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Every movement here needs nothing but the floor. Each one lists what it trains, how to do it well, and the mistake people actually make. Point at a muscle to narrow it down.
46 exercises
Core · Shoulders also Quads, Triceps, Hip flexors
How to move
- Knees an inch off the floor
- Opposite hand and foot move together
- Hips level — no side-to-side sway
- Crawl slow enough to stay quiet
What usually goes wrong
- Hips piking up in the air
- Hips swaying side to side with each step
- Knees dragging on the floor
- Holding the breath
Obliques · Core also Lower back, Hip flexors
How to move
- Lie on your back, arms out wide like a T
- Lift knees over hips, bent to 90 degrees
- Lower both knees to one side under control
- Keep both shoulders glued to the floor
- Only go as far as your shoulders allow
What usually goes wrong
- Shoulders lifting off the floor as the knees drop
- Letting the legs crash down instead of lowering slowly
- Knees drifting away from the hips
Beginner
Obliques · Core also Hip flexors
How to move
- Press your lower back into the floor
- Drive your elbow toward the opposite knee
- Extend the other leg long, heel off the floor
- Rotate from the ribs, not the neck
- Slow and smooth — no bouncing
What usually goes wrong
- Pulling on the head and cranking the neck
- Elbows flapping while the torso barely rotates
- Lower back arching off the floor as the legs extend
- Racing through reps with tiny range
Beginner · one side at a time Core · Obliques also Glutes, Shoulders, Lower back
How to move
- Push the floor away with the support hand
- Reach long through fingers and heel
- Thread the arm under your chest, then re-extend
- Keep hips level the whole time
- Move slow — no wobble
What usually goes wrong
- Hips rotating along with the arm
- Arching the lower back as the leg lifts
- Dropping the extended leg between reps
- Speeding through the reach-through
Quads · Glutes also Hamstrings, Core
How to move
- Feet shoulder-width, toes slightly out
- Sit back and down between your heels
- Knees track over your toes
- Chest proud the whole way down
- Push the floor away to stand
What usually goes wrong
- Heels lifting off the floor
- Knees caving in
- Chest dropping toward the thighs
- Stopping well above parallel
Calves · Glutes also Hamstrings, Quads, Core
How to move
- walk tall, eyes on the horizon
- roll heel to toe with each step
- swing the arms with bent elbows
- walk fast enough that talking takes effort
What usually goes wrong
- strolling pace that never raises the breathing
- overstriding with a hard heel strike
- looking down at the feet or phone
Hamstrings also Calves, Quads, Hip flexors
How to move
- jog tall on the balls of your feet
- flick your heels up toward your glutes
- keep the knees pointing down at the floor
- stay light and quick
What usually goes wrong
- kicking the heels out behind instead of straight up
- leaning forward at the waist
- heavy, flat-footed landings
Upper back · Lats also Biceps, Forearms, Core
How to move
- loop a towel around the handle or grip the door frame
- lean back with a straight body, arms long
- pull your chest to your hands
- squeeze the shoulder blades together at the top
What usually goes wrong
- bending at the hips instead of keeping a straight line
- yanking with the arms and skipping the shoulder blades
- standing so upright there is no resistance
Core also Shoulders, Triceps, Glutes
How to move
- Hands under shoulders, fingers spread
- Push the floor away so the upper back doesn't collapse
- Squeeze glutes, ribs down
- One straight line from head to heels
What usually goes wrong
- Shoulders shrugged up toward the ears
- Hands drifting too far forward of the shoulders
- Lower back sagging
- Hanging passively on locked elbows
Glutes · Hamstrings also Lower back, Core
How to move
- Push your hips back like closing a car door with your butt
- Soft knees, shins stay vertical
- Keep the stick touching head, upper back, and tailbone
- Feel the stretch in the back of your thighs
What usually goes wrong
- Squatting down instead of pushing the hips back
- Rounding the upper back to reach lower
- Locking the knees straight
- Bending from the waist instead of the hips
Calves · Shoulders also Inner thigh, Glutes, Core
How to move
- jump the feet wide as the arms sweep overhead
- land softly on the balls of your feet
- snap the feet back together under your hips
- ribs down, torso tall
What usually goes wrong
- landing stiff-legged with locked knees
- arms not clearing shoulder height
- knees caving in on the wide landing
