Dr. Joel Seedman, Ph.D.

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Bodyweight training and home workouts have become the new rage out of necessity. Unfortunately most folks end up going about their quarantine and home bodyweight workouts in a very ineffective way thereby sacrificing their gym gains while forfeiting hard-earned muscle, strength, and even conditioning. Here are 25 essential pointers you should implement immediately to maximize your bodyweight training and home calisthenic workouts. As a bonus you won’t need any equipment!!! If you want 15+ awesome bodyweight workouts that will help you build muscle and burn fat all from the comfort of your home check out my Bodyweight Training Redefined Workouts.

1. Focus on Form & Quality of Movement

Rather than mindlessly blasting out an endless number of repetitions with incessantly high levels of training volume, your goal during your home workouts should be to dial in your body mechanics to the next level. Let’s face it, there’s never been a better time to work on your technique than during home workouts as you don’t have to worry about lifting heavy loads or ego lifting. Instead, take advantage of the lower intensity to master your movement.

Once you return to heavy loads with your traditional gym workouts not only will your form feel exponentially more dialed in, you’ll likely be lifting heavier loads thereby allowing you to maximize your strength and hypertrophy gains. Learn how to implement this tip with our awesome BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

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2. Improve Your Joint Health

Lets face it many gym-goers are so obsessed with consistently getting to the gym, completing their weekly workouts, and reaching their specific training numbers/ loads that they’ll suffer through months if not years of body aches just to fulfill some self-destructive inner compulsion. While I’m not saying that you should stop training hard and heavy every time you have a minor ache or twinge, this quarantine period should truly be looked at as a blessing in disguise for most folks as working with lighter loads, bodyweight exercises, or basic movements is probably the single most effective thing folks can do to improve their joint and muscle health. Think of this is a strategic deloading phase that will prepare you to be able to go hard and heavy once you return to the gym as your body will probably feel exponentially healthier and more pain-free than it’s been in years. Ready to get crazy results with no equipment and no gym? Get our BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

3. Correct Your Feet & Ankles

Proper foot and ankle mechanics is one of the most important yet oftentimes neglected components of fitness. In fact, without proper foot and ankle mechanics it’s literally impossible to perform any lower body movement correctly as activation begins with the feet and ankles and impacts everything up the kinetic chain.

Fortunately most foot and ankle exercises involve little or no equipment and can simply be performed as bodyweight drills in the comfort of your own house. Learn more about proper foot and ankle training here. Learn how to implement this tip with our awesome BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

4. Go Barefoot

Whether you’re too self-conscious to train barefoot at the gym, or your gym simply enforces the no-barefoot, shoes-only policy, training at home is the perfect time and scenario to take advantage of barefoot training. As previously stated, foot and ankle activation impacts everything up the kinetic chain including the hips, core, low back, and even shoulders and posture.

Unfortunately most traditional shoes blunt this response. Training barefoot or in socks or even minimalist shoes allows your feet, ankles, and toes to receive the optimal training stimulus thereby maximizing the effectiveness of your training and muscle function. Learn how to implement this tip with our awesome BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

5. Use Longer & Slower Eccentric Isometrics

If you’re looking to maximize the intensity not only of your traditional gym workouts but also your bodyweight, calisthenic, and home workouts, I highly recommend implementing eccentric isometrics for the majority of your exercises. Learn more about eccentric isometrics here.

Not only does this maximize muscle activation and motor unit recruitment particularly under lighter loading conditions, but it’s also the single most effective training strategy I know of for mastering your form and body mechanics. That’s because eccentric isometrics emphasize muscle stretch and elongation under loaded conditions which optimizes proprioceptive feedback from muscle spindles. This allows the lifter to have an increased sense of feel and enhanced kinesthetic awareness ultimately helping them fine-tune their positions and master their body mechanics. Learn how to implement this tip with our awesome BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

6. Maximize The Intensity of Each & Every Repetition

Let’s face it, most folks are going to have to sacrifice the idea of crushing heavy loads and brutally intense lifts at least for a period of time. However, that doesn’t mean your sessions will be useless or lack high intensity effort levels. In fact properly executed bodyweight drills, particularly when using the eccentric isometric principle, should be of the highest intensity as the lifter should be employing maximal full body tension, maximal effort, and maximal mental concentration in order to create the highest levels of intramuscular tension and motor unit recruitment possible.

