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8 Bodyweight Exercises EVERYONE Should Do! (No Equip)
- chelsie462
- Sep 25
- 11 min read
This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in September 2024. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/3vETtdlO6Lg
Mike: Today, we're going to go over eight body weight exercises everyone should do.
Brad: That's right, and we're going to show two options, one for beginners and another for the more advanced people.
Mike: We're going to go through all eight of them nonstop. We're going to do 10 repetitions of each exercise. Brad will be showing the beginner version of each exercise,
Brad: Or for the older people like me.
Mike: And I'll be showing the normal or advanced version of each exercise.
Brad: There's nothing normal about you, Mike.
Mike: I am advanced in every which way. Anyway!
Brad: Let's get to it.
Mike: We're going to get to it. We're going to start with pushups. So, Brad, you want to go over to the wall or do knee ones?
Brad: Yeah, well, if you're a real beginner, feet out here, straight body, and do your pushups here. Do not bump your head on the wall. It's not healthy. You can do it that way. Or modify it on a solid piece of furniture or a cupboard. And that's the next step. Mike is doing what I call a GI pushup. Go ahead, Mike.
Mike: Five. So just find whichever area is comfortable for you. Make sure your core is tight. Pick whatever area is comfortable for your elbows. If you want to go wider, you can go wider. If you want to go narrower, go narrow. Pick what works for you. Brad, what if someone has bad wrists?
Brad: Yes, now we said no equipment, but this is an exception that I wanted to put in. Bob said it was okay. If you have arthritic wrists, and I have a little bit of that, I find these perfect push-up things really work out well. What they do is allow you to keep your wrist in a neutral position.
Brad: Much more comfortable. And they rotate. I use them all the time. I had to bring them in from home. So don't thank me now, thank me later. Anyway, let's go to number two.
Mike: So number two, we're going to do some bridging. Going to work on the glutes and hamstrings a bit. For a normal version, Brad will be showing the beginner one. Double legs. I'll be doing the single leg for the advanced version. You're going to keep your core tight, squeeze your butt cheeks, and thrust your hips up towards the ceiling. We're going to do 10 repetitions. If you want to do five per side if you're a beginner, go ahead. Otherwise, you can do 10 per side. Are you counting down there?
Brad: Yeah, I'm on five. I'm using my fingers so I don't lose track.
Mike: Oh, I don't know what I'm on. I was talking too much.
Brad: Yeah, this is a real... Think about those butt cheeks. Really squeeze them in. Work on those glutes, which we know are important for more than just standing and walking.
Mike: Well, we know what's on Brad's mind.
Brad: All right, here we go. This is a family show, Mike. I was not thinking that. Forward plank. Starters only on the knees.
Mike: You're going to go on your knees. I'm still doing 10 on each leg. I'm catching up.
Brad: Yep. Okay. I shouldn't rush things. Sorry, Mike. Planks on your knees. Now, when I do this, I use a pillow or a cushion because it's more comfortable on my knees. Especially if you have a hard floor or a thin carpet like we do here. And we're going to tighten up. Don't allow your back to arch. Don't be hunched. Try to be as straight as possible. Maybe someone in the room'll help you say, "Ah, gotta get your butt down a little bit." Go ahead, Mike.
Mike: Now, when it comes to planks, you can't do repetitions. You do prolonged holds. You can start with 10 seconds, 15, or 30. Work up to a minute. Whatever's comfortable for you. I feel like I'm almost at 30 seconds now. What do you feel like?
Brad: Yeah, we're at 27.
Mike: Are you actually counting?
Brad: No, actually, I was doing breath because it's really important that we breathe normally through all these exercises. So on that one, if I count five, good breath in my nose, out my mouth, that's close enough for me for 30 seconds.
Mike: Okay, we're going to get into side planking now. So we're going to work the obliques more. Still a core muscle. Brad, again, you want to do the beginner version here?
Brad: Yep. So for the beginner version, you can just lie on your side, bent knees like I have here. Not up here, you want to be straight. So you're like your body's up against a wall. I like to do them on my forearm. That's good for a beginner. And simply lift your hips up. So there's a gap here. So you're straight, not too high. Tighten up the core. And breathe while you do this, and relax. You can advance this to your hand. Whatever works best for you. Mike, do the advanced one.
Mike: Well, I'm at 25 seconds on this side, so I'm going to show it on the other side because with the side plank, you have to work both sides to get a benefit. The advanced one, you're getting your knees off the table, and you are keeping a nice straight line here. Don't let your hips drop down like that. I typically just do elbows. You could try to do a straight arm if you want. You can get fancy and move your arm around. But I typically just hold this position. I am coming up on 20 seconds here. Brad, are you going to tell me a story these last 10?
Brad: Yeah, actually, when I first started doing planks about 6, 7, 8 years ago, I don't remember when, they used to hurt my back. I'd be there. It's because of my spondylolisthesis in my lower back. So I quit doing them because they created pain. The same with all these. Don't do them if they create pain.
Mike: Okay, the next one is a Stuart McGill favorite called the pointer dog.
Brad: Ooh.
Mike: So, typically, I will show the normal version. Brad can do modified. Again, it's kind of a core back exercise here. So, what you're going to do for the normal version, right arm goes up, left leg goes back, hold for a second. Come back down, and we're going to switch sides.
Brad: Straight leg there.
Mike: Try to keep a nice straight line, keep a nice straight back. It's a good back-strengthening exercise without typically irritating your back.
