Not all of us go to the gym, or have a fully-fledged stock of home gym equipment, like a pair of dumbbells or kettlebells. Luckily, this total body workout doesn’t require any of this. Instead, all you’re going to need is a sturdy chair (or a weight bench) and a good pair of workout shoes on your feet.
Bodyweight workouts often raise eyebrows, but several studies have proven their efficacy in building muscle. A study published in Physiology & Behavior concluded that as long as a muscle is worked through its full range of motion it can grow “independent of an external load”. While another study published in the Journal of Exercise Science and Fitness looked into the effectiveness of push-up training with a similar load to 40% of one rep max on the bench press. After 8 weeks, they found significant muscle thickness in the triceps and pecs in both groups.
