This move is simple but effective, and it simply requires that you begin with your feet around hip-width apart and then take a large step out to your left, bending your left knee while pushing your butt back so that you are maintaining a straight right leg. Make sure that you are maintaining a lifted chest and a tight core. Now repeat on the opposite side.
35. Single-Leg Glute Bridges
Lie down on a flat back with bent knees and flat feet. Lift the right leg with a straight knee, and then keep your thighs parallel to one another. Point the toe upward. Push your strength through the heel of your foot so you’re lifting your hips upward while squeezing the glutes, and you should be attempting to create a single diagonal line from the shoulders through to the knees. Hold this for between one and two seconds, then lower yourself back down and repeat with the other side.
Further Reading
“You Are Your Own Gym” — Mark Lauren and Joshua Clark
“Complete Calisthenics: The Ultimate Guide to Bodyweight Exercise” — Ashley Kalym and Mike Seymour