5 Best Bodyweight Exercises You Can Do Anywhere

Tight on time, even tight on space? Here are 5 bodyweight exercises to try at home. You don’t need much space to get an effective workout in. Just find an area the length of a yoga mat and let’s get to work with these bodyweight exercises.

1. Push-ups / LEVEL 2: Dive Bomber push-up:
   • Push-ups give you great bang for your buck. You’re engaging your lower body, core and upper body throughout. The best part is you can progress or regress based on your fitness level. Start in a high plank position, with shoulders stacked over wrists, core tight and legs locked out. Lower your body until your chest hits the ground, while making sure your elbows stay tight to your body. It’s important to focus on your hips rising with your chest on the way up. If you’re ready to level up, let’s try some blastoff push-ups: Start in a high plank position with shoulders stacked over wrists, hinge hips back toward your heels, keeping your knees off the ground, send your chest and lower body forward until chest taps the ground, press away from ground, keeping your elbows back at a 45 degree angle. 
   • Beginners we’ve got you: Simply anchor your knees into the ground, lift up your feet and lower down until your chest hits the ground. Don’t leave your booty behind. Hips and shoulders stay in line on the way down and up!
     
2. Stationary lunges / LEVEL 2: Split jumps
   • We’re big fans of any and all lunge variations, but stationary lunges are super challenging because they test your stability even more than a reverse lunge. Start in a half kneeling position. Drive down into your front foot and come to a standing position, locking out both legs. Your feet will stay where they are for the entire movement. Want to level up? Add a little hop to your lunge as you stand up for that extra lower body burn!
     
3. Squats / LEVEL 2: Jump squats
   • Squats are simple and that’s why we love them. You can progress, regress, add weight, the list goes on. Before any of that, let’s make sure we know the correct technique for bodyweight squats. Start with your feet hip distance apart, push your knees out as you sit your hips back and down, keeping your chest lifted. The goal is for your hips to be parallel to your knees or below for full range of motion. Drive through the middle of your feet and squeeze your glutes as you stand up. Limited ankle mobility? Put a wedge or a book under your heels – this will allow you to get more depth and more out of your squat. Ready to progress? Try some jump squats to get your heart rate up and work on explosiveness. Focus on a light landing to protect your knees.
     
4. Mountain Climbers / LEVEL 2: Oblique mountain climbers
   • Mountain climbers are great for both core stability and cardio, not to mention minimal space is needed to do this full body exercise. Start in a plank position with your shoulders directly over your wrists. Pull one knee in towards your chest and alternate with the other. Keep your hips down, maintaining your plank position and engaging your core the entire time. Want to take it up a notch? Start in your same plank position and pull one knee to the opposite elbow and then the other knee to the opposite elbow. We call these oblique mountain climbers. We want to see that hustle.
     
5. Hollow hold / LEVEL 2: Hollow rocks
   • Need a quick core burn? Hollow hold or hollow rocks are great bodyweight exercises to throw into your at-home workout routine. Begin laying on your back, press your lower back into the ground and lift your shoulder blades up. Bring your arms behind your head so that biceps are right next to your ears and lastly, lift your legs off of the ground just a few inches and hold that position. Your body should create a banana or boat shape. You can regress this challenging core movement but reaching your arms towards your heels. Leveling up? Begin to slowly rock your body in this hollow hold position. The challenge is maintaining the same banana shape and letting only your core control the hollow rock.