Press Ups – Press ups are one of the most fundamental not to mention useful bodyweight exercises in the book (the err… bodyweight weight exercises book…). They are also very easy to perform, simply lie flat on your front with your palms on the floor about your shoulders’ width apart and the balls of your feet on the floor the other end. From here, straighten your arms so that your upper body is raised off of the floor while keeping your back and legs straight. After this, bend your elbows again lowering yourself slowly back towards the ground so that your nose gently touches the floor. Push yourself up again and repeat. While it should be fairly easy, if you can’t do it to begin with try having your knees on the floor instead of your feet and build up to the full press up. Press ups work your pecs mainly, but also your triceps, shoulders, back, core and quads. They’re a fantastic full body workout.

Incline Press Ups – A great variation of the press up is the incline press up, here you simply need to put your feet up on something high behind you. This way the weight is coming at a steeper angle so making you heavier and requiring you to do more work. At the same time your body itself is at a different angle meaning your shoulders take a greater proportion of the work than in an ordinary press ups.

Clapping Press Ups – Clapping press ups are a showy variation that make the movement more ‘plyometric’ making it work the fast twitch muscle fibres more (the fibres used for faster more explosive movements) as well as burning more fat and breaking more of a sweat. Simply perform the press up normally, but as you do launch yourself off the ground and clap before landing. If this is too easy you can do two or three claps, or even try clapping behind your back.

The One Handed Press Up – Here you do a press up with one hand behind your back. To do this you’ll need to keep your legs spread further apart in order to more evenly distribute the weight and to help maintain balance. At the same time you should have the hand you are using more central, again to help balance.

Tricep Dips – Tricep dips work the triceps as well as the shoulders and to an extent the pecs. To perform these you will need a surface about thigh to waist height. This can be a bench, a sofa, a bed or a step and you should be able to find something fairly suitable wherever you are. Now rest your palms on the edge of the surface with your legs extended in front of you balancing on your heels. Simply now bend your elbows so that you lower your bum to the ground before raising yourself again in a slow controlled manner.

Dips – Dips are like tricep dips, in that you’re dipping… but they more specifically work the outsides of the pecs and the lats. To perform dips you’ll need two opposite surfaces. In a gym there are usually facilities for these, but if you’re at home or in a hotel you can stand two chairs opposite each other or try the side boards in the kitchen (just make sure they can take your weight first). Now simply place a hand on either side and lower your body in the middle by pivoting at the elbows.

Pull Ups – Pull ups are another well known bodyweight exercise for which you’ll need any area to grip that is above head height. Here you simply hang from the bar or surface then lower and raise your body in front of it. It is different from the chin up in that you use a overhand (AKA pronated) grip, which means it works the biceps more. This is really the main biceps workout you can do with your bodyweight.

Chin Ups – Chin ups are like pull ups except they use the reverse grip. This engages different muscles, focussing more on the lats, much like a lat pull down.

Pull Up Variations – There are many variations of the pull up that you can use to make it more difficult or to work slightly different muscle groups. One variation is to do a one handed pull up, or to have your hands on two handles facing inwards. Another good one is to move your body in a circular motion rather than simply up and down, or to suspend yourself with your elbows bent and move forward and backwards rather than up and down at all. This latter movement is rather advanced and will require a lot of strength. Try experimenting!

Leg Raises – Leg raises are an exercise for the mid section that specifically work the upper abs. This exercise also requires either a pull up bar, or two opposite bars that you can use to suspend yourself above the ground with while keeping your legs free. Now simply raise them up with your legs straight directly in front of you pivoting at the hips. Do so in a slow and controlled manner before lowering and repeating.

Frog Kicks – Frog kicks are much like leg raises though a slightly easier version. Here, rather than slowly lifting your legs directly outwards in front of you, you simply bring your knees slowly up to your chest then back down. This is a good one for building up to the harder but more effective leg raises if you cannot do them to begin with.

Sit Ups – Sit ups are perhaps the most popular bodyweight exercises of all, working the entire six pack without too much effort on your part. To perform them simply sit lie on the ground with your legs bent and your feet up by your bum and flat on the floor. Now place your hands on your temples and sit up so that your chest touches your knees, then lower slowly, and repeat. Be sure not to put your hands behind your head however, or you may risk pulling on your neck and causing yourself damage.

Crunches – Crunches are similar to sit ups but work more specifically the lower and mid abs. This is important as it’s these can help hold in a slight gut or beer belly. To perform the crunch, simply get in position to do a sit up, but then rather than sitting all the way up, ‘roll’ your abs up slightly and raise just your lower back up off the floor. Squeeze your abs as you do so then return to the ground before repeating. You may alternatively want to do these with your feet off the ground, suspended in the air facing away from you.

Twisting Sit Ups – The twisting sit up simply involves twisting your waist at the end of an ordinary sit up, going opposite directions for each rep and ensuring you do an even number. This works the obliques down the side of your abs, a muscle group often missed by gym goers that can really improve both your core strength and the appearance of your mid section.

Incline Sit Ups – To perform incline sit ups you will need an incline bench with some way to fasten your legs to the top end. By doing sit ups at a steeper angle you’ll increase the amount of weight on your abs and so greatly increase the amount of strength required to perform the reps.

Upside Down Sit Ups – If you want to go one further you ‘hang’ from a ledge or bar and do your sit ups completely vertically. Simply hook your knees or feet over a pull up bar or similar then sit up from the vertical position. This is an advanced movement and you should make sure that you’re secure and unlikely to fall on your neck if you do so.

Squats – There are also many bodyweight exercises that can work the legs, though few people are aware of them. For example, a squat can believe it or not be performed with just your bodyweight if you go down low enough. Simply stand feet apart and very slowly lower yourself so that your bottom touches the ground (in bodybuilding circles this is called ATG – or Ass To Grass), then slowly lift yourself up.

One Legged Squats – Weightless squats however are really rather easy unless you’re a beginner, so to make them more difficult try doing them on just one leg. You’ll quickly find that this is a whole lot more difficult and probably just as hard as squatting in the gym!

Sissy Squats – Sissy squats are another squat variation that makes the exercise much more difficult. Here you start on tip toes with your knees bent leaning backwards, like you’re Neo dodging bullets in the Matrix. From here bend your knees further so that you could touch your angles, then slowly raise yourself. It’s an incredibly difficult quads workout and requires a lot of balance as well as strength.

Lunges – Lunges can also be performed weightlessly if you lunge deep enough. To make your lunges deeper, put your back foot up on a slightly raise surface.

Calf Raises – To perform calf raises stand on a step or slightly raised platform so that your heels dangle over the edge and you’re balancing the balls of your feet. Now lower your calves so that they’re lower than your toes, then raise them so that you’re on tip toes and repeat. To make this movement more difficult try doing it on one foot.

Mack LeMouse

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