Bodyweight Exercises
Many people wrongly believe that bodyweight exercises are only good for beginners.
But in reality, many bodyweight exercises can grow and progress with you. Some body weight moves are even harder than their free weight alternatives.
Today’s post is about 32 bodyweight exercises that can help you get amazingly strong and build muscle too.
So, without further ado, let us get to the list of the 32 best bodyweight exercises.
Squat
This simple staple trains your butt and quads while building postural stability. If you could only do one exercise for the rest of your life, this would be it.
To perform this move, stand tall with feet hip width apart. Sit down, opening hips and knees out to the sides. Stand up forcefully with chest tall.
Lunge
This unilateral leg exercise trains your butt and quads while improving balance. In large doses, the lunge can also improve your cardio capacity and reduce imbalances between legs.
To do the lunge, step about two feet in front of your hip. Sit down, bending both knees until your back knee nearly touches the floor. Then explode up to the top of the movement.
Push up
This basic exercise strengthens your chest, shoulders, triceps, core and back. It can be done anywhere. It’s also shoulder friendly.
To do a push up, assume an all-fours position. Turn hands out slightly, pull shoulder blades back and down. Push one foot back, then the other, until you are in a long arm plank position. While keeping back straight, bend arms to about 90 degrees, before pushing back to the start position.
Pull up
This exercise strengthens your back and lats and builds a strong grip too.It also gets easier as you improve your body composition and lose some body fat.
To do a proper pull up, hang from a bar with a shoulder width, overhand grip. Engage your lats to pull your chin above the bar. Then descend back to the start position.
Glute Bridge
The glute bridge helps teach proper spinal positioning and also strengthens the glutes. It is a great hip hinge exercise and fundamental movement pattern.
To do the glute bridge, lie on the floor with knees bent to about 100 degrees, feet under knees. With core tight, use glutes to lift up into a full table top position.
Single Leg Glute Bridge
The single leg glute bridge trains each glute independently. This helps to improve hip stability. This exercise also made the cut for my article about the best glute exercises you are going to love to hate.
To do this move, lie on the ground or with upper back elevated, feet on the floor and knees over feet. With one leg elevated, use glutes to power up into a table top position, keeping back straight and hips square. Return to the start position.
Single Leg Squat
This single leg exercise improves hip, knee and ankle stability while strengthening the glutes and quads.
Position yourself in front of a bench on one leg. With back straight, and knees aligned over toes, sit down until your butt touches the bench. Then return to the starting position.
Black Burns
This simple exercise improves upper back strength. It is a great exercise to warm up the shoulders.
Lay Face down on the floor, with arms overhead. Retract shoulder blades and form the Shape “T” with your arms and body. Then repeat that motion in a “A” Shape, a “Y” shape, and a “W” shape. Hold each about 3 to 5 counts before moving to the next position.
Floor Angels
Floor angels improve upper back strength as well. They are also a good warm up exercise or finisher at the end of an upper body session.
Position yourself face down on the floor, with arms overhead. Lift arms and shoulders, and then pull arms down by your sides as if performing an upside-down snow angel. Put hands down and then resume the starting position.
Plank
This core stability exercise has stood the test of time.
Position yourself on all fours, on elbows, with elbows below shoulders. Push feet back into plank position, keeping abdominals and glutes tight and tension through the upper back and shoulders.
Chinese Plank
The Chinese Plank builds phenomenal core strength. The Chinese Plank positions you right side up with head towards the ceiling.
Set up two benches. Position your feet face down on one bench. Position your front shoulders on the other bench, keeping arms under the bench. Keep glutes and abdominals tight. Hold.
Side Plank
The side plank helps you improve shoulder stability while strengthening your obliques.
Position yourself on your side, one elbow directly below shoulder, with legs stacked. Lift hips up and hold.
Inverted Row
This exercise strengthens your back, grip, and improves posture. Quite frankly, this is also a great arm exercise.
With an underhand, shoulder width grip, grab onto a bar set at an incline. Position feet in front, with body straight. Pull shoulders back and down and pause at the top.
Towel Hamstring Curl
This exercise strengthens the hamstrings and glutes and requires very little equipment.
Position yourself face up with feet on a towel or pair of furniture sliders. Perform a glute bridge, then straighten your legs. Keep hips up and pull the towel towards your hips to return to the starting position.
This exercise can also be done with one leg.
Lateral Lunge
This lunge variation strengthens your adductors, quads and abductors while improving hip mobility.
Stand with feet facing forward. Take a big step out to the side. Bend traveling knee to 90 degrees while keeping other leg straight. Then return to start position.
Bulgarian Split Squat
You are going to feel this exercise in your quads and glutes like no other.
Position yourself in front of a bench. Place one foot behind you on the bench, in line with your hip. Bend both knees until your back knee nearly touches the floor. Forcefully stand up to the start position.
Single Leg Calf Raise
While this simple exercise may not look like much, it is especially useful to runners, who heavily rely on their calves to propel them forward, and for shock absorption.
Stand on an elevated surface on one leg. Use your calf muscle to propel up to a tip toes position, pause and then return to the start.
Slider Push up
This advanced push up variation will really challenge even the strongest people out there.
How To: Position yourself in a standard push up, with one hand on top of a furniture slider. While you descend into the push up, pull the hand with the slider under it straight out to the side, keeping that arm straight. Then pull hand back as you straighten your other arm.
Ring Pull up
This exercise allows you to use a more natural neutral grip. It is also slightly harder than a traditional pull up and allows you to increase your range of motion at the top, squeezing your shoulder blades together and targeting your lower traps slightly more than a regular pull up.
Position your hands in an overhand grip on rings. Hang down with body straight. Squeeze your back and bend your arms to lift your head above the rings. Pause one count and then return to start.
Glute Ham Raise
Strengthen your glutes and hamstrings with this tough bodyweight exercise. Also, help to prevent hamstring pulls and tears during running, sprinting or explosive activity. This is actually one of the best exercises of all time.
Position yourself with hips at the edge of the pad of a glute ham raise, face down. Startwith body straight. Use hamstrings and glutes to bend knees to end in a tall kneeling position. Slowly straighten legs to return to the start.
Handstand Push up
This gymnastics-inspired exercise strengthens your shoulders and triceps, while forcing you to get comfortable in a handstand position.
Face a Wall and walk feet up the wall, ending in a solid handstand position with hands, shoulders, ribs, and hips all stacked. Hands should be positioned shoulder-width apart. Slowly descend into the push up, bending arms until head nearly touches the ground. Return to the start position by straightening arms.
Rope Climb
The Rope climb strengthens the biceps, forearms, and back muscles.
Position yourself at the bottom of a rope with one hand over the other. Begin pulling yourself up by squeezing your back muscles and bending arms, securing legs around the rope. Continue pulling in a hand over hand fashion. Once you reach the top, alternate hands to descend back to the bottom of the rope safely.
Candlestick Single Leg to Stand
This exercise helps you build the strength for a single leg squat. It also strengthens your quads and glutes.
Stand on one leg, roll back to a candlestick position, roll up to one leg and return to stand.
Pike Hold
This tough isometric exercise strengthens the hip flexors and abdominals. It also torches the triceps and shoulders.
Sit with feet out in front of you, with hands flat out to sides. Lift hips and legs off the floor, with legs straight, and hold for 5-30 seconds.
Straddle Hold
This exercise, similar to the pike hold, strengthens the abs, hip flexors, shoulders and triceps. It is a bit easier than the pike hold.
Sit in a straddle position, with hands at shoulder width inside legs. Keep legs straight and push hips and legs off the floor to hold. Hold for 5-30 seconds.
Press to Handstand
This exercise requires full body coordination and strength. It will blast your abs, hip flexors, shoulders and triceps.
Position yourself in a seated straddle position with hands flat and arms straight in front of you. Lean forward and lift hips, transitioning into a handstand position. Straddle down to return to start.
Pike Press to Handstand
The Pike Press to Handstand is one tough core, shoulder and tricep exercise. You will also practice your handstand and hand balancing skills.
Position yourself in a pike fold position with hands on the floor. Lean forward on your hands and lift your legs into a handstand position. Return to start.
Hanging Leg Lift
This exercise will strengthen your grip, abs and hip flexors.
Hang from a bar with a shoulder-width grip. Use your abdominals and hip flexors to pull your toes to the bar, before slowly returning to the start position.
L-Leg Lift
This exercise feels like a hanging leg raise on steroids. If you can do these, you are probably ready for the Olympics.
Hang from a bar with a shoulder width grip. Start with legs straight out in a pike position. Lift straight legs to touch the bar before returning to the start position.
Hollow Rock
This core exercise is one of the best bodyweight exercises to help you build core endurance.
Lie on your back with arms either by sides or overhead. Get into a hollow body position and rock up and down slightly.
V Up
This exercise strengthens the abdominals and hip flexors.
Start in a hollow body position, before pulling your body into a jack knife position, where hands and feet meet at the top, before reversing to the bottom position.
Side V-Up
This move strengthens the abs and obliques.
Position yourself in a hollow hold on one side of your body. With arms overhead, perform a jack knife so your hands and feet meet at the top. Then return back to the start position. Repeat for reps on each side.
Long Lever Plank
This exercise builds amazing core strength.
To do this move, position yourself in a long arm plank position, with hands way in front of body and arms straight. Keep body straight or slightly hollow. Hold 15-30 seconds.
Best Bodyweight Exercises
And there you have it. That is my list of of the best bodyweight exercises out there. Start adding these to your arsenal and you will be in tip top shape before you know it.