So yes, even during a simple bodyweight squat the effort level should be through the roof. Not only will this help recruit higher threshold motor units but it will maintain if not improve your ability to handle heavy loads once you return to the gym due to enhanced neuromuscular efficiency and neural drive. Learn how to implement this tip with my BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

7. Create Maximal Co-Contraction

On a similar note, one of the most important factors when it comes to optimizing movement patterns is creating maximal co-contraction at the appropriate point namely in the bottom 90 degree stretched position of a lift such as the bottom of a squat, lunge, or hinge. Simply put, don’t just mindlessly perform the eccentric isometric movement. Instead squeeze into the position by staying as tight as possible and continuing to pull yourself into the 90 degree position with maximal effort rather than just sitting there and resisting the stretch. In other words, pull into the stretch, don’t resist it. This creates a spring-coiled almost slingshot-like activation pattern where you’ll get maximal activation at the bottom followed by high levels of torque and force production on the concentric phase similar to releasing a coiled spring or slingshot. If you do this right you’ll literally feel like you’re seeing birdies at the end of every set. So if you’re complaining that your bodyweight workouts are too easy it’s simply because you’re not doing them correctly or using high effort. Learn how to implement this tip with my BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

8. Go Eyes Closed

If you want to both increase the intensity of your workouts while simultaneously forcing your body to cleanup various aberrations and forms of movement dysfunction, try performing your movements in an eyes closed fashion. Besides challenging your stabilizers, feet and ankles, and core musculature, you’ll need ninja-like focus as you’ll be forced to feel your way through the movement by relying on proprioceptive feedback from your muscles rather than your vision. Learn more about eyes-closed training here.

This can be a bit disorienting at first but the intensity factor goes up exponentially as you’ll be required to master your body mechanics to another level in order to stay in control of the movements. Even just a simple eyes closed eccentric isometric lunge is very challenging yet quite informative about one’s biomechanics. Learn how to implement this tip with our awesome BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

9. Dial In Your Core

This is a bit of a no-brainer but it’s surprising how many folks neglect to either train their core musculature or activate it during basic lifts. For instance many folks fail to keep their abs and core engaged during squats, hinges, and lunges which is often why they collapse and use excessive range of motion while demonstrating low levels of motor control and stability. When the core is maximally engaged it’s almost impossible to use excessive range of motion and go past 90 degrees, that is unless you lose your core tightness.

With that said, there are two things everyone should be focusing on when it comes to optimizing their core and ab training. First, incorporate more unique bodyweight core stabilization drills such as single arm planks, bird dog planks, side planks, and more. Secondly, make sure your core is fully engaged every single second of ever repetition of every lift. Eccentric isometrics will make this much easier to accomplish due to the enhanced sensory feedback. Learn how to implement this tip with our awesome BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

10. Optimize Your Posture

Proper posture goes hand in hand with core activation. In fact it’s nearly impossible to accomplish one without the other. Once again, because you won’t be using maximal loading or heavy weights, use bodyweight training periods as the ultimate phase for improving postural alignment. Keep your head tall, shoulders packed down and back, stomach in, hips back, and core braced throughout a majority of your exercises. Get to the point where this becomes automatic and I can just about guarantee you that not only will your joints and body feel better but you’ll be able to lift heavier loads when you return to the gym. Learn how to implement this tip with our awesome BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

11. Choose Lots of Single Leg Exercises

Single Leg movements are going to be your best friend during bodyweight no-equipment workouts especially when it comes to lower body. Here’s why. If you only have bodyweight or light loads you’ll want to make it as heavy as possible. That means take the same load and distribute it to a single limb rather than spreading it across two limbs. Additionally, most lifters will find they have to drop the weight by roughly 70% not just 50% (or half the load) when performing single leg movements due to the exponentially greater instability.

Simply put, performing a traditional goblet squat with a 20 pound water jug will be fairly light for most lifters. However, performing the same lift on one leg using a single leg skater squat will provide an exponentially higher level of intensity that will challenge even the most advanced lifters. Additionally, even if you’ve become quite strong at single leg lifts, that bodyweight loading formula works to your favor as even light loads will represent a relatively high percentage of what you might typically use even at the gym.

