20-minute workout with only squats and push-ups

When you want to play sports, but there is no opportunity to visit the gym, you can independently plan and conduct a full-fledged workout with excellent load. What's more, you can do a very simple workout tailored to your body weight and fitness level.

Combine two of the most accessible and versatile movements, squats and push-ups, to strengthen both your upper and lower body. Both of these movements are functional, meaning they help build strength for everyday tasks. Try this 20-minute push-up and squat workout.

20-minute workout with squats and push-ups

This workout is a circuit workout, meaning you perform a series of exercises quickly with high reps and low weights to test your endurance and improve muscle tone. Squats and push-ups are perfect for this!

When you use different variations of squats and push-ups, you tense different muscles, creating a harmonious load on the whole body. For example, triangle push-ups target the triceps, while spider-man push-ups target the obliques. Regular squats build lower body endurance, while jump squats improve lower body strength.

Set of minor exercises

Despite the fact that you can achieve good results without iron, a set of strength exercises for men at home is a serious help that increases the efficiency of the process.
Usually, for a good figure and weight loss, it is enough to have set dumbbells up to 15 kg, and for a person’s basic weight of up to 70 kg, set dumbbells up to 12 kg are enough. Training always starts with the simplest exercises with reduced weight, which do not require much effort to warm up the muscles:

1. The dumbbells are taken with both hands, after which the arms are bent at the elbow and brought to the shoulders at the same time. Next, with a slow movement, the arms are lowered again in a strictly vertical position.
2. The position of the hands changes to a reverse grip, after which the hands should only be brought to 3/4. The main load from the biceps goes to the triceps and wrists.

Basic strength exercises at home for men are as follows:

1. Divorce of hands. The body is held strictly vertical and with slow movements the arms are raised in different directions so that the position in space resembles the letter “T”, after which the arms are also slowly lowered. This exercise is characterized by increased complexity at the initial stage, so many people cannot do it even 10 times.
2. Shoulder pushes. Everyone chooses to work with 1 or 2 hands, which by and large does not affect the result. This exercise is one of the basic ones for any strength sport. When doing this, you need to make sure that the metal does not hit your shoulders, because this can lead to injuries, and when the skin is broken, a small infection can occur (not dangerous, but it mars a comfortable life).
3. Endurance exercise. This strength exercise is used for sports not as a way to build muscle mass, but to increase the efficiency of muscle work - arms with dumbbells are raised to the chest, then slowly alternately moved forward and folded again.

All physical exercises that are performed with your body weight can be performed with iron in your hands.

Elements of strength sports will increase their effectiveness, but will also add certain risks. Any strength exercise is performed from 10 to 30 times in 5 approaches - this will allow you not to overstrain the body once again, but keep it under maximum tension throughout the entire workout.

Exercise 1: Weighted Squats

Number of approaches:

2

Time:

1 minute

What is the load:

lower body

1. Stand straight, feet hip-width apart, arms at your sides.
2. Bend your knees and bend your hips to squat. Extend your arms in front of you.
3. Try to keep your thighs parallel to the floor or lower.

Pull-ups, push-ups, squats, press

We found out that this program apparently came from... who do you think? From a cartoon character from Japanese cartoons, whose name is none other than One Punch Man (from the English One Punch Man, which translates as “One Punch Man”, or “One Punch Man”).

We were not familiar with the plot of this cartoon, its characters and events. Therefore, we will only try to analyze the announced program and figure out whether it is effective or not.

Exercise 2: Push-ups

Number of approaches:

2

Time:

1 minute

What is the load:

upper body

1. Stand on your hands in a push-up position with your legs straight.
2. Bend your elbows at a 45-degree angle to your body and lower your chest to the floor.
3. Straighten your arms until your elbows are straight.

Advice

To make push-ups easier, try resting your hands on a wall or a weight bench. You can change the position by kneeling down.

Workout 1

For your first pyramid workout, choose one exercise (either squats or push-ups). You will perform sets at maximum tempo, with rest periods of 5-10 steps between sets. The fewer steps you take, the more difficult the workout becomes.

Each approach is 11 repetitions. The result is 110 total repetitions per workout. Set a timer to see how quickly you can complete the task, and with each subsequent workout, try to beat your previous result.

Workout 1. Choose one exercise, forward pyramid 1-10 and reverse pyramid 10-1

Exercise 3: Squat Jump

Number of approaches:

2

Time:

1 minute

What is the load:

lower body

1. Squat down, bend your knees and push your hips back. Extend your arms in front of you.
2. Place your arms behind your back and jump into the air until your feet leave the floor.
3. Lower into a squat position to protect your knees and move on to the next rep.

