If you haven’t got the time to make it the gym and you do not want to spend lots of money on expensive home gym equipment then bodyweight training could be the answer. You can have an effective whole body workout at home using just your own body’s resistance that can help you to improve muscle definition, reduce body fat and increase cardio fitness. Below I will list 45 bodyweight exercises split up into upper body, lower body, core and cardio sections and then show you a few sample workouts.

Upper body:

1: Press up. The basic press up is a great exercise for targeting the muscles in your chest, shoulders and back of the arms (triceps). The basic press up is performed with your hands slightly wider than your shoulders. Lower your chest to the floor whilst maintaining a straight back and keeping your elbows out to the side. Contract your chest muscles and push yourself back up to the start position.

Below are different variations of the press up that will target different muscle groups and change the intensity of the exercise. Most of these variations can be regressed by performing them with your knees on the ground.

2: Staggered press up. From a basic press up position slide one hand slightly further forward than the other. By doing this will help to target the stabilising muscles around the shoulders and the core more. Do your desired number of reps and then do the same with the opposite hand forward.

3: Narrow press up. Place your hands around shoulder width apart and keep your elbows tucked in and close to your body during the movement. By doing so, this will help to target your triceps more.

4: T press up. Perform a basic press up but as you push up raise one hand off the floor and twist your torso so your hand points towards the ceiling. Repeat to the opposite side.

5: Spiderman press up. Start in a basic press up position. As you lower yourself down to the floor bring one knee up to meet your elbow. With each rep alternate sides.

The next 4 exercises will help to target the muscles in your lower back, upper back and bottom

6: Lower back extension. This exercise will help to target the muscles in your lower back. Lie on your front with your hands resting behind your head. Lift your chest off the floor whilst keeping your head still and chin tucked in.

7: Superman. Lie on your front with your arms and legs outstretched. Raise your arms, chest and legs together. Hold for a second at the top of the movement and then return to the floor and repeat.

8: Prone cobra. This exercise will help to target the upper back as well as the lower back. Lie face down on the floor with arms and legs outstretched. Lift your chest off the ground and pinch shoulder blades together as you bring your arms around the side of your body. Hold for a second and then return to the ground and repeat.

9: Opposite arm and leg raise. Lie on your front with your arms and legs outstretched. Raise one arm and the opposite leg off the floor. Slowly return and then repeat with the opposite arm and leg.

10: Tricep dips. For this exercise all you will need is a chair. Place your hands on the edge of a chair that is positioned behind you. Keep your body upright as you bend your elbows and lower your body towards the floor until your upper arms are parallel to the ground.  Push yourself back up and repeat. Regress the exercise, bend your knees more and place your feet closer to the chair.

Lower body:

11: Squat. Stand with your feet hip width apart with your hands across your chest and your elbows lifted. Bend your knees and sit your bottom back until your thighs are parallel to the floor whilst keeping your chest up and back straight. Keep the weight on your heels and your knees in line with your toes. Stand back up to the start position and repeat.

12: Prisoner squat. Start in the same position as your basic squat with your hands behind your head and your elbows out to the side. Perform a squat and as you stand up raise onto your toes to target the calf muscles.

13: Single leg squat. As well as targeting the lower body this exercise will hit the core muscles as well. Stand on one leg and slowly squat down keeping your floating leg slightly in front of your body. Squat down until your thigh is parallel to the floor or as low as you can without losing balance or it compromising your posture. Stand back up by pushing through your heels and glutes (muscles in your bottom).

14: Pistol squats. Start in the same position as your single leg squat. As you squat down this time keep your arms and floating leg extended straight out. Squat as far down as you can whilst maintaining a good posture and without losing your balance. Drive back up through your heels and glutes.

15: Alternating front lunge. Start with feet around shoulder width apart and take a big step forward. Lower your back knee down towards the floor whilst keeping your body upright. Once your back knee is just off the ground both legs should be bent at a 90 degree angle with your front knee in line with your front foot. Push back to the start and repeat with the opposite leg going forward.

16: Reverse lunge. Same as above except this time you take a step backwards rather than forwards.

