By If you’re constantly travelling or, like me, looking for new workouts to do in your living room, we’ve got some good news for you: exercise can happen outside of the gym. You don’t even need fancy equipment (or any equipment!) for an effective workout; you can get your sweat on doing bodyweight moves basically wherever you so choose. Tommy Powers, the NHL Florida Panthers’ strength and conditioning coach and founder of Empowers Performance, emphasised the fact that there are plenty of ways you can get a workout in that require minimal space.
Tommy, who’s always on the go with the Panthers, said that a bodyweight circuit is a great for “staying sharp and feeling decent on the road, and you can just make it up as you go. Or, if you have certain body parts you want to work, you can focus on those.” For instance, if you wanted to do a lot of abs, he said it’s easy to do planks and crunches in a small area. He created a zero-equipment workout for POPSUGAR that will primarily target your lower body and core. Check it out in full ahead.
6-Move No-Equipment Lower-Body and Core Workout
Full-Body Warmup
- Cat Cow: 10 reps
- Down Dog, Plank Push-Up, Up Dog: five reps
- Glute Bridges: 10 reps with a two-second pause at the top
- Single-Leg Glute Bridges: 10 reps each side
- Sit-Ups: five reps (five seconds up; five seconds down)
- Dynamic Front Plank: 30 seconds (for these, alternate moving your hips side to side and your shoulders front to back)
- Dynamic Side Plank: 20 reps each side (for these, do side-plank dips)
Repeat this warmup for a total of two rounds.
6-Move No-Equipment Workout
- Squats: 10 reps
- Single-Leg Romanian Deadlifts: 10 reps each side
- Curtsy Lunges: 10 reps each side
- Creepy Crawlers: 10 reps each side
- Dead Bug: 10 reps
- Tempo Bicycle Crunch: 20 reps each side (five each side slow; five each side fast, two times)
Rest for one minute and repeat this circuit for three rounds total. Tommy said you can decrease how long you rest between rounds if you want a challenge. And, don’t forget to do a cooldown stretch.
For more no-equipment workouts, check out these videos or this full-body 20-minute routine. Ahead, see directions for each move Tommy suggested, and get your workout on!
Squats
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Kyle Hartman
- Stand with your feet slightly wider than your shoulders, feet parallel or toes slightly turned out.
- Bend your knees, lowering your hips deeply. Bring your thighs parallel to the floor and bend the elbows, keeping weight back in your heels.
- Rise back up, straightening the legs completely, squeezing the glutes at the top of the movement to get the most out of the exercise.
- This counts as one rep. Do 10 reps.
1 / 6
Single-Leg Deadlift
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography
- Stand with all your weight on your right foot, abs engaged and chest lifted.
- Reach your torso forward as you lift your left leg behind you. Reach your arms out to the sides for balance as your torso and leg come parallel to the floor.
- Hold this position for a moment, and reach through your left heel to engage the back of the left leg.
- Moving in one piece, lower your left leg toward the floor as you return to standing upright, resting the left foot lightly on the ground. This completes one rep.
- Do 10 reps on each side.
2 / 6
Curtsy Lunge
Image Source: POPSUGAR Studios
- Start from standing, and step your left leg behind you and to the right so your thighs cross, bending both knees as if you were curtsying. Make sure your front knee is aligned with your front ankle.
- Return to standing, and switch sides to complete one rep.
- Do 10 reps on each side.
3 / 6
Creepy Crawly Push-Up
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Benjamin Stone
- Starting in a plank position, bend your elbows out to the sides lowering your torso toward the floor while bending your left knee and touch it to your left elbow.
- Straighten your arms, and return to your plank position with both feet on the ground. Repeat on the other side bringing the right knee to the right elbow and return to plank. This completes one rep.
- Do 10 reps on each side.
4 / 6
Dead Bug
Image Source: POPSUGAR Studios
- Lie on your back with a neutral spine and your hips and knees at right angles with your palms pressed into your thighs just above your knees.
- Pull your abs to your spine, keeping your ribs and pelvis still as you lengthen your right arm and leg out until they are almost parallel to the floor. Do keep your torso and spine completely stable as the arm and leg move.
- Return to the starting position, and repeat on the left side to complete one rep. Do 10 reps.
5 / 6
Bicycle Crunches – Tempo
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Benjamin Stone
- Lie flat on the floor with your lower back pressed to the ground (pull your abs down to also target your deep abs). Interlace your fingers and put your hands behind your head.
- Bring your knees in toward your chest and lift your shoulder blades off the ground.
- Straighten your right leg out to about a 45-degree angle to the ground while turning your upper body to the left, bringing your right elbow toward the left knee. Make sure your rib cage is moving and not just your elbows.
- Now switch sides and do the same motion on the other side to complete one rep (and to create the pedaling motion). Do this exercise with slow and controlled motions.
- Tommy gave the following tempo: five each side slow; five each side fast. Repeat the tempo twice for a total of 20 reps each side.
6 / 6