Glutes · Quads also Inner thigh, Calves, Core
How to move
- sit into an athletic stance
- push off the trailing leg
- keep the feet from clicking together
- stay level — no bouncing up and down
What usually goes wrong
- standing up tall between steps
- crossing the feet
- bobbing up and down with each step
Hip flexors also Quads, Calves, Core
How to move
- stand tall, eyes forward
- drive one knee up toward hip height
- swing the opposite arm with each knee
- land softly under your hips
- keep a steady, even rhythm
What usually goes wrong
- leaning back to lift the knee higher
- slouching through the torso
- stomping the feet down
Beginner · one side at a time Quads · Glutes also Hamstrings, Core
How to move
- Step back, not down
- Front shin stays fairly vertical
- Lower the back knee under control
- Push through the front heel to come back up
What usually goes wrong
- Stepping back too short so the front knee slams forward
- Torso pitching forward
- Stepping into a straight line and losing balance
- Dragging the back toe on the return
Beginner · one side at a time Quads · Glutes also Hamstrings, Core, Inner thigh
How to move
- Take a comfortable stride, feet hip-width apart for balance
- Drop the back knee straight down
- Front heel stays heavy
- Torso tall — a gentle lean is fine
What usually goes wrong
- Feet in one line, wobbling like on a tightrope
- Front knee diving inward
- Pushing off the back leg instead of the front
- Bouncing the back knee off the floor
Obliques also Core
How to move
- Stand tall, feet hip-width, hands at your chest
- Turn your ribcage and let your head follow
- Keep hips facing forward
- Pause at end range, return under control
What usually goes wrong
- Twisting from the knees and hips instead of the trunk
- Flinging the arms to create momentum
- Holding your breath
Calves · Shoulders also Inner thigh, Glutes, Core
How to move
- step wide as the arms sweep overhead
- stay tall through the chest
- alternate which leg leads
- keep a smooth, continuous rhythm
What usually goes wrong
- arms stopping at shoulder height
- leaning the torso toward the stepping leg
- steps too small to raise the heart rate
Full body also Quads, Core, Shoulders, Glutes
How to move
- squat down and plant the hands
- step back one foot at a time into a plank
- step the feet back in under the chest
- stand all the way up tall
What usually goes wrong
- rounding the back to reach the floor
- letting the hips sag in the plank
- never finishing the stand-up between reps
Beginner · one side at a time Upper back also Obliques, Shoulders, Lats
How to move
- Set up on all fours with hips stacked over knees
- Slide one arm under your chest, palm up
- Follow your hand with your eyes
- Keep hips square — rotate from the mid-back
- Exhale as you reach through
What usually goes wrong
- Rotating from the lower back instead of the mid-back
- Hips shifting sideways as the arm threads through
- Collapsing onto the support arm
- Rushing the reps instead of pausing at end range
Chest also Shoulders, Triceps, Core
How to move
- hands at shoulder height, arms straight
- body in one line from head to heels
- squeeze your glutes
- lower until your nose nearly touches the wall
- push the wall away
What usually goes wrong
- hips sagging toward the wall
- elbows flaring straight out to the sides
- standing too close to the wall to feel any load
Quads also Glutes, Hamstrings, Calves, Core
How to move
- Slide down until the thighs are parallel to the floor
- Knees stacked over ankles, shins vertical
- Press the whole back flat into the wall
- Drive through the heels
What usually goes wrong
- Sitting too high to make it easier
- Knees caving inward
- Hands propped on the thighs taking the load
- Weight rocking onto the toes
Triceps · Glutes also Shoulders, Core, Hamstrings
How to move
- fingers pointing toward the feet or out to the sides
- lift the hips clear of the floor
- move opposite hand and foot together
- chest open, shoulders away from the ears
What usually goes wrong
- hips dragging along the floor
- shoulders shrugging up around the ears
- head jutting forward toward the chest
Intermediate · one side at a time Quads · Glutes also Hamstrings, Core, Inner thigh
How to move
- Step out long, land heel first
- Absorb the step — don't crash into the knee
- Drop the back knee toward the floor
- Push hard through the front heel to step back
What usually goes wrong
- Short step throwing the knee way past the toes
- Front knee caving on the push-back
- Chest collapsing over the front thigh
- Slamming the back knee into the floor