17: Lateral lunge. This exercise will help to target the inner thighs as well as the upper thighs, hips and bottom. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and take a big step sideways. Bend the knee of the leg you stepped out with so it is bent at a 90 degree angle with your knee in line with the foot. Your other leg should be straight with your foot flat and toes pointing forward. Push back to the start and repeat on the opposite side.

18: Lunge with rotation. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your arms fully extended out in front of you. Step forward and perform a front lunge. As you lower your back knee towards the floor rotate your torso to the same side as your front leg. Return to the start and repeat on the opposite side.

19: Jump lunge. As well as working the lower body this exercise will work your core muscles as you use them to stabilise your body on landing. It will also get the heart and lungs working when this exercise is performed rapidly for high reps. Start in a lunge position and then jump into the air by driving off the front leg. As you jump switch legs in mid-air so you land back in a lunge position with the opposite leg forward.

Core:

20: Crunch. Start with knees bent and feet on the floor. Place hands behind the head keeping your hands slightly apart. Crunch up so your shoulder blades leave the floor. Breathe out as you crunch up.

21: Heel taps. Start with legs in the air and knees slightly bent. Keeping your abdominal muscles pulled in slowly lower one foot to the ground until your heel touches the floor without your back lifting.

22: Reverse crunch. Start with your legs in the air and hands by the side of the body. Contract your abdominals and lift your hips so your bottom slightly lifts off the floor.

23: Crunch with reach. Perform a normal crunch with your legs in the air and your hands above your head. As you crunch up reach towards your feet.

24: Oblique twists. Start with your legs in the air and knees bent. Twist your elbow across the body towards the opposite knee whilst extending the other leg. Repeat to the other side keeping your shoulder blades off the floor throughout the movement.

25: Russian twist. Balance on your bottom with legs in the air and maintaining a straight back. Rotate your arms from side to side whilst keeping the legs as still as possible.

26: V-sits. Start in the same position as the Russian twist. Lay back and extend your legs out at the same time. Sit up bringing your knees in towards your chest.

For all the static exercises (plank variations) remember to breathe normally throughout since it’s not uncommon to find people holding their breath while drawing their abdominals in.

27: Plank. Rest on your forearms, with your elbows below your shoulders, and toes keeping your abs pulled in (imagine pulling your belly button towards your spine) and glutes tight (muscle in the bottom) so your back remains flat. Hold this position for desired number of time without losing posture. If you struggle with this exercise then perform it with your knees on the floor to begin with.

28: Plank with lower body movement. Begin in the plank position and then take your legs out to the side one at a time. Return to the start position and repeat. Maintain a good posture throughout.

29: Plank with legs and arm movement. Same as above but take the legs out to the side and then move the arms out to the side one at a time to just slightly wider than shoulder width. Bring the legs back to the start position followed by the arms.

30: Plank with up and down movement. Start in the plank position and then place one hand below the shoulder. As you extend the arm do the same with the other hand so you push yourself up into a push up position while maintaining a flat back. Hold for 1-2 seconds and then return to the plank position and repeat.

31: Side plank. Start on your side resting on your forearm with your elbow below your shoulder with one foot on top of the other and your hips in the air. Hold this position for desired number of time. Try to maintain good posture keeping a straight line between your ankle, hips and shoulder. You can perform this exercise with either the arm resting on your side or in the air. If you find holding this position difficult then perform it with your bottom knee resting on the floor whilst keeping your hips lifted.

32: Side plank rises. Same set up as a side plank. Slowly lower and raise your hips whilst maintaining a straight back and keeping your hips facing forwards. Complete desired number of reps and then repeat on the opposite side.

33: Side plank twist. From the side plank position rest the hand of your upper arm behind your head. Bring the elbow of the upper arm across the body in a twisting motion towards the hip of the lower leg. Return to the start position and repeat. To increase the difficulty of this exercise place the top arm in the air and as you twist reach under the body to increase the range of movement.

34: Side plank with arm and leg raise. From the side plank position raise the top leg and arm into the air at the same time without your hips dropping. Hold for a second and return to the start position.

