27 Effective Bodyweight Exercises to Add to Your Workout Routine

Strength training is most commonly associated with weights, machines and gyms. But at its core, strength training — also known as resistance training — is any kind of exercise that makes your muscles work against an outside weight or force. Of course, dumbbells and machines count — but so does the weight of your own body working against gravity.

In fact, you can achieve a full body workout just by manipulating your body's weight in relation to the muscles you want to target, such as your arms, back or legs. However, doing so requires a bit more creativity compared to your typical gym workout, as you're limited by the weight of your own body, says Jenna Tubbs, a Houston Methodist athletic trainer and professional bodybuilder who specializes in injury care and prevention for athletes.

Whether you're beginning your fitness journey, traveling with limited exercise equipment or just want to add variety to your current workout routine, Tubbs offers 27 exercises that utilize your body's own weight to strengthen your muscles, improve balance and coordination and promote cardiovascular health.

How do you go about building a workout routine?

"When considering what to add into a workout, it really depends on a person's current level of fitness, equipment availability and their fitness goals," says Tubbs. "For instance, runners will have a higher level of fitness compared to someone who's just starting out; equipment such as dumbbells, exercise machines and weights can change what workouts you do; and, finally, you have to consider your goals."

"Do you want to get big and buff, tone up or just get fit?" she adds. "These three factors will largely determine what your personal fitness routine is going to look like," she says.

Ultimately, most workout routines will consist of both strength training exercises designed to improve bone density, strength and joint function, as well as aerobic exercises like running, walking or jogging to improve heart and lung health.

Whether you want to "get big and buff, tone up or just get fit" will determine what type of exercises you do, how many times you do them and at what level of resistance you do them with.

How many reps and sets should I do during a workout?

"Typically, if you're trying to gain strength, you usually do one to five reps," says Tubbs. "For muscle growth, or hypertrophy, you'll want to do anywhere from 6 to 12 reps, and for endurance, which is considered 'toning up,' you'll want to do at least 13 reps, preferably more.

"With bodyweight and resistance band exercises, however, given they're limited and that you're not really going to gain a bunch of muscle mass compared to using heavier weights at a gym, you're going to want to do at least 13 reps or more to balance out the lesser weight."

Tubbs says that while there are some instances where you repeat the exercise until your muscles give out or fatigue to the point where you can no longer complete a repetition, any exercise that hurts beyond typical soreness, you should stop lest you risk injuring yourself.

If traveling, consider packing resistance bands

"If I could only bring one thing while traveling, my 'desert island' piece of equipment would be resistance bands," says Tubbs. "They're easy to throw in your suitcase, and you can do a ton of exercises with resistance bands that makes them more effective than just body weight."

Tubbs makes note of which workouts can be done with resistance bands for added difficulty below.