While bodyweight exercises can take you far, if you’re able to add weights to your routine, you should. And this lower body workout with weights is a great place to start, since it takes exercises you may already be familiar with – air squats, lateral lunges, step-ups – and just adds resistance.
But first, a primer on the benefits of strength training. While many people focus on the aesthetic benefits of strength training, resistance training has other upsides. “Strength training builds bone density,” says Bertha Muñoz-Lewis, a certified strength and conditioning specialist. It also strengthens muscles, and “strong muscles protect joints, tendons, and ligaments,” she adds. Weight training can improve balance and coordination, reducing your risk of falling or injuring yourself. In short, “It’s imperative for women of all ages to add a true resistance training program to their workout routine in order for their bodies to be resilient, durable, capable, and functional as they age,” says Muñoz-Lewis. “It’s our body armor.”
A lower body workout with weights can activate the glutes and muscles surrounding the hips, along with the quadriceps and hamstrings. These are key muscle groups of the posterior chain that help make up the foundation of the body. We use them not just in the gym, but in many of our daily movements – everything from picking up groceries to dancing or playing sports.
If you’re totally new to fitness, consider checking in with your doctor or healthcare provider before trying this workout to make sure you don’t have any injuries or limitations that would prevent you from being able to complete it. If you’re ready to dive in, start with a dynamic warm-up including five minutes of low-intensity cardiovascular activity, such as a light jog, indoor cycling, jump rope, or jumping jacks. Then check out our guide about how to choose the right weight and get started.
Expert Featured in This Article
Bertha Muñoz-Lewis, MS, CSCS, is a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), and the co-owner of House of Champs in Felton, DE. She creates and oversees the strength programs for student-athletes from elementary school age through the collegiate level, and also runs her women’s strength program known as B.yond Strength.
Lower Body Workout With Weights
Equipment needed: Dumbbells or Kettlebells. As a starter weight set, we like the PS Neoprene Dumbbell ($7-$20), available in three, five-, eight-, and ten-pound increments, or the Stakt Weights ($98), which can be adjusted to clock in at two, four, and six pounds each.
Directions: Perform eight to 10 repetitions of each of the first five exercise, moving directly from one to the next with no rest between each move. After completing all five lower-body exercises with weights, finish with the core burner: choose one, two, or all three of the core exercises from the options listed below and perform them for 25 to 45 seconds each to finish each set. Then, rest for one minute. Repeat the entire sequence again for two to three sets.
Lower Body Exercises With Weights:
Goblet Squat
Kettlebell Deadlift
Lateral Lunge
Step Ups
Glute Bridges
Core Burner. Choose between one to three of the following core moves: Dumbbell Drag from Plank Position, Mountain Climbers or Plank Jacks.
Read on for explanations of how to do each exercise, including form and technique tips.
Have you ever tried the lawn mower exercise? And no, I’m not referring to pushing a metal device across your front yard to trim the grass. The lawn mower exercise is a type of row that can help build scapular stabilization. And if you’ve never heard of it, that’s not entirely surprising, considering that most of us skip shoulder stabilizing moves altogether. But the benefits of the lawn mower exercise make it worth adding to your usual workout routine.
Here’s everything you need to know about this underutilized strength move, including how to do a lawn mower exercise with proper form and how to incorporate it into your own fitness routine.
The biggest draw of the lawn mower exercise is that it can help support and build shoulder strength. Now, it’s worth noting that the shoulder is a pretty complex area of the body. The shoulder girdle includes the clavicle and the scapula. And there’s a collection of joints – ternoclavicular (SC), acromioclavicular (AC), scapulothoracic, and glenohumeral. Plus, other scapular muscles, including the upper trapezius, lower trapezius, pectoralis minor and serratus anterior, work together to place the scapula in optimal position for shoulder function, according to the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM).
So, how does the lawn mower factor into all this? This exercise is a multi-joint movement that engages the lower trapezius (traps), serratus anterior, and other back muscles, all of which play a role in supporting and stabilizing the shoulder.
