Intro
While I’m an avid weight trainer who enjoys lifting iron bars and plates, I acknowledge the importance of training with my own body weight. I feel that many lifters ignore bodyweight training for whatever reason, much of it likely ego. Go to any gym and you’ll see the benches and pulldowns constantly occupied, while the dip and pull-up bars should be readily available. And good seeing anybody doing some form of the good old-fashioned push-up – it’s become such a rarity. It’s also not common to see any ab exercises besides the most basic ones being done.
Many bodyweight exercises are great for warming up before heavy lifting. Push-ups can get the blood flowing before hitting the bench press. Bodyweight squats or lunges can be done before heavy squats and leg presses. Performing a few core movements can also get the entire body ready for a lifting workout.
Body weight exercises also make for great finishers to heavy weight training workouts. Of course, push-ups and the many forms of them you can do will be excellent for finishing a chest workout with a nice pump. Try Tyson push-ups and one-arm push-ups as you get more advanced. Dips also work great as a chest finisher.
Just Use Your Own Body Weight
One thing I like to do once a week is to do only bodyweight exercises for a workout. This gives my muscles some higher repetition work without getting into the heavy iron and beating my joints up. Time is another factor in doing this, as I can get a quick workout on days I have to get to work early. Also, let’s face it, how many of us actually test out our push-up strength and the like after we’ve been lifting for a while. This is the perfect workout to do that.
Try A Push-Pull Routine
For quick bodyweight workouts, I find that it’s to my benefit to alternate pushing and pulling exercises (pushing exercises involve the chest, shoulders, and triceps while pulling exercises work the back and biceps). This saves time as the pushing muscles get a break during the pulling muscle exercises and vice versa. I’ll take a little break between each set, pretty much enough time to set up for the second exercise of a push-pull superset.
Another excellent option is to do a few sets of a ‘push’ exercise, then do a few of a ‘pull’ exercise. After this, it’s back to a ‘push’ exercise and so on.
Exercises To Include In Your Body Weight Workouts
Body weight workouts may sound somewhat limiting as there are classic exercises that are well-known like push-ups and pull-ups, yet not many others. However, just these movements offer a ton of variety as there are so many different ways you can do them to focus on different areas of the body.
Push-Ups
The classic push-up may be the most well-known bodyweight exercise. The basic version of the push-up is excellent for training the pushing muscles of the upper body. You should find that you can do quite a few of them as you get more advanced, even if you use impeccable form. When you reach this level, try various hand placements to increase the difficulty. For instance, close-grip push-ups will focus on the triceps. You can also elevate your lower body so you do push-ups that emulate an incline bench press. There is no end to the modifications of the push-up you can take advantage of.
Tyson Push-Ups
Tyson push-ups are a favorite of mine as they have you working so many muscle groups in some way. They have you pushing away from a wall with your legs, then pushing up and backward with your arms. Many different muscles are working here, so they make for a great starter for any quick bodyweight workout.
Handstand Push-Ups
Handstand-style push-ups work great for the shoulders if you can do them. As with many other exercises, progress can be made slowly by starting with assisted handstand push-ups and working your way up. At first, try putting your legs on a bar or bench and bend forward at the waist to do push-ups using the shoulders. Your body should be lowered as far as possible before pushing upward.
Eventually, progress to where you get into a handstand position with the toes against the wall. Another progression is to use some type of handles so you can lower your body further down for more range of motion. I find that a pair of heavy kettlebells can be used as stable handles.
One-Arm Push-Ups
One-arm push-ups will hit the triceps hard. If you can’t do them due to strength or balance, try spacing one arm far out while primarily pushing up with the other and work your way up from there. Once you feel confident you can push up with one arm, take the leg on the opposite side from the one you are pushing up with and place it out to the side to keep balance. As you get better at the one-arm push-up, progressively move this leg closer to the center.
Pull-Ups
Pull-ups are the main body weight exercise to do for the back, and I love to practice improving them when I can. Most of us can do way fewer pull-ups than push-ups, and as a result, they will be done for lower reps per set. Some assisted pull-ups on an assisted pull-up and dip machine will get you extra reps. Using a resistance bend to help you get more pull-up reps also works. Just wrap the band around the bar and put your feet in it to help get you up for more reps.
