The exercise also improves core strength and stability. By changing up your positioning, angle, and equipment, you can seriously get creative with these exercises. If leg extensions, sissy squats, and such are out of the question, these are a good alternative. Step 1: Lie on stomach. Pick the option below that best aligns with your goals and timeline: 1) If you want step-by-step guidance, a custom bodyweight training program that levels up as you get stronger, and a coach to keep you accountable, check out our killer 1-on-1 coaching program: Step-ups focus on the same muscles (quads, hamstrings, glutes) as lunges. You step up onto your toes. Prone Arm Circles: 3 sets. Somehow, the modern interpretation of this historical form of exercise has evolved to focus mostly on pull up bar exercises, though some purists would argue that only no equipment workouts should count as calisthenics. Bodyweight step ups are a handy exercise that can be perfomred anywhere and with no equipment. Jump your feet back in and return to the start position. Load Up Your Backpack "One of the best ways to simulate heavier weights is a backpack loaded with books to add resistance while doing squats, lunges, and pushups," Newson says. Hold a pair of dumbbells at your sides and place one foot on a bench or box, your knee bent to 90°. Step-ups are my favorite exercise for knee tendonitis, and they are great for vertical jump training. Plyo box substitution: A bench or some stairs. Step 3: Then left arm and right leg come up. If that’s you, we have MULTIPLE options to take the next step. They’re as follows: Bodyweight Workouts are Basically Free – You might have to shell out for an occasional pull-up bar or similarly accessible piece of equipment, but other than that, bodyweight exercises come free of charge. Ditch the dumbbells and get a great cardio … With a bench or step in front of you quickly step up and step down off the bench. ... alternative exercises. Towel – to wipe off the sweat that you’ll be producing! The higher the step, the harder the exercise will be. Plyo box substitution: A bench or some stairs Bodyweight Step-Up — SHOCK – SHOCK: Women's Fitness Skip to content You can try 30 seconds of Rapid Step Ups followed by 10 Jump Squats and repeat 3 – 8 times. Bulgarian Split Squats. In this article, we’ll go over what bodyweight lunges are, how to set up for the exercise, how to alter the difficulty for progressive overload, and the benefits of even doing lunges. I was re-reading Simple and Sinister’s chapter on step-loading, it occurred to me my own (mostly) calisthenics based training has moved in this direction. You could see it as a direct replacement for the leg extension machine, although arguably a little more knee-friendly for those with preexisting crankiness. There’s all the equipment you could ever need, and making regular progress is made a little more straightforward when you’re able to add weight to the bar or … Alternating Superman video: See more exercise guides in The Bodyweight Exercise Collection. Check out these pull up alternative exercises that require ZERO equipment, or try those that you can do with a barbell, dumbbells or a resistance band. Pull Up Alternatives Table Bodyweight Row. 5 Bodyweight Back Exercises – No Equipment Required. Luckily, Performix House trainer Lacee Lazoff shares her favorite push-up alternatives. Read More Beginner Bodyweight … Like Superman, but this time you alternate arms and legs.. As a warm-up, there's no need to go to failure. There are many different step-up variations, but the traditional step-up will be enough for most people. Some good alternatives to BW step ups are: Pistol Squats. If you can only find a low one, just make sure to go as fast as you can to keep the intensity level up. How it works: Two or three days a week, add some of these pull-up alternative exercises into your existing strength routine. For a low-impact option, step your feet out instead of jumping. Hidden in this workout on paper is how rigorously it tests core stability. Step 3: Bring your feet back into your chest, jump up and reach your arms up high, landing softly. Dumbbell step-up The dumbbell step-up is a great exercise for building lower-body strength and power. Body-weight training: Ditch the dumbbells. And while this is a sweeping generalization, in a lot of cases, it’s true. It targets all the same muscles as bodyweight step-ups, such as the quads, glutes, and hamstrings, but allows for greater muscular overload. Stand tall holding a pair of dumbbells at arm’s length by your sides, and place your left foot on a bench so that your hip, knee, and ankle are all bent 90 degrees. Boiled down to it’s essence, calisthenics is about working out using only your bodyweight. But I’d recommend instead splitting it up into at least 2 days throughout the week by using an upper/lower split, for example. Bodyweight Lat Pulldowns: 3 sets. How to Do the Step-Up. Bodyweight exercises are often said to be safer than many free weight and machine strength training exercises.