Best No-Equipment Workouts You Can Do At Your Home
“I don’t have enough time” and “gym memberships are so expensive” are probably the two most common excuses for not working out. Since you’re reading this article, chances are you too take comfort in these statements.
Some people fail to realize that they don’t necessarily need to go to a gym to workout and resistance workouts aren’t the only type of training. A solid grit is all you need to get and stay in shape.
Apart from the annihilating workouts, this article will show you that you don’t need fancy equipment to build the physique of your dreams, and that complicated isn’t always better when it comes to working out.
In this article, we’ll give you three different workouts that you can do at your home or on the move. The muscle pumps at the end of each of these workouts will make you wonder if you ever need to step inside a gym again.
Out of the three workouts, one will be an outdoor session, and the other two can be done inside a room. This program is designed to keep your muscular and cardiovascular conditioning in top shape.
Benefits Of Bodyweight Workouts
Bodyweight workouts allow you the opportunity to reap the benefits of a great workout without the need for any equipment. While free weights, machine, and resistance bands are nice, and can be added into bodyweight workouts, the benefits of doing strictly an exercise with just your body can prove to be effective in the long run.
Benefits of bodyweight workouts include:
- Work your whole body: You can work your whole body and allow for all those muscles to get work done to ensure an efficient workout.
- Great for all levels: Anyone of all fitness levels can get a good workout and will add variety into your training sessions.
- Build muscle: You can still build muscle effectively with a bodyweight workout to increase mass and sculpt a shredded physique (1).
- Enhance cardio: Working with some bodyweight exercises that require cardio-like movement, you can enhance your aerobic capacity to see great endurance gains (2).
- Promote balance and flexibility: By working with bodyweight exercises you can strengthen and stretch those muscles and ligaments for better flexibility and mobility while also forcing yourself to stay balanced.
Best No Equipment Workouts
Workout 1 – Run For Your Life
- Run – 0.5 Miles
- Lunges – 10 Each Leg
- Jumping Jacks – 25 Reps
Circuits – 3 | Time – 15-20 Minutes
Remember, this isn’t one of your leisure runs. Each exercise on this list is meant to be done with the highest intensity possible. After you run half a mile, keep your hands on your sides and start performing the lunges.
Get into the jumping jacks as soon as you’re done with the lunges. Rest for a minute and start the circuit again until you’re done with the three rounds. Not only do you need to complete the number of reps, but you also need to do them within the time mentioned.
Keep a stopwatch running and if – God forbid – you’re not able to complete the workouts within the time target, your punishment is to do one additional round. Make sure you don’t compromise on your form while performing the exercises.
Workout 2 – The Rep Attack
Reps – 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 | Time – 20-25 minutes
The second training session is a rep pyramid workout. You’ll start the workout by performing ten reps of each exercise in the first circuit. The second round will have nine reps, eight reps in the third and so on until you perform one rep of each exercise in the last circuit.
You will not stop for rest between exercises. However, you’ll be taking a 30-second breather after completing each circuit. This is a great workout to do anywhere. You pack in a ton of quality work – 55 reps of 5 different exercises – and perform the entire workout in one spot.
Workout 3 – Make The Time Count
- Skier Abs – 30 Seconds
- Jump Squats – 30 Seconds
- Diamond Pushups – 30 Seconds
- Mountain Climber Twist – 30 Seconds
- Touchdown Jack – 30 Seconds
Circuits – 3 | Time – 15-20 Minutes
Time will be the focus of the third workout. You’ll be performing each exercise for the time mentioned in front of it. As with the other two workouts, you can take a 30-second break after completing a circuit and nothing in between.
The workout should get harder as you get into the second and third circuits. Make sure you’re not compromising on your form. If you’re a beginner, you can perform the high plank leg lifts in place of the skier abs and Russian twists instead of the mountain climber twists.
Why Circuits Are Great Workouts
Working with circuit training will give you gains by bouncing from exercise to exercise to keep your muscles workout and your heart rate high. As time efficient and convenient ways to build muscle, you can design a circuit to your specific needs. If you want strength, tailor it around workouts for building muscle. For more cardio-based work, look to put in higher intensity exercises so you can keep your heart rate high and work on endurance (3). Ultimately, this allows you to tailor your workouts in an effective way to see gains.
Wrap Up
These no equipment workouts are perfect for seeing the gains you want most. By working with bodyweight exercises, either alone or in a circuit style format, you can better tackle any and all of those fitness needs you seek to address. While equipment is great, it is possible to have an effective workout without it. Give these no equipment exercises a try and see what they can do for all your fitness needs today.
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*Images courtesy of Envato
References
- Harrison, J. (2010). “Bodyweight Training: A Return To Basics”. (source)
- Archila, L.; et al. (2021). “Simple Bodyweight Training Improves Cardiorespiratory Fitness with Minimal Time Commitment: A Contemporary Application of the 5BX Approach”. (source)
- Kumar, P. (2013). “The Effect of Circuit Training on Cardiovascular Endurance of High School Boys”. (source)