Members can check out a video of the 15 core exercises here http://www.resultsconditioning.com/archives/340

Cardio:

35: Burpee. From a standing position bend your knees and place your hands on the floor. Drive your legs back until they are fully extended and you are in a press up position. From here jump your feet forward bringing your knees up to your chest and then stand back up and repeat.

36: Bastards. This is an advanced version of the burpee. As you jump your legs back perform a press up and then jump your feet forward up to your chest and then jump back up from the ground into the air as high as possible. Land back on the ground and begin the next rep.

37: Squat thrust. From a press up position jump both feet forward bringing your knees up to your chest. Return to the start position and repeat.

38: Alternating squat thrust. Start in the same position as the squat thrust and then jump one foot at a time up into your chest. Return to the start position and repeat with the opposite leg as quickly as you can.

39: Squat thrust narrow to wide. Start in the same position as the squat thrust. Jump both feet forward bringing your knees up to your chest. As you jump your legs back kick them out to the side as wide as possible before returning them back up to your chest.

40: Rotational squat thrust. Begin in a basic squat thrust position. Jump both feet forward bringing your knees up to your chest. Jump both legs back and out to the left off your body before returning both knees up to your chest and then repeat to the right side.

41: Squat jumps. Start with a basic squat. As you squat reach down to the floor with your hands before exploding back up and jumping into the air and reaching up with your arms. As you land drop immediately back into a squat and repeat.

42: Tuck jumps. From a standing position bend your knees slightly and then jump into the air as high as you can whilst bringing your knees up to your chest. Bend your knees slightly on landing and then repeat.

43: Jumping jack. From a standing position with your feet together jump your legs out to the side whilst at the same time raising your arms. As you jump your legs back into the middle return your arms to your side and repeat.

44: Star jumps. Bend your knees and touch your toes before exploding into the air taking your arms and legs out to the side. On landing go straight back into your start position and repeat.

45: High knees. Run on the spot bringing your knees up as high and as fast as you can whilst pumping your arms as if you were sprinting.

Below are some sample workouts.

Remember to always warm up for 5-10 minutes before starting a routine with a mixture of light cardio, mobility exercises and stretching. And at the end of a session spend 5 minutes cooling down with some light cardio to lower the heart rate and stretching.

Workout 1: Circuit training.

This is a basic circuit that will have you moving from one exercise to another with no rest working the upper body, lower body, core and then cardio. At the end of the circuit, rest for 1-2 minutes and then repeat aiming to complete 3-4 circuits.

Upper body: Spiderman press up x15-20 reps

Lower body: Prisoner squat x15-20 reps

Core: Oblique twists x15-20 reps

Cardio: Squat thrusts x30-40 seconds

Upper body: Superman x15-20 reps

Lower body: Reverse lunge x10 per leg

Core: Side plank hold for 20-30 seconds per side

Cardio: Squat jumps x30-40 seconds

Workout 2: Basic set training.

This workout will have you doing 3 exercises for upper body, lower body, core and cardio. You will complete 3 sets of each exercise before moving on to the next one. Aim to keep your rest to 30-45 seconds between sets.

Upper body:

Staggered press up x10 reps per side

Lower back extensions x15-20 reps

Tricep dips x15-20 reps

Lower body:

Single leg squats x10 per leg

Lateral lunge x10 per leg

Jump lunges x20 reps

Core:

Plank with up and down movement x10 reps

Crunch with reach x15-20 reps

Side plank rises x10 per side

Cardio:

Burpees x10 reps

Squat thrust narrow to wide x30-40 seconds

High knees x30-40 seconds

Workout 3: Circuit training 2.

This circuit has you working for 5 minute rounds. You will complete 10 exercises back to back performing 30 seconds of each one. The aim is to complete as many reps as possible in that time whilst maintaining good technique. At the end of the round, rest for 1-2 minutes and then repeat for 3-4 rounds.

Narrow press ups

Prisoner squats

Oblique twists

Bastards

Tricep dips

Jump lunges

V-sits

Tuck jumps

Lower back extensions

Alternating squat thrusts