I know they’re not for everyone, but I love a vacation workout. I feel less pressured than my regular pre-work sweat sessions and they never fail to lift my mood. But whenever I look for CrossFit bodyweight workouts to tackle outdoors, WODs like Mary, Annie, and Cindy are recommended to me.
While these are technically Bodyweight workouts—you won’t need weights to tackle any of the moves—still require some sort of equipment like a jump rope or pull-up bar, neither of which tend to turn into luggage.
To solve this recurring conundrum I enlisted the help of CrossFit athlete Lucy Campbell, who held the title of UK’s Fittest Woman in 2022 following her 16th-place finish and two event wins at last year’s CrossFit Games.
Read on to find four no-equipment CrossFit workouts you can tackle anytime, anywhere—but don’t confuse no-equipment with easy.
1. AMRAP 20
Exercises
How to do this workout
Start a 20-minute timer, then do five burpees, 10 push-ups and 15 weightless squats, resting as little as possible between moves. Repeat this sequence, completing as many laps as possible in 20 minutes.
Campbell says: The key to this workout is pace. Remember, you’ll be working for 20 minutes, so you don’t want to burn out anytime soon. Instead, try to go at a pace that allows you to keep moving steadily for the entire duration without resting too much.
Push-ups are likely to rack up the most muscle fatigue, so break them up into two or three sets from the start, then try to maintain the rep scheme from start to finish. If you still can’t do a full push-up or the volume is too much for you, do it while kneeling or with your hands on an elevated surface, like a chair.
2. 21-15-9
Exercises
How to do this workout
While the last workout will test your muscular endurance, this session tests your pushing power and strength. Following the popular 21-15-9 format, you’ll tackle 21 reps of each exercise in the first round, followed by a 15-rep round and a final nine-rep round.
You’ll need a wall to support your back for the handstand push-up and a chair or bench for the dips, but since neither piece of equipment is necessary to pack, we’ve allowed it.
Try to complete all moves “for quality,” focusing on your form and muscle activation rather than rushing through the workout as fast as possible.
Campbell says: This is an upper body dominating workout with lots of drive. It’s very important not to rush the movements and not let your form deteriorate, so break up the rep scheme into smaller sets to make it more manageable.
If you can’t do handstand pushups, do a pushup pike [where your hands and feet are on the floor, your legs and back are straight, and your hips are raised to place more emphasis on your shoulders] Instead.
You can make dips more challenging by elevating your feet, or easier by bending your knees with your feet flat on the floor to offer more support.
3. Five laps per time
Exercises
How to do this workout
This workout is a race against time. It’s also heavily leg-based, so be sure to warm up the wheels before you hit the gas.
Start a stopwatch, then do 40 walking lunges, 30 mountain climbers, 20 aerial squats, and 10 burpees. As soon as you finish your last burpee, stop the clock and note your time. After this, he rests for two minutes before doing it all over again.
Intensity is the name of the game here, so try to finish each round as quickly as possible, drastically reducing seconds from previous rounds as you progress through the workout.
Campbell says: The goal of this workout is to complete each round as quickly as possible, with minimal rest within the round. Try to keep the intensity high, aiming to complete repetitions of each movement without interruption.
If burpees really slow the pace for you, getting off and on the floor, maintain the intensity by performing the movement without the chest-to-floor element.
Lucy Campbell was named the UK’s fittest woman in 2022 after placing 16th at the CrossFit Games. She is only the second athlete from the UK to qualify for the elite women’s edition of the competition, all the more impressive considering she had started in the sport just four years earlier.
Alongside her athletic career, Lucy trains at CrossFit Nottingham. Before starting CrossFit, she was a gymnast and she swam internationally until she was 20 years old.
#CrossFit #bodyweight #workouts #UKs #fittest #woman #Lucy #Campbell #fit #anytime