The Top 10 Bodyweight Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of

THE TOP 10 BODYWEIGHT EXERCISES YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF!

 by:Caroline Fitzgerald  

10 Bodyweight Exercises You’ve Never Heard of!

These are fantastic, effective, efficient bodyweight exercises you can do anywhere! Who needs a gym or fancy fitness equipment when you’ve got your own bodyweight and these exercises!

And best of all, they are FUN!

1. Groiner
2. Circle Rocks
3. Deck Squats
4. Body Builders
5. Frogger
6. Starter
7. Dolphin
8. Bootstrappers
9. Up/Downs
10. Walkout Pushups

Always perform a warm up before starting any exercise or workout program.

Groiner – Start in a plank position, holding your core nice and tight, a straight line between your shoulders and your ankles. Holding your body steady, bend right knee and bring your right foot up and plant it next to your right hand, with knee just outside your elbow. Be sure to plant your whole foot on the ground. Return to starting plank position and repeat with left leg. Take care not to swing your hips side to side as you “climb”. Focus on only moving your leg.
Make It Easier: Perform Spiderman Climb which is a Groiner without the jump.

Circle Rocks – Fair warning: this exercise is deceptively hard. Lie on your back and raise your arms, head and legs . Maintaining that position, rock forward and back on your back as you turn your whole body around in a circle to the left. Repeat for the same number of reps going around in a circle to the right.
Make it Easier: Perform Crunches

Deck Squats – Sit down onto ground and roll back onto your back bringing knees and feet up towards your chest.. Roll back forward and plant your hands on either side of your feet and push yourself up into standing position. Make sure to keep your knees directly above your feet, and in line with your hips, do not let your knees fall in together with your feet out to the side. Repeat for time/reps
Make it Easier: Perform Squats and Crunches

Body Builders – From standing position, squat down into a deep squat, placing hands on the ground, then shoot legs out behind you until you are in a top of pushup/plank position. Jump feet out into wide-legged position and perform a pushup. Jump feet back together, then quickly hop feet back in to hands and into deep squat position and jump up, extending arms overhead. Repeat.
Make it easier: Do Burpees

Frogger – Get on all fours, with your bodyweight evenly distributed across your hands and feet. Bend your elbows and press off the ground using your hands and feet. Repeat in quick succession.
Make it easier: Make the jump smaller.

Starter – Step back into a deep lunge – front knee bent, back leg straight – and place your hands on either side of your front foot. Keeping your hands on the ground, push back as you straighten your front leg. Return to the starting position and repeat. Repeat for equal number of reps on the other leg.
Make it Easier: Perform Reverse Lunges

Swimming Dolphin – On forearms and toes, hands clasped together, body in an inverted “V” position, shift weight on to arms as you rock forward so chin goes out past hands and rock back as far as you can. Perform slowly so you use muscle not momentum.
Make It Easier: Do not rock all the way out to chin past fists position.

Bootstrappers – Squat down and place your hands out in front of you, far enough away so you can get your palms flat on the ground. From squatting position, straighten your legs by pressing up through legs and butt, shifting your weight onto your hands. The top position should look like an inverted “V”. Return to start (squatting) by bending your knees, leaving palms on the ground at all times. Repeat. Make It Easier: Perform Squats

Up Downs _ From standing position, kick your feet back behind you, reaching for the ground with your hands – in essence throwing yourself to the ground. Absorb your “fall” with your arms and lower your chest all the way to the ground. Press yourself back up an jump your feet back in underneath you and return to standing position. Repeat. Make it Easier: Do Burpees instead

Walkout Pushups – From a standing position, lean over and place your hands flat on the ground in front of you, keeping legs straight and knees soft. Walk your hands out in front of you until you are in a plank position, perform a pushup and then walk your hands back in to your feet.. Repeat without standing up.
Make it Easier: Perform regular pushups.

Always perform a Cool Down and stretch the major muscle groups.