10 CrossFit Workouts You Can Do In Your Living Room

The idea that you can get in serious shape in 20 minutes or less a day without needing any fancy gym equipment more or less has been proven out by CrossFit gyms everywhere. These purveyors of short, intense, easy-to-follow exercises have a dedicated following for a reason: If you regularly go to a CrossFit gym, you get fit. And that’s all there is to it.

Fortunately, you can bring this all home, using body weight to tone and strengthen major muscles groups while skipping the Olympic-style lifts that CrossFit gyms are famous for. You might not get V-shaped big, but you will get fit nonetheless.

We’ve modified 10 classic workouts to focus on moves you can do right in your living room using body weight to tone and strengthen major muscles groups. Be warned, CrossFit's reputation for having impossibly hard workouts is well-earned, and expect to sweat. Be sure to recover and brush up on stretching exercises — you’re gonna need it.

CrossFit Workout #1: Burpee/Mountain Climbers

How many: As many as you can in 5 minutes. One minute rest, repeat.

How to: Start in an extended pushups position. Jump your feet towards your hands, then jump your whole body vertically in the air and back into a crouch. Jump feet back into an extended pushups position. From here, imagine you are a track star, in the blocks before a 100-meter sprint. Because you are in your house, not the track, you won’t be sprinting anywhere. Instead, hike one knee high toward your chest, keeping your hands planted on the floor. Jump it back to the start position, hiking your other knee up at the same time. Continue this alternating pattern of moves for five minutes.

Crossfit Workout #2: Pushup/Single-Leg Squat/Squat Jump

How many: 20/15/10. Two minutes rest, then go again (opposite leg on squat). Continue for 15 minutes.

How to: Drop and give us 20. Then stand, raise your right leg in front of you, and sink into a single-leg squat, going as deep as you can without loosing control of the movement. Repeat 15 times, then stand on both legs, bend knees into a deep squat, and spring off the floor for a vertical jump. Repeat 10 times.

Crossfit Workout #3: Reverse Pullup/Pushup/Squat

How many: 10/20/15. Two minutes rest, repeat for 20 minutes.

How to: Find a sturdy table that you can lie under (like your dining room table). Lie under the table so that your shoulders align with the edge. Raise your arms and grip the edge of the table with your hands. Bend elbows and pull yourself up toward the table. Release. Do 10, then flip over onto your stomach and do 20 pushups. Stand and squat 15 times, keeping knees over toes and your back straight.

Crossfit Workout #4: Reverse Pullup/Pushup/Situp/Squat

How many: 60 each, aiming to complete all exercises in 15 minutes

How to: The moves are standard but this isn’t a game of complexity. It’s about sheer grit to gut out 60 of each within the 15-minute time limit. Oh sure, it feels easy at first. But you’ll quickly fatigue and then toughness test sets in. Good luck!

Crossfit Workout #5: Squats/Pushups

How many: Sets of 21, 15, and 9 with two minutes rest between sets

How to: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Bend knees and sink down and back like you are about to sit in a chair, aiming to get quads parallel to the floor. Do 21 squats, then immediately do 21 pushups. Rest and repeat with 15 reps each, then 9 reps each.

Crossfit Workout #6: Wall Sit/ Burpee

How many: 1-minute wall sit, 1-minute of burpees, 10 times (20 minutes)

How to: Stand about two feet away from a wall, back to the wall. Lean back so that you back rests on the wall and bend knees until your quads are parallel to the floor, knees over toes. (If your knees are not over your toes, adjust your foot placement.) Hold this position for one minute, then immediately transition into one minute of nonstop burpees. Move directly back into wall sit with no rest.

Crossfit Workout #7: Pushups/Lunges

How many: 20 seconds pushups, 10 seconds rest/20 seconds lunges, 10 seconds rest. Total of 8 minutes.

How to: Beginning on all fours, start your stopwatch and do as many pushups as you can in 20 seconds. Take 10 seconds to catch your breath and transition to standing. For the next 20 seconds, do alternating leg lunges from standstill (step forward into a deep lunge with your right leg, then push back to standing; step forward with your left leg, then back to standing). Do as many as you can for 20 seconds, then take 10 seconds to return to the floor for pushups. The goal is to do as many as you can of each exercise in 8 minutes.

Crossfit Workout #8: Squat/Throw/Jump

How many: 50 squat-and-throws, 50 jump ropes, 5 times

How to: Grab a medicine ball or basketball and head outside your building. Find a concrete wall (or use the pavement if there is no wall available). Do a deep squat, then as you return to standing, throw the ball hard against the wall so that it bounces back to you. Do 50 times, then grab a jump rope and take 50 bounces. Repeat this sequence 5 times.

Crossfit Workout #9: Pushup/Burpee/High-Knees

How many: 5/5/60 seconds, 10 times

How to: Drop to the floor and perform 5 pushups, followed by 5 burpees. Stand and run in place for 60 seconds, lifting your knees as high as they will go while moving your legs as fast as you can.

Crossfit Workout #10: Box Jumps

How many: 5 sets of 20 seconds, 10 seconds rest between sets

How to: Find yourself a bench or sturdy chair about two feet off the ground. (If no bench is available, use stairs). Stand about a foot away from the bench, bend your knees, swing your arms behind you then, thrust them forward as you launch yourself in the air and land on the bench. Jump back down and go again. Do as many as you can in 20 seconds.