Working out regularly can be hard.

But we make it even harder by adding things on top. A gym membership, long commutes, fixed time schedules. These are just extra barriers that make it even harder for us to stay consistent.

The lockdowns were a surprise that smacked our schedules and intricate routines to hell. Half of us got fat, and the other half-trained. Let’s hope to be the latter.

Sure, gyms can help. But they aren’t ‘necessary’ by any means.

Mastering the control of our body weight can by itself act as a huge resistance that will build muscle.

Bodyweight exercises can be insanely effective when it comes to building muscle as well as keeping you conditioned.

Amidst the nerve-wracking deluge of gimmicky exercises that promise to turn you to Stallone in a week, there are a few basic, time-tested, primal movements that shine through.

Excellence shall always lie in mastering the basics. They are used by militaries worldwide to forge warriors for a reason.

Here are 3 fantastic exercises that are literally all you need to build muscle, shed fat, and get insanely conditioned.

The Most Wholesome Exercise Ever

Pullups are at the undisputed helm of all Bodyweight Exercises.
Everyone should be able to do pullups, there is something intricately primal about being able to pull up one’s body weight.

Pullups are a compound exercise that works multiple muscle groups, recruiting almost every muscle in the upper body.

They also have insane progressive potential.

Can do 20 Bodyweight Pull-ups?
Try wearing a backpack and doing them.

Can’t do Bodyweight Pull-ups?
Do Negative Pullups.

One can progress on this exercise for decades without ever exhausting its potential.

The benefits are myriad. Supremely strong Back and Arms with an extremely athletic core.

Militaries worldwide use the Pullup as one of the main exercises in fitness tests. It’s the best marker of Upper Body Strength.

The Gut Check You Didn’t Know You Needed

Burpee was invented by a US Navy Fitness Instructor during World War 2 as a means of efficiently testing recruits.

It’s a full-body movement that also has a conditioning component to it.

Best of all, it can be performed anywhere. You just need a few feet of floor. That’s all. You can tweak this movement and do various variations of it, and it will whip you to shape.

The Burpee also keeps you humble, and acts as a gut check, while you might be able to hoist mounds of iron in the gym, its strength endurance component will gas you out.

In the words of the most popular practitioner of the Burpee on Youtube.

“It will make you fatigue resistant”.

Don’t Die Early

The Lower Body is harder to train with just your body weight. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

The Bodyweight Squat and its variations including Shrimp Squats, Bulgarian Split Squats, and Pistol Squats work every single muscle in the lower body and have a huge potential for progression.

The humble bodyweight squat can be made a hellhole, by doing prisoner-style high-volume workouts.

This will put some lean muscle on those legs and build the athletic foundation of having strong legs.

A lot of athletes do extremely high volume squats paired with other exercises that also bring a conditioning component to them.

Seriously, Not Another Excuse.

You can build an incredible level of fitness and health by just these 3 exercises that hit every muscle in your body and keep you gasping for more.

Next time you miss the gym, don’t be coy, they’ve got your back.