Q: What's the most effective way to exercise without equipment?

A: Continually fit people know how to tailor bodyweight exercises to their own fitness level — and then adapt them when that level changes.

• Be longer: As you increase the distance between the point of force (your target muscles) and the end of the object you're trying to lift (your body), you decrease your mechanical advantage. Translation: The longer your body, the more your muscles have to work. This is the major difference between "girly" pushups and regular ones.

Raise your hands above your head so your arms are in line with your body during lunges, squats, crunches, and sit-ups. Too hard? Split the distance by putting your hands behind your head.

• Take the spring out of your step: When you lower your body, your muscles build up what's known as elastic energy. It works like a coiled spring: The elasticity allows you to bounce back and reduces the amount of work your muscles have to do.

Take a 4-second pause at the bottom position of any exercise. Without the bounce, you'll force your body to recruit more muscle fibers to get you moving again.

• Go the distance: Since you can't increase force beyond your own body weight without an external load (like a dumbbell), the only way to work more is to move farther during each rep. For bodyweight exercises, your range of motion ends at the floor. Try placing your front or back foot on a step when doing lunges, or position your hands or feet on a step when doing pushups.

— Jen Ator, Rodalewellness.com