Why does this matter, exactly? Well, research in the journal Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy suggests that individuals with alterations in scapular position are at a higher risk of shoulder injury, and it can hurt fitness performance. But, on the flip side, prioritizing this part of the body can help set you up for strength-building success.
As the name of the exercise implies, this movement mimics starting a lawn mower. That means that while it’s a type of row, you’re going to be adding in some rotation, rather than moving your arm straight up and down.
Proper form includes keeping a wide split stance, hinging forward at your hips, and maintaining a strong, flat back. It’s also crucial to engage your core muscles as you move through this exercise – not only will this help strengthen that part of your body, but it will also protect your back and ensure you’re getting the most out of the exercise.
Now, it’s also important to note that the “lawn mower” refers to the movement itself, and it isn’t tied to a specific type of resistance – so you can perform a lawn mower with dumbbells, resistance bands, cable machines, or even your own body weight.
However, before you go reaching for some heavy weights, check in with your shoulder mobility. If it’s subpar, you could be setting yourself up for injury, or just an inefficient workout. How can you tell? Try this: stand with your back, shoulder blades, and wrists against a wall, with your hands overhead. If you can’t slide your arms down while keeping all those touchpoints against the wall, your mobility could likely use some attention. If that’s the case, start with a bodyweight lawn mower and other shoulder mobility exercises.
How to Do a Lawn Mower Exercise
Get into a split stance position, with your left foot forward and right leg back. Keep a slight bend in both knees.
Hinge at the hips to bend slightly forward, and keep your back flat. Engage your core. Extend your right arm towards your left foot.
Rotate your torso slightly, pull your elbow up and back while keeping your arm close to your body, and imagine bringing your hand towards your pants pocket. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and down.
Using control, bring your hand back down to the starting position.
Complete all reps, then repeat on the other side.
Lawn Mower Alternatives and Variations
As mentioned, there are a number of ways to do this exercise, using different types of resistance. You can opt for bodyweight only (which is best if you’re still honing shoulder mobility or recovering from a shoulder injury), resistance bands, cables, or dumbbells. To make this exercise more challenging, you can simply scale up the weight.
However, if you want to try an alternative to the lawn mower exercise that still targets similar muscles, consider one of these moves instead.
Plank Row
This type of row really targets your core and challenges your shoulder stability, as you work to maintain your plank form while rowing with alternating arms. It also hits your lats, rhomboids, and traps.
Start in a plank position with a dumbbell in each hand (or simply try bodyweight).
Row one dumbbell up to your chest while stabilizing with the other arm. Engage your core to keep your hips from rotating.
Lower the dumbbell back to the ground and alternate sides.
Deadlift Row
This exercise combines the classic row with a deadlift, which means it challenges your lower back, glutes, hamstrings, traps, and core in one move.
Stand with feet hip-width apart, hinge at the hips and knees to grasp a dumbbell in each hand.
Keeping your back flat, lift the weights up and back, squeezing your shoulder blades together and keeping your elbows close to your body.
Lower the dumbbells back down with control.
Superman
The superman is a nice bodyweight alternative to the lawn mower. It can similarly help strengthen your back and shoulders, without excessive strain.
Lie face down on the floor with arms extended in front of you.
Lift your arms, chest, and legs off the ground simultaneously, holding the position briefly before lowering back down.
Kristine Thomason is a lifestyle writer and editor based in Southern California. Previously, she was the health and fitness director at Mindbodygreen and the fitness and wellness editor at Women’s Health. Kristine’s work has also appeared in POPSUGAR, Travel + Leisure, Men’s Health, Health, and Refinery29, among others
While we’ll always love a dumbbell, kettlebell, or resistance band workout, there’s something empowering about knowing that all we really need to challenge our muscles is ourselves. Yes, we’re talking about bodyweight workouts. Though they’re sometimes overlooked, the right combination of full-body, no-equipment exercises can help you achieve any goal, from building strength to working up a sweat.
“Bodyweight exercises refer to moves that use your own body weight to provide resistance against gravity,” says Tara Nicolas, a Nike Training Club trainer. And while you might think that bodyweight exercises are naturally easier than moves that require equipment, you’d be wrong.
