No equipment does not mean easy
Squats, push-ups, lunges and burpees can form a workout without a barbell or machine. Repetitions, pace and duration still determine the demand. All three workouts below can become very challenging at their full volume.
Cooper uses a fixed floor area. Bert and Riley need a running route, so they do not suit a small room. For quiet training in limited space, choose our hotel WOD selection.
| Workout | Space needed | Equipment status |
|---|---|---|
| Cooper | Floor exercise area | No external load prescribed |
| Bert | Running route and lunging space | No external load prescribed |
| Riley | Running route and burpee area | Unweighted adaptation removes the RX vest |
Cooper: four movements in one area
Cooper repeats burpees, air squats, push-ups and sit-ups. Ten rounds mean one hundred repetitions of each movement. The reference programme has a thirty-minute time cap.
Wodball lower-volume option: begin with 3 rounds of 5 repetitions per movement. Use knee push-ups or step the feet during burpees if appropriate. Record this separately from the full Cooper workout.
Count rounds and keep a consistent repetition standard. If you reach the cap in the full version, record completed rounds and repetitions rather than automatically extending the session.
Bert: a long bodyweight sequence
Bert combines running, burpees, push-ups, walking lunges and squats. Although no external load is required, the full prescription includes 800 bodyweight repetitions and 2.4 km of running. It needs both space and preparation.
To explore the sequence: substantially reduce each block and the running distance with your coach. A shorter session inspired by Bert can preserve the run-and-movement alternation without reproducing the entire workload. Document every change in your training log.
Measure the route and check the lunging area before starting. Bert is not a recovery session simply because it does not use weights.
Riley: removing the vest creates a variation
Riley's original prescription includes a 20/14 lb weighted vest, approximately 9/6.4 kg. It therefore does not strictly meet a no-equipment request. Choosing to remove the vest is a valid training adaptation, but the result should be labelled accordingly.
No-equipment variation: keep the run, burpees, run order and omit the vest. The full volume still means approximately 4.8 km of running and 150 burpees. A shorter Wodball introduction is 400 m running, 20 adapted burpees and another 400 m run. That is not Riley RX.
Choose according to your available space
Among these options, Cooper is simplest to set up when you have floor space but no running route. For Bert and Riley, check crossings, distances and the exercise area. Replacing running with an arbitrary duration of jumping does not produce an equivalent score.
Decide your variations and volume before the warm-up. Break sets before technique deteriorates and record planned rests. For a more accessible starting point, use our beginner selection. Find other programmes through the WOD search and check each workout's equipment requirements.
WOD d’hôtel : 3 séances courtes pour s’entraîner en voyage
WOD pour débutants : 5 séances et leurs adaptations