Ah, strength training—is there any kind of exercise that inspires a stronger love-hate feeling? For while it provides many benefits, including increased bone density and muscle tone, many of them are complicated and involved.

Fortunately, a few easy strength exercises also deliver these results, and we’re here to talk about them. Keep reading to learn about some of the best bodyweight exercises for easy strength training. The only things these exercises require are motivation and a determined spirit!

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Bodyweight Dips

Sit on the floor with your knees bent and arms behind you, hands facing the same direction as your feet (or as close as you can get). From there, engage your core and push your body up so that you look like a tabletop. Once you’re in a tabletop position, slowly bend your arms and legs to do what looks like a reverse pushup. Repeat ten times for a fitness challenge!

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Bicycle Crunches

The trusty bicycle crunch is still a great way to build core strength with relative ease. The trick, however, is getting your form right.

First, lie on the floor with your legs bent at a 90-degree angle. Lace your hands behind your head with elbows pointed out and lift your shoulders off the ground—this is your starting position. From there, squeeze your core to bring your right elbow to your left knee, lifting your knee off the floor to meet your elbow. Repeat this on the other side, and you’ll have done your first set! Aim for a set of 20 to start.

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Wall Squats

Wall squats may seem intimidating, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find an exercise that offers better support!

Lean against a wall in a semi-seated position with your feet out in front of you. Slowly lower yourself on the wall so you bend your knees close to a 90-degree angle, counting down from five to one. Hold your position for another five seconds before raising yourself back up again. Be careful not to let your knees over your toes when lowering yourself down. Shoot for a set of five to start, or ten if you feel ambitious!

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Wall Pushups

Pushups aren’t so bad when gravity isn’t working against you the entire time. Press your hands against a wall and walk your feet out so that you need your hands to keep you lifted. Then, bend your arms in a pushup-like fashion until your nose touches the wall. Push yourself back up slowly while exhaling. Voila! We know pushups can be challenging no matter what, so aim for a set of ten to start.

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Planks

The dreaded plank is still far and away one of the best strength training exercises for good reason: it targets all the major muscle groups in the body. Luckily, you can modify planks to make them a bit more bearable.

Start belly-down on the ground and use your hands to push your entire body off the ground in a pushup position. From there, hold as long as you can! The longer you can hold, the better exercise you’ll get. If you need to modify, keep your knees on the ground when you push yourself up.

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