9 Tools That Will Level Up Your At-Home Bodyweight Workout

Photo by Cyril Saulnier on Unsplash

In the time of COVID-19, with gyms closed across the country and people sheltered in place while maintaining social distances, so many of the things we enjoy in our exercise practices feels like it’s been taken from us. We don’t have access to our gym community, we’re left without equipment and we’re stuck in our homes attempting to rebuild routines. With no weights, there are endless exercises we can do with our bodyweight. Each of these versatile tools will stretch how far our bodyweight can really take us. Special love sent to number seven and ultimate jealousy of anyone who has it.

1. Ab Roller Wheel

You’ve probably seen people bust out tons of reps with this little handled wheel and made it look easy, but if you’ve never used an ab roller before, be ready to be sore.

After mastering the ab wheel plank, you can progress to the kneeling ab wheel rollout which will blast your core and challenge your stability in a completely new way.

2. Shoulder Resistance Bands

For any athlete, but weightlifters especially, scapular health is essential and often undertrained. The easiest way to improve your scaps and lats is with these handled shoulder resistance bands. These Crossover Symmetry ones come with multiple difficulties and a series of exercises. If you’re someone who never does your accessory work, try by challenging yourself to just one set a day and see how much it improves your overhead position. For weightlifters, these exercises are ideal for warmups before a snatch, or any heavy overhead lifting.

3. Doorway Pull Up Bar

If you don’t have a pull-up bar already hanging over a doorway in your house, you’re missing out!
Are you concerned because you can’t do a pull up? Practice by doing negatives on this over-the-door pull up bar with multiple grips. Start by jumping to the top, holding yourself up there as long as possible, and lowering yourself down as slow as you can. Then try it with a wide grip, a narrow grip, and a neutral grip to target different parts of your back and arms. You can also train abs by doing hanging L-sits and knee or leg raises.

4. Loop Resistance Bands

Despite the prevalence of booty blaster band exercises on Instagram as a marketing tactic, these exercises can be fantastic accessory work for athletes who frequently squat heavy. Exercises like clamshells, fire hydrants, bridges, and side-steps can help improve muscle firing for heavy lifts.

5. Thicker Hip Resistance Bands

Are those other resistance bands too thin for you because you squat too much for them to do anything? Try leveling up to these thicker elastic hip bands. These will make your side steps burn that extra amount that make you confident your muscles are ready to handle the load of heavy lifts.

6. Yoga Trapeze

Although this is technically yoga equipment, it provides multiple benefits that weightlifters and strength athletes can benefit from. Anchored from the ceiling, this yoga trapeze comes with a sling and multiple handles to allow for a multitude of exercises.

Firstly, inversion allows for spinal traction which helps release some pressure that heavy lifting (or even just sitting with poor posture) can put on our spines. As versatile piece of equipment, yoga postures in the trapeze can help with chest opening, which can improve overhead position the classic lifts. Additionally, the handles can be used to do inverted rows.

7. Stall Bars

Despite being the most expensive item on the list, these stall bars are one of the most versatile pieces of minimally invasive bodyweight equipment you can add to your home. Swedish Stall Bars were invented in the 19th Century by Per Henrik Ling when he realized the benefit of wall mounted bars for his arthritis. They can be used for everything from physical therapy, to stretching and strengthening exercises. These mount to the wall and allow you to do everything from pull ups and hanging work from the extended bar, to stretches and gymnastic exercises on the stall bars.

8. Parallettes

Frequently used in gymnastics, parallettes are an excellent way to work on core stability and control. Parallettes can help improve grip strength and develop the skills for handstand push ups. If you have wrist issues and can’t put your hands flat on the ground, parallettes may help by adjusting your grip to be more comfortable. Start with L-sit holds, and see how much a simple hold can challenge your body, beyond just your core.

These parallettes are great because they have non-slip rubber feet that ensure they don’t slide around while you’re working on them.

9. Gymnastics Rings

There’s no question, the secret to getting strong with bodyweight movements has been mastered by the gymnasts. Gymnastics rings are the ultimate proof of how challenging

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