Bodyweight exercise has you pushing the limits of resistance training using only your body— no barbells, dumbbells, or even gym membership required.
But adding equipment can have the added benefit of making movements more challenging to seriously progress your abilities. It’s all about finding that new level of resistance.
There are also a few key bodyweight exercises that do require some equipment. Take dips as an example. Sure, you could utilise a couple of chairs or find a nearby playground. But what if those chairs aren’t so sturdy? And what if there’s no park in your area (or worse— it’s full of kids who don’t give a damn about your callisthenics gains)?
While you could seriously level up your regimen with a suspension trainer, sliders, gymnastics grips, or even gym rings, the actual bare essentials are super minimal. Here are our top picks!
Yoga Mat
Perfect for:
- Stretching
- Floor exercises (such as splits)
- Cushioning hard floors
- Preventing injury from slipping
- Avoiding carpet burn (owch)
There’s nothing worse than feeling super energised for your workout, then needing to cut it short due to a hard, uncomfortable floor. Insufficient padding can lead to achey wrists and bruised shins, and leave you covered in whatever the vacuum cleaner wasn’t able to pick up.
You might not need a comfy foam mat for those squat progressions, but it sure does come in handy when you’re face planted on the ground during those post-workout cool down stretches.
Plus, cleaning a yoga mat before or after each workout is far less time consuming than busting out the vacuum cleaner before you get up close and personal with your lounge room floor.
Parallettes
Perfect for:
- Dips
- L-sits
- Handstand push-ups
- Isometric holds
- Inverted rows
It only takes one painful incident to learn that no, your cheap IKEA furniture isn’t the best thing to bolster three sets of dips.
Rather than splash out on a membership to a gym with a dedicated functional space, taking over your local playground, or crowding your garage with a massive callisthenics setup, invest in something that’s affordable, sturdy, and takes up very little room.
The humble parallette ticks all those boxes. Don’t want any equipment taking up space in your house? Parallettes can be easily stored in a closet or even under your bed. And if you do have a gym membership, short parallettes are compact enough to bring with you.
Resistance Bands
Perfect for:
- Assisted pull-ups and chin-ups
- Adding resistance to push-ups, dips, and squats
- Stretching
Thought those stretchy rubber bands were only for Instagram booty workouts? Think again.
Resistance bands are not only a simple (and portable!) way to add a new level of challenging resistance to certain exercises, but might be your secret weapon in getting your first pull-up.
Simple loop and secure a thick resistance band over a bar and keep one leg inside the loop as you pull yourself up. As you progress, you can use lighter bands until finally, you can bust out unassisted pull-ups like a callisthenics pro.
Interested in upgrading your bodyweight routine with some fancy new equipment? We’ve got you covered. Check out the range today and get ready to become an absolute ninja!