The Only Bodyweight Exercises These 2 Trainers Say You Need to Get Fit
Whether you're trying to fit in a quick workout or you're trying to lose weight, bodyweight HIIT exercises will be your best friend. They're an efficient way to get your heart rate up, strengthen your muscles, and burn major calories. Head trainers Eric Salvador and Ben Wegman at Fhitting Room know the power of these kinds of movements, and they've seen many of their clients find success from cardio movements that require only your body.
POPSUGAR spoke to Eric and Ben about the HIIT classes they teach at Fhitting Room, and they gave us a list of their favorite bodyweight exercises. "Everybody loves the burpee — it hits every single part of your body," Ben told us. "You're going to get that cardiovascular intensity, you're going to build strength, you're going to build endurance. You're going to get everything at once." We know you may not love hearing that, but as painful as burpees can be, you can't deny they're damn effective.
"I'd start with the basics," Eric added. "Can you lunge? Can you squat? Can you do a push-up?" He told POPSUGAR that he prefers "stuff you can do on your own, in a park, in a hotel, when you're on vacation, because you don't always have access to a gym." Basic bodyweight exercises like air squats, push-ups, and "plyometrics like jump squats" are perfect cardio moves to "get your heart rate up" and strengthen you from head to toe. Other great plyometric exercises include mountain climbers, jumping jacks, and box jumps.
"And the great thing about bodyweight [movement] is I can make it very hard for the elite athlete or very hard for someone like my mom," Eric concluded. That means you'll never get bored with these exercises. "It's all about how you vary these exercises, how you combine them," said Ben. "What's great about all those bodyweight skills is you can constantly adapt on them." For example, you can combine movements and add different variations on top of basic movements. "The possibilites are endless," Ben said.
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Kathryna Hancock
