17 Spine-Chilling Moves to Include in Your Halloween Fitness Routine

This move is all about loosening up. Sit on a bench, place a broomstick across your shoulders, and twist from side to side. Bonus points if you borrow the broom from an actual witch.

If you have one of those booty bands, dust it off and place it around your knees. Take side steps, walk forward, and move backward. Don’t forget to add a roar and make monster claws while you're at it.

This is commonly known as the cat/cow exercise. You arch your back like a startled cat, then dip your belly to reverse the motion. Feel free to do both movements, but imagine the cow as one of those eerie ghostly cattle from that Johnny Cash song.

Ugh, deadbugs. Both the exercise and its name might sound unpleasant, but deadbugs are one of the most underrated core exercises. They’re tough, and you might feel some discomfort—but in a good way.

Get your shoulders moving with light dumbbells. Raise them above your head, tap them together, and bring them back down to the starting position.

If we can handle deadbugs, then we can tackle flies. And yes, I know that some people call them “flys” or “flyes,” a fact that bothers me as both a writer and editor, since none of those spellings look quite right. (Just last week, we made an editorial choice to stick with “flys,” which I’m now defiantly abandoning for the sake of Halloween spirit.) To perform these, lie flat on a bench and flap your wings.

The timeless tricep exercise. You can do skullcrushers either on a bench or lying on the floor. As you straighten your arm against resistance, focus on pointing your arm toward the sky at the top of the movement. Lower the dumbbells by hinging at the elbows, and bring them back up—slowly and with care. Don’t actually crush your skull. Seriously, please don’t.

If you're looking for something easy on your back, go ahead and do a regular, non-spooky crunch or plank. But if you're up for a more challenging twist on sit-ups, try these moves that make it look like you're emerging from your coffin, only to lower back down again.

Grab a barbell for this one (and feel free to add some weight once you’ve mastered the movement). This variation on front squats doesn’t require wrist flexibility, but it’s perfect for ensuring your shoulders and torso stay properly aligned. Reach as far forward as possible, keeping your arms straight in front of you.

I couldn’t leave this classic out. We have a full guide here on how to perform deadlifts safely and effectively.

This is one of the more controlled bicep curl exercises. You remove your body from the motion and let your arms hang freely. (Safety tip: use a proper incline bench, unlike what I’m doing here. Never lift weights on an unstable setup that you aren’t absolutely sure can support you.)

If a jackknife doesn’t give you enough spooky vibes, call them jack-o-lantern sit-ups. These are challenging but slightly easier than coffin sit-ups. Bring your knees to your chest with each rep to target your abs and hip flexors. When you're finished, as a bonus, try the jackknife pull-ups from our list of bodyweight workouts that will actually build strength.

If you’ve got a medicine ball, there are plenty of ways to pretend it’s your mortal enemy’s freshly carved pumpkin and just smash it. Ball slams and Russian twists make for great options. But if you’re using a real pumpkin, try these pumpkin smashers, which are similar to a medicine ball woodchopper. Hold on tight, it might get messy!

Goblet squats? Nah, today we're doing goblin squats. Grab a kettlebell, medicine ball, dumbbell, or even a pumpkin, and hold it at your chest. Then squat down and back up. Simple, but effective.

Now that we've finished the strength exercises, it's time for an evil conditioning workout. The devil's press is a burpee with extra pain: instead of jumping after the push-up, grab a pair of dumbbells and snatch them overhead. Pick a number that makes you sweat—let’s say, 50—and time how long it takes to complete that many reps.

Now that we’ve wrapped up that, let’s ease into a stretch that will feel incredible after all our core work. Cobra pose is just what we need.

For our final pose, let's take inspiration from yoga. Lay down, embrace the stillness, and imagine yourself as a lifeless body, allowing your mind to drift into peaceful thoughts.