This Thanksgiving, I'll be starting the day with meditation, then watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It's all about balance, people. Then later in the...
Read MoreTuesday 10: Favorite “No Equipment” Workouts
Even I, hater of heat and summer months, sometimes just want to get outside and move around… no equipment, no fuss… just me, my iPod, a bottle of water, and my sweat. The workouts listed below all clock in at 10 to 20 minutes and include some of my favorite body weight movements. They can be done just about anywhere, indoors or out, and I encourage you to take advantage of your environment to make them more fun. Jump on rocks instead of a box. Replace flat running with hills, stairs, or bleachers. Hold something heavy in your hands during the situps or overhead during the lunges to make them even tougher (and, potentially, more rewarding).
Warm up with an easy 400m run and some high knees + butt kicks + straight leg march — and modify the number of rounds and reps in the workouts, as needed, to suit your mood and personal level of firebreathing. There you have it: no equipment, no excuses.
1. The Basics
For time:
800m run
50 air squats
40 mountain climbers
30 situps
20 chest-to-deck pushups
10 sprawls
2. I *Heart* Burpee Box Jumps
21-15-9 reps:
chest-to-deck pushups
burpee box jumps, 20″
*Nothing to jump on? Replace the burpee box jumps with burpee broad jumps.
3. Have a seat.
3 rounds:
400m run
25 situps
15 jump squats
10 sprawls
4. Take the (p)Lunge
For time:
50m walking lunges, 50 situps
50m walking lunges, 40 situps
50m walking lunges, 30 situps
50m walking lunges, 20 situps
5. Hit the Track
3 rounds:
50m walking lunges
50m fast walk
50m standing broad jump
50m fast walk
200m run
6. The Final Countdown (Revel in the glory of the 1986 music video.)
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1:
burpees
walking lunges (total)
7. Run, Interrupted
Run 20 minutes. Stop every 2 minutes to do 10 air squats and 10 chest-to-deck pushups.
8. Legs of Fire
3 rounds:
400m run
50 air squats
*Bonus if you include a short hill in the run.
9. Ab Fab
For time:
50 V-ups
100 2-count flutterkicks (L+R = 1)
400m run
100 situps
50 reverse crunches
400m run
10. Up, Up, Up
5 rounds:
:30 mountain climbers
:30 jumping jacks
:30 air squats
:30 chest-to-deck pushups
:30 sprawls
:30 rest
BONUS: Turn it up to 11
11. Tabata This
4 X :20 on / :10 off: burpees
4 X :20 on / :10 off: jump squats
4 X :20 on / :10 off: situps
4 X :20 on / :10 off: bear crawl
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My Hotel WoD:
150 burpees F/T.
Canbe done in *any* hotel room…(I’m on work travel a lot!)
Burpees are, indeed, the perfect travel WOD. I like to do them 10 at a time and face a different direction for each set of ten.
Great working Rich! Simple, yet difficult and affective!
As usual, your posts are just what I needed to read! With a new puppy at home I’ve been making way too many excuses for why I can’t make time for working out. My go to no equipment workout is usually trying to beat my 5k around the neighborhood time.
You can use the puppy as weight for situps and overhead lunges!
Thanks for this. I’m new to CF and wil be traveling next week so these will come in handy! No excuses!!
I always feel extra virtuous when I do WODs on my own during travel. The 20 minutes of work is worth the following 20+ hours of feeling smug.
LOVE this app! Thanks for sharing!
I love this. Since it’s summer I’m moving my AM workouts to the backyard and this list is exactly what I need, 10-15 minutes and done. Thanks!
My go to workout when I have nothing planned is 100 burpees. I use different types of burpee each group of 10, like reptile or yoga tricep style the pushup or do the jump like a frog.
We have an old laundry pole thing in the backyard that today I realized is great for hanging knee raises and I have a goal of pull-up(s) this summer!
Awesome! Love these =) Thanks Melissa!
This is awesome! Great ideas. I have it bookmarked and pinned for future reference. 🙂
So glad y’all like this list. Hope you have fun (where “fun” is “hard work”) with the workouts!
Yessss my friend and I meet on the beach to do no equipment WODs and we needed some new ideas and bam in my inbox is a link to this blog post….it’s like you read my mind hmmmm 🙂 Thanks so much for these!
YAY! Adding sand to the mix will make any of them more challenging — and more fun. WOOT!
Completely unrelated, but I made your Morrocan meatballs and cauliflour pilaf last night and my husband and I LOVED them!! Seriously so delicious. Just had the leftovers for lunch 🙂 Can’t wait to make more from your cookbook!
That is a welcome comment in any context. Thanks for letting me know!
I’m making those for dinner tonight and am SO excited. I love her book!
Thanks so much for posting these — and the pdf!! Awesomely helpful! I especially appreciated the links to the exercises. I need all the help I can get! Hilariously, I thought you must have referred to “chest-to-deck” push ups because you have a deck and it must be some sort of modified push up. (Your deck is apparently about three feet high.) I figured since I don’t have a deck, I would use my back stairs. Then I googled it. D’oh.
Might as well add today’s Crossfit WOD
15 pushups
60 yard sprint
1 min rest,
10 rounds for time
🙂 it was nice on the high school football field!
good timing…finishing my last 7 weeks of school and feeling sad I won’t be able to make it to the gym but one day a week. you are so right, no excuses! Thanks for the reminder….now if only I can wake up early enough 🙂
So first off, LOVE the book 🙂 my boyfriend and I started paleo three weeks ago for health reasons and he came across your book and it’s my favorite so far (out of the four I’ve read).
Second, I used your work outs for inspiration today. It’s my first time back i the gym since the beginning of February and I have exactly 100 days till I go to a HUGE music festival (EDC) in Vegas and my goal is to be comfortable in shorts and a swimsuit. You “The Basics” workout kicked my ass. I did 2 rotations of it and I’m pooped.
Third, any suggestions or tips for a newbie?
Thanks for your inspiration!
Congrats on making the switch to Paleo. You’re going to feel SO great when it’s all kicked in. I’ve been eating this way for 4+ years, and it’s really helped with my health stuff.
Glad you like these workouts, too. We’re going on a 6-week trip to Europe, and I’ll definitely be taking advantage of this list, too.
Tips for newbie: my #1 is to simply try to slow down. Slow down before you eat anything to ensure you’re eating what you want/need for your body… and that it’s true hunger not emotional appetite… slow down by doing meditation or yoga at least a few times per week… slow down to be grateful for the good in your life and to tell important people that you care… corny but helpful, I promise.