When time is tight, space is limited and there’s no kit in sight, the temptation is often to skip the workout altogether. But according to elite coach Corey McBride, you don’t need a gym floor full of equipment – or even much room – to get a brutally effective workout done.

McBride’s approach is simple: combine two bodyweight movements into tight supersets that keep the heart rate high while hitting multiple muscle groups. The result is a series of sessions that build strength, stamina and conditioning in minimal time; no weights required.

These are workouts to keep in your back pocket for when the chips are down – if you’re travelling, training outside, or just need to squeeze something in, you can drop down and get the job done anywhere.

Below are five of his go-to bodyweight supersets.

150 Rounds – 20-Minute Time Cap

A1. Squat Jumps x 1

A2. Split Squat Jumps x 2

This deceptively simple pairing is a lower-body burner designed to spike your heart rate fast.

Start by dropping into a squat, then explode upward into a squat jump, landing softly with knees tracking over your toes. Immediately follow with two alternating split squat jumps, switching legs in mid-air.

That’s one round. Continue accumulating rounds until you hit 150, or the 20-minute time cap.

The low rep count keeps each round quick, but the sheer volume builds a relentless conditioning challenge that taxes the quads, glutes and lungs. McBride himself says this one ‘still gives him nightmares’, after becoming his go-to lower body workout during COVID.

Every Minute on the Minute Until You Fail

A1. Burpees x 5

A2. Push-Ups x 10

EMOM – short for ‘every minute on the minute’ – is one of our favourite conditioning formats, because it builds intensity steadily.

Start a running clock and at the start of each new minute perform your burpees and push-ups. Any time remaining in that minute becomes your rest.

As the minutes tick by, fatigue accumulates and your recovery window shrinks. Eventually you’ll reach a point where you can’t complete the work inside the minute – or you quit – that’s when the workout ends.

Burpees drive a full body cardiovascular demand, while push-ups pile volume into the chest, shoulders and triceps.

50 / 40 / 30 / 20 / 10 Reps

A1. Hollow Rocks

A2. Sit-Ups

This core-focused superset alternates between two classic abdominal movements.

Start with 50 hollow rocks. Lie on your back with arms overhead and legs extended, lifting shoulders and heels slightly off the floor and pushing your lower back into the ground so your body forms a shallow ‘dish’ shape. Rock gently forward and back while maintaining tension through the midline. Every time your heels rocks towards the floor, count 1 rep.

Next, perform 50 sit-ups, using a controlled tempo and touching the floor behind your head at the bottom of each rep. In the next round, drop to 40 reps of each, then 30, 20 and finally 10.

The descending structure means the early rounds build fatigue while the later ones allow you to push the pace toward the finish.

5 Rounds

A1. Chinese Push-Ups x 10

A2. Alternating Pistol Squats x 20

This pairing blends upper-body pressing with single-leg strength.

Chinese push-ups involve pushing your hips up into the air into a ‘pike’ position, keeping your hands relatively close together and lowering your head down in-between your hands – close grip push-up style – this puts a strong emphasis on your triples and shoulders.

Follow immediately with 20 alternating pistol squats – single-leg squats where the free leg stays extended in front of you. Alternate legs each rep.

Complete five rounds in total, moving steadily but maintaining control on every repetition.

The combination hits the chest, shoulders, quads and glutes while challenging balance and mobility.

Switch for pike push-ups, or regular push-ups and lunges if necessary – working your way up to the full workout.

10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 80 / 90 / 100 Reps

A1. Alternate Bodyweight Lunges

A2. Burpees After Each Set x 10

This workout uses a ladder structure that steadily increases the volume of alternating bodyweight lunges.

Start with 10 lunges, then immediately perform 10 burpees.

Next round, complete 20 lunges, followed by 10 burpees again. Continue climbing the ladder through 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, 90 and 100 reps, always finishing each set with the same 10 burpees.

You have 45 minutes to complete the ladder.

The escalating lunge volume hammers the legs, while the repeated burpee sets keep the intensity high throughout. You’ll complete a grand total or 570 reps if you make it.

Together, these five workouts prove McBride’s point: you don’t need machines, barbells or even much space to train hard. When time is short and excuses are creeping in, these bodyweight supersets are designed to deliver a full-body session anywhere you can drop to the floor and start moving.

With almost 18 years in the health and fitness space as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breath coach and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half of his life exploring how to help people improve their bodies and minds.    

As our fitness editor he prides himself on keeping Men’s Health at the forefront of reliable, relatable and credible fitness information, whether that’s through writing and testing thousands of workouts each year, taking deep dives into the science behind muscle building and fat loss or exploring the psychology of performance and recovery.   

Whilst constantly updating his knowledge base with seminars and courses, Andrew is a lover of the practical as much as the theory and regularly puts his training to the test tackling everything from Crossfit and strongman competitions, to ultra marathons, to multiple 24 hour workout stints and (extremely unofficial) world record attempts.   

 You can find Andrew on Instagram at @theandrew.tracey, or simply hold up a sign for ‘free pizza’ and wait for him to appear.