Hip flexors also Quads, Calves, Glutes, Core
How to move
- run tall on the balls of your feet
- punch the knees up to hip height
- pump the arms hard
- quick, light ground contacts
What usually goes wrong
- leaning back as the knees rise
- landing heavy on flat heels
- arms going quiet so the rhythm dies
Quads · Glutes also Calves, Hamstrings, Core
How to move
- Load a quarter squat, then explode up
- Drive through the whole foot
- Land soft — toes, then heels
- Sink into the landing before the next rep
What usually goes wrong
- Landing with stiff, straight knees
- Knees caving on the landing
- Cutting the dip short and jumping off the toes
- Letting reps get sloppy when tired
Intermediate · one side at a time Quads · Glutes · Inner thigh also Hamstrings, Core
How to move
- Step wide, toes pointing mostly forward
- Sit into one hip while the other leg stays straight
- Chest up as the hips go back
- Push off the bent leg to return
What usually goes wrong
- Bending both knees
- Knee rolling inside the foot
- Rounding the low back to force depth
- Step too short to actually load the hip
Obliques · Core also Hip flexors, Lower back
How to move
- Legs straight up over your hips
- Sweep both legs side to side like wiper blades
- Press your arms into the floor for control
- Stop before the opposite shoulder peels up
- Move slower than feels necessary
What usually goes wrong
- Legs dropping too low and yanking the lower back
- Using momentum to swing the legs back up
- Bending the knees more on one side than the other
Core · Hip flexors also Shoulders, Quads, Chest
How to move
- stack shoulders directly over wrists
- pull one knee to the chest, then switch
- keep hips down in line with the shoulders
- brace like a moving plank
What usually goes wrong
- hips piking toward the ceiling
- weight shifting back so the shoulders trail the hands
- feet barely leaving the floor as fatigue sets in
Shoulders also Triceps, Core, Upper back
How to move
- hips high in an upside-down V
- look between your hands
- lower the top of your head toward the floor
- press back to the start, hips stay up
What usually goes wrong
- turning it into a regular push-up by dropping the hips
- bending only the neck instead of the arms
- hands too far from the feet
Core · Shoulders also Obliques, Triceps, Glutes
How to move
- Set the feet wider for a bigger base
- Shift your weight before the hand leaves the floor
- Hips stay square to the floor — no rocking
- Tap slow and own every rep
What usually goes wrong
- Hips rotating and rocking with each tap
- Rushing the taps to get them over with
- Sagging into the supporting shoulder
Chest also Shoulders, Triceps, Core
How to move
- one line from head to heels
- screw your hands into the floor
- elbows at 45 degrees, not flared
- chest touches first
- push the floor away
What usually goes wrong
- hips sagging or piking
- half reps that stop above the floor
- head diving forward ahead of the chest
- elbows flaring to 90 degrees
Obliques also Core, Hip flexors
How to move
- Sit tall, then lean back to about 45 degrees
- Lift the chest — long spine, not a slump
- Turn the shoulders side to side, hands follow
- Keep heels down to start; float the feet to make it harder
- Exhale on each twist
What usually goes wrong
- Rounding the lower back into a slump
- Swinging the arms while the torso barely moves
- Bouncing side to side on momentum
- Holding the breath
Intermediate · one side at a time Obliques · Core also Shoulders, Glutes, Inner thigh
How to move
- Stack the feet, elbow under shoulder
- Drive the bottom hip up — make one straight line
- Press the floor away so the shoulder stays tall
- Reach the top arm to the ceiling
What usually goes wrong
- Hips dipping toward the floor mid-hold
- Rolling backward out of a straight line
- Neck craning down at the floor
Intermediate · one side at a time Obliques also Core, Shoulders, Glutes
How to move
- Stack shoulder over elbow, feet stacked or staggered
- Lift the hips into one straight line
- Reach the top arm to the ceiling
- Thread it under your ribs, rotating the chest down
- Unwind and re-open without the hips dropping
What usually goes wrong
- Hips sagging toward the floor mid-rotation
- Rolling the whole body instead of rotating the trunk
- Holding the breath through the reach
Intermediate · one side at a time Hamstrings · Glutes also Core, Obliques, Calves
How to move
- Hinge at the hip, reach the back leg long behind you
- Keep hips square, back toes point at the floor
- Make a straight line from head to heel
- Grip the floor with the standing foot
What usually goes wrong
