The Best At-Home, No-Gear Workouts

You know you should go to the gym. But then reality strikes and you are too busy, too tired, or too swamped to make it on a regular basis. 

But guess what? Two underutilized tools in many gym-based fitness regimens or training programs are bodyweight movements (push-ups, sit-ups and other exercises where your own body weight provides the resistance) and running/walking. So we had Jake Hutchinson put together five simple workout sessions that require only a small amount of space and zero gear.

For the motivated or exceptionally fit, Jake suggests doing one each day with two days off and then repeat. For the rest of us, you could do one every other day. For people interested in endurance or aerobic capacity, he would have you add these workouts to the end of your run, hike, or walk a few days each week.

For each workout, Jake recommends a good, general warm-up to get the blood flowing and your mind and body right for the workout to come. This could include a combination of yoga, stretching, breathing and mobility work.

WORKOUT 1 – GENERAL PHYSICAL PREPAREDNESS (GPP)

Warm-up
(see above)

First Part Workout: 3 Rounds
Move from one movement to the next with minimum or no rest for three rounds:
         • 10 Push-ups (some great tips on push-ups here)
         • 25 Sit-ups
         • 15 Hip Bridge
         • 1 min rest

Second Part Workout: 12-Minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds as Possible)
Set your watch for 12 minutes. Go through each exercise in order, start to finish is one round. The idea is to only rest as needed and to complete as many rounds as you can in the 12 minutes. As your fitness improves, you should be able to complete more rounds each time.
         • 15 Air Squats
         • 6 Burpees
         • 20 Mountain Climbers (10 per leg)

Finish: 5 minutes
30 seconds of planks/30 seconds of rest (30:30 intervals)

WORKOUT 2 – UPPER BODY (TABATA)

Warm Up
Two to three rounds of 5-10 Shoulder Dislocates reps (use a pvc pipe, broom handle etc)

Workout: Tabata
Each round is 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest. Eight times, four minutes total, then rest 2 minutes between rounds. The goal should be to use your maximum effort, to reach your maximum reps each round.
         • Round 1 – Push-ups
         • Round 2 – Mountain Climbers
         • Round 3 – Push-ups
         • Round 4 – Mountain Climbers
         • Round 5 – Push-ups

Finish
Run 1.5 to 2 miles at a hard pace (adjust the distance according to your health, this shouldn’t exceed 18 minutes total).

WORKOUT 3 – LEG SMASHER

Warm Up
Run 1 mile

First Part Workout: Five Rounds
Five rounds of Mini Leg Blaster (this is a great circuit from the folks at Mountain Tactical)
         • 10 Air Squats
         • 10 Alternating Lunges (5 per leg)
         • 10 Split jumps or jumping lunges (5 per leg)
         • 5 squat jumps
         • Rest 1 min

Second Part Workout
Run 800 meters

Third Part Workout
Three rounds:
         • 10x Hamstring Hell (per leg, 20 reps total)
         • 1 minute rest

Finish
50 sit-ups

WORKOUT 4 – GPP 2

Warm-up: 10 Minute EMOM (Every Minute on the Minute)
Set the clock for 10 minutes, do each of the prescribed movements and reps in order, once completed, rest the remaining time. Then, repeat the next minute and so on for 10 mins.
         • 8 Air Squats
         • 8 Push-ups
         • 8 Tuck Jumps

First Part Workout
3 rounds:
         • 15 Toes-to-Sky
         • 1 minute rest between

Second Part Workout
3 rounds:
         • 20 Plank Walkup
         • 1 minute rest between

Third Part Workout
Six minutes of: 30 seconds of work, 30 seconds of rest, max reps
         • Touch Jump Touch

Finish
1 mile run at hard pace

WORKOUT 5 – SPEED/POWER WORK

Warm-up
Ten-to-twenty minute easy run

Workout
5 Rounds:
         • 1 minute all out sprint (run, goal of 400+ meters per interval)
         • Rest 4 minutes (active, walk, stretch) between intervals

Finish
Run/walk 15-30 minutes easy to cool down

If you have access to a pull-up bar, substitute pull-ups for push-ups to add variety and keep your back strong throughout the workouts. Jake uses a 4:1 ratio roughly, so if it calls for 8 push-ups, he would substitute 2-3 pull-ups. Use this time at home as an opportunity to get stronger and fitter, not an excuse to stop moving.

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Article by Jake Hutchinson

Jake has spent more than 25 years working as an avalanche professional. He is currently a lead instructor for the American Avalanche Institute, an avalanche dog handler and trainer and an avalanche safety consultant to the resort and rescue communities. Off the snow, Hutchinson is a Certified Instructor and former Head of Instructor and Seminar Development for Gym Jones in Salt Lake City. He is currently involved in private personal training with an emphasis on high level functional fitness for mountain and military athletes.