Brad: Yeah, Stuart McGill is one of the utmost experts in back pain and how to treat it, strengthening, etc. Now, if you're not comfortable going on your hands and knees like that, simply go to a cupboard. You can do it this way. Oh, we're going to bump heads here. And I'm going to put one hand on the counter, and I'm going to go up like this and back like this.
Brad: There's a wall in my way, so I have to be careful. Like that, now you want to go back down and show the other beginner way, if you want to go on your hands and knees, where you only use one hand.
Mike: Yes, so what you can do is just move up one arm, and then the opposite leg, and then the left arm, and the right leg. Just do one limb at a time. It's less balance and demand on your body. You can also even do these at the wall if you would like.
Brad: There you go. I do like this because it really promotes good posture and those posture muscles. And we do like to promote good posture. Yes. And this one too. You could just use the arm and do the legs separately. What's the next one, Mike?
Mike: We're doing squats for beginners, and we don't have a chair, so we will use this as a chair.
Brad: I'll get a chair while you start it out.
Mike: You go get a chair. Okay, do whatever squat distance length between your legs is comfortable. Just don't have your knees together. That's typically bad. Some people will be comfortable straight ahead. Some people want to rotate out. Do what is easiest for you. You're just going to squat down to what's comfortable, back up. Try to keep a nice, straight back. Don't round forward like this. Nice back, and just go like that. You could do 10 repetitions. Hold for a second down low, come back up. If you're a beginner, do what Brad's doing.
Brad: Right, if you get down and you feel unsteady, like you're going to fall, have a nice firm chair with armrests behind you and use the armrests if you need assistance so you're safe. If you feel comfortable with this, go to one hand. And if you want to keep testing things, and you can do 10 easily, hands across your chest. Keep the chair there. And really, if you want to go to the next step, don't even touch the chair with your butt. Hold it just above, and then come back up, and see how it progresses.
Brad: And the chair is really nice. I actually do promote a solid chair. And if you just need balance, hold onto something steady in front of you. The wall might be good enough. Chair, cupboard. And work it that way. I'm getting really tired. Do we have any more to do?
Mike: We do. We've got two more to do. You're getting out of breath and sweaty.
Brad: You can put this on hold, take a breather, get some water, then come back.
Mike: So the next one we're going to do is a lunge. For a normal person, or not advanced, whatever you want to say, just put one foot forward, one foot back, and simply go down, come back up. You can do these many different ways. You can bring the foot forward, go back like this. Pick what's easiest for you. I'm going to stick to those. And do 10 on each side. Brad, do you want to show a beginner version?
Brad: Sure. Balance is really critical for certain people. It's going to help your balance. Now I would suggest using the cupboard, a solid chair, a cane, or a Booyah Stik like this. Go forward, so you have balance. Go down. Make sure that the knee is going down; you're really thoughtful of that, because some people, if you haven't done these before, will go down maybe a little too hard, hit their kneecap on the hard floor, and it's really uncomfortable. So good controlled, sustained motion. You can do them like this. Or if you want, you can alternate. Take your time. And do not hunch forward. That is a bad postural thing. We don't want to do that. It's not right. Whew.
Mike: I'm keeping my hands at my hips so I know I'm keeping a good posture, not leaning too far forward.
Brad: There you go.
Mike: Do what's comfortable for you. I think I did 10 on each side.
Brad: All right, hip abductor. That's the muscles right here on the side.
They're important to keep you upright and to prevent waddle walking, if you have that issue. I'm gonna do the normal version. I feel like this is a little bit more challenging. Side-lying hip abduction. Brad'll do it in a standing position. So here, I'm going to make sure my leg is in a nice straight line. Kick straight up, keep my toes straight ahead. Hold for a second, come back down. We're going to do 10 repetitions on each side.
Brad: The biggest mistake I've always had with these patients is that they either point their toes up and do it without thinking about it, or their whole leg comes forward. Both of those are mistakes you do not want to have. Keep it in line, toe here, and go ahead. Isolates that muscle really well.
Mike: Now, Brad, you want to show the standing version?
Brad: Yep. Now what I like to do is have a chair and, cupboard in front of me. I'm going to get it out of the way so you can visually see what I'm doing. I'll use a stick, which is another good option as well. Toe straightforward, not out to the side. And a slight bend in the knee that is weight-bearing. That's important. Out and back. You notice Mike and I are breathing with these, while I'm trying to talk, of course. And slow, sustained motion. We're not just rushing through them. That's, you know, like you're trying to fly with your legs. We're just doing nice, sustained motion. Don't let it touch the floor or your other leg. There we go. And you're going to feel the hip that you're weight bearing on is actually getting good exercise as well. And it improves your balance on that side as well. Do both sides so you don't walk in circles, okay? Wow. We're done with eight?
Mike: That is all eight of them. So again, do them 10 reps. For some of them, like the plank or side plank, there are time durations. 15, 30, maybe even up to 60 seconds.
Brad: But wait, Mike, we forgot. We've got to mention something to these people. If you want to see more exercises like this and other videos on how to be healthy, fit, and pain-free, what can they do?
Mike: You can subscribe to our channel. It's completely free, and you'll get notified when we put up a new video.
Brad: Yeah, it is free. It's not like newspapers or, you know, magazines, you had to pay for a subscription, but it's not true. All right. Take care. Have a good day.
Mike: Also, check out the video, "To our Special Seniors, A Daily Exercise Program From Bob & Brad," if you are a senior and want to do more chair exercises tailored specifically to you.
Brad: Yep, there you go. We're done.
Mike: Now have a good day.
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