Effective full body workout with just your bodyweight. You will be targeting legs and the entire upper body. Excellent to do at home or while traveling!
Weights are useful and we love to utilize them in our workouts. Bodyweight also works and in many aspects can be a better choice.
The only problem with bodyweight exercises is that they can be quite complex to do in the right manner. Even a normal bodyweight push up is rarely done correctly with a good scapula stabilization.
When it comes to central nervous system activity, bodyweight exercises are way more intense because they are significantly more complex than most exercises you can do with weights.
Thanks to the simplicity of the weights and machines, they can be very useful for learning the correct body mechanics and for developing mind-muscle connection.
The basic bodyweight exercises are already complex (and effective) and many people shouldn't be doing crazy variations until the basics are mastered.
You can effectively train the entire body with just your bodyweight and zero equipment (you don't even necessarily need a pull up bar), but in order to do this, you need to focus on quality of your repetitions and mind-muscle connection.
In this workout we have only used the basic bodyweight exercises to create a complete full-body workout. These work even for the advanced trainees if you utilize the exercises right!
BODYWEIGHT TRAVEL WORKOUT |
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REGULAR SQUAT: 3 x 10-16 repetitions |
WIDE SQUAT: 3 x 10-16 repetitions |
PUSH UP: 2 x 8-16 repetitions |
PIKE PUSH UP: 2 x 6-10 repetitions |
DIAMOND PUSH UP: 2 x 7-14 repetitions |
WIDE PUSH UP: 2 x 8-14 repetitions |
BODYWEIGHT ROW: 3 x 15-20 repetitions |
EXTERNAL ROTATION RAISE: 3 x 15-20 repetitions |
You can rest 1-2 minutes between sets and exercises.
For a complete bodyweight training program, see Movement 20XX. Strength, size, mobility and movement are all covered!
REGULAR SQUAT
Regular squat is a fantastic exercise for the hamstrings, glutes and quadriceps. Take a bit wider than shoulder width stance. Your feet can point forward or slightly sideways.
The regular squat is rarely utilized for it's maximum effectiveness: everyone wants to squat heavy (or don't squat at all) and it's extremely rare to see squats done with a good form.
If your squat form is not perfect with additional weights, the regular squat should be your focus right now because it will strengthen and mobilize your legs better and faster.
Keep the core tight and focus on having control in the entire range of motion of the repetition. Your legs should start to burn relatively quick!
WIDE SQUAT
In the wide squat you take a wide stance and point your feet outwards.
The purpose of the wide squat is to stretch and strengthen the adductors (inner thighs) of the legs. Lean strongly forward to increase the activation of your inner thighs. Your glutes will also be working.
Keep the core stable and focus on feeling the movement in your inner thighs. You can place the hands on the side or over your head.
PUSH UP
Push up is one of the best horizontal pushing exercises available. In this video we covered how you can target different parts of the chest with push ups.
The regular shoulder width push up will nicely target the chest, anterior deltoids and triceps.
The important cues are to keep the scapula stable by using your upper back muscles and to maintain a tight core by contracting the abdominals.
DIAMOND PUSH UP
Diamond push up is no joke and it's one step easier tricep bodyweight exercise compared to the tiger bend push up.
Diamond push up will mostly target the triceps but your inner chest is also worked when you squeeze the chest at the top.
Similar to the regular push up, keep the scapula and core stable. Also focus on dominantly pushing with your triceps by extending the arms instead of utilizing your chest too much.
WIDE PUSH UP
In the wide push up you take an extremely wide grip and focus on pushing with your chest.
The wide push up will dominantly emphasize the outer chest. Your inner chest is not worked much because you cannot bring the arms all the way together due to the wide hand placement.
You will maximize the outer chest engagement by keeping the scapula stable because with the wide hand placement it's quite easy to over-utilize the scapula to help you push yourself up.
BODYWEIGHT ROW
Bodyweight row is all about developing a good mind-muscle connection to your upper back muscles and feeling them contract.
Focus on control and slow repetitions. After 10 repetitions the back muscles should already be burning.
When it comes to developing upper back mobility, the bodyweight row can be excellent.
EXTERNAL ROTATION RAISE
In the external rotation raise you externally rotate your arms and then do a classical shoulder raise while your body is in a 45 degree angle.
This exercise will hit the posterior deltoids, trapezius and rotator cuff. You can also extend the arms at the top to create instability and to further work the posterior deltoids.
Slow execution and mind-muscle connection are particularly important to make the external rotation raise effective.