The principle of pyramid training

Pyramid training uses an ascending (straight pyramid) or descending (reverse pyramid) repetition scheme on one or more exercises. Rest between sets is limited in time. In fact, you need to complete the maximum amount of work in a short period of time. To complete your workout as quickly as possible, you need not only endurance, but also a certain fortitude.

The following workouts were made popular by legendary trainer Josh Bryant. They are also known as the “Juarez Valley Method” because they were first used by prisoners who did not have a variety of sports equipment at their disposal.

Exercise 4: Spiderman Push-Up

Number of approaches:

2

Time:

1 minute

What is the load:

upper body, abs

1. Start in a normal push-up position.
2. Bend your elbows and at the same time pull your right knee toward your right triceps.
3. Return your leg back to the floor as your abs rise again.
4. Repeat the same movement for the other side.

Workout 3: Full Pyramid

If you didn't find the first two options challenging enough, try the third pyramid. The full pyramid combines the previous two into an intense fullbody workout of 19 sets.

Workout 3. Two exercises, forward and reverse pyramid

Exercise 5: Squatting

Number of approaches:

2

Time:

1 minute

What is the load:

lower body

1. Stand up straight, spread your legs so that your feet are wider than your hips and your toes point slightly outward.
2. Bend your hips and knees to squat. Your back should be straight and your chest lifted.
3. Return to a standing position.

Exercise 6: T-Pushup

Number of approaches:

2

Time:

1 minute

What is the load:

upper body, abs

1. Perform a standard push-up.
2. At the top, lift your right arm up and turn onto your side, pressing your thighs together.
3. Return to push-up position.
4. Repeat the approach, but this time raise your left arm.

Exercise 7: Split Squat

Number of approaches:

2

Time:

1 minute

What is the load:

lower body

1. Stand up straight, place one foot in front of the other about a meter away. The back leg can be placed on the bench.
2. Squat down with your front knee and hip bent.
3. Do 2 sets for each leg for a minute.

Scientific Basics

Dr. Izumi Tabata developed this type of HIIT while conducting research at the National Institute of Physical Education and Sports in Tokyo.

He divided the experiment participants into two groups that followed different training protocols. The first group performed one-hour workouts at moderate intensity 5 times a week for 6 weeks.

The second group performed 4-minute workouts at very high intensity 4 times a week for 6 weeks.

Read also: How to pump up your calves: 7 training programs.

The second group used a protocol that is now known as the Tabata method: a 20-second set at maximum intensity followed by a 10-second rest. 8 such rounds of work and rest add up to a 4-minute workout.

Result? After 6 weeks, the first group showed an increase in aerobic endurance (strengthening the cardiovascular system), but there were no changes in the anaerobic component (muscle changes).

At the same time, the second group showed a more noticeable increase in aerobic endurance along with strengthening of anaerobic systems.

Exercise 8: Incline push-ups

Number of approaches:

2

Time:

1 minute

What is the load:

upper body

1. Place your feet on a raised surface (weight bench, coffee table, sofa, ladder, step) and your hands on the floor.
2. Perform push-ups in this position several times.

Advice

If push-ups are too difficult, do regular push-ups.

Exercise 9: Single Leg Squat

Number of approaches:

2

Time:

1 minute

What is the load:

lower body

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Lift your right leg off the ground and extend it in front of you.
3. Bend your left knee as low as possible and rise up while maintaining balance.
4. Do this movement for 30 seconds, then switch legs.

Advice

If single-leg squats are too difficult for you, place your right foot on the ground for more stability and don't squat too low. You can do regular squats.

Additional aspects and summary

Along with your exercises, you should switch to proper nutrition. Of course, few people will be able to completely give up fatty, fried and salty foods, but everyone can reduce them to a minimum. No strength sport tolerates the consumption of alcoholic beverages, even with the comment non-alcoholic (beer and wine). Morning warm-up, high-quality meals 3 times a day with calcium and proteins and a sleep schedule of 5-7 hours a day are the fundamental components of any sports diet.

Any sport, from strength training to simple bodyweight work, always carries with it a number of risks. The male body is very sensitive to excessive stress, which often leads professional athletes to early “aging”. When striving for high results, you should not forget about the little things, besides, sport should bring pleasure.

Strength exercises for home will not solve the problem in 1 month, just as they may not solve it in a year (depending on the required amount of exposure), but if you work on yourself systematically, you will see results. Sometimes the body is genetically inclined to be overweight, so you have to work longer and harder, but even here you can achieve the right results.

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