- Hips opening up toward the ceiling
- Rounding the back instead of hinging
- Standing knee locking out or caving in
- Rushing and losing balance instead of owning the movement
Intermediate · one side at a time Glutes · Quads also Inner thigh, Hamstrings, Calves, Core
How to move
- bound sideways off one leg
- stick the landing on a soft knee
- swing the arms across your body
- chest up, hips back like a skater
What usually goes wrong
- landing on a stiff, straight leg
- knee diving inward on the landing
- upright torso with no hip hinge
Full body also Quads, Core, Shoulders, Hip flexors
How to move
- crouch and plant hands under the shoulders
- jump both feet back to a strong plank
- snap the feet back in outside the hands
- drive through the heels to stand
What usually goes wrong
- hips sagging when the feet land back
- feet landing far behind the hands so the back rounds
- chest collapsing over soft arms
Core · Hip flexors also Triceps, Shoulders, Quads
How to move
- Hands by the hips, push the floor away hard
- Shoulders pressed down away from the ears
- Pull the knees to the chest and hold
- Lean slightly forward over the hands
What usually goes wrong
- Shrugging up into the shoulders
- Elbows bending under load
- Feet dragging or resting on the floor
Intermediate · one side at a time Quads · Glutes also Hamstrings, Core, Calves
How to move
- Long smooth steps, knee over toes
- Lower down before you travel forward
- Push off the front heel into the next step
- Stay tall — no wobbling side to side
What usually goes wrong
- Feet landing in one line like a tightrope
- Bouncing the knee off the floor
- Leaning forward to gain momentum
- Rushing steps without control
Advanced · one side at a time Chest · Triceps also Shoulders, Core
How to move
- take a wide hand position
- lower toward one hand, the other arm stays straight
- keep hips square to the floor
- push back to center in one piece
What usually goes wrong
- twisting the hips toward the working arm
- bending the straight arm
- losing depth on the working side
Full body also Chest, Quads, Core, Shoulders
How to move
- squat, plant the hands, jump the feet to plank
- chest touches the floor on the push-up
- snap the feet in under the chest
- jump tall and land soft on bent knees
What usually goes wrong
- worming the chest up with the hips lagging
- landing the jump with locked knees
- hands slamming down with rounded shoulders
- skipping full hip extension at the top
Advanced · one side at a time Quads · Glutes · Inner thigh also Hamstrings, Core
How to move
- Sit all the way onto one heel, other leg straight with toes up
- Working heel stays glued down
- Chest tall as you shift across
- Use your arms as a counterbalance
What usually goes wrong
- Working heel lifting at the bottom
- Collapsing into a rounded back
- Dropping in fast with no control
- Forcing depth the hips aren't ready for
Core · Hip flexors also Triceps, Shoulders, Quads, Forearms
How to move
- Lock the elbows and push tall through the shoulders
- Squeeze the legs straight and point the toes
- Lift the legs from the hips, chest proud
- Keep pushing the floor away for the whole hold
What usually goes wrong
- Knees bending as fatigue sets in
- Shoulders creeping up toward the ears
- Legs dropping well below parallel
Advanced · one side at a time Quads · Glutes also Hamstrings, Core, Hip flexors, Calves
How to move
- Arms and free leg reach forward as a counterweight
- Descend slowly — own every inch
- Heel stays down, knee tracks the toes
- Squeeze up with no bounce out of the bottom
What usually goes wrong
- Falling into the bottom position
- Rounding the back to reach forward
- Heel popping up mid-rep
- Knee whipping inward on the stand
Quads · Glutes also Hamstrings, Calves, Core
How to move
- accelerate low out of the start
- decelerate with short, choppy steps
- sink the hips to touch the line
- plant and drive hard out of each turn
What usually goes wrong
- braking on a straight leg
- bending from the back instead of the hips at the line
- rounding the turns instead of planting and cutting
Hamstrings · Glutes also Quads, Calves, Hip flexors, Core
How to move
- build to speed over the first few strides
- run tall with the knees driving forward
- arms hammer from hip to cheek
- walk until breathing settles between reps
What usually goes wrong
- sprinting all-out on the first rep with no build-up
- overstriding so the foot lands far ahead of the hips
- cutting rest short so speed collapses
These are cues from a reviewed catalogue, not personal instruction. Train within your own limits and stop anything that hurts.