A Bodyweight Workout to Make You Sweat
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This workout is custom built to make you sweat, elevate your heart rate, build strength, shed fat and make you feel great! As with all bodyweight workouts dosing out the repetitions can be tricky. If you find the reps are too high, try halfing or quartering and build up. Maintaining proper form should be your focus - to avoid injury and build functional, resilient muscle. If you need to sacrifice some extra reps for it, do it without thinking. Altogether, this circuit consists of 13 individual movements, targeting your entire body. It may look very intense at first glance, but don’t let that intimidate you. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can work through the movements. Repeat the circuit for as many rounds as you can. Remember to start with whatever you’re comfortable with and go from there. The Circuit: Wide-Grip Push-Ups (10 Reps) Of course, if it’s been a while since your last pushup, start off on your knees, take it one rep at a time and build up. Making slow consistent progress is the best way forward. Set your hands wide apart, so that when you lower your chest to the floor - your arms, chest and the floor form a rectangle. Square Push-Ups (10 Reps) Position your palms so they are square with your shoulders. Keep your elbows tucked in, moving alongside your torso through the movement. Knuckle Push-Ups (10 Reps) Get into the same, square press-up position, only on your knuckles this time instead of your palms. Lower your chest to the floor, letting your elbows bend back like a grasshopper’s legs. Diamond Push-Ups (10 Reps) Place your thumbs and index fingers together in a diamond shape under the centre of your chest. Lower your chest to the centre of the diamond, then push back up again. Leg Lifts (20 Reps) Start by lying on your back with your head and shoulders off the ground, hands right by your side or supporting your lower back, and lifting your legs straight up to a 90-degree angle, before lowering them back down slowly. Abdominal Crunches (20 Reps) Lie on your back and plant your feet on the floor, hip-width apart. Bend your knees and place your arms across your chest. Contract your abs and inhale, then exhale and lift your upper body - keeping your head and neck relaxed. Inhale and return to the starting position. Heel Touches (20 Reps) Lay, back down, on the floor with your head and shoulders raised looking between your legs. Your knees should be bent with your feet flat on the floor. Alternate touching each ankle with your hands by moving from side to side keeping your head and shoulders raised off the floor. Bodyweight Squats (30 Reps) Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart and your toes turned slightly outward. Inhale and initiate the movement by hinging at the hips first, then bend knees to lower into a squat position until your thighs are parallel or almost parallel with the floor. Exhale and press into the mid-foot to straighten legs to stand, with your hips and torso rising at the same time. Lunges (30 Reps) Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Step forward with one leg and allow both knees to bend simultaneously. Descend until your back knee touches the floor. Drive through the front foot and extend the knee as you stand up fully and return to the starting position. Alternate legs each rep for a total of 30. Calf Raises (To Failure) Stand straight with a tight core and flat back, keeping your hands at your sides or holding on to a wall for balance. Focusing the tension on your calf muscles, with your feet, hip-width apart, slowly raise yourself up on to the balls of your feet. Pause at the top of the movement and slowly return to the starting position. Repeat the movement until you can’t anymore. Bodyweight Rows (40 Reps / To Failure) Find something sturdy, around waist height, you can lie under. Position yourself under your makeshift bar, lying face up. Grab the bar with an overhand grip, arms slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Keep your body in a completely straight line. Your ears, shoulders, hips, legs, and feet should all be in a straight line, like a plank position. Pull yourself up to the bar until your chest touches it. Lower yourself back down with proper form and repeat. 40 is a high rep count for a demanding exercise like rows, if you would prefer to chop the movement down to reps of 10, do it! It’s important to balance out those pushups, so do get as many in as you can - alternate between 10 pushups and 10 rows for some variation. Supine Plank (Hold: 1 Minute / To Failure) Sit on the floor with your legs extended in front of you. Place your palms, with your fingers spread wide, on the floor slightly behind and outside of your hips. Press into your palms and lift your hips and torso toward the ceiling. Look up to the ceiling, point your toes, and keep your arms and legs straight. Keeping your entire body strong, forming a straight line from your head to your heels. Squeeze your core and try to pull your belly button back toward your spine. Hold the position for up to one minute. We did promise you’d break a sweat! Let us know in the comments below what you thought of our workout and which exercise(s) you’ll never do again.