Some tunes, a little space, and this crop of body-weight moves are all you need to build muscle and whip yourself into a sweat-covered mess, no matter the season. The added benefits are what’s unique about this specific grouping of exercises: The plank and sit-out target core, arms, and lower- body strength without compromising your spinal health. (Hear that, crunches?!) Duck walks and squats to side lunges help loosen up those big joints as you work on exploring and developing a greater range of flexibility while you train your lower body. And sprints and tuck jumps ramp up your heart rate and test overall athleticism.
Knock this routine out as prescribed—changing up sets and reps to fit your schedule—and you’ll have no valid excuse to skip a workout.
Directions
You have two options for performing this routine: After a five- to 10-minute dynamic warmup, either do all sets and reps for one move before go–ing to the next, or cycle through a set of each move as a circuit, resting as needed.
Start in a pushup with your hands underneath your shoulders. Lift your right hand off the floor and rotate your hips to the right to bring your left leg out fully extended to the side. Come back to a full pushup position and then repeat the same step on the opposite side.
Keep repeating until all reps are complete.
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Per Bernal / M+F Magazine
Plank to Pushup
Start in a plank position on your forearms. Come up on one hand, then up on another so you’re in a standard plank.
Now perform a pushup and start again on your forearms.
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Per Bernal / M+F Magazine
Duck Walk
With your hands in front of you, squat down and begin to take steps forward while staying in a squat position.
Keep your torso upright, chest high, and core braced as you walk forward 20 to 40 yards.
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Per Bernal / M+F Magazine
Tuck Jump
Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart. Squat down to about a half-squat and then swing your arms up to explode off the floor. Aim to get as high in the air as possible.
Be sure to land softly, heels first, to avoid stressing your knee joint.
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Per Bernal / M+F Magazine
Squat to side lunge
Stand with feet about shoulder width and execute a squat rep to whatever depth feels comfortable, keeping tension in your ankles, knees, and hips. Stand up and then take a lateral lunge, keeping your toes pointed slightly out.
Return to the start position and repeat the sequence, this time side lunging with the opposite leg.
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Per Bernal / M+F Magazine
Elbow-Touch Plank
Set up in a pushup position and place your hands directly under your shoulders. Slowly pick one hand up off the ground and bring it over to the opposite elbow. Lightly rest your hand on your elbow for a 2 count. Go back to the start position and repeat with the opposite hand.
