Bodyweight Exercises
Bodyweight exercises use your own body as the load, so you can train at home, in a park or in a hotel room. Every main pattern has a bodyweight version: squats and lunges for the legs, push-ups for pushing, table rows and pull-ups for pulling, glute bridges for the hips, and planks for the trunk. To start, pick the easier version of each pattern, such as the incline push-up or the chair squat, and learn clean form. Then progress step by step to a harder variation. All you need is a mat, a sturdy table or chair, and a door frame. A pull-up bar adds the hardest pulling options.
13 exercises with male and female illustrations.
Start here
Beginner picks: easy to learn and easy to load.
Horizontal push
Squat
Lunge and single leg
Core
Leg isolation
Vertical pull
Hip hinge
Vertical push
Questions
Can I build muscle with bodyweight exercises only?
Yes, as long as each set is hard. A meta-analysis found similar muscle growth with low and high loads when the sets went to failure. In an 8-week study, push-ups gave similar chest and triceps growth as a light bench press.
How do I make bodyweight exercises harder?
Move to a harder variation in the same pattern, such as from a push-up to a decline push-up or from a split squat to a Bulgarian split squat. You can also slow the lowering phase, add a pause, or train one side at a time.
How do I train my back with no equipment?
Pull with your body against a fixed object. A table row, with you under a sturdy table, and a doorframe row both train the upper back and lats. The prone lat pulldown on the floor adds work for the lats and needs nothing at all.