Bodyweight exercises are the worst-kept secret in fitness. If you're anything like us, there's always an excuse for dodging the gym. You woke up late; you have to nip to the shops on your lunch break; you deserve a little rest at the weekend and it's chucking it down. Unfortunately, we're here to tell you that there's one way to make all these excuses moot: bodyweight exercises.
They're not just a way to trap ourselves into doing a little fitness, however, as bodyweight exercises are the bread and butter of any proper fitness regime. “Bodyweight training provides a foundation which the rest of your training will be built upon,” explains strength and conditioning coach Arby Keheli. “Many athletes who don’t prioritise bodyweight work will find that their progress will stagnate and they will often have to revert to this base point in order to progress forwards.”
It's not just athletes who need to get back to basics once in a while, as bodyweight training helps improve your general strength, power, balance and endurance: all vital elements if you're looking to eventually hit the big weights, or just improve your fitness a little. Make sure, however, to rest between workouts – it's all well and good going for it day after day, but without giving your muscles time to recover and develop, all you'll get is tired.
The best thing about bodyweight exercises is that they can be done pretty much anywhere. We wouldn't recommend jumping into the aisle of a plane or starting a squat session in the middle of your morning meeting, but the flexibility of the below workout by Keheli means squeezing in some fitness is easy and effective.
Bodyweight exercises workout overview
Try three sets of ten reps of the following, being mindful of form and adapting where necessary:
- Press-up
- Pull-up
- Inverted row
- Single-leg squat (pistol squat)
- Nordic curl
Bodyweight exercises workout: the details
The press-up is an essential movement when done correctly.
- Start in a high plank with the hands shoulder-width apart. We want the core as braced as possible throughout the movement – to do this, turn the hips under, squeezing the glutes, which will flatten the lower back.
- Push the chest away from the floor, separating the shoulder blades, creating a curve through the upper back.
- Focus on maintaining trunk positioning throughout; keep the elbows pinned into the body at a 45-degree angle as you slowly descend.
- Hover the chest over the floor, maintaining tension by pausing instead of bouncing out of the bottom position.
- Press the palms into the floor and ascend upwards, extending through the elbow.
The pull-up is one of the most under-utilised strength movements. Pull-ups are very hard to perform – however, they can be scaled very easily, for example by using a band to assist you, only performing the downwards phase of the movement and so on. Don’t let this movement intimidate you, as people struggle with it at all levels.
- Hand positioning can be any one of four grips: reverse (palms towards face), pronated (palms away from face), neutral (palms facing each other) and mixed grip (one palm towards and one palm facing away from the face).
- As for width, numerous studies have suggested that the shoulder-width hand position is the go-to. From a full hanging position, pull the shoulder blades down towards the hips.
- As you pull, create a slight arch through the back, imagining you are pulling the sternum towards the bar.
- Keep the elbows tucked into the body and the shoulder blades pinned back and down throughout.
- The way down is just as important, so don’t rush. Keep the elbows driven into the ribcage, slowly returning back to a hang position. Ensure that you don’t rush this downwards phase.
- Ensure that you are getting full range within the movement.
- If available, set a barbell onto a rack in a position just above knee height.
- Lie down under the bar with your sternum directly underneath it.
- Hand positioning on the bar is shoulder-width. You want to put tension onto the bar by setting the shoulder blades back and down.
- Lift the hips off the floor and engage through the glutes whilst driving the heels into the ground, putting the body in a nice straight line.
- Pull the sternum towards the bar whilst maintaining body positioning. Ensure as you pull that you are maintaining a 45-degree angle through the elbows and that they aren’t flaring out.
- Make contact with the chest onto the bar and hold for a few seconds, really trying to build the tension through the back.
- Slowly control the descent back down into your original position, making sure that in every rep you are keeping your shoulder blades set back and down.
The pistol squat is one of the best single-leg exercises there is. If you are restricted on equipment and are looking to build strength, this should be your go-to. From the perspective of movement difficulty, the single-leg squat is up there. Mastering this will require massive amounts of mobility and balance, but it will also be a great challenge for the body. There are also numerous variations of the pistol squat that will allow you to work your way up to the penultimate stage.
- Start with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Distribute weight into the standing foot, brace the core and extend the arms and opposite foot out to use as a counterweight.
- Start to bend the standing leg in order to descend into the squat. Ensure that you focus on maintaining a flat back and an upright position throughout the torso, and that your heel remains planted firmly on the ground.
- As you descend, be conscious of your knee positioning. Make sure that the knee is in line with the middle of the foot and not caving inside.
- As you get to the bottom of the movement, try to maintain tension and form by avoiding the urge to bounce right out of the “hole” – instead, take a slight pause.
- Drive the heel into the ground, straightening through the leg.
- As you ascend upwards, begin to drive the hips forwards whilst simultaneously lifting through the torso.
- There are three variations: sitting down on a box; holding onto support, like a TRX, band or frame; or holding a weight out in front of you as a counterweight to aid balance.
The Nordic curl is one of the best hamstring builders in the game, and as a strength and conditioning coach, it is one of my main accessory movements to bulletproof the hamstring from injury.
In regards to set-up, you have a few options: you can use a training partner to pin down your feet, you can use a GHC (Glute Ham Curl machine) or, if you have none of the above, you can use a barbell. I would recommend also placing a pad underneath your knees for comfort, unless you're a sadist.
- Start on your knees with an upright position through the torso and your feet anchored down.
- Ensure that the glutes are engaged and that you are driving your hips forwards, reducing any rounding through the lower back, putting the hips into a neutral position.
- Lean your weight forwards and slowly allow the legs to straighten. The objective is to resist the force of gravity as you descend by engaging through the hamstrings, letting them lengthen under tension.
- During the descent it is very tempting to leave the hips behind and simply just drop the torso. Make sure that you keep the hips driven forwards and that your glutes are engaged throughout. You’re aiming to have your knees, hips and shoulders all in the same line.
- Extend the arms out at the bottom to catch you as you descend.
- Usually the Nordic curl is a movement that is really only focused on the eccentric (downwards) phase. However, if you are an absolute beast you can try to curl yourself back up.
- Alternatively, you can press the hands into the floor to help you get back to the start point.
