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How much equipment do you need to sculpt your glutes, quads, hamstrings, shoulders and arms? None, and this 30- to 40-minute bodyweight workout designed by Shayla Rog, CPT, transformation coach and owner of Operation: Badass, proves it. You’ll target the lower body with a grueling one-two punch of isometrics (wall sit) and a squat/lunge combo move while working your upper body with good old-fashioned push-ups (modified if necessary).
Two other exercises work the posterior chain (Supermans), deltoids, core and high-intensity cardio (mountain climbers).
Supersets (performing two exercises back-to-back without resting) will speed the workout along while also increasing intensity to help burn more calories and promote anaerobic conditioning.
Check out more installments of the Oxygen Mix-and-Match Workout series!
Bodyweight Warm-Up
Instructions: This is an “activation circuit” that Rog recommends doing at the start of all her mix-and-match workouts. Perform the below three exercises as a circuit (one after the other without resting), completing the circuit two times. Rog’s website offers video demonstrations of the three exercises (first three exercises shown).
Exercise | Reps |
Bird Dog | 10 (each side) |
Frog Pump | 10 |
Arm Circles | 10 (each way) |
Mix-and-Match Bodyweight Workout
Instructions: On supersets, go directly from the first exercise to the second without resting. After the second exercise in the pairing, rest 60 to 90 seconds and repeat the superset. After your third time through the superset, go straight to wall sits.
Exercise | Sets | Time/Reps |
Wall Sit | 1 | 60-90 seconds |
Push-up/Modified Push-up — superset with — Squat to Reverse Lunge |
3 | 12-15 — 12 (each leg) |
Wall Sit | 1 | 60-90 seconds |
Superman — superset with — Mountain Climber |
3 | 10 — 20 (each side) |
Wall Sit | 1 | max time |
Do: Push yourself on the last set of wall sits. The “max time” prescription means exactly that: Hold the position for as long as you can, past 90 seconds if possible.
Don’t: Skip the activation circuit warm-up. “Even with workouts using only bodyweight or potentially lighter equipment than you may use in the gym, it’s important to prime the muscles,” Rog says. “Activation helps reduce the chance of injury and allows you to get the most out of your exercises — especially if you’re getting a workout in after many hours of sitting during your workday.”
Intensity Tip: “When performing bodyweight movements, really focus on correct form and your ‘mind-muscle’ connection to the muscles you’re using during each rep,” Rog says.
Exercises
Wall Sit
With your back flat up against a wall, hold a seated position with your thighs just past parallel, your knees at 90 degrees, and your feet flat on the floor, shoulder-width apart or slightly wider.
Modified Push-Up
If standard push-ups are too difficult to achieve 12 to 15 reps, modify the move by either dropping your knees to the floor or elevating your hands on a bench, chair or step (while keeping your knees off the floor and legs straight).
Squat to Reverse Lunge
With your arms bent in front of you to counterbalance, do a full squat (quads reaching parallel with the floor), then a reverse lunge with your right leg forward, another full squat, then a reverse lunge with your leg left forward. That’s one rep.
Superman
Don’t rush these. Hold the up position (thighs and chest off the floor, arms and legs extended) for five to 10 seconds on each rep.
Mountain Climbers
From a plank/push-up position, alternate legs continuously. Feel free to go relatively quickly in a rhythm, but maintain your form throughout by keeping your upper body rigid.