There are no two ways about it: building muscle takes time, patience and consistency. But while the gym can be a great place to throw around some weights, you can still tick off an effective workout at home.
Personal trainers Julius and LaToya White, the duo beyond the YouTube channel Juice and Toya, have created a 10-move, 30-minute full-body workout that will help you build muscle from just about anywhere—and better yet, all you need is your body weight.
How to do the 30-minute bodyweight workout
The workout features 10 exercises, each lasting 60 seconds, divided into three 20-second sections.
In the first 20 seconds, you will complete one exercise as many times as possible. You then perform a static hold (or isometric exercise) for 20 seconds. For the last 20 seconds, you return to the dynamic move.
Once you’ve finished the first set of 10 exercises, you have a 60-second break before repeating them.
The duo demonstrates each move, and two different exercise modifications are available. The session also includes a warm-up and cool-down.
"This is a great workout for something looking to build strength, build some muscle and like I mentioned, it’s bodyweight, so you’re not going to need any equipment," LaToya White says at the start of the workout.
The benefits of isometric exercises
"An isometric exercise is one where the muscle is contracted, but there’s no movement at the joint," explains Rowan Clift, fitness trainer for Freeletics.
Exercises like planks or wall sits are great examples of isometric exercises—and doing moves like these can bring several benefits.
"First, they’re excellent for building strength," Clift says. "By holding a muscle contraction, you can really target specific muscle fibers, especially in positions where you might be weaker in dynamic movements."
Clift says isometrics exercises also help with improving stability. "That’s because they activate stabilizing muscles that we might not always engage with traditional exercises," he adds.
Another advantage is time efficiency. "Isometric exercises can be done in a relatively short amount of time but still provide a strong training stimulus," the trainer tells us.
A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that isometric training can provide similar benefits to plyometric training but with reduced impact forces. "This makes them fantastic for rehabilitation and injury prevention because you can build strength without putting too much strain on the joints," Clift adds.
"Finally, there’s a mental aspect, holding a position under tension for a period really challenges your mental resilience, helping to build mental toughness alongside physical strength," says Clift.
