No Gym Required Workout

No time to go to the gym? No gyms in your area? Is the gym closed today? Are you on vacation or out of town? No problem. Just like the title says, the workout routine I’m going to show you here doesn’t require any gym equipment whatsoever so it can be done virtually anywhere. As you’ll see, I demonstrated all of these exercises in my own living room.

What You Will Need:

Yourself (obviously lol)

Any type of bag (purse, duffel bag, gym bag, book-bag, etc.)

An elevated surface (ledge, couch, chair, bed, etc.)

What You Should Know:

Beginners should perform one set of 15 repetitions per exercise for each body part, while regular or avid exercisers can add additional exercises per body part and /or additional sets and reps to increase intensity.  Also, for the exercises using the bag, the bag can be filled with objects or items to increase the resistance.

Leg Exercises:

Body Weight Squat

How to do it: Begin standing with your feet shoulder width apart with your toes pointed straight ahead or slightly turned outward.  Keeping your torso upright with arms straight ahead or arms crossed in front; descend into a squat position until your hips are parallel with your knees then return to standing position.

Bag Squat

How to do it: Begin standing with either the bag harnessed on your back or holding the bag in front of your body between your legs.   Place your feet shoulder width apart with your toes pointed straight ahead or slightly turned outward.  Keeping your torso upright with arms straight ahead, crossed in front, or holding the bag; descend into a squat position until your hips are parallel with your knees then return to standing position.

Elevated Foot Split Squat

How to do it:  Begin standing about a stride’s length in front of an elevated surface.  Place one foot back on top of the ledge while keeping one foot directly underneath the body.  Keeping your torso upright with arms straight ahead, or down by your sides; descend down into a squat position with the foot underneath your body until your hip becomes parallel with your knee then return to the standing position.

Bag Elevated Foot Split Squat

How to do it: Begin standing about a stride’s length in front of an elevated surface with either the bag harnessed on your back or holding the bag with one arm.  Place one foot back on top of the ledge while keeping one foot directly underneath the body.  Keeping your torso upright with arms straight ahead, by your sides, or holding a bag; descend down into a squat position with the foot underneath your body until your hip becomes parallel with your knee then return to the standing position.

Body Weight Lunges

How to do it:  Begin standing with arms straight ahead or down by your sides with your feet together, stride forward with one leg and descend into a lunge position until your hip is parallel with your knee then return to standing position with your feet together.

Bag Lunges

How to do it: Begin standing with arms straight ahead or down by your sides with your feet together, and the bag either harnessed on your back or holding it with one arm; stride forward with one leg and descend into a lunge position until your hip is parallel with your knee then return to standing position with your feet together.

Bag Straight Leg Deadlifts

How to do it: Begin by standing with feet pointed forward directly underneath the shoulders and holding the bag with both arms in front of the body.  Keeping your legs straight and back flat, bend at the waist by kicking your hips back until your torso reaches parallel with the ground then return back up to the standing position.

Bag Sumo Stance Straight Leg Deadlifts

How to do it: Begin by standing with feet pointed forward and wider than shoulder width apart holding the bag with both arms in front of the body.  Keeping your legs straight and back flat, bend at the waist by kicking your hips back until your torso reaches parallel with the ground then return back up to the standing position.

Chest Exercises:

Modified Push Ups (Knees)

How to do it:  Start with knees placed on the ground and hands placed on the ground wider than shoulder width.  Lower your torso towards the ground by bending the elbows until your chest touches, then return back up by extending the elbows.

Modified Push Ups (Ledge)

How to do it:  Placing your feet together and about a stride’s length away from a ledge, put both hands on the ledge wider than shoulder width apart.  Lower your torso towards the ledge by bending the elbows until your chest touches, then return back up by extending the elbows.

Standard Push Ups

How to do it: Placing your feet together on the floor with both hands wider than shoulder width on the floor, lower your torso towards the ground by bending the elbows until your chest touches, then return back up by extending the elbows.

Elevated Feet Push Ups

How to do it: Placing your feet together on a ledge with both hands wider than shoulder width on the floor, lower your torso towards the ground by bending the elbows until your chest touches, then return back up by extending the elbows.

Bag Standard Push Ups

How to do it:  With a bag harnessed or placed on your back, place your feet together on the floor with both hands wider than shoulder width on the floor;  lower your torso towards the ground by bending the elbows until your chest touches, then return back up by extending the elbows.

Bag Elevated Feet Push Ups

How to do it:  With a bag harnessed or placed on your back, place your feet together on a ledge with both hands wider than shoulder width on the floor;  lower your torso towards the ground by bending the elbows until your chest touches, then return back up by extending the elbows.

