The 10 Best Bodyweight Workout Programs 2026

In each phase, you will train 4 days a week for 3 weeks, and your workouts will be split into three or four muscle groups and movement systems. Plyometric training can produce benefits pertaining to physical fitness, overall health, and muscle strength. Research suggests that regular plyometrics can positively affect agility, speed, jumping, and overall performance. (3) Broad jumps involve jumping and absorbing force, increasing your heart rate and teaching your body how to land properly street workout training and effectively. Benefits of the plank include a stronger core and more protected spine (as well as better posture). It goes without saying but a strong core is absolutely essential for compound exercises as well.

Improves functionality

You may think that squatting or doing a push-up with your bodyweight is the ground floor for all exercise, but that’s not the case. A true beginner can squat to a chair, hang from a pull-up bar to build their base, or elevate their hands for push-ups on the edge of a couch. Lower-body workouts are hard; doubly so if you don’t have access to a gym full of machines, cables, or free weights. But don’t fret, you can still strengthen your legs with just your bodyweight. The lunge may get less love than the squat, but it is an effective way to target the legs and glutes. This unilateral exercise can improve your balance and stability and requires core activation.

# SIDE-TO-SIDE PUSH-UP:

If you need modifications for better comfort or limited space, try wall pushups. They’ll work your upper body, lower back, and abdominals. Once you get used to the standard form, experiment with some variations.

Belly Fat FAQs

Below are the best bodyweight strength exercises for your hamstrings, quads, glutes, and hips. Don’t worry, there will be lower body moves in the bodyweight cardio exercises as well. Next, place the hands, starting again with the right, under the shoulder, and press up to return to the starting position.

Before you start, it can be helpful to do a Dynamic Warm-Up – “warming up” simply means preparing your muscles to move, and getting your heart rate elevated. In a circuit routine, you’ll do each exercise in succession without a break in between (if you’re able). Pick one of the routines above and start today—your strongest self is already within reach. Progressive overload through harder variations leads to muscle growth just like weightlifting.

This routine is organized as a full body workout, hitting both the upper body muscle groups and lower body muscle groups in every training session. Instead of performing a set for a prescribed number of reps, in an AMRAP set the lifter will see how many reps they can achieve while still maintaining proper form. This lets the lifters get some extra training volume in if they’re feeling fresh or get a bit less volume if they’re feeling tired or run down. This is an example of how full body workouts may be organized. Remember that you can do a partial workout routine if you don’t have a larger chunk of time. Build up slowly, listen to your body, and do what’s best for you on any given day.

Start in warrior 3 pose on your right foot, with your arms and your left leg parallel to the ground. Keep the weight in your heel as you slowly lower into a one-legged squat. Position yourself in bridge pose with your shoulders, arms, and heels on the ground. During this exercise, make sure you keep your feet and knees aligned slightly narrower than shoulder-width. Shift your weight out of your shoulders and into your quads to increase difficulty. Move as quickly as humanly possible while maintaining form.

Pullup

You can’t lose weight from a certain area with specific exercises. When you exercise, your body burns off fat from all parts of your body, even if you’re doing exercises that you feel in your core. In order to lose belly fat, you need to lose weight overall by getting enough sleep, eating well, and getting at least half an hour of exercise each day. Start in the lunge position with your right foot forward, fingers on your temples, and elbows pointing out. Crunch forward and bring your elbows to your knee as close together as possible. Then return to the start position and push your elbows behind you for a chest opening stretch.

bodyweight workout programs

Strength Training Bodyweight Training

Isolation exercises are great, but moving multiple functional systems is where it’s at. Perform this workout as a circuit, moving from one exercise to the next with little to no rest. Rest three to five minutes and perform up to 4 additional rounds. The step-up recruits some of the same muscle used to squat and deadlift, so it can improve these lifts. Unilateral exercises can also promote balance and stability and improve muscle imbalances. The lunge helps develop better balance and coordination, which translate into everyday activities.