For instance, most advanced 200 pound lifters will be lucky to hit single leg goblet squats with 75 pounds. Now, let’s say the lifter only has a 20 pound water jug for their home workouts. While the difference between a 75 and 20 pound weight is quite substantial it’s actually quite small when you take bodyweight into account. That is, instead of using a total of 275 pounds (200 pounds of bodyweight +75 pounds of dumbbell loading) for a single leg squat you’ll now be using 220 pounds (200 + 20 pounds) representing roughly 80% of the typical loads you would typically use making it a relatively high training intensity even for advanced lifters. Learn how to implement this tip with our awesome BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

12. Focus On The Muscle Mind Connection

As corny as it sounds, the muscle mind connection is a real thing. In fact, research has shown that when participants focus on activating the muscles they’re intending to target, this significantly increases activation of those particular muscles. Because you’ll likely be using lighter loads and lower intensity exercises during your bodyweight workouts, try improving your muscle mind connection by aggressively attempting to fire the appropriate muscles while also maintaining full body tension and proper body alignment.

If you have a weak link or lagging muscle sometimes improving the muscle mind connection is all you need to wake up dormant fibers. This is also a great way to increase the hypertrophy stimulus of your bodyweight workouts while simultaneously ensuring that when you return to the gym you’ll be more in-tune with your body and more efficient at working the targeted musculature. Learn how to implement this tip with our awesome BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

13. Don’t Worry About Progressive Overload

There’s a time and season for everything in life, even heavy lifting. Home workouts and quarantine periods are NOT it. Rather than being obsessed with how you’ll progress your workouts, implement periodization methods, or provide progressive overload to your workouts, focus instead on improving the quality of your repetitions and mastering your form.

In fact, the single most effective form of progressive overload is not more weight, more reps, more volume, or less rest but improving your technique as this indicates that you’re getting more out of each and every rep thereby enhancing the effectiveness of your workouts. Read more about progressive overload and periodization here. Learn how to implement this tip with our awesome BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

14. Use Jumps & Explosive Movements

One of the most common concerns and issues folks have with bodyweight training is the inability to activate fast twitch muscle fibers and high threshold motor units which have the most potential for growth. Although properly performed eccentric isometrics with high levels of full body tension can greatly help with this, nothing beats heavy loading for waking up those fast twitch fibers. However, performing explosive movements, such as jumps, tosses, and explosive pushups (handclap or launching) will help ensure that you’re using fast twitch muscle fibers to produce high levels of explosive power and speed.

Rather than having your fast twitch fibers go into a semi-state of dormancy from lack of heavy weights, explosive movements will help simulate similar activation and recruitment patterns you’d normally produce when handling heavy loads. As a result when you return to heavy gym workouts you’ll be just as capable of firing up those high threshold motor units and blasting out heavy weight with textbook form. Learn how to implement this tip with our awesome BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

15. Take Advantage Of Compensatory Acceleration

Similar to the above, even if you’re not necessarily performing an explosive jump or power exercise, try employing compensatory acceleration on many of your repetitions. That means you’ll be attempting to perform the concentric/lifting phase of the movement with as much power and speed as possible while maintaining control of the movement.

Similar to the jumps and explosive movements, this can increase motor unit recruitment and engage fast twitch muscle fibers similar to what heavy weights would achieve. You may not be able to overload the fast twitch muscles during bodyweight workouts but you’ll certainly be able to activate all available motor units which can do wonders for maintaining strength and muscularity. Learn how to implement this tip with our awesome BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

16. Work On Balance & Stability

Balance and stability are two of the most important biomotor qualities that most folks tend to neglect. Let’s face it, stability training isn’t nearly as sexy or exciting as lifting heavy loads. However, learning to improve your motor control, balance, and full body stability can do wonders not only for improving joint health and body mechanics, but it can also help you handle heavier loads as you’ll have greater body control and neuromuscular efficiency.

Fortunately bodyweight workouts are perfect for this form of training since you’ll be focusing on many single leg variations and bodyweight core stabilization drills. Learn how to implement this tip with our awesome BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

17. Don’t Mindlessly Blow Out Reps & Chase Fatigue

Chasing fatigue, while quite enticing during bodyweight workouts is not the most effective methodology of training. Yes some fatigue, particularly when strategically applied towards the end of workouts as finishers, is totally acceptable and in many ways quite effective. However, fatigue is also the enemy of motor programming. In other words, too much fatigue can degrade movement mechanics and ingrain poor activation patterns. Additionally it can be quite catabolic while simultaneously reinforcing weak muscular contractions as the quality of your repetitions inevitably degrades. As expert strength coach Vince McConnell so eloquently states, “The ego exercise at the gym is ‘How heavy can I go’. The ego exercise at home is ‘How tired can I get’.” Neither of these methods will optimize your training or your results. Read more about the best rep range here. Learn how to implement this tip with our awesome BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

