THE BEST BODY-WEIGHT WORKOUT [option D]

OK, we’ll admit it : Sometimes the odds really are against your getting a workout in. You may well find yourself stuck without weights or bands, only to find that you also forgot to pack your suspension trainer. There’s nothing to pull on, so you can’t work your back, and you can’t even improvise with the objects around you. We’re not sure just what kind of place this would be, short of a jail cell (and if that’s where you are, hey, we’re not judging), but we can give you a great workout to do, even there.  

HOW IT WORKS

A ll you need is something to step on, be it a park bench, a large rock, or a chair. But if you have nothing elevated on which to step, you can substitute a lunge for the stepup. To target your back, which is usually unworkable without having at least a bar of some sort to pull on, we’re employing the “blurpee”—as made famous by fitness expert Tim Ferriss, author of The FourHour Body .The wider foot placement used in the blurpee requires more work from the lats to pull the hips and legs forward as the body comes back from the pushup position. (The extra “l” in blurpee stands for “lats.”)

DIRECTIONS

Perform the exercises as conventional straight sets, completing all sets for one exercise before moving on to the next.  

1 CLOSE-GRIP PUSHUP

SETS: 3 REPS: 15 REST: 60–90 SEC.

Get into pushup position and place your hands close so that your thumbs touch. Keep your body straight and your core braced. If that’s too easy, elevate your feet on a chair or some other raised surface.  

2 STEPUP

SETS: 3 REPS: 20 REST: 60–90 SEC.

Stand in front of a bench or chair and place one foot on it so that your thigh is parallel to the floor. Drive your heel into the surface and squeeze your glutes as you step up onto the bench, but let your trailing foot hang off of it.  

3 BLURPEE

SETS: 3 REPS: 20 REST: 60–90 SEC.

Stand with feet outside shoulder width and bend down and place your hands on the floor. Now shoot your legs behind you fast so you end up in the top of a pushup position. Jump your legs back up so they land to the outside of your hands and then jump up quickly.