ANGEL AND DEVIL (ALL LEVELS)

If you’re supplementing your loaded training, you can stick to doing this workout once — max twice — a week. But if you’re looking to only train with your bodyweight for a microcycle, you can kick it up to three or four times a week. Rest as little as possible between the moves, but rest for a solid three to four minutes between the circuits. Start with your feet open wider than your hips, and turn your toes out to the sides. Track your knees over your second toes as you lower down into the wide leg open toe squat. Stand back up by pressing down through your heels to come up.

  • Instead of external resistance, bodyweight training uses your own bodyweight as the resistance.
  • Start with left knee bent and leg extending behind you and left foot hovering off the ground.
  • Pump your knees toward your elbows as fast as you can.
  • Also, while doing push-ups, don’t go past a 90-degree bend in your elbow.
  • Exercises like planks, push-ups, pull-ups and chin-ups form the foundation of many bodyweight workout routines.
  • This pull-up variant has you supinate the hands (turn them inward) when pulling your chin to the bar.

As a certified personal trainer, I recommend doing all of the exercises from these categories twice a week, along with two cardio sessions a week of your choice. You can combine them or split them up however you’d like depending on your schedule. The only rule is to avoid doing the upper body or lower body back to back two days in a row. Since these muscles are larger than your core muscles, they need at least one day off to rest and repair. This is a structured 8-week bodyweight workout plan designed for muscle growth. You will use progressive overload, targeted rep ranges, and smarter exercise variations so your training keeps working as you get stronger.

The 12 Best Core Bodyweight Exercises

This can also include going to town on tempo Bulgarian split squats, lunges, and overhead air squats two or three times a week. Here are the 50 best bodyweight exercises to build strength, muscle, and boost your heart health, according to Perry and Sariya. Plus, bodyweight exercises are especially great for those who are just starting off their fitness journey, says Claudette Sariya, CPT, founding instructor of SOLE Fitness. Nailing an exercise with only your bodyweight first allows you to really understand the fundamentals of a movement before loading up the weight.

of the Best Bodyweight Exercises

Sure, you need some gear (a bar, or even a table will work) to pull this off, but then it’s all about managing your bodyweight, which is inherent to all bodyweight moves. This is also a back-builder, a critical type of movement you want to load up on in your training for physique balance and shoulder health. While it’s fantastic if you have time for a full workout, the beauty of these exercises is that you can also do a quick session. Many people choose bodyweight exercises to get into the swing of working out. Since these don’t require special equipment or a gym, exercises using your bodyweight can be an effective way to strengthen your body.

Rep Scheme

bodyweight workout programs

If you’re in Week 5 and need to modify, do standard push-ups on your knees like Alex. Bend your elbows and slowly lower your chest toward the ground as you inhale. Return to the center to complete one rep. Continue alternating sides going forward. Return to chair pose and switch sides to complete one rep. Focus on keeping your spine long during this exercise. Also, crescent pose is like a wide lunge with your back leg as straight as possible. You’ll warm up your quads and glutes while stretching the front of your upper body.

This is an advanced move in the Bodyweight Workout Plan and is only incorporated into the routine in month two. In this burpee variation, instead of jumping back into a plank, you’ll first do a donkey kick. Kick backward as high as you can and use your upper body and core strength to land back on the floor softly.

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We first got acquainted with the Movement Athlete once we started to become more interested in flow and movement training. They are big proponents of bodyweight and kettlebell training as well as the keto and zero sugar added diet. The leg exercises are, in my opinion, too focused on cardio rather than hypertrophy. The tutors are highly knowledgable in nutrition, how to build muscle mass, movement, flexibility, and strength. By the end of the course, you should be able to perform at least a few of these calisthenics movements with ease. You progress through workouts based on your performance, making you your biggest critic and cheerleader.

