Whether you’re a complete beginner, fairly new to working out, or already an avid gym goer, the importance of the basic fundamental movement patterns can never be overlooked. We recognize that not everyone may have easy access to a gym, or even a safe outdoor space, like a park, to work out in. It can be equally frustrating if you don’t have the equipment — like weights, resistance bands, or kettlebells — at the ready, either. That’s where bodyweight exercises come in. By performing simple and basic fundamental movement patterns, bodyweight exercises do not require any extra fitness equipment or fussy accessories.
This isn’t a scenario where you’d have to perform hours of bodyweight moves to replicate the benefits of a weighted exercise session, either. One very small research study — of just 10 previously inactive adults — found that an 11-minute workout session including bodyweight exercise three times a week was enough to benefit cardiorespiratory fitness, per the International Journal of Exercise Science. While those results aren’t definitive, they’re another point in favor of the benefits of bodyweight moves.
We rounded up 12 effective bodyweight exercises to help you kick off your love affair with no-equipment moves. To help us narrow down a list of “best” bodyweight exercises, we looked for options that were accessible for beginners but could be scaled up to become intermediate and advanced moves, and for exercises that recruited several major muscle groups — compound exercises — to help you get more bang for your buck. We also included lower-body bodyweight exercise options (including a basic squat, wall sit, and lunge), upper-body bodyweight exercises (such as a push-up or plank), and bodyweight moves that target your core too (like the bird dog). Here, a closer look at 10 bodyweight exercises you can try at your next gym session.