“I personally learned that the hard way during the pandemic,” Nicolas says. With gyms closed and at-home weights on serious backorder, the trainer turned to full-body, no-equipment exercises to get her sweat on – and ended up more exhausted than she’d thought possible.
“Using equipment is fun, but you have ‘help’ in a way. With bodyweight exercises, you have to create all the force on your own, and when you get tired, you can’t flub it. It’s like, I have to pick my own ass up off this floor,” Nicolas says.
So while bodyweight workouts can leave you just as tired and sore as powerlifting, there are full-body, no equipment exercises for every level of fitness. And Nicolas notes that bodyweight workouts can be a “safe space” for people who are intimidated by heavier weights – or have used them before and gotten injured.
They can be super functional too. “Bodyweight exercises mimic what you’re going to do in the real world, and encourage you to have more body awareness,” Nicolas says.
No-equipment exercises can also be surprisingly fun, because they encourage you to get out of the gym and find new ways to move your body – whether you’re incorporating bodyweight moves into a dance cardio class, or getting outdoors and using a park bench to support your workout.
The following eight full-body, no-equipment exercises aren’t a full workout, but represent a selection of moves you can plug into your routine to strengthen your muscles and get your heart rate up.
Listen to your body and modify as needed; bear crawls or inchworms might not be the right moves for people with wrist pain, for instance, and some people may need to work their way up to a full squat jump.
And one last piece of advice? Grab a sweat towel – you’ll probably need it.
– Additional reporting by Abbey Stone and Mirel Zaman
No matter which at-home workout you pick, I want you to start with one important thing:
Warm-up!
I cover why you should always warm up in an article found right here. It doesn’t have to be much though, give it about five minutes to get your muscles active and your heart rate up.
This will help you do exercises properly and help prevent injury. You can run in place, do air punches and kicks, or some jumping jacks.
Here is NF Senior Coach Staci (you might know her incredible story) showing you many beginner options you can use to warm up as well:
If you’re curious, here’s my personal (advanced) warm-up:
Advanced Warm-up Routine:
Jump rope: 2-3 minutes
Jumping jacks: 25 reps
Bodyweight squats: 20 reps
Lunges: 5 reps each leg.
Hip extensions: 10 reps each side
Hip rotations: 5 each leg
Forward leg swings: 10 each leg
Side leg swings: 10 each leg
Push-ups: 10-20 reps
Spider-man steps: 10 reps
Our goal isn’t to tire you out, instead we want to warm you up.
That’s step one.
Completing your chosen at-home workout would be step two.
Below, you’ll find 8 sequences you can follow along with!
I warn you, the above sequence will hurt… in a good way. You should be proud if you can get through this three times.
Do you want to get as strong as possible so this workout ain’t no thang?
Sign up in the box below to grab our guide, Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. It’ll teach you all of these advanced bodyweight exercises!
Download our comprehensive guide
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Sometimes, you just plain find yourself stuck in a hotel room. Maybe you can find the hotel gym, but I bet it’s terrible! It probably has 2 machines, a broken treadmill, and no free weights.
Ugh.
Instead, how about a 20-min workout you can do in the room itself! Utilize the furniture to its full potential.
Hotel Workout Level 1:
Hotel Workout Level 2:
Set the alarm clock to 15 minutes from now and see how many circuits you can do!
If you don’t have time to run through the whole sequence, no problem!
Depending on how much time you have during the day, you can do your whole workout at once, or break up your training into four different sessions throughout the day (with each session being ONE of the exercises).
Here’s a sample day for your No-Equipment Workout:
Wake up, do 40 jumping jacks to warm up, and then do bodyweight squats.
At lunch, you grab your suitcase (if you’re at work, milk jug if you’re at home) and do inverted rows.
After work, you do another 50 jumping jacks and then do your push-ups.
After dinner, you do your planks while watching TV.
You could even split it up over two days if needed, but the goal would be to do it the whole sequence at once.