18. Focus On Full Body

Although body part splits have their place in training programs, bodyweight training is hardly the place for it as you simply don’t have the necessary training loads, tools, or gym options to truly crush any one particular muscle. To get the most out of your bodyweight training and home gym quarantine workouts, focus on hitting full body routines by using a variety of upper body movements, lower body drills, balance exercises, explosive bodyweight jumps, and core stabilization exercises. Additionally, since one of the primary goals during your bodyweight training phase should be improved body mechanics and technique, one of the best ways to accomplish this is through more frequent practice. That means higher frequency of training a particular movement pattern. Fortunately this not only improves body mechanics but research now suggests this may be more beneficial for eliciting a strength and hypertrophy response. Learn how to implement this tip with our awesome BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

19. Use Water Bottles

Besides representing the most readily available form of loading most folks will have access to, water bottles are also surprisingly hard to control and stabilize similar to the oscillating kinetic energy method (i.e. hanging band technique).

As a result small 10 pound water jugs can be deceptively challenging particularly if you hold them in a bottoms up fashion. This can do wonders for cleaning up various forms of movement dysfunction and force the lifter to dial in their technique with great precision. Learn how to implement this tip with our awesome BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

20. Move Either Very Slow or Very Rapidly

Although performing the concentric phase of the movement can help wake up fast twitch fibers, periodically employing very slow repetitions can help produce very high levels of intramuscular tension and metabolic stress to the localized muscles both of which are effective for inducing a hypertrophy stimulus to the targeted musculature.

Simply put, when it comes to maximizing the effectiveness of your bodyweight training, you’ll either want to move very slow or very fast. Learn how to implement this tip with our awesome BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

21. Use A Training Partner

If you’re locked up with your favorite family member, spouse, lover, or roommate chances are you’ll both be getting on each other’s nerves. Rather than attempting to perform any form of manual occlusion or blood flow restriction training to the musculature of the neck, try venting your anger by performing manual tension or partner exercises. A good training partner should be able to provide very high levels of resistance which should benefit both individuals greatly provided exercise-induced manslaughter is avoided. Ready to get crazy results with no equipment and no gym? Get our BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

22. Use Furniture

A good training partner is tough to beat when it comes to bodyweight or minimal equipment workouts. However, furniture particularly couches, stools chairs, and cabinets come in at a close second, allowing the lifter to use a variety of positions, angles, and movements to perform very effective bodyweight exercises.

23. Use Socks & or Sliders

Sliding and anti-sliding exercises are some of my favorite go-to exercises whether I’m at the gym or training in the house. Although I typically use slide-boards, gliders, rollers, and discs to achieve this, wearing socks on a slick surface or even napkins, towels, sheets, napkins, paper plates, or furniture sliders can also produce a very similar stimulus. If you’re not familiar with this type of training jut be prepared for some ridiculously brutal exercises as the possible variations are near limitless. Learn how to implement this tip with our awesome BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

24. Get Fancy & Sadistic With Pushups

No bodyweight or home workout experience would be complete without good old old-fashioned pushups. However, rather than continually blasting out the same exact variation rep after rep, workout after workout, try getting a bit crazy with your pushup variations.

Performing them with your feet elevated, single leg, eyes closed, bear crawl positions, feet on a slick or unstable surface, or even having a partner push or sit on your back, can exponentially increase the intensity and effectiveness, of this classic calisthenic strength exercise. You can also grab some wild animals from the yard or throw a few small children on your back to give you some extra loading. Learn how to implement this tip with our awesome BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS.

25. Eliminate Any & All Distractions

One of the benefits of training at home under lockdown conditions is that you’ll typically be able to have fewer gym distractions. In other words, you won’t have your gym buddies, mirrors, music, or other common distractions you’ll have to deal with.

Take advantage of being able to train in the privacy of your own home, eliminate any additional distractions including auditory, visual, or somatosensory and focus purely on your movements. And yes that means no music, mirror, or phones. There’s no reason to have Metallica blasting in your eardrums when you’re working on single leg stabilization drills. Focus on your sensory feedback and your movement and nothing else. Simply, train like a freaking ninja!!!

Wondering how to implement each of the components into your quarantine bodyweight and home workouts? Ready to get crazy results with no equipment and no gym? Check out our BODYWEIGHT TRAINING REDEFINED program that includes 129+ exercises strategically implemented into 15+ highly effective workout that are guaranteed to transform your home workouts.