Top 10 Bodyweight Circuit Training Exercises

Do you want to get into circuit training with body weight? You are right ! Some people may be skeptical of training that doesn't use expensive machines or heavy weights, but research shows that bodyweight workouts improve strength, endurance and power and, if done right, can burn significant calories.

Discover all the benefits plus 10 exercises to incorporate into your bodyweight circuit training

The benefits of bodyweight circuit training

bodyweight circuit training offers multiple benefits, here is a quick overview:

• Practical: Adding weight to a workout has benefits. But using your own body weight trumps dumbbells for convenience. With both your hands and your feet (and everything in between!), you can perform an intense and effective workout anywhere: in your living room, a hotel room or outdoors in minimal space.
  
  
• Inexpensive: Although bodyweight movements can be done in a gym, all you really need is your own body. Home workouts also mean fewer social distractions.
  
  
• Efficient: in the absence of dumbbells and kettlebells, the transition from one movement to another takes little time. With less rest, your heart rate maintains a high level, an important factor in burning calories. Bodyweight training is essentially interval training, that is, alternating periods of intense activity with periods of no or low intensity activity. This has been shown to be more effective than steady state cardio.
  
  
• Customizable: Exercise machines are limited in their range of use by their settings, but bodyweight exercises have a multitude of modifications for any fitness level. Take the push-ups: varieties range from knee-to-floor to clapping and one-handed push-ups.
  
  
• Heart Pacing and Strengthening: Bodyweight exercise has the ability to improve your cardiovascular endurance and muscle strength at the same time. Changing positions frequently keeps your heart rate elevated, while body weight and gravity work together to build muscle. thanks to resistance bands?
  
  
  

10 exercises to incorporate into your bodyweight circuit training

Deep Squat

Our first exercise for your bodyweight circuit training is the deep squats. Hold a towel over your head with your arms outstretched and keep it taut. This will force you to keep your chest high and improve your running form.

Bend your legs to slowly descend, keeping your knees apart, until your hamstrings touch your calves. Then slowly ascend. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Do 15 repetitions at the start of each minute and rest the rest of each minute. This keeps your heart rate elevated for more fat loss.

For as much information as possible: How to lose weight in the hips? Check out our top tips

Unilateral Bulgarian Squat

We also recommend incorporating the Single Leg Bulgarian Squat into your bodyweight circuit training Think of it as a lunge with your foot elevated for an extra stability challenge. Put one foot, soles up, on a bench behind you and the other in front.

Bend your front leg to lower your body, then come back up. Keep your body straight throughout and your front knee aligned with your toes. Vary the tempo with each set of these split squats so that your muscles are challenged for long periods of muscle strengthening.

Here's how it breaks down: the first number is how many seconds the down part should take, then how long you pause, then how long you take to go up. The fifth set is maximum isolation, holding the deepest position for the entire minute.

For maximum advice: Top 10 of the best bodybuilding exercises without equipment

Squat jump with touchdown

To work on your cardio a bit during your bodyweight circuit training, the squat jump with touchdown exercise is ideal. Bend your legs, keeping your knees apart and your heels touching the ground, to drop into a deep squat.

Place your hands lightly on the floor and pause for two seconds, then come powerfully up from the floor, clapping your hands above your head. The two-second pause removes any rebound effectto help you build greater strength in the deep squat position.

Bridge with kicker

Let's get to glute work for yourbodyweight circuit training. Sit on the floor with one leg bent, one leg straight and your fingers pointing towards your feet.

Push into the floor and squeeze your glutes to slowly lift your hips until they are level with your stabilizing kneewhile raising your right leg until it is at 90° to your torso. Descend slowly to the start. Complete all reps on one side, then switch.

Burpee with pump

Burpees are the ultimate exercise to incorporate into bodyweight circuit training, and it makes even the most seasoned athletes tremble! From a standing position, come down and place your hands on the floor outside your feet.

Jump your feet back and do a pushup, then put your feet back between your hands. Jump while clapping above your head.

In parallel, don't hesitate to read: 5 weeks to learn how to do the superman push-up

Spider-man pump

The push-ups spiderman allow you to work your entire upper body and are ideal for gaining power thanks to your bodyweight circuit training.

Start at the top of a push-up position. Bend your arms to lower your chest until it touches the floor and simultaneously bring one knee to your elbow, then return to start.

Keep alternating knees. On the last rep, do it very slowly on a count of ten to optimize muscle burn.

An article about it: 4 advantages of the spiderman pump in bodybuilding

Pike Pump

pike push-ups are another variation of push-ups that will challenge you. To add this to your bodyweight circuit training, you you will need a bench or other similar support, stable enough to guarantee your safety.

Adopt a push-up position with your feet on a bench and your back and arms in a straight line. Keep your head tucked in and bend your arms to lower your head until it touches the ground.

Raise your butt up. Use the same tempo as the One-sided Bulgarian Squat in your workout. Once you can maintain a perfect L-shape with your body throughout, handstand push-ups will be mastered!

Don't hesitate to read also: How to beat the world push-up record?

Flamingo Squat

The squat flamingo tests your balance while contributing to your muscle strengthening. This is ideal for varying the exercises during your bodyweight circuit training.

Stand up straight and grab one foot with the hand on the same side, pulling it towards your glutes. Balance your other hand and bend your standing leg to lower your other knee until it just touches the floor, then come back up.

Go super slow on the last rep to increase difficulty (and therefore results). Make it easier by releasing your foot or holding your foot with both hands.

Super board with straight arm

The plank is already effective, but the super-plank is even more so! Stand on a board with your arms straight and your weight on your hands and toes. Keep your body aligned with your feet together and your upper arms down from your shoulders.

Tighten every muscle, from your chest and abs to your glutes and calves. You should be shaking at the end of each set. This is a classic board with a double twist. Doing it with straight arms makes your chest work harder, while full tension causes your heart to pump rapidly for a bonus of fat loss.

So it's ideal for bodyweight circuit training! Focusing on contracting each muscle during a movement will engage more muscle fibersthan those targeted by the exercise, turning a low energy movement into afull body shock for melt fat.

Dead hang

Our last exercise for this bodyweight circuit training is the dead hang, which consists of holding on to a pull-up bar. Grasp the bar with an overhand grip, palms facing forward, and let yourself hang completely.

This decompresses your spine for better posture while challenging your grip strength. Add a slight side-to-side swing or change the grip (narrow, wide, or single-arm) to increase the benefits. Forcing the body to hold a tense position reveals any cracks in your armor.

Just as the plank exposes weaknesses in your shoulders, core, glutes, and thighs, the dead hang reveals issues with your lats and grip.Holding this position longer is a low impact solution!

In summary: Bodyweight circuit training

Training with bodyweight circuit training is therefore very effective: practical, economical and customizable, you can easily improve your cardio and your muscle building thanks to the 10 exercises presented in this article