With gyms continuing to be closed in many places around the world due to COVID-19, more people than ever are trying to figure out how to work out using their own bodyweight or the few pieces of workout equipment they have at home.

Although I hear a lot from people that they don’t know how to get the same workout at home that they used to do at the gym, there really is so much you can do using your own bodyweight — even if you want to get stronger or build muscle (just look at gymnasts for proof). I’ve been training using my own bodyweight and a few select pieces of equipment for nearly a decade now, and my workouts don’t look much different than they did before the pandemic.

If you feel like your home workouts aren’t challenging you enough, or you aren’t sure how to stay fit and healthy at home, here are several ways to up the challenge.

Get Creative and Add Weight

When looking to make bodyweight workouts more difficult, the first thing most people think to do is to add weight.

A few sets of dumbbells, a kettlebell, or a heavy medicine ball are all great options for making exercises like squats, lunges, burpees, and even push-ups harder. If you don’t have any actual weights sitting around, you can always get creative and make your own. For example:

-Fill a duffel bag with some cans, books, or other heavy stuff and use it as a makeshift sandbag
-Fill up some milk jugs with water to use in place of dumbbells
-Make your own weight vest by filling up a backpack with heavy stuff

Although these options can add challenge and variety to your workouts, I highly encourage you to master the full bodyweight version of the exercise first before you try adding any weight. I can’t tell you how often I see people adding dumbbells or other weights to exercises like squats or lunges when they can’t even do basic deep bodyweight squats without struggling.

A basic rule is this: make sure you can do at least ten clean reps of the bodyweight version of the exercise before adding additional weights.

Add Plyos

My personal favorite way to make any bodyweight exercise more challenging is to turn it into a plyometric exercise. Plyometrics, also called jump training or plyos, are exercises in which muscles exert maximum force in short intervals of time to improve power. They’re commonly used in sports such as basketball, martial arts, and sprinting to improve athletic performance.

Plyos significantly increase the difficulty level of bodyweight exercises and are an amazing way to increase your workouts' intensity and efficiency. Since plyos never really become easier, they offer an endless challenge — you can always strive to jump higher, further, or faster.

Here are some examples of how to make basic bodyweight exercises into plyometric exercises:

-Bodyweight squats: Squat jumps, broad jumps, snowboarder jumps
-Push-ups: Push-up hops, clapping push-ups, superman push-ups
-Calf raises: Jump roping, single leg hops

Keep Challenging Yourself

There really are endless ways to make bodyweight and home workouts harder and add variety. If you ever find that your workout is too easy for you, you need to find ways to increase the challenge.

Here are the main ways to add a challenge to bodyweight workouts:

-Increase the intensity
-Up the load (by using weights or switching to unilateral movements)
-Change the speed (go faster or slower)
-Increase the length of your actual workout (increase endurance)
-Get creative and use things around the house as equipment (chairs = dip bars, etc.)

Which one you focus on will depend on your individual goals. Ideally, you’ll do a little of each to keep your workouts challenging for years to come and stay fit and healthy long past when the pandemic is over.

About Krista Stryker:

Krista is the author of the new book, The 12-Minute Athlete: Get Fitter, Faster, and Stronger Using HIIT and Your Bodyweight, and a leading fitness and mindset expert. She is the founder of 12 Minute Athlete and the 12 Minute Athlete app as well as a writer, TV guest/host, and motivational speaker. The book is available online or anywhere that books are sold.

How to Stay Fit And Healthy During COVID-19 - By Krista Stryker