This ladder-style strength workout is a total body burner that uses just one piece of equipment. You’ll be in and out of the gym in a flash, but you’ll still feel the burn — no ladder necessary.
The best part of a ladder-style workout: Rather than maxing out every set and burning out quickly, you leave a little in your tank, and, subsequently, you’re able to get more total reps. In short: Once you’re finished, you’ll have done more work on an exercise than you’d normally be capable of.
The workout starts with a brief warmup, followed by two circuits with three exercises each, allowing you to get a high number of reps in without burning out or getting bored.
Both circuits work your:
- Biceps
- Triceps
- Shoulders
- Core
- Glutes
- Hamstrings
- Quadriceps
Ready for a full-body burn? Let’s get into it!
Ladder Workout Warm-Up
No workout is complete without a proper warm-up. Use these four simple bodyweight exercises to get started.
Warm-Up 1: Modified Pigeon Stretch
How to:
- Sit upright and keep one leg behind you at a 90-degree angle with your arms extended forward, elbows and hands touching the floor.
- Slide your other leg in front, bending it at a 90-degree angle so your shin is facing forward.
- Perform on one side then switch to the other side, holding for 30-60 seconds per side.
Reminder: Be gentle and don’t push yourself too far. You’ll really feel this stretch in your hips, glutes and lower back.
Warm-Up 2: Plank Shoulder Taps
How to:
- Begin in the high plank position, with your wrists under your shoulders and feet hip-width apart. Keep your body straight.
- Keeping your body still, reach one hand across your body to tap the opposite shoulder.
- Return to the start position and repeat.
- Do 10 reps per side.
Warm-Up 3: Squats
How to:
- Stand upright with your arms by your sides and your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Bend at the hips and knees, lowering your body down toward the floor, raising your arms up in front and keeping your back flat.
- Return to the upright position and lower your arms.
- Do 10 reps.
Warm-Up 4: Side-to-Side Mini Hops
How to:
- Stand in a semi-squat position with your hips and knees slightly bent, your feet close together, and your hands up at chest level with your elbows bent.
- Hop with both your feet about 12 inches to one side, keeping your upper body stable.
- Quickly hop back to the other side.
- Continue hopping quickly from side to side.
- Do 20 hops total.
Modification: Try heel raises for a low-impact alternative.
Full-Body Ladder Workout
In this ladder workout, you’ll complete two circuits consisting of seven rounds of work each. In a complete round of work, you’ll cycle through each exercise, incrementally increasing reps each round until you max out at 5 reps. Then, you’ll incrementally decrease reps after each round of work, doing a minimum of 2 reps per side per exercise. Follow this guide:
Use kettlebells that are heavy enough to be challenging for smaller rep counts. Feel free to change the weight you’re lifting as your rep counts increase from 2 to 5.
Ladder Circuit A
Perform one ladder consisting of 7 rounds, from 2 reps up to 5 reps each exercise, then back down again.
Single-Arm Bent-Over Row
How to:
- Take a staggered stance, keeping your front foot flat on the ground, and raising the heel of your back foot slightly.
- Lower your body forward with a neutral spine, with your weight evenly distributed between both feet.
- Pull your shoulder blade back and down toward the midline of your body.
- Follow through by driving your elbow back and up, pulling the weight toward your hip, keeping your shoulders and hips square to the floor.
- Lower the weight back to the starting position.
Single-Arm Clean
How to:
- Take a shoulder-width stance, holding the weight between your feet.
- Hinge your hips back and flex your knees, grabbing the weight with a straight arm.
- Drive your hips forward, pulling the weight straight up and catching it at shoulder height, bending at the elbow.
- Absorb the weight at your shoulder by dipping at the hips and knees slightly.
Tip: Keep the weight close to your body throughout the movement.
Single-Arm Overhead Press
How to:
- Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a kettlebell at shoulder height with your elbow bent and your palm facing inward.
- Press the kettlebell overhead, extending your arm fully and keeping the rest of your body stable.
- Keep your back flat and remain upright throughout the movement.
- Complete all reps on one side before switching to the other side.
Ladder Circuit B
Perform one ladder consisting of 7 rounds, from 2 reps up to 5 reps each exercise, then back down again.
Single-Arm Racked Squat
How to:
- Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding the weight in the racked position. Let the kettlebell rest on the outside of your wrist.
- Squat down, sending your hips back and down and keeping your feet flat.
- Push through your heels to return to the start position, keeping your back flat throughout.
Halo
How to:
- Using both hands, clean a kettlebell to a bottom’s-up position.
- Bring the kettlebell all the way around your head, then return to the starting position. The kettlebell should travel close to your head without coming into contact with it, about level with your ears.
- Switch directions, and repeat.
Note: This movement not only trains your shoulders, but it’s a great core exercise, too.
High Plank Pull-Through
How to:
- Start in a high plank position with the weight on one side.
- Reach your opposite hand under your body to grab the weight while maintaining the high plank position.
- Drag the weight under your body and across to the opposite side, keeping your body stable.
- Repeat using the other hand, dragging the weight back to the original side.
And that’s it! Here’s to doing more total reps in less time, and feeling stronger because of it.
Want more guided workouts? Get that — plus nutrition advice and recovery tips — when you download the Anytime Fitness App.
