It’s easy to assemble a home gym But if you (or your significant other) don’t want even minimal clutter at home or if you need a portable workout that can be done in hotel rooms, airports, or even outdoors, it’s possible to craft an intense workout with just your body weight.
Of course, the more body weight you have, the more challenging that workout can be. That’s good news, since you’ll drop weight as you progress. You’ll save time otherwise spent traveling to a gym, and you’ll save money instead of forking over cash for a membership. And you’ll finish near your own kitchen, so you can whip up a post-workout recovery shake.
HOW IT WORKS: THE AT-HOME, NO-EQUIPMENT BODYWEIGHT WORKOUT
This at-home workout without equipment is designed as a circuit. Each round of the circuit consists of seven exercises. We’ll perform three total rounds, alternating between pushing and pulling (or upper- and lower-body movements). This will to keep moving, making the most of our workout time without having any toys to put away at the end.
Pete Williams is a NASM-certified personal trainer and the author or co-author of a number of books on performance and training.
1. Glute Bridge
Why It Works: Even if you’re training first thing in the morning, your glutes are undoubtedly tight from sitting at desks and behind steering wheels all day, every day. This activates the glutes—arguably the most powerful muscles in the body—at the start of your session.
How to Do It: Lie face-up on the floor with knees bent 90 degrees and feet on the floor. Squeeze your glutes and bridge your hips to the ceiling. Only your shoulders and hips remain on the ground. Hold for two seconds and then lower your hips toward the ground without touching.
Prescription: 10 reps
Hand Walks
Why It Works: This full-body move lengthens your hamstrings and calves while opening up your ankles and lower back. It also stabilizes the shoulders.
How to Do It: Stand with legs straight and hands on the floor. Walk your hands out. Keeping your legs straight, walk you feet back to your hands using short steps from your ankles.
Prescription: 10 reps
Lunge Elbow to Instep
Why It Works: This challenges your overall core stability by combining two effective moves in one.
How to Do It: Begin in a forearm plank position. Push from your triceps, placing your right hand on the ground and then your left hand, gradually rising to pushup position. Return to forearm plank by placing your right forearm down and then your left.
Prescription: 10 reps
4. Plank-to-Pushup
Why It Works: This challenges your overall core stability by combining two effective moves in one.
How to Do It: Begin in a forearm plank position. Push from your triceps, placing your right hand on the ground and then your left hand, gradually rising to pushup position. Return to forearm plank by placing your right forearm down and then your left.
Prescription: 10 reps
5. 3-Way Pushup
Why It Works: By doing three sets of 10 pushups in three consecutive different positions, we’re amping up this workout quickly while challenging our chest and shoulders from three angles.
How to Do It: Do 10 traditional pushups (hands directly below the shoulders) followed by 10 “diamond” pushups (index fingers and thumbs touching), followed by 10 wide-grip pushups (hands wider than the shoulders)
Prescription: 10 reps of each
6. Straight Leg Lowering
Why It Works: This hamstring stretch also challenges the muscles of the chest and torso.
How to Do It: Lie flat on your back with arms at your sides and legs straight up above your hips. Keeping one leg straight, slowly lower the other to just above the floor. Return to starting position and repeat. The key is to keep your toes pointed toward your shins and your back flat on the floor.
Prescription: 10 reps per side
7. Burpee
Why It Works: This full-body, push-up-like exercise gives you all the benefits of pushups while also challenging your cardiovascular system and ratcheting up the intensity of your workout, which is especially important when you only have 15 minutes.
How to Do It: From a standing position, squat, place you hands on the ground, and “jump” your feet out into a push-up position. Perform a pushup and then jump your feet to your hands. Then jump as high as you can, throwing your hands over your head.
