If you want to progress in your workouts you need to step out of your comfort zone. This means that sometimes every exercise won’t be your favourite but if you skip these moves you might skip the results too.
Burpees are hard BUT, they are great because they work as a full body move that also gets your heart rate way up! You can do this one with or without a push-up or add a couple of boxing jabs to start off each rep. Either way, it is a cardiovascular and muscle builder.
Find Burpees difficult? Start by doing jump squats, planks and push-ups separately. Once you master those moves, you’ll be ready to tackle them together!
Bulgarian Split-Squats – Few exercises target the leg muscles as much as this move. Grab a bench and put one foot out in front of you and the other behind you and on the bench and lower yourself on the leg out in front. Start with just your bodyweight and perform 12 per side. Then start adding dumbbells to make them more challenging. It won’t take you long to start feeling the burn, especially in your quads. If you don’t do them often, expect a couple of days of soreness too. That means they’re working!
Pull-Ups – One of the best bodyweight exercises that you can do, it’s also one of the most difficult to complete with proper technique. Firing off even a few of these without any assistance is a challenge as they hit your back, arms and core hard. Start off with band assisted pull-ups to perfect your technique, but just make sure that the assisted weight still leaves you challenged.
Lunges – Even just using your bodyweight for this exercise is one of the best ways to improve your balance and functional body strength. The lunge hits your quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes. You can do these almost anywhere too, in a spot or walking over a distance.
Pistol Squats – While this is the best bodyweight training that you can do for your legs, it is also the most difficult. Try mastering the bodyweight squat first, then start at the bottom position and kick out one leg and hold for balance; after mastering that, try the move from the top, lower and use a box or chair to touch on the way down and then press up from there. For a full guide on how to do a Pistol Squat, check out “How to conquer the toughest leg exercise”.