Flowing Bodyweight Circuit Workout

In megaformer workouts, quick transitions are a key component to effectiveness, so you always are keeping “smooth” sequencing in mind when planning a class. The fewer changes in body position you have to make when moving from one exercise to the next, the less time is spent disengaged and resting, and the bigger the burn. You want the class to flow.

And while this factor isn’t as important in interval workouts where there is intentional rest between exercises, it’s still something I like considering when putting together at-home workouts. Already in a plank position from doing push ups? Perfect—take it right into mountain climbers. Because you haven’t changed your body position a ton, you’re still engaging a lot of the same muscles, just in a different way. This kind of pairing is a great technique to amp up the intensity of a workout.

Flowing Bodyweight Circuit Workout

You’ll go through this sequence of four exercises five times (5 sets of 4 exercises). You can take a 30-second break between each set, but there is no rest in between exercises. As you’ll see, one easily transitions into the next, so think of yourself as flowing through the set.

• 10 Inchworm Push Ups: Start standing with your feet hip-width apart. Fold forward, bringing your hands to the floor in front of your feet. If you have tight hamstrings, bend your knees as you do so. Walk your hands out in front of you until your body is in a plank position. Do a push up. From that plank position, walk your hands back towards your feet and then lift your torso back upright to the starting position.After your last push up, hold that plank position and go right into …
• 50 Mountain Climbers: These are like doing high knees in a plank position. Start in a plank, hands stacked underneath shoulders, core squeezing in tight (don’t let your low back sag or your butt stick up in the air). From this position, drive one knee at a time up towards your chest, like running horizontally. The pace on these should be quick.After your last rep, hop both feet up towards your hands to start your first …
• 10 Burpees: Start standing, feet about shoulder-width apart. Squat down, bringing your hands to the ground by your feet and jump both feet back into a plank position. Quickly jump your feet back up by your hands and shift the weight into your feet, bring torso upright into a low squat position. From here, jump up, arms overhead. Land softly on your feet, sinking right back down into a squat and starting from the top.When you land from your last overhead jump of the last burpee, step your left foot back behind you, moving immediately into …
• 10 Back Lunges to Front Kicks (Each Leg): Start standing with feet hip width apart. Step your left foot back behind you as you bend the right knee, sinking into a lunge. Get as low as you can, trying to bring the right knee to a 90-degree bend. From here, keeping your weight in the right base foot, swing the left foot up in front of you as you stand, high-kicking it straight in front of you. I like to bring my opposite hand to meet the toes at the top of the kick (good for balance). On the downswing of the kick, bring that left foot smoothly back behind you, sinking down right into your next lunge.

This workout is a great one if you’re tight on space–you could even do it in a hallway. If you’re a beginner, modify by only going through the exercises three times. If you want it to be harder and longer, keep going after your fifth set.