When gyms are inaccessible, floor workouts become pivotal for achieving your fitness goals, mainly when aiming to enhance endurance. Here’s the blueprint for practical floor exercises to elevate your muscular endurance and overall fitness: Focus on higher rep sets, incorporate extended positional holds, and minimize rest periods for an intensified workout experience. These components combine to create a routine that ensures you stay on track to achieve your fitness objectives without gym access. I put together five floor workouts to improve your muscular endurance and fitness significantly, so listen up.
These routines incorporate essential elements for effective sessions, featuring higher rep sets and exercises challenging your stability with extended holds. With strategic rest periods lasting between 60 and 90 seconds, these workouts provide ample recovery time, ensuring you’re ready to tackle each set with maximum intensity.
Keep reading to learn all about the best floor workouts to improve your muscular endurance and fitness. And when you’re finished, be sure to check out People Are ‘Retro Walking’ & Swear by the Benefits: ‘My Posture Is Now Nearly Perfect’.
Workout #1 Side Plank with Leg Lifts
My floor workouts to improve your muscular endurance kick off with side plank variations. The side plank with leg lift is an engaging exercise to intensify your core and hip strength. This movement targets your obliques, abs, and glutes and elevates it from a primary floor exercise to a versatile warm-up movement. Its dual role as a strength-building exercise enhances muscular endurance and fitness levels.
1. Side Planks with Leg Lifts
Start in a side plank position with your elbow under your shoulder, lifting your hips to form a straight line. Lift your top leg straight up, engaging your hip muscles, and hold briefly before lowering it. Switch sides and repeat. Complete three sets of 15 to 20 reps per side with 60 seconds of rest between sets.
2. Side Planks with Leg Lift Holds
Start in a side plank position with your elbow under your shoulder, lifting your hips to form a straight line. Lift your top leg straight up, engaging your hip muscles, and hold for the prescribed time before lowering. Switch sides and repeat. Perform three sets of 20 to 45-second holds with 60 seconds of rest between sets.
3. Side Planks with Lower Leg Lifts
Start in a side plank position with your elbow under your shoulder, lifting your hips to form a straight line. Next, raise your lower leg, crossing it in front of the top leg and engaging your hip and leg muscles. Switch sides and repeat. Complete three sets of 10 to 15 reps per side with 60 seconds of rest between sets.
Workout #2: Renegade Rows
Renegade rows will engage your lats, upper back, biceps, abs, and hips. This dynamic exercise demands core engagement and upper-body rowing, offering a workout that targets multiple muscle groups in a single fluid movement. The recruitment of numerous muscle groups to execute each rep enhances your muscular endurance and fitness.
1. Bodyweight Renegade Rows
Start in a plank position with your hands under your shoulders. Lift one hand, pulling your elbow to the ceiling in a strong rowing motion while balancing on the other arm. Alternate sides, maintaining stability and squeezing your core. Perform three sets of 15 to 20 reps per side with 60 seconds of rest between sets.
2. Dumbbell Renegade Rows
Start in a high plank with a dumbbell in each hand beneath your shoulders. Squeeze your abs as you pull one dumbbell in a rowing motion toward your hip, and maintain a stable plank. Lower with control and switch sides. Complete three sets of 12 to 20 reps per side with 90 seconds of rest between sets.
3. Single-Arm Renegade Rows
Renegade rows are an excellent variation if you only have one dumbbell. Start in a high plank with a dumbbell in your hand beneath your shoulder. Squeeze your abs as you pull the dumbbell in a rowing motion toward your hip, and maintain a stable plank. Lower with control. Complete all reps on one side, then switch and repeat. Perform three sets of 12 to 20 reps per side with 90 seconds of rest between sets.
Workout #3: Glute Bridges
Glute bridges and their variations stand out as exceptional exercises for targeting the major muscle groups—specifically your glutes and hamstrings—in the lower body. These movements enhance muscular endurance and overall fitness and increase strength and stability for the core and hip joints. What makes glute bridges even more appealing is their versatility; they can be easily modified to target specific muscles or intensify the workout for continuous development.
1. Glute Bridges
Begin face up with your knees bent, feet flat, and shoulder-width apart. Ensure your shins are vertical and your ankles and knees are stacked. Slightly tilt your pelvis toward your chin to brace your abs. Push your heel through the floor, and drive the hips up, squeezing the glutes at the top. Perform three sets of 18 to 20 reps with 90 seconds of rest between sets.
