A 20 Minute Full Body Workout You Can Do Without Leaving Your Bed

This 20-minute bed workout strengthens your entire body from head to toe.

Image Credit: torwai/iStock/GettyImages We all have those mornings when you can’t muster enough energy and motivation to slip on your workout shoes — or even get out of bed. But that’s OK because you can actually get an effective full-body workout without leaving your bed. Yup, you heard right.

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 While your bed is soft and comforting for sleep, it provides the perfect surface for a challenging workout. Just try planking in bed: The instability of your mattress recruits smaller muscles to help you balance and move your larger muscles. Plus, you'll activate your core — no matter what type of exercise you're doing — to keep you steady and grounded.

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 This 20-minute bed workout will get your entire body moving. Do each exercise for 45 seconds and rest for 15 seconds between each move. Complete four rounds and take a one-minute break between each round.

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  Check out more of our 20-minute workouts here – we've got something for everyone.

Plank

    Sets

    4

    Time

    45 Sec

    Body Part

    Abs

Lie face down on your mattress (prone position) with your legs extended behind you. With your forearms flat on your bed, stack your elbows directly under your shoulders. Planting your toes into the mattress, lift your hips until your body is in a straight line from your head to your heels. Hold for 45 seconds.

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  Modifications and Variations If you're not able to hold a forearm plank, consider performing a quadruped plank, aka a bear plank, on your knees. Be sure to stack your shoulders over your wrists and your hips over your knees. Lift your knees off your bed, allowing them to hover two inches.

To make this exercise more challenging, rock your hips side to side while maintaining a straight line with your body. 2. Hip Bridge With Leg March

Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat, hands by your sides. Drive into your heels and lift your hips up, squeezing your glutes at the top. Keeping a 90-degree bend in your knees, lift your right foot off your bed and bring your right knee toward your chest. Return to the starting position and repeat with your left leg. Continue to alternate legs.

  Show Instructions
  Modifications and Variations Not able to keep your hips up while marching? Stick to a regular glute bridge. For a more challenging move, try slowing down your march.

Back Extension

    Sets

    4

    Time

    45 Sec

    Body Part

    Back

Lie on your stomach in prone position with your arms bent to 90 degrees by your sides. Squeezing your lower back, lift your arms and legs off your bed at the same time, keeping your stomach in contact with the mattress. Release slowly back to the starting position.

  Show Instructions
  Modifications and Variations For those who find this move too challenging, reduce the range of motion and don't lift your arms and legs too high. If you want to take things to the next level, add small arm weights.

Triceps Dip

    Sets

    4

    Time

    45 Sec

    Body Part

    Arms

Sit on the side of your bed with your feet flat on the floor. Place your palms on the bed with your fingertips facing the edge of the bed. Walk your feet forward a few inches, until your glutes are parallel to the ground. Bend your elbows, bringing your body to the floor. Push back up to straighten your arms and return to the starting position.

  Show Instructions
  Modifications and Variations Reduce the range of motion and don't dip so low if you're finding it difficult to maintain proper form.

To make it harder, slow things down with a 3-1-1 tempo: Lower down for 3 seconds, hold for 1 second, and power back up for 1 second. 5. Bird Dog

Start in a quadruped position with your wrists directly under your shoulders and your knees directly under your hips. Lift your right arm and extend your left leg back at the same time until your body is in a straight line. Return to the starting position, and repeat with your left arm and your right leg. Continue to alternate opposite arms and legs.

  Show Instructions
  Modifications and Variations Reduce your range of motion if you're finding it difficult to maintain proper form. You can also try other variations, like doing an arms-only bird dog.

If you’re ready to kick things up, try holding the top for the movement for three seconds before lowering your arm and leg back down, adding a crunch or holding a pair of light dumbbells in your hands. Related Reading You Can Do This 20-Minute Butt and Ab Workout Lying Down

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This 20-minute bed workout strengthens your entire body from head to toe.

Image Credit: torwai/iStock/GettyImages

Check out more of our 20-minute workouts here – we’ve got something for everyone.

  Show Instructions
  


        Sets
       
        4
      
        Time
       
        45 Sec
      
        Body Part
       
        Abs

If you’re not able to hold a forearm plank, consider performing a quadruped plank, aka a bear plank, on your knees. Be sure to stack your shoulders over your wrists and your hips over your knees. Lift your knees off your bed, allowing them to hover two inches. To make this exercise more challenging, rock your hips side to side while maintaining a straight line with your body.

To make this exercise more challenging, rock your hips side to side while maintaining a straight line with your body.

  Show Instructions
  


        Sets
       
        4
      
        Time
       
        45 Sec
      
        Body Part
       
        Butt

Not able to keep your hips up while marching? Stick to a regular glute bridge. For a more challenging move, try slowing down your march.

  Show Instructions
  


        Sets
       
        4
      
        Time
       
        45 Sec
      
        Body Part
       
        Back

For those who find this move too challenging, reduce the range of motion and don’t lift your arms and legs too high. If you want to take things to the next level, add small arm weights.

  Show Instructions
  


        Sets
       
        4
      
        Time
       
        45 Sec
      
        Body Part
       
        Arms

Reduce the range of motion and don’t dip so low if you’re finding it difficult to maintain proper form. To make it harder, slow things down with a 3-1-1 tempo: Lower down for 3 seconds, hold for 1 second, and power back up for 1 second.

To make it harder, slow things down with a 3-1-1 tempo: Lower down for 3 seconds, hold for 1 second, and power back up for 1 second.

  Show Instructions

Reduce your range of motion if you’re finding it difficult to maintain proper form. You can also try other variations, like doing an arms-only bird dog. If you’re ready to kick things up, try holding the top for the movement for three seconds before lowering your arm and leg back down, adding a crunch or holding a pair of light dumbbells in your hands.

You Can Do This 20-Minute Butt and Ab Workout Lying Down