Can you get in the best shape of your life without equipment? Is it possible to achieve a stronger leaner body only using bodyweight? Can you achieve a stronger core only doing exercises from home?
A lot of people believe that you need a ton of fancy equipment to get into the best shape of your life but that is not necessarily true.
Although having the best equipment does make things easier, most people are not maximizing what they already have. Bodyweight is a great place to start because it allows you to build up proper core strength for all other types of training.
Having a strong core is very important because it helps you reduce the risk of injuries and helps you maintain good posture in your everyday life.
We wrote this article to show you that there are a lot of different ways to get in shape just using your bodyweight. We also wanted to make sure you had some real examples to go off of so that your can make your workouts more effective.
These are some of our most effective exercises we use with our training clients at our training studio in Voorhees NJ. We use these in a personal training setting but also during our group training workouts.
There are plenty of ways we can add variety to your workouts without equipment. You just need a little imagination & some patience to get good at what I’m about to show you.
If you like challenging your body or building rock solid core strength, this article is for you.
Each exercise was chosen specifically because of effectiveness when it comes to building core strength, increasing mobility & challenging your cardiovascular system.
These 5 exercises can be added to your workout routine or you can create your own circuit by adding 2-3 of them into a circuit.
Exercise #1: Body Hollow Holds
We start here because the Body Hollow Hold is our first stop in developing core strength. Most people are familiar with Planks but what we find is not everyone does them correctly.
So we use the Body Hollow Hold more frequently because it’s a lot harder to cheat the exercise and it definitely hits the core more effectively than Planks in our opinion.
It's also the prerequisite for Deadbugs which is another great core exercise.
Keep your lower back flat to the ground. Think of trying to press your tailbone to the floor.
Stick your legs straight out at a 45 degree angle in front of you with your toes pointed out. Think of it like a dolphin fin.
Place your hand either straight up or slightly behind you to make it more challenging. Hold that position for 30-45 seconds.
Exercise #2: V-Tucks
The V-Tuck is one of the more difficult exercises on the lower abs and hip flexors. This is why we like to start with the Body Hollow Hold first because that gives you the strength to now perform the V-Tuck a lot easier.
Start this exercise by lying down on your back. You want to use your abs to crunch up into the V position which is feet pulled in off the ground with your upper body and lower body creating a V - Shaped position at the top.
Then use your abs to lower back to the start position. For beginners you can place your hands behind you to give yourself a little help moving up and down out of the crunch.
Exercise #3: Walk Out Plank
We love using the Walk Out Plank for our conditioning workouts. Doing 30 to 40 seconds of these can really get your heart rate up and are a safer alternative to doing Burpees.
You can always make these harder by adding a Push Up to them which makes these great for beginners or advanced fitness goers.
The key is to really focus on bracing your core while you walk your hands out to the high plank position.
From here you want to hold and squeeze your butt to engage your core. Slowly walk your hands back to the start position and repeat.
Exercise #4: Sit Out
Sit Outs are one of our more challenging bodyweight exercises we use in our program.
They require a higher level of mobility and coordination to execute but once you get it down, it can be one of the best body weight exercises you can do for fat loss.
The sit out comes from more of a wrestling background. You start by getting into a quadruped position (all fours) and then lifting the knees off the ground.
This position is called the Beast position at our gym.
From this position you want to open up your hips and slide your leg through the opening while balancing on your back hand.
You should look a little like a break-dancer once your leg passes through to the finish position. Slide the leg back through and return to the beginning position.
For this exercise you want to start slow and practice holding yourself up before your try to add any speed to this movement.
Exercise #5: Sit Through
The Sit Through is the next progression from the Sit Out. This requires a bit more skill to execute but once mastered will become one of your favorite go to exercises.
This one is much like the sit out except you will start from a high plank or push up position.
The first movement is a lot like the Alternating Spiderman mobility exercise which makes it great for increasing mobility as well as getting you in shape. Start by stepping one foot to your hand.
From there you want to put your weight on your opposite hand so that you can step your back foot through your hand and opposite foot.
Really focus on pushing your hand into the floor and creating stiffness at the back shoulder to stabilize your center of gravity. Once your leg is through you want to hop back into the plank position and repeat on the opposite side.
Now that we know which bodyweight exercises that we should be adding to our routine, we want to create a plan to implement them right away.
If you’re a beginner just getting started, you can practice the Body Hollow Hold and V-Tuck while building up to the Walk Out.
If you’re a little more experienced we recommend putting a few into a circuit! Try Sit Outs, V-Tuck and Walk Out Planks with a Push Up! Either way, find a way to have fun with it and remember, the only bad workout is the one you didn’t do!
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