2. Extended Glute Bridges
Begin face up with your knees bent, feet flat, and shoulder-width apart. Your shins should be vertical and your ankles and knees stacked. Tilt your pelvis toward your chin a bit to brace your abs. Next, step your feet further away from your hips, extending your legs until they’re almost straight. Push your heel through the floor, and drive the hips up, squeezing the glutes at the top. Complete three sets of 15 to 18 reps with 90 seconds of rest between sets.
3. Single-Leg Glute Bridges
Begin face up with your knees bent, feet flat, and shoulder-width apart. Ensure your shins are vertical and your ankles and knees are stacked. Slightly tilt your pelvis toward your chin to brace your abs, and raise one leg off the floor, flexing about 90 degrees at the hip. Push your heel through the floor, and drive the hips up, squeezing the glutes at the top. Complete all reps on one side, then switch and repeat. Perform three sets of 12 to 15 reps per side with 90 seconds of rest between sets.
Workout #4: Pushups
Pushups stand out as the most effective upper-body movement on the floor, offering a powerful way to elevate fitness levels and enhance muscular endurance. This versatile exercise is easily adjustable and adaptable to various training goals and environments. With diverse variations available to increase and regress the challenge, pushups effectively target multiple muscle groups in the upper body, including the chest, shoulders, triceps, and core.
1. Pushups
Position your hands beneath your shoulders, and start in a plank position, ensuring your arms are straight. Squeeze your core, lower your body, pause, and push back up. Repeat for desired sets and reps, prioritizing form. Complete three sets of 12 to 20 reps with 90 seconds of rest between sets. If pushups pose a challenge, aim for as many traditional ones as possible and then complete the remaining reps with modified pushups.
2. T Pushups
Position your hands beneath your shoulders, and start in a plank position, ensuring your arms are straight. Squeeze your core, and lower your body to the ground. Next, push back up, and as you do, twist your torso to one side and raise your arm, forming a “T.” Lower your arm back to the floor to assume a high plank before performing a pushup and repeating the twist motion on the opposite side. Perform three sets of 8 to 15 reps with 60 seconds of rest between sets.
3. Close Grip Pushups
Position your hands slightly inside your shoulders, and start in a plank position, ensuring your arms are straight. Squeeze your core, lower your body, pause, and push back up. Repeat for desired sets and reps, prioritizing form. Complete for three sets of 12 to 20 reps with 90 seconds of rest between sets.
Workout #5: Planks
These floor workouts to improve your muscular endurance and fitness wrap up with a routine that’s all about planks. Planks are a top-tier core exercise, effectively enhancing muscle endurance and overall fitness by engaging multiple muscle groups simultaneously, including the core, shoulders, back, arms, and legs. Their isometric contractions demand muscles to hold a fixed position, increasing endurance. With a low-impact nature, planks suit various fitness levels, allowing consistent practice without joint strain, and versatility permits easy modifications for intensity or targeting specific muscle groups.
1. Forearm Planks
Position your forearm beneath your shoulders, and extend your legs behind you. Elevate your body off the ground, forming a straight line. Engage your abs, glutes, lower back, legs, and shoulders for a full-body contraction. Hold this position for the recommended duration. Perform three sets of 30 to 60-second holds with 60 seconds of rest between sets.
2. Planks with Leg Lifts
Position your forearm beneath your shoulders, and extend your legs behind you. Elevate your body off the ground, forming a straight line. Engage your abs, glutes, lower back, legs, and shoulders for a full-body contraction. Next, alternate lifting your legs by squeezing your glutes and raising your foot slightly off the floor. Hold for a quick moment, and return. Complete for the recommended time or reps. Complete three sets of 10 to 15 reps per side, or hold for 30 to 60 seconds with 60 seconds of rest between sets.
3. Planks with Reach
Position your forearm beneath your shoulders, and extend your legs behind you. Elevate your body off the ground, forming a straight line. Engage your abs, glutes, lower back, legs, and shoulders for a full-body contraction. Next, alternately reach your arms in front of you as you squeeze your shoulder. Hold for a quick moment, and return. Complete for the recommended time or reps. Perform three sets of 10 to 15 reps per side, or hold for 30 to 60 seconds with 60 seconds of rest between sets.