The main Angry Birds Workout article describes in detail Levels 1-6, but here’s Level 3 for you:
Once you’ve done the complete routine, you have my permission to whip out your phone and play the actual game!
Bonus points if you somehow do this no-equipment workout in a cave, as that’s how Bruce Wayne would roll.[1]
This workout is separated into two days for you.
Here’s a video for the first day:
Batman No-Equipment Workout Day 1:
Rolling squat tuck-up jumps: 5 reps
Side to side push-ups: 5 reps
Modified headstand push-ups: 5 reps
Jump pull-up with tuck / Pull-up with Tuck-up: 5 reps
Handstands against wall: 8 seconds
Here’s a video for the second day:
Batman No-Equipment Workout Day 2:
‘180 Degree’ jump turns: 5 reps
Tuck front lever hold: 8 seconds
Tuck back lever hold: 8 seconds
Low frog hold: 8 seconds
This is a relatively advanced workout already, but if you want to progress to the next level, check out the main Batman Bodyweight Workout for tips on how to do just that.
NOTE: This is NOT a beginner program, and should not be attempted unless you have been training consistently and can do multiple repetitions of pull-ups and push-ups with great form.
Like this perfect push-up:
And this perfect pull-up:
Here’s how the PLP Progression works:
Day 1:
Pull-ups: 10 reps
Push-ups: 10 reps
Lunges: 10 reps (each leg)
Day 2:
Pull-ups: 11 reps
Push-ups: 11 reps
Lunges: 11 reps (each leg)
Day 3:
Pull-ups: 12 reps
Push-ups: 12 reps
Lunges: 12 reps (each leg)
How long do you keep doing this?
As originally envisioned by Chad Waterbury, the PLP Workout lasts 60 days.[3]
Yeah…by the end of it you’ll be doing more than 50 pull-ups.
There are two versions:
If you can do 10 straight pull-ups: Start day 1 with 10 reps of each.
If you cannot do 10 straight pull-ups: Start day 1 with 1 rep of each.
Complete your required reps each day in as many sets as you need, whenever you need to. The goal is to do it in as few sets as possible, but enough so that you can complete each rep with proper form.
If you want to advance to the Jedi Knight or Master Levels, check out The Star Wars Workout, which will also offer you a full description of each move.
The trick here is to couple your home workouts with adjustments to your nutrition.
We’re big believers that you can’t outrun your fork, so any successful weight loss plan will include a focus on building a healthy plate.
That will look something like this:
If you want some help on adjusting your nutrition, I’ve got two great resources for you:
The Nerd Fitness Guide to Healthy Eating. This massive resource will help you slowly adjust your nutrition, without forcing you to give up the food you love (yes, you can still eat pizza here and there). No more diets, instead we’ll work on building habits together.
Nerd Fitness Coaching. If you want to take it to the next level, one of our trained professionals can help you adjust your way of eating to help you reach your goals. No shame. No judgment. Just a like-minded nerd who will show you the way.
I have two resources to help you design your own no-equipment workout:
The 42 Best Bodyweight Exercises: This guide will teach you how to perform the best bodyweight exercises – no equipment required! Check it out if you are unfamiliar with any of the movements referenced in today’s guide.
How To Build Your Own Workout Routine: Once you’re comfortable with a handful of bodyweight exercises, use this guide to pull them all together into a full-body workout!
That should get you going on building a workout you can do in the comfort of your own home.
Want more? Alright, eager beaver, I got you.
We built THREE options for people just like you:
1) If you want step-by-step guidance, a custom workout program that levels up as you get stronger, and a coach to keep you accountable, check out our killer 1-on-1 coaching program:
2) If you want a daily prompt for doing workouts at home, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
Try your free trial right here:
3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.
Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our guide, Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. It’ll help you start incorporating these bodyweight moves into your training.
Download our comprehensive guide
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Alright, your turn: I’d love to hear how your home training is going!
Which workout above did you try? Did you make one of your own?
Leave a comment below with your results or any questions you have on working out at home.
For the Rebellion!
-Steve
PS: If you were going to buy one piece of equipment to utilize in your home, a kettlebell would offer you a lot of versatility:
