Anyone who has been training long enough has felt it, that familiar stagnation that happens when your routine starts to get a tad bit too easy. If you’re mostly doing bodyweight movements, you might feel this a lot sooner than your freeweight compadres. Maybe you’re just looking for an extra challenge and want to see what you can do. Regardless, here are a couple of videos showcasing some hard bodyweight exercises you can do.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okljvCOpdRU]The list of exercises, in order (as labeled in the video):
- Clap “Press Ups”
- Archer Pull-Ups
- Single Arm Hanging Leg Raises
- Leg Raise Levers
- Hanging Wipers
- Isometric L-Sit
- Lever
- Scorpion Leg Raises
- Clap Pull-Ups
- Toe Tap Pull-Ups
- Jumping Monkey Bars
- Pistol jump squats
- One Hand Push-U[s
- One Hand One Foot Push-Ups
- One Arm One Foot Plyometric Push-Up
- Superman Push-Ups
- Standing Roll-Outs
- Up and Overs
- Bodyweight Suspended Dips
- Box/Wall Jumps
Overall the exercise selection is good; these are definitely hard bodyweight exercises. I’ll leave any comments about the name selection and the form alone for now since I’m mainly just focusing on how hard the movement is. Whether or not some of these movements are super functional is questionable. For example, the single arm leg raises seem like kind of a silly movement. Hard, yes, but I think the arm would tire out before the abs got an adequate workout in and that’s really the main muscle that’s being focused on a leg raise. Regardless, that doesn’t take away the fact that these are hard bodyweight exercises.
Let’s take a look at a couple more videos:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8F-lUC3xhc]There’s over double the amounts of movements in this one so I won’t list them all. All of the movements are very challenging; they’re definitely some hard bodyweight exercises you can do. The Swiss Ball Jump/Squat looks fun but I’d be careful with those. Also, I’ve never seen that air swimming movement done before but I think it looks like a killer.
One last one:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POdzasJklxw]The exercise selection is good in general if you’re looking to add some variety and challenge to your bodyweight routine, but I’ll focus on the most unique hard bodyweight exercises for now:
:54 – Hindu Push-Ups
1:48 – Crucifix Push-ups
2:41 – Muai Thai Push-ups
2:59 — Ab Crunch Shredder Dips
3:07 – Triple Clap Push-Ups
3:59 – Thigh Slap Push-Ups
4:06 – Aztec Push-ups
4:11 – Superman Push-Ups
4:19 – Hannibal for King Leg Flutters for Men
4:26 – One Handed Clap Push-Ups
4:34 – Backflip Burpees
4:39 – 360 Push-Ups
As you can see, the majority of these are just push-up variations. However, the backflip burpees, “Hannibal Leg Flutters for Men,” and the Ab Crunch Shredder Dips are not. These are all very challenging and, quite frankly, impressive movements to perform.
So there you have it. These movements are all definitely for the advanced, beginners will not be able to do these simply because of the amount of load the muscles are under with a lot of these movements. Also, a lot of balance and coordination will be needed to perform a lot of these movements.