You don’t need a fancy gym for peak fitness, according to retired Navy SEAL Jocko Willink.
Some of the best workouts to build muscle, burn fat, and live longer involve simple exercises you can do just about anywhere, with minimal equipment.
Willink would know — he wakes up at 4:30 a.m. every day to work out for up to three hours, sometimes in his massive garage gym, sometimes on the road with minimal equipment.
“There is no more important strategic goal in our lives than staying healthy,” he told Business Insider. “There are definitely days that I try to figure out a way to just move. You’ve got to do some minimum work.”
Willink said his goal is to prevent any weaknesses in his mental and physical performance, training strength, power, stamina, and focus wherever he goes to stay ready for any challenge life throws at him, from jiu jitsu competitions to running his business.
In or out of the gym, movements such as pull-ups, squats, sprints, and rucking (carrying weight) can help you put in the work without overcomplicating your workouts. The latest research also suggests that the benefits of these movements — getting stronger, improving your resilience, and boosting heart health — can lead to a longer lifespan too.
“Going back to the basics and doing things that have been used for decades is a solid way to go,” Willink said. “You can never go wrong with those.”
Bodyweight exercises can build strength and muscle without a gym
For getting stronger and more muscular, it’s hard to beat bodyweight movements such as pull-ups, push-ups, and dips, Willink said. If you have a sturdy bar and bench (or can improvise one), these three exercises hit every major muscle in the upper body and core, improving stability and grip strength.
Even beginners can benefit from bodyweight moves by scaling exercises like pull-ups with variations like eccentrics or dead hangs.
Squats are key for a strong lower body
For rock-solid legs and core muscles, squats are king, building your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and abs for better stability and power.
If you can’t find a squat rack and a barbell, variations like goblet squats or single-leg squats offer similar benefits. Regardless of which type of squat you choose, making sure you’re hitting a full range of motion, or you’re leaving gains on the table, Willink said.
“When I squat, I’m squatting all the way down,” he said.
Burpees offer a quick workout on the go
When Willink wakes up in a hotel room, he’ll hit 100 burpees before doing anything else.
“It keeps that discipline in my life,” he said.
Burpees offer a total-body workout for explosiveness and endurance in just a few minutes, and are especially good for raising your heart rate quickly. Higher-intensity exercise helps to strengthen your heart and protect your health even in small doses, research shows.
If you hate them, lean into it; it pays to put your ego aside and work on your weaknesses, Willink said.
“One of the key components here is that what we need to do as people is watch out for the things you don’t like doing,” he said.
Sprint intervals can boost your explosive power
Cardio is a nonnegotiable for Willink to build athleticism and overall health, so he regularly runs, rows, swims, and bikes. Research suggests the sweet spot for fitness is a mix of intensities, including longer, steady cardio sessions with short, explosive efforts.
For Willink, that means incorporating sprint intervals to keep a versatile skillset; maybe not ideal for running marathons, but perfect to stay fast and powerful for jiu jitsu.
“It definitely taxes you in a different way,” he said. “I want to be able to do a bunch of different things, but at the same time, I don’t want to lose a movement or have an area where I’m ridiculously weak.”
Rucking offers full-body benefits
SEAL training is notoriously tough, and Willink retired from the Navy more than a decade ago, but kept many of the military workouts in his routine.
One of his favorites is rucking, which involves walking, hiking, or running with a weighted pack. It’s become a hot fitness trend outside the military for people who want to build muscle, burn fat, and improve their stamina all at once.
He uses a 75- to 85-pound pack, but you don’t need to go that heavy to start a rucking routine. An ordinary backpack with books, water bottles, or a similar weight can work.
Willink said he was glad to see the exercise getting more popular since it taps into a basic human movement and a mindset of tackling challenges.
“You’re going to experience some suffering, and you have to push through it,” he said. “It’s hard, but it’s meditative. You don’t have to think about it. It’s the simplest movement that humans do.”
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