The 44 Best Bodyweight Exercises: The Ultimate Guide for Working Out Anywhere!

Here are the 44 best bodyweight exercises you can do to build muscle and burn fat, no gym required!

These are the exact exercises we start our coaching clients on, and many perform them from their house or apartment.

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We’ve organized the exercises in today’s guide by major muscle groups (click to jump to those movements):

The 11 Best Lower-Body Exercises
The 8 Best Upper-Body – Push Exercises
The 7 Best Upper-Body – Pull Exercises
The 11 Best Core Exercises
5 Full-Body Exercises (Dynamic Movements)
How to Build a Bodyweight Workout

Plus, we’ll pull it all together at the end so you can create a complete bodyweight workout routine!

Alright, let’s get to it.

The 11 Best Lower-Body Bodyweight Exercises

You don’t need the gym for “leg day.” Do the following wherever!

#1) ASSISTED BODYWEIGHT SQUAT:

(Perfect if you can’t do regular bodyweight squats).

#2) BODYWEIGHT SQUAT:

If you want even more instruction, here’s how to do a proper bodyweight squat:

#3) ASSISTED PISTOL SQUAT:