Bodyweight exercises are an incredible tool to develop both muscular strength and hypertrophy, but are frequently overlooked by individuals. Whether you’re an exercise novice or expert, regularly attend the gym or not, bodyweight exercises should feature in everyone’s thoughts when it comes to planning an effective workout. Not only are bodyweight exercises extremely cost effective, in that you don’t need any expensive gym equipment or membership to undertake, but they can be extremely challenging as well. What’s more, if for whatever reason you can’t make the gym or are stuck somewhere a million miles from home, bodyweight exercises can be undertaken to keep you in shape until normality is resumed. Whichever way you look at it, bodyweight exercises offer you a win-win situation which should simply not be overlooked. When you think of bodyweight exercises you might think of press-ups for the chest or pull-ups for the back. These are incredible exercises and have a place in everyone’s workout, there’s no doubt about that. Sometimes however, you need something a little bit more challenging and an exercise or two that will target and hit the entire body in a single movement. These types of exercises are often easy to think of in a gym based scenario but cause the mind to go blank when it comes to achieving this with nothing other than your bodyweight as resistance. As a result, this article will consider two full body exercises which you can add to your bodyweight repertoire;
Full Body Bodyweight Exercises
Burpees
This compound movement targets numerous major muscle groups including the quadriceps, calves, shoulders, chest and triceps. To perform this exercise start in a standing position with your feet approximately shoulder width apart. From this position bend down and place both the palms of your hands on the floor and allowing your legs to move behind you, as if you were trying to adopt a press-up position. Perform a single press-up before bringing your legs back in towards your torso and jumping upwards in an explosive movement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZQA08SlJnM&t=32s
Squat Pull-Ups
This compound exercise targets numerous major muscle groups including the glutes, quadriceps, back and biceps. To perform this exercise start in a standing position underneath a rigid bar or immovable object you can pull yourself up against. Your feet should be approximately shoulder width apart. From this position undertake a squat by pushing your hips back and bending your knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Push yourself back upwards to the starting position then continue this upwards movement and grasp the bar above you. Pull yourself up and perform a single pull-up before lowering yourself down. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfYPrMgXr20 Although the latter does require an object to pull up against, this can be anything from a tree branch to some apparatus at the local park.
Final Word
So there you have it, two incredible exercises which target major muscles running throughout your entire body and requiring nothing other than your bodyweight. Whether you have a gym membership or not, why not give them a go. You’ll be surprised just how challenging and rewarding they actually are.
