Whether you’re a complete beginner, fairly new to working out, or already an avid gym goer, the importance of the basic fundamental movement patterns can never be overlooked. We recognize that not everyone may have easy access to a gym, or even a safe outdoor space, like a park, to work out in. It can be equally frustrating if you don’t have the equipment – like weights, resistance bands, or kettlebells – at the ready, either. That’s where bodyweight exercises come in. By performing simple and basic fundamental movement patterns, bodyweight exercises do not require any extra fitness equipment or fussy accessories.
This isn’t a scenario where you’d have to perform hours of bodyweight moves to replicate the benefits of a weighted exercise session, either. One very small research study – of just 10 previously inactive adults – found that an 11-minute workout session including bodyweight exercise three times a week was enough to benefit cardiorespiratory fitness, per the International Journal of Exercise Science. While those results aren’t definitive, they’re another point in favor of the benefits of bodyweight moves.
We rounded up 12 effective bodyweight exercises to help you kick off your love affair with no-equipment moves. To help us narrow down a list of “best” bodyweight exercises, we looked for options that were accessible for beginners but could be scaled up to become intermediate and advanced moves, and for exercises that recruited several major muscle groups – compound exercises – to help you get more bang for your buck. We also included lower-body bodyweight exercise options (including a basic squat, wall sit, and lunge), upper-body bodyweight exercises (such as a push-up or plank), and bodyweight moves that target your core too (like the bird dog). Here, a closer look at 10 bodyweight exercises you can try at your next gym session.
Related: How Often Are People Really Working Out?
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Air Squat
The air squat, also known as a bodyweight squat or basic squat, is a foundational lower body exercise. Focus on nailing your technique and pushing away from the floor.
- Start by standing tall, with your feet placed about hip to shoulder-width apart.
- Keeping your heels on the floor, slowly bend the knees, descending down until the thighs are parallel with the ground. Depending on your background, you may need to stop sooner and reduce the depth of the squat.
- Driving through the heels, push away from the floor and extend the legs to return back to standing.
A bodyweight squat is always a classic option, but you can also perform a wall sit hold. To perform a wall sit:
- Place your back back against a wall, and walk your feet slightly out in front of you. Both feet should be hip-distance apart.
- Bending your knees, and stabilize your back against the wall until your knees are roughly at 90-degree angles. Your knee joints should be over your ankle joints, so you may need to inch your feet further from the wall to create proper alignment. Don’t let your knees fall in on the midline of your body or sway excessively outward.
- Hold for 15-30 seconds.
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Lunge
A lunge is a quintessential movement to help develop lower-body strength. The primary muscles involved are the gluteus maximus, hamstrings, quadriceps, and the gastrocnemius and soleus, or calves, per the National Strength & Conditioning Association.
- Keeping your shoulders back, remember to focus on having the chest upright.
- Look out ahead in front of you, with the eyes forward and chin up. Stabilize down through the core and legs, and avoid tipping the torso too far forward.
- Step forward, and lower both legs down until the knees are around a 90-degree angle. Hover the back knee off of the ground.
- Ideally, you’ll align your knee, shin, ankle and foot together with an imaginary line. Avoid letting the knee drop inward.
- Pushing away from the ground, step back into the starting position.
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Alternating Side Lunge
Too often, workout plans favor up-and-down or front-to-back movements and forget about the lateral plane, or movements out to the side. Enter alternating side lunges. These lunges hone in on the musculature of the lower-body region, including the hip adductor muscles, and challenge stabilization and balance too.
- From standing, start by stepping one foot out to the side.
- Think about the hips pushing back behind you, with both heels down, as you descend into the lower part of the lunge, with your thigh parallel to the floor. Keep your torso raised, stabilizing, and not letting the chest fall forward.
- Push away from the floor, and bring the foot back to center and return to the start position.
- Repeat on the opposite side.
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Push-Up
A classic bodyweight exercise, the push-up is an ideal option when developing upper body strength. The push up exercise targets the pectoralis major, minor, and triceps musculature, according to the International Journal of Exercise Science.
- With hands around shoulder-width apart, position the shoulders directly over the wrists with your feet back behind you.
- For alignment, imagine a line extending from your head, neck, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles. Try not to let the hips drop excessively towards the floor.
- Slowly bend the elbows and descend towards the ground. Hover the torso just above the floor.