Back Exercises:

Bag Rows

How to do it: Place one hand on an elevated surface with the same side foot placed a stride’s length ahead of the other foot.  With the other arm, hold and lift the bag by bending the elbow until the hand reaches just outside of the torso then lower the back until the arm is straight.

Bag Dual Arm Rows

How to do it: Begin by standing with feet pointed forward directly underneath the shoulders and holding the bag with both arms in front of the body.  Lean your torso until it is parallel with the ground.  Bending the elbows lift the bag until it reaches the torso then lower the bag until the arms are straight.

Shoulders:

Bag One Arm Shoulder Presses

How to do it: Begin by standing with both feet pointed forward and shoulder width apart.  Holding the bag with one hand on-top of your shoulder with the other arm down by your side, press the bag straight up until your arm is fully extended.  Then slowly lower the arm until your hand is back on-top of the shoulder.

Bag Dual Arm Shoulder Presses

How to do it: Begin by standing with both feet pointed forward and shoulder width apart.  Holding the bag with both hands at shoulder height, press the bag straight up until your arms are fully extended.  Then slowly lower your arms until they’re back at shoulder height.

Bag Lateral Raises

How to do it:  Begin by standing with both feet pointed forward and shoulder width apart.  Both arms should be down by your sides.  Holding the bag with one arm, raise the arm out to the side until it reaches shoulder height.  Then slowly lower your arm until it is back down at your side.

Bag Bent Lateral Raises

How to do it: Begin by standing with feet pointed forward directly underneath the shoulders and holding the bag with one arm in front of the body.  Lean your torso until it is parallel with the ground.  Proceed to raise your arm out to the side until it reaches shoulder height.  Then slowly lower your arm until it is back down at your side.

Arm Exercises:

Dual Arm Bag Curls

How to do it: Begin by standing with both feet pointed forward and shoulder width apart.  Holding the bag with both arms in front of the body at leg height, lift the bag by bending the elbows until your arms are fully flexed.  Then lower the bag slowly by extending the elbows until your elbows are fully extended.

Single Arm Bag Curls

How to do it: Begin by standing with both feet pointed forward and shoulder width apart.  Holding the bag with one arm in front of the body at leg height, lift the bag by bending the elbows until your arm is fully flexed.  Then lower the bag slowly by extending the elbow until your elbow is fully extended.

Tricep Dips

How to do it:  Start by sitting the edge of an elevated surface with both hands placed down by your sides on the elevated surface.   Move your lower body off of the elevated surface, but keep your hands placed on the elevated surface.  Slowly bend at the elbows until they’re parallel with your shoulder height, then return back upwards by extending the elbows.

Tricep Bag Kick Backs

How to do it: Place one hand on an elevated surface with the same side foot placed a stride’s length ahead of the other foot.  With the other arm, hold and lift the bag until your elbow is at your side and arm in the flexed position.  Keeping the elbow fixed at your side, extend your arm until it’s fully extended and then slowly lower the bag until your elbow is back to the flexed position.

Core Exercises:

V-Ups

How to do it: Start by laying face up on the floor with arms extended overhead.  Lift your arms and upper torso simultaneously with your legs until your arms and legs meet in the middle. Then return back to the laying down position.

Toe Touches

How to do it: Start by laying face up on the floor with arms straighten out above the head and legs straighten out straight up in the air.  Lift your arms and upper torso until your arms reach your legs then return back down by slowly lowering your torso and arms.

Planks

How to do it: Place your feet together on the floor with both elbows and forearms on the floor.  Hold this position with your midsection and hips parallel with the rest of your body.

Supermans

How to do it:  Lie face down on the floor with arms extended overhead.   Keep your neck and arms in line with your spine and use your low back muscles to lift your chest and arms off the ground.  Then return back slowly to the floor.

Glute Raises/Hip Thrusts

How to do it:

Start by laying face up on the floor with both arms down by your side and both knees bent.  Use your glute muscles to raise your hips/butt off the floor until your hips are parallel with your knees then slowly return back down to the floor.

No Gym No Equipment, No Problem!

With the no gym required workout, you’ll be able to workout virtually anywhere.  Don’t let vacations or gym access stop you from working out again.

About Julian Brown

JulianBrownTraining.com      Julian is the co-owner of The Yard Fitness, an established fitness writer, a professional natural bodybuilder, a fitness & sport nutrition specialist, and a certified personal trainer. He began strength training at the young age of fourteen to improve his sports performance and hasn’t looked back since. Julian is a graduate of Grambling State University, ACE & NASM certified, and he has over a decade of personal experience in strength training.