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That’s what we call dynamic discipline, and great value. Finally, most of the listed courses work on supplemental areas such as proper diet and recovery, which are essential to seeing immediate results. The best calisthenics workout program in the world wouldn’t be complete without focusing on these themes. Aside from caloric intake, an increase in protein is essential.

bodyweight workout programs

Phase 2: Weeks 4-6

bodyweight workout programs

Take breaks if you need them, but aim to complete a full round before resting. We’ll be alternating legs in each of these exercises, which means we’re getting some single leg training done. Single leg training is an important part of any training plan because it helps avoid muscle imbalance. I believe corrective exercises should be part of every workout, so I’ve included them in these workouts just as I do in my ATHLEAN-X training programs. For this exercise, start on all fours with your knees on a towel on top of a slick floor surface, feet lifted off the ground. Bring your knees toward your arms and then slide your knees back out to starting position.

Why We Love Bodyweight Exercises

If the looming investment isn’t enough, many courses offer online and offline communities that keep you accountable and motivate you to keep progressing. Unless you’re filthy rich, purchasing a course represents an investment you stubbornly have to get back. Investing in an online calisthenics program is one of the best cost/benefit decisions you will make for 2025. Nutrition is key if you want to maximize the impact of your training. Hypertrophy, the growth of muscle is a response to mechanical stress placed by resistance.

Try This 15-Minute Outdoor Strength and Cardio Workout

Remember, this is just a sample of how you can structure your workouts! The only requirement is that you complete two workouts (with 30 reps of each exercise) from each category every week. If you’re looking for a back specific workout, but are lacking equipment, do 3 rounds of 15 to 20 reps of each of these three exercises. If you’re not primarily looking to get stronger, this may not be the best option for you. Depending on how you design the set and rep scheme, muscle hypertrophy could be another training outcome of this method. It depends on the amount of volume you’re programming for yourself.

Upper Body Exercises

So, figuring out what’s best for you really depends on your goals. “When we focus on components of the skill itself, the brain has to adapt” by learning something new, which will help you in the long-run, Kanski says. Whether you’re just starting out or you’re a seasoned athlete, bodyweight exercises can be modified to suit your fitness level. Beginners can start with basic variations, while advanced exercisers can increase the difficulty by adding more repetitions, sets, or trying advanced versions of the exercises.

  • While keeping your upper body steady, lift your legs toward the ceiling by bending at your hips.
  • Keep track of your progress by measuring how long you feel like you need to rest between exercises or your rate of perceived exertion over time.
  • The most effective and unique bodyweight exercises (like the ones in this article) typically combine all three elements at the same time.
  • It is very easy to incorporate bodyweight training into any fitness routine you are following.
  • When you do this you will feel a big difference to your energy levels.
  • Start in a plank or push-up position with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-distance apart.

The 17 Best Bodyweight Exercises For Beginners

Assume a plank position and place both of your feet on the towels or sliders. This exercise strengthens your lower abs but doesn’t require you to hold yourself up while you do so. Instead, lie on your back with your legs extended and feet together. Rest the palms of your hands on either side of your body. These exercises target key parts of the lower abs and strengthen them to improve posture, stability, and balance in daily movements. As people get older, it’s common to see an increase in belly fat buildup along the waistline.

Leg lift lat push-ups

Whether you’re a male or female, it is best to begin your workout journey with bodyweight exercises. Every few weeks, switch up your routine or add new movements to target different muscles and prevent plateaus. Below, you’ll find six bodyweight-only workouts to help you train on the go, in your home gym, or in a commercial gym. Wherever you find yourself, these exercises can come with you, so grab your pre-workout, and let’s break a sweat.

Keep Your Training Intensity High

For best results, you need a plan (like this Bodyweight Workout Plan) that includes periodization and progressive overload so your muscles are always challenged. Additionally, follow our bodyweight workout tips to maximize the fat burning potential. What’s more, bodyweight exercises incorporate flexibility and range of motion home workout app movements. This increases mobility and makes you more robust in your real-world activities. During each bodyweight workout, you’ll record your reps for every exercise on a printed tracker sheet. Then, the next time you do the move, you can target more reps. This not only ensures consistent progress but is a source of motivation as well.

Table of bodyweight exercises

P.S. If you do miss a day, just make sure you don’t miss the next one. It’s really easy to catch up one session… but it’s real easy to spiral out of control and quit once you miss two in a row. The dorsal raise is a simple back exercise that helps strengthen right through the middle of the back, down to the glutes.