- Push away from the floor, and return back to the starting position.
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Single-Leg Deadlift
Another classic bodyweight exercise option, the single-leg Romanian deadlift (RDL), activates the gluteus medius, minimus and maximus, per the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise journal. And while the image shows someone using a kettlebell, this move is challenging with just bodyweight.
- From standing, slightly bend both knees. While stabilizing on one leg, slowly hinge at the hips and extend the opposite leg, with the back foot reaching behind.
- The torso will reach forward, as you lengthen your back leg behind you.
- Keep your hips stable and your standing leg slightly bent throughout the movement.
- Shoulders should be back, and maintain a neutral spine.
- With control, maintain balance and drive away from the floor as you return back to standing.
- Bringing the back leg forward, and the chest back, return to back to the starting position.
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Mountain Climber
The mountain climber exercise builds off of a traditional push-up or plank position. You can make the exercise more or less intense through timing (simply march your feet faster or slower), and it’s a bodyweight exercise that may count as cardio too. Research has suggested that when mountain climbers were incorporated into a high intensity interval training session, exercise capacity increased (measured by VO2peak), according to the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise journal from the American College of Sports Medicine.
- Begin with a traditional plank position, shoulders aligned over the wrists and hands. Both legs should be extended and the weight in the balls of the feet.
- Start by drawing one knee in towards your chest, with the knee reaching forward, and push the toes away from the floor. Repeat by switching legs.
- Bring the opposite knee in towards the chest, and switch.
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Plank Up and Down
A simple and easy-to-follow variation of the plank exercise, this is a beginner friendly option that challenges the core. Start in a neutral plank position, and challenge your stability throughout the movement.
- Begin by assuming a plank position with both the arms and legs extended straight. Shoulders should be above your hands and wrists, while your feet roughly shoulder to hip-width apart.
- Start by lowering down onto one elbow, and then come down on the opposite forearm, creating an elbow plank position.
- Be mindful of your alignment, try not to let the hips drop, or weight shift too excessively from one side to another.
- Reverse the motion by pushing away from the floor.
- Press into the ground to return back to the starting plank position.
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Bird Dog
Although the name might be amusing, the bird dog exercise is a popular bodyweight exercise. And there’s a reason for that. Research suggests that the bird-dog exercise has been an effective way to improve core stability, even with those suffering from low back pain, per the Rehabilitation Research and Practice journal.
- Start in quadruped position, with both hands, knees, and feet on the ground.
- Aim to align your head, shoulders, hips, without excessively arching the neck or rounding the back during this movement.
- Begin by reaching one hand forward, while the opposite foot extends back behind you.
- Maintain balance and stability, and after both arm and leg has been extended, slowly rewind the motion.
- Bring the elbow of the extended arm and the opposite knee in towards your chest. That’s one rep.
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Single-Leg Hip Bridge
The single-leg hip bridge, also referred to as a single-leg glute bridge, is a common bodyweight exercise to target the glutes. According to the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, the single-leg hip bridge emphasizes gluteus maximus and gluteus medius musculature, while also providing a safe way to improve hip joint stability.
- Start by lying down, back against the floor, with knees about hip-width apart. If needed, place both hands out by your sides.
- With both heels on the ground, start by bending one knee and lifting one leg towards the ceiling. Use your hands to help stabilize.
- Push your hips up towards the sky.
- With control, lower the hips down to the ground. Repeat on the opposite side.
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Plank
One of the most classic bodyweight exercises, the plank is a simple and easy way to build stability and core strength. Performing a plank targets the anterior deltoids, rectus abdominus, external abdominal obliques, erector spinae, and gluteus maximus, per the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.
- Start with both forearms about shoulder-width distance apart, and both legs extended back.
- Keeping aligned from the head and shoulders to the hips, knees and feet, the shoulders should be roughly above the hands.
- Press away from the floor with both forearms, and drive the balls of the feet into the ground.
- Resist the urge to arch or drop your hips, and aim to hold this position for 15 seconds, 30 seconds, or up to one minute.
Jade Esmeralda, MS, CSCS, is a Staff Writer, Health & Fitness. A life-long martial artist and dancer, Jade has a strong passion for strength & conditioning, sports science, and human performance. She graduated with a Master of Science degree in Exercise Science and Strength and Conditioning from George Washington University.
