The Best 20-Minute Bodyweight Workout You Can Do Anywhere
Got 20 minutes? Awesome—use them to get stronger with this full-body workout, which is part of the Women’s Health 30-Day Bodyweight Challenge. The week-long exercise program follows an alternating schedule of strength training days and cardio days, and will work your arms, core, butt, and legs.
On the strength training days, you’ll complete 5 bodyweight strength training exercises, so make sure to ditch the dumbbells! Because you’re only focusing on 5 moves this week, the goal is to zero in on proper form. Then, on the cardio days, choose a low- or moderate-intensity, low-impact form of exercise, like walking, jogging, or spinning, to let your joints and muscles recover while improving your cardiovascular health.
Schedule:
Day 1: Strength Training
Day 2: Cardio (30 to 45 minutes)
Day 3: Strength Training
Day 4: Cardio (30 to 45 minutes)
Day 5: Strength Training
Day 6: Cardio (30 to 45 minutes)
Day 7: Active Rest Day (Long walk, yoga, hike)
Ahead, you’ll find a detailed breakdown of the workout program, including each move’s instructions and a visual exercise demo.
The Workout
Time: 16 to 18 minutes per day
Equipment: None
Instructions: Perform 3 sets of each exercise (either the prescribed number of reps or for time), with 30 seconds of rest between each set. Then, continue on to the next.
Exercises At A Glance:
High Plank (30 seconds)
Superman With Legs Down (10 to 12 reps)
Bilateral Glute Lunge (10 to 12 reps)
Frog Hop (10 to12 reps)
Split Squat (10 to 12 reps per leg)
Muscles Worked: Shoulders, core, glutes, quads, back, chest, calves, hamstrings, deep transverse abdominals
High Plank
How to:
Start at the top of a pushup with wrists under shoulders and feet together—you can separate them to modify the move. Keep core engaged and tailbone tucked under.
Hold for 30 seconds. That’s 1 set.
Superman With Legs Down
How to:
Lie facedown with arms bent 90 degrees, elbows in line with shoulders, all four limbs and forehead on floor.
Contract core and lift head, chest, and arms a few inches off floor. Keep neck neutral by gazing just past the nose, and extend arms straight forward.
Reverse movement to return to start. That’s 1 rep.
Complete a total of 10 to 12 reps.
Bilateral Glute Bridge
How to:
Lie faceup with legs bent, feet hip-width apart and flat on floor about a foot from butt, ankles under knees.
Contract core and lift hips. Pause, then lower back down. That’s 1 rep.
Complete a total of 10 to 12 reps.
Frog Hop
How to:
Start in a high plank with hands directly under shoulders and body forming a straight line from head to heels with feet together—you can separate them to modify the move
Jump feet forward to just outside hands, coming into a low squat position.
Jump back to start. That’s 1 rep.
Complete a total of 10 to 12 reps.
Split Squat
How to:
Stand with legs staggered, right leg forward and left back, left heel high.
Bring hands together in front of chest, and lower body until both knees are bent 90 degrees, then return to start. That’s 1 rep.
Complete a total of 10 to 12 reps, then repeat on opposite side.
Awesome job on this week’s workout plan! Move into the second week of the Women’s Health+ 30-Day Bodyweight Challenge here.
To access follow-along videos of more Women's Health+ workout challenges and 450+ streaming workouts, download the All/Out Studio fitness app, included in your Women's Health+ Premium membership.
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