The biceps muscles can also be targeted with pull-ups. Try doing them with an underhand grip and the hands very close together, even touching. You then focus on curling upward with the biceps until your upper chest or chin reach the bar.
L-Sit Pull-Ups
L-sit pull-ups are an excellent exercise for the lats and the core. They are a strict version of the pull-up with the legs held out so you make a shape like the letter L. As you can imagine, it’s not as easy to cheat on them as you can’t really kick up like you can with normal pull-ups.
Progress To One-Arm Pull-Ups
During my bodyweight workout I like to try some progressions to one-arm pull-ups. This can be done a few different ways, the easiest may be to pull up to one side than the other on each rep. Basically on the first rep pull up to the left side with the right arm straightened out if possible. On the second repetition pull up to the right and so on. You also use a band to hold onto with one hand while you are using the other hand to pull up. You can also grab your wrist with the hand not doing the pull-up and work it down the forearm as you get stronger on the exercise. Another way to work up to a one-arm pull-up is to grab the bar
Leg Exercises
For the most part, I don’t do leg exercises as part of a bodyweight lifting workout. This is partially due to imbalances in my legs I’m trying to work out through yoga and stretching, so I opt for some low- or medium-intensity cardio. Another reason is that my next workout will be dedicated to legs and be done the next day anyway so I don’t want to be burned out.
Of course, there are a multitude of exercises just using your body weight you can do for legs. The classic squat can be done with just your body weight. It won’t be about the resistance but about form and finding and correcting any imbalances you may have in your leg muscles. The feet can be placed in a variety of positions to target different muscles in the quadriceps area. For instance, you can do sumo squats with the feet out very wide to work the adductor muscles more than normal.
Lunges are also excellent for training the legs with just your own weight. In fact, I prefer them to squats as they are done one leg at a time to help with any imbalances between legs. The versatility is great too, as you can do standing lunges, walking lunges, side lunges, and so on.
Core Exercises
Some direct core training can also be part of a bodyweight workout routine. I do most of my core training during another workout, but I definitely do a few exercises to hit the abs and obliques. Usually, these are the more difficult exercises I’m trying to get better at.
Front levers are an exercise I’m trying to get better at, so I may do some front lever holds and raises. This exercise will involve many muscles along with the core to keep the body straightened throughout the movement. In fact, I like to couple the levers with leg raises done all the way up. I start with one of the exercises, get a little break, then do the other.
Dragon flags are another core exercise I like to do as part of a bodyweight-only workout. It kind of works hand-in-hand with the front levers, as they both have you trying to keep the body straightened. One of my favorite ways to couple two exercises back-to-back is to do some dragon flag raises or a hold (with a slow negative) followed by a neck bridge hold. The neck is neglected (neck-lected?) by many lifters. Here’s a chance to get some work for it.
Some other core exercises I like to do include planks, side planks, side planks raises with the feet elevated, slanted side bends, and cable twists. Some hyperextensions or seated good mornings can be thrown in as well to hit the lower back.
Rest Periods
Rest periods will be minimal for a bodyweight workout. The point is to get the blood flowing and improve form on certain exercises using just your body weight. Working on imbalances is also part of this, not maxing out. This does not mean the intensity level is low. If you do supersets, like Tyson push-ups followed by pull-ups or leg raises followed by front lever raises, you’ll take minimal or no rest between the sets. Usually, one of these workouts only takes me between 20 and 30 minutes, though I usually just do upper body exercises, opting for most core exercises during a different workout and doing stretch work for the legs.
Sample Bodyweight Workout
Here’s an example of what I like to do for a quick bodyweight workout:
2-3 sets of Tyson push-ups (various hand placements)
3-4 sets of pull-ups (2-hand or practice 1-hand)
2 sets of handstand push-ups against the wall
2 sets of L-sit pull-ups
2 sets of one-arm push-ups
2 sets of dragon flags (holds or raises)
Conclusion
As you can see, it isn’t too difficult to put together a bodyweight exercise regimen that will have you in and out of the gym on those days you just don’t have a lot of time. It’s a great way to improve on some of your favorite exercises while challenging your body with some new movements. No matter what, you should go in with a plan so you can smoothly go from exercise to exercise without wasting time. You’ll like the results from 1 or 2 quick bodyweight workouts per week.
