24 Best Bodyweight Exercises (Work out ANYWHERE!)

Introduction – 24 Best Bodyweight Exercises (Work out ANYWHERE!)

I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that daily exercise is an integral aspect of your overall fitness and physique. But it’s also important to remember that physical activity also lowers your risk of developing chronic diseases, lifts energy levels and boosts your mood, aids in weight loss goals (if you have them) and is overall excellent for your brain health and memory.

The best part is that you don’t even need a gym membership or even access to a ton of weights in order to get a challenging, muscle-building full body workout in, either! That’s because bodyweight exercises are an effective method to build strength and endurance with zero equipment at all.

Bodyweight exercises are simple (and some are deceptively challenging!) ways to improve your flexibility, balance, mobility and overall performance from anywhere. Bodyweight exercise can focus on cardio or strength, they can get your heart rate up and your blood pumping or they can be slow, controlled muscle-building movements. 

With bodyweight workouts it’s easy to build a well-rounded workout program that you can do on the fly, wherever you might find yourself. Though some people might not think that they can truly get fit or build muscle simply with bodyweight exercises, there are really no limits to how strong you can get when you continue to challenge yourself with these compound exercises.

Check out this list of the 24 Best Bodyweight Exercises that anyone can do to strengthen their entire body! And below we’ll show you a quick, easy way to put together a great bodyweight workout.

Best Bodyweight Exercises to Workout Anywhere!

LOWER BODY

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Lunges

Lunges are unilateral exercise that promote mobility and stability on top of strength. They also require more balance and coordination than squats do. This is a broad category that includes static lunges, walking lunges, reverse lunges, curtsey lunges, step down lunges from an elevated platform, and more.

How:

Standing tall with feet hip-distance apart, pull in the core and take a long step backwards, lowering your back knee to the ground. Push through the front heel to return to standing. Repeat on the other leg.

Squats

The bodyweight squat is a classic compound exercise. You can increase difficulty by switching up the time under tension (how many seconds it takes you to lower to the bottom of the squat position, how long you hold it there, and how quickly you drive back up).

How:

Standing straight with feet hip-width apart, engage the core and begin to lower down, as if to sit in a chair. Drive your weight through your heels to stand back up.

Bridges

Bridges work the hamstrings, core, lower back, abs, obliques, and hip flexors.  And there are so many variations that you can always switch up your training stimuli. You can intensify this exercise in a variety of ways from adding a resistance band, using a single leg, adding more seconds to the top hold, or altering your tempo.

How:

Laying flat on the floor, feet planted hip distance apart, push through your heels to raise your hips toward the ceiling. Keeping a neutral spine, squeeze your glutes at the top, holding for 1-2 seconds, and lower back to the ground. 

Steps Ups

Steps Ups are a powerful lower body exercise for glutes and quads and, depending on the tempo, can be used for cardio work as well. You will need a sturdy bench or stair for this exercise.  

How:

With one foot on an elevated platform, push through the heel to lift your body off the ground onto the platform. Slow and controlled, lower your body back to the ground to the starting position. Complete the required number of reps on one side or alternate legs each rep.

Bulgarian Split Squats

Bulgarians are one of the more difficult lower body bodyweight exercises. They are a single-leg exercise that works the quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves and uses core strength to maintain balance.

How:

Standing in front of a knee-high bench/platform, bring your right leg behind you to rest on the bench so that you are in an elevated split squat position. With your body upright, slowly lower the right knee towards the floor, then push through the heel to stand back up.

Pistol Squat

Exponentially more difficult than a two-legged squat, the pistol squat essentially requires that one single leg be strong enough to support your entire body weight.

How:

Standing with feet just narrower than your squat setup, lift one leg off the floor. Bend your standing knee to squat down as low as you can, keeping the back straight. Push through the heel to return to standing. 

UPPER BODY

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Push-ups

Push-ups are a classic exercise that truly work almost every muscle in your body. They can easily be regressed with incline push-ups if you don’t have the strength to complete one perfect pushup yet.

How:

Begin in a high plank position, with hands in line with your shoulders. Engage the core and squeeze the glutes while bending the elbows to lower your body toward the floor. Keep the elbows close to the body and press the hands into the floor. With the core still strong, exhale and push back up.

Diamond Pushups

This push-up variation really hammers the triceps as well as the core.

How:

From the high plank, position your thumbs and index fingers so that they form a diamond shape, then complete your push-up.

Walkouts

Walkouts are a compound exercise that works the shoulders, core, hamstrings and lower back. You can perform walkouts both from a hinged or squat starting position.

How:

From standing, hinge at the hips and place your hands on the ground. Slowly “walk” the hands forward until you reach a high plank position, then return, “walking” back to standing. You can also add a push-up to the bottom portion of this move.

Pike Push-Ups

This pushup variation places more emphasis on the shoulders, upper back and triceps. 

How:

Start on the ground in a downward dog or inverted V shape. Push the palms through the floor and bend the elbows, lowering your upper body to the floor and then pushing back up.

Dips

Dips strengthen the triceps, chest and shoulders. You can perform dips on the floor or off of a bench.

How:

Facing away from a bench, set up with both hands holding the bench about shoulder width apart. Extend the legs out in front of you and slowly bend the elbows to lower your body. Push through the hands and use the triceps to lift yourself back up.

Supermans

Supermans are a great bodyweight back-strengthening exercise that also works the glutes, hamstrings and core.

How:

Lie face down on the floor with arms extended and legs straight. Raise the arms, legs and chest from the floor, pausing and squeezing at the top position. Slowly lower back to the ground.

CORE

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Planks

Planks are an incredible core and abdominal exercise that strengthens your back, chest and shoulders as well. If the classic high or low plank is too challenging, come down onto your knees or start with incline planks. For a greater challenge, add shoulder taps, reaches, leg lifts, or transition from forearms to palms and back down again.

How:

Set up in a high push-up position, with hands directly under the shoulders. Keeping the core tight, squeeze the glutes and press your palms into the floor. Hold the body in a straight line for the desired amount of time.

Bear Crawls

Bear crawls are a phenomenal core exercise that also targets the shoulders, quads, back and hips. 

How:

From an all-fours position, lift the knees so they are hovering about an inch off the ground. Stabilizing the shoulders and core, move one hand and the opposite foot one “step” forward, then switch sides. Repeat this movement, forward and back.

Bird-Dogs

Bird-Dogs are a simple floor exercise that anyone can do to strengthen the core, low back and glutes.

How:

From an all-fours position, with a tight core, raise one arm and extend the opposite leg at the same time. Hold for 2-3 seconds at the top, then return and switch sides.

Side Planks

Side planks work to target the oblique muscles as well as overall core strength and stability.

How:

Lie on one side with legs straight and use your forearm to raise your body off the ground, supporting your body weight. Engage the core while raising the hips to form a straight line with your body. Hold for the desired amount of time before switching.

Russian Twists

Russian twists are a seated exercise that works the core, obliques and spine while also challenging your balance.

How:

Sit on the floor with feet together and a bend in the knees, and lift the legs a few inches from the ground. Lean back slightly as you move your arms from one side of the body to the other in a slow, controlled movement, twisting as you go. 

Reverse Crunches

With many of the same muscles worked as traditional crunches, reverse crunches are a core exercise that are just a bit less stressful on the neck and spine.

How:

Lie flat on your back with arms tucked under your butt or at your sides. With a slight bend in the knees, use your abdominals to raise your lower body off the ground, bringing the knees towards your chest. Hold at the top then slowly lower back to the floor.

CARDIO

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Burpees

Burpees are an exercise that many people have a love-hate relationship with. They are the definition of a compound exercise, recruiting so many muscle groups at once.

How:

From standing, squat down and place your hands on the floor in front of you. Kick both feet back behind you to move into a high plank position then lower down in to a push-up. Press back up, jump the feet forward back into squat position and push through the heels into a jump. Landing soft and in a low squat position, repeat the full movement. 

Squat Jumps

Squat jumps take the classic bodyweight squat and add in the elements of power and speed. Good form is essential here!

How:

Squat down, with back straight and core engaged. In an explosive movement, push through the heels into a jump and land low, going immediately into the next squat. 

Plank Jacks

These dynamic planks work the forearms, biceps and triceps, the hamstrings and glutes and of course, the core!

How:

From a high plank position, jump your legs wide and then back together. You can do these as slow or fast as feels comfortable, making sure to hold the body in a straight line. 

Broad Jumps

Broad jumps are a cardio bodyweight exercise that work to build power and explosive strength.

How:

Lower into a squat position, swing the arms to propel your body forward and drive through your feet to jump as far forward as you can. Repeat.

Skater Jumps

Skater jumps combine cardio and lower body strength with balance and coordination.

How:

Standing tall with legs hip-distance apart, lift one leg from the ground and swing the arms out as you leap across to land on that leg. Repeat this movement, side to side, landing softly then exploding across to the other leg each time.

Mountain Climbers

Mountain climbers are an effective core-focused cardio exercise with a couple of challenging variations- straight knees in, knees across, and same knee, same elbow. 

How:

From a high plank position, drive one knee forward, then the other as if running in place. Keep the core tight as you repeat for desired reps or time.

Create a Routine

With the exercises above, use this simple formula to create your own well-rounded full body workout routine:

Choose: 

• 1-2 Lower body exercises 
• 1-2 Upper body exercises
• 1 Core exercise and
• 1-2 Cardio-focused exercises

You can then opt to perform these exercises as a circuit (each exercise back to back), resting 20-30 seconds between exercises and 1-2 minutes between sets. Try to complete 3-4 sets.  

OR

Complete 3-4 sets of each exercise, resting between each set, before moving to the next exercise. 

Regardless of which option you choose, find a rep range that is challenging enough for your current fitness level. You should feel fatigued at the end of your sets but still able to maintain good form through the exercises. 15 reps is a good place to start for most bodyweight exercises.

Be sure to write down your workout ahead of time and record all of your reps/rest times/sets completed! Don’t forget to warm up with some mobility exercises and set aside time for some cool down stretches. 

Featured Image Credit: Pavigym Prama (Unsplash)