Medically reviewed by Raynetta Samuels PT, DPT, CLT
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- Body-weight exercises are convenient and effective for strengthening your body.
- These exercises can be done anywhere and do not require equipment.
- Check with your healthcare provider to determine which exercises are best for your needs.
Body-weight exercises help build strength, especially when you're on the go and do not have access to a gym. Since body-weight exercises are limited to your body mass, you can progress them by adding more volume, frequency, and difficulty.
1. Push-Ups
Push-ups target your upper body and challenge key muscle groups, including the triceps, pecs, and shoulders.
- Begin with your hands on the ground and positioned directly under you, just outside shoulder-width apart. Make sure your fingers are pointing forward.
- Extend both legs so your toes are on the ground, and balance your lower body.
- Keep your neck, hips, and back flat and aligned. Bend your elbows and lower yourself to the ground, keeping your elbows next to your body.
- Press the floor away from you and return to the starting position.
You can modify the movement by performing it from your knees instead of your feet.
2. Squats
Squats target the major muscle groups of your lower body, such as the quads (front of thighs), glutes (butt), and hamstrings (back of thighs).
- Stand tall and separate your feet shoulder-width apart. Keep your toes pointing forward.
- Brace your core, look straight ahead, and slowly sit back as if you were lowering yourself into a chair behind you.
- Pause briefly once you approach roughly 90 degrees of knee bend. Make sure your knees do not extend past your toes.
- Press through the floor, and then return to the starting position.
You can modify the depth of your squat depending on your mobility.
3. Planks
The plank is a classic body-weight exercise that challenges the transversus abdominis, rectus abdominis ("six-pack"), and obliques (side abdominals).
- Place your elbows on the floor and extend your legs so you are balancing on your toes.
- Keep your core tight, your spine and neck in a neutral position, and lift your hips so they are parallel to the floor.
- Hold the position for as long as you can before your form starts breaking down. Start with 30 seconds and work toward one minute or longer.
You can modify it by doing the plank from your knees.
4. Glute Bridges
The glute bridge strengthens the hip extensor muscles and targets your glutes and hamstrings.
When performing this movement, make sure you only extend your hips and not your lower back. Keep your core engaged to keep your spine neutral.
- Lay flat on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor.
- Keep your core and glute muscles engaged, press your feet into the floor, and bridge your hips into extension.
- Pause briefly, feel your glute muscles contract, and slowly lower yourself back toward the ground.
5. Walking Lunges
Lunges challenge your unilateral leg strength and load the quads, glutes, hamstrings, calves, and adductors. They build leg muscle while also challenging your balance and stability.
- Begin with your feet together, and stand up tall with an engaged core.
- Take a big step forward into a lunge. Bring your back knee toward the floor, and hover an inch or so above the ground.
- Return to neutral stance.
- Perform the same movement with the opposite leg.
6. Side Planks
The side plank loads the oblique abdominal muscles to a greater extent and improves spinal stability.
- Place your elbow on the floor aligned with your hips and shoulders.
- Press your forearm into the floor and raise your hips so they are parallel to the floor beneath you.
- Maintain a stable and braced core while holding the plank for as long as possible before switching sides.
Modify by performing the side plank on your knees. You will get the same benefit but with less shoulder strength needed to hold yourself up.
7. Lateral Lunges
This lunge variation loads the quads, glutes, hamstrings, calves, and hip adductors. The movement occurs in the frontal plane, and you move from side to side.
- Begin with your feet together, and stand up tall with an engaged core.
- Take a big step to the side and bend your knee. Slowly shift your weight into the lunging leg.
- Push your hip slightly back and hinge forward on the lunging leg to load your glutes.
- Return to the starting position, and then alternate legs.
8. Burpees
Burpees challenge your entire body and cardiovascular system.
- Start standing, drop into a squat, and place your hands on the floor.
- Jump your legs back so you're in a plank position.
- Return your feet to your hands either by jumping or stepping.
- Explode into a jump straight up, reach your arms overhead, and land softly. Repeat several reps and sets.
You can modify the difficulty by skipping the jump at the end.
9. Jumping Jacks
Jumping jacks challenge your entire body and get your heart pumping.
- Begin with your feet together and arms at your sides.
- Jump your feet out while raising your arms overhead in an arc motion.
- Hop back to the starting position with a soft landing. Bring your arms back toward your side before repeating in a sequential fashion.
10. Standing Calf Raises
This exercise focuses on the gastrocnemius and soleus, or the calf muscles. It isolates them, so you will feel the burn after just a few reps.
- Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and slightly bent knees. Make sure that your toes are pointing forward.
- Push through the balls of your feet. Lift your heels as high as possible while focusing on the contraction of your calf muscles.
- Pause briefly at the top before slowly lowering your heels back to the starting position and completing more reps.
11. Box Jumps
While technically a plyometric exercise, this movement also challenges the lower body muscles and fast-twitch muscle fibers. Both are key for explosive movements and power.
- Stand in front of the box with your feet hip-width apart and engage your core muscles. Make sure the box is steady.
- Swing your arms back to build momentum and jump explosively onto the box. Extend your hips, knees, and ankles at the same time.
- Land softly with both feet on the box in a stable position.
- Step down carefully and complete several reps.
Modify the height of the box depending on how difficult you want it to be. Start low and go higher as you get stronger.
12. Dead Bugs
This body-weight core exercise helps train neutral spinal mechanics and challenges your deep abdominal muscles.
- Lie on your back. Bend your legs at 90 degrees and reach your arms toward the ceiling.
- Press your back onto the floor to engage your core muscles, and extend your right leg and left arm at the same time.
- Slowly return to the position you started from, and switch arms and legs.
- Alternate each time through and do several rounds.
Are Body-Weight Exercises Actually Effective?
You need to implement the principle of "progressive overload" to build muscle. Gradually increase the weight on your muscles over time through increased resistance, reps, sets, frequency, or difficulty.
Since body-weight exercises are limited to your body mass, you will need to add more volume, frequency, or difficulty to build muscle. You can increase the number of reps or sets you do to add more volume.
When loaded properly and progressed well, body-weight exercises provide resistance to improve strength.
