5 Towel Exercises For A Full-Body Workout

by Cori Lefkowith | Nov 8, 2016 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Functional Fitness

Often we feel limited when we workout at home, especially if we don’t have any exercise equipment.

We think we can’t really challenge ourselves at home.

But not only are there TONS of challenging bodyweight exercises you can do, BUT there are even some great household items you can use to add variety and extra challenge to your home workouts.

And one of those household items is a TOWEL!

Using a towel you can reduce traction and make some basic bodyweight moves even more challenging. Below are 5 of my favorites to combine into a full-body workout. (And if you don’t have hardwood or tile floors, you can even do these on carpet with paper plates or furniture movers!)

5 Towel Exercises For A Full-Body Workout

Towel Burpees – Get your blood pumping and whole body working with this core-intensive Burpee variation!

To do Towel Burpee, start standing tall with your feet close together and the towel/towels under your feet. Then squat down and bend over to place your hands on the ground. As you place your hands down on the ground, slide your feet back on the towels until you are in a plank position with your hands under your shoulders.

Then quickly slide your feet back in toward your hands and stand back up, squeezing your glutes at the top. You can reach your hands up overhead as you stand up. Quickly repeat the move, placing your hands back down on the ground as you slide back into a plank position before sliding back in and coming back up to standing.

This is a great core-intensive burpee variation that is super challenging, but also low-impact.

To make the move harder, perform a push up after you slide back and before you slide back in to stand up!

Fly Push Ups – If you want to smoke your chest, shoulders, tricep and core, you need to try the Fly Push Ups! Beginners will want to start by sliding only one hand out to the side before performing the push up OR they may want to do the variation below from their knees instead of toes.

To do the full Fly Push Up, place a towel under each hand with your hands close together under your chest and your body in a nice straight line from your head to your heels.

Keeping your body in a nice straight line, slide both hands out wide to perform a fly and lower down to the bottom of a push up. Do not shrug your shoulders as you slide your hands out. While you want to slide out wide, do not go so wide that you really shrug or tuck your chin.

Then slide your hands back together, pulling your hands back in using your chest as you come back up to the top of the push up. Feel your chest and shoulders working to pull your hands back in and together as you come to the top of the push up. Make sure your body moves as one unit and your core is braced. Do not tuck your chin or let your butt go up in the air or your hips sag.

Repeat the move, sliding both hands out as you lower back down.

Alternating Side Lunges – This is a great move to not only get your blood pumping but also really target your glutes AND your inner thighs.

To do Alternating Side Lunges, place a small towel under each foot. Start standing tall with your feet together.

Then slide one foot out to the side, bending your standing leg as you sit your butt back. You can lean forward slightly to hinge at the hips and sit your butt back, but don’t round over. Slide out as far as you can. You can also reach your opposite hand down toward the foot of your standing leg to help yourself load your glute.

Drive back up to standing and slide your leg back in. Feel the glute of the standing leg work to drive up as you pull your foot in with the inner thigh.

If this is your first time, just make sure you don’t slide out too far or you may end up in the splits!

2-Way Plank Wipers – I love both Towel Plank Jacks AND Towel Plank Wipers so I figured…Why not combine them into one movement. Therefore we now have the 2-Way Plank Wipers! Beginners can break down the move and just do one or the other or even do this move without the towels.

To do the 2-Way Plank Wipers, set up in a plank from your forearms with a towel under each foot. Keeping your core braced, slide one leg up and out to the side. While your hips may rotate a bit, you don’t want them to sag or let your butt go way up in the air.

Slide the foot out and up then slide it back into the plank position. Then slide your other foot up and out to the side. Bring that foot back in.

Then after performing a wiper to each side, perform a plank jack sliding both feet out at the same time. Once you slide both feet back together, repeat the movement, first sliding out to one side then the other!

Glute Bridge and Curl – Whether you sit all day, want to lift more, run faster or simply want a nice, strong and sexy backside, the Glute Bridge and Curl is a must-do move!

To do the Glute Bridge and Curl, you can use one larger towel or two small towels. Beginners will need two small towels so they can do a single leg variation, sliding one foot out at a time.

To do the Two-Leg Advanced variation, place a towel under each foot and start in the glute bridge position with your knees bent and upper back and arms driving down into the ground. Make sure to engage your glutes and your abs to protect your low back as you do this move.

Keeping your glutes engaged, slide your feet out away from your butt. Straighten your legs out in front of you as far as you can, letting your butt lower down toward the ground. Your glutes may touch the ground, but you shouldn’t let your hips sag or release tension. They should lower because your legs are extending.

Once you straighten your legs out fully, curl your heels back in, bringing your hips back up again into a glute bridge. Really pull your heels back in with your hamstrings by driving your heels into the towels and dragging them back in.

When you pull your heels back in, make sure you bridge up. You should perform the curl and bridge back up as one movement. It should’t be curl in then bridge up, but actually bridge up as you curl back in. Then repeat the movement. Make sure your abs are engaged. You do not want to feel your low back taking over. In the bridge, make sure you don’t arch your low back as well.

Using these 5 Towel Exercises, you can get in a great full body workout!