How Strong Are You? The Bodyweight Challenge That Reveals Your Fitness Level

When we think of strength, we often think of heavy dumbbells or chunky weights on a barbell.

While that is a good representation of one’s strength, a more accurate way of assessing relative strength is through bodyweight exercises.

Someone bigger than me can probably lift heavier than me, but they might struggle to do a push-up while I can do multiple of those.

Hence, bodyweight exercises are unique to everyone, as everyone’s body is built differently.

So how strong are you relative to your body? Here are some bodyweight exercises ranked by difficulty.

Try them out and let us know in the comments which level you fall in. Remember, these are bodyweight exercises, so no equipment is required!

Beginner Level

As a beginner, you’re able to do some foundational bodyweight exercises. These exercises focus on being able to withstand your bodyweight with the major muscle groups of your body.

Wall Sit

wall sit

Find any wall and put your back against it. Squat down till your knees form a 90-degree angle. Try holding the position for at least 30 seconds. You’ll feel this one in your quads!

Knee Push-ups

push up

Instead of a regular push-up, you can place your knees on the floor to take some bodyweight off. It’s an easier variation, but you’ll still need to engage your chest, triceps, and shoulders to push yourself up.

Try to see if you can hit at least 10 of these in one go.

Plank

plank

A classic core and ab exercise, you’ll want to place your forearms on the floor and keep your body in a straight line. Try to hold the position for at least 30 seconds and feel your abs burn!

Squats

squat

A squat is a foundational movement in our everyday lives. As fitness influencers like to say, “ass to grass”, try to go as low as your body can and stand up while keeping your back straight the whole time.

Engage your core and focus on pushing with your quads and glutes. Aim for at least 10 reps.

Intermediate Level

In this level, not only are you able to withstand your bodyweight with smaller muscle groups, but you’re also able to move your bodyweight. You’ll be contracting and expanding these muscles to test your muscle strength and endurance.

Push-ups

push up

If you’re able to do the knee push-ups, give this a go! Besides more strength needed in the upper body, you’ll find that your core will be engaged now too. Aim for at least 10 reps!

Lunges

lunge

To perform a lunge, take a big step and put one foot in front of the other, just as if you’re walking. Then, bend the leg behind until the knee almost touches the ground. Finally, press up with your legs to return to the starting position.

This is a challenging single-leg exercise that demands balance as well. Aim for 10 reps per side.

Side Plank

plank

Unlike a regular plank that uses both forearms, face your body to the side and hold yourself with only one forearm. Your other arm can be lifted up to balance out your body tension.

You’ll feel the burn in your oblique, the side portion of your abs. Try to hold it for 30 seconds per side.

Expert Level

Not many people in the world can reach this level of strength. In this level, you’re able to modify the intermediate exercises to achieve more functional body movements. These are definitely challenging, so don’t beat yourself up over them.

Pistol Squat

squat

Thought a squat couldn’t get harder? Try squatting with a single leg!

This’ll test your mobility and balance. If you’re able to master this, you have great control of your bodyweight with your legs. Aim for at least 5 per side.

Archer Push-ups

push up

Instead of having both arms aligned to the centre of your body, extend one arm to the far side. This minimizes that arm’s involvement, making this a one-arm dominant exercise.

Try to do at least 5 per side.

Pull-ups

pull up

This is an exercise that engages all your back muscles. You’ll basically be pulling the equivalent of your body weight from top to bottom.

Find a bar and hang off it with your arms straight. Then, squeezing your back muscles tight, pull yourself up until your chin reaches the bar.

I’ll be seriously impressed if you can do 5 of those!

So how did you do? Most people fall in the Beginner and Intermediate levels.

In my opinion, bodyweight workouts are very humbling. Although I’m able to lift relatively heavy weights in the gym, bodyweight exercises are still a challenge for me.

If you’re interested in the workout philosophy of bodyweight mastery, you can look up more on callisthenics.

To level up from one level to another, it’ll take consistent training and progressive exercises for a certain period of time.

Let me know if there’s any specific movement you’re interested in achieving in the comments, so I can create a post on that to share how you can progress there.

Happy practicing!

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