20 Bodyweight Exercises You Can Do Anywhere

You don’t need a ton of equipment to get a good workout in. You can still build strength at home with just your own body weight. This month, I’m sharing 20 different exercises you can do anywhere – at home, outside, in a gym, or even in a hotel room while traveling. I’ve divided it up into different sections – lower body, upper body, core, and cardio – so you can mix and match to create your own bodyweight workout! 

Lower Body Exercises: 

• Squats 

• Reverse Lunges  

• Glute Bridges 

• Wall Sit  

• Single Leg Deadlift 

Upper Body Exercises: 

• Pushups 

• Superman  

• Tricep Dips 

• Prone IYT 

• Body Saw

Core Exercises:

• Roman twists

• Sit Ups  

• Bicycle Crunches 

• Reverse Crunch 

• Dead Bugs 

Cardio Exercises  

• Inchworms 

• Burpees 

• Jumping Jacks 

• Skaters  

• Plank Jacks  

If you’re unsure of how to do an exercise listed above, or need a modification, check out the exercise descriptions below.  

Exercise Guide: 

• Squats: Stand with your feet slightly wider than your hips. Toes should be slightly pointed outward. Keep your chest up and spine in a neutral position. When you squat, it’s important to initiate the movement from your hips, keeping the core braced the entire time. Make sure your knees are still in line with your toes and aren’t caving inwards or too far out. As you stand, drive through the heels of the foot and squeeze your butt at the top.  

• Reverse Lunges: Start by standing with feet shoulder width apart. Take a long step back with your right foot, landing on your toes. Drop your right knee towards the floor, so that both knees are around 90 degrees. Make sure to not lean forward or backward, keeping the shoulders stacked. Step forwards with right foot again back to the starting position. If you’re looking to switch it up, here are some other lunge variations you can try: forward lunges, walking lunges, curtsy lunges, lateral lunges and jump lunges.  

• Glute Bridges: Start by lying face up with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Arms are rested by your sides. Lift your hips off the ground until your knees, hips, and shoulders form a straight line. Squeeze your glutes and keep your core braced to make sure you don’t overextend your back. Hold for a few seconds, then return down. If you’re looking to switch it up from the standard glute bridge, here are a few other ideas: single leg bridge, marching bridge, feet elevated bridge (with your feet on a step), and bridge with inner thigh squeeze (using a pillow or small ball).  

• Wall Sit: Start by leaning your back against a sturdy wall. Walk your feet out in front of you, keeping them hip-width apart. Lower your hips down, until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Make sure your knees are stacked over your ankles. Keep your core engaged and back against the wall. 

• Single Leg Deadlift: Stand with feet hip-width apart. Shift your weight to your right foot and begin to hinge from the hips, kicking the left leg up behind you. Make sure to keep your shoulders and hips square to the floor. Drive through your right foot and return to standing. If needed, hold onto a pole for balance! 

• Pushups: Start in a plank position with hands shoulder-width apart. Bend at the elbows and slowly lower the chest towards the floor, keeping your body straight. Push up to return to the top. You can either do this in a modified plank, with knees down, or in a full plank on your toes and feet shoulder width apart. Make sure to pick a variation where you can maintain form. 

• Superman: Lie face down on the floor with legs straight and arms extended out in front of you. Slowly lift your arms and legs up off the floor, engaging your glutes and core while pinching your shoulder blades together. Make sure to keep your head and neck in a neutral position by looking down towards the floor. Hold for a few counts, then slowly lower.   

• Tricep Dips: Sit on the edge of a chair, bench, or step. Place your hands on the edge, next to your hips. Fingers should be pointed forward towards your feet. Slide your hips off the edge of the seat, keeping feet hip width apart and firmly planted. You should be hovering close to the step/chair, just far enough not to hit it. Lower yourself down through your elbows, pressing and squeezing through the triceps. Push yourself slowly back up until your arms are straight.  

• Prone IYT: Lie face down on the floor with legs straight and arms extended out in front of you. Like the superman, lowly lift your arms and legs up off the floor, engaging your glutes and core while pinching your shoulder blades together. This is the “I” in the IYT. Lower your chest, arms, and legs, then bring your arms out to the corners of the room, in a Y shape. Lift and lower the body the same way as the I. For the T, bring out the arms laterally to the sides to make the T shape. Lift and lower again. That’s one whole rep of the IYT! 

• Body Saw: Start in a plank position on the forearms at toes. Brace your core as you push through your toes and pull through the elbows, shifting the body forward. The shoulders will go from stacked over the elbows, to forward over the elbows. Push back to the starting plank position. Make sure to keep your torso neutral as you do this, not letting the back lower or lift.  

• Roman Twists: Sit tall with knees bent and heels on the floor. Bring your hands to your chest and lean back, making sure to keep your back flat and core engaged. With control, rotate the torso from right to left.     

• Sit Ups: Lie on your back with knees bent and feet on the floor. Bring your hands to your ears with elbows wide. Curl your upper body up into a seated position, keeping both feet on the floor and elbows up. Try not to use momentum here! Slowly and with control, lower yourself down towards the floor. If needed, modify by performing a crunch. 

• Bicycle Crunches: Lie on your back with your knees bent at 90 degrees and stacked above your hips. Bring your hands at to your temples and slowly lift your head, neck, and shoulders into a crunch position. From here, you’ll bicycle, bringing right shoulder to left knee, as the right leg extends out straight. Twist quickly but with control to the other side, bringing left shoulder and right knee together with your left leg extending out straight. Continue to alternate in the same way.  

• Reverse Crunch: Lie face up on your mat with knees bent at 90 degrees and stacked above your hips. Keep your arms by your sides. Brace your core and lift your knees up and in towards your chest so that your hips and lower back lift off the mat. Lower back to 90 degrees. This movement should be done slowly and with control.   

• Dead Bugs: Lie down on your back with your knees bent at 90 degrees and lifted to a tabletop position. Raise your arms so that they’re straight and stacked above your shoulders. Brace your core and keep your spine neutral as you extend your right arm and left leg away from each other until they’re just above the floor. Return your arm and leg to the center. 

• Inchworms: Stand at the edge of a mat with your feet shoulder width apart. Hinge from the hips and bring your hands to the mat, just in front of your feet. Walk your hands forward until you’re in a plank position. Reverse the movement by walking your hands back towards your feet and standing back up.   

• Burpees: Start in a standing position with feet just outside shoulder width apart. Sit into a squat and lower your hands to the floor in front of you so that they’re just inside your feet. Place your weight into your hands and jump both feet back so you’re in a plank position. Perform a pushup while keeping your body straight and core braced. Jump both feet back up towards your hands so you’re in a squat position again. Stand all the way up to the starting position and jump into the air. For modifications or other variations to try, go to our blog post: The Ultimate Burpee Variation List

• Jumping Jacks: Start in a standing position with your feet together and hands by your sides. Jump your feet out wide, keeping a small bend in the knees, while bringing your arms up above your head. Jump your feet back in. For a low impact variation, try a step jack, where you step your feet out and in instead of jumping.  

• Skaters: Start in a standing position with feet shoulder width apart. Jump laterally to the right, landing on your right foot while the left swings back behind your right. Make sure to land softly, with your right knee bent and hips sitting back and down like a squat. Then, jump laterally to the left, using the same technique. For a low impact version, step instead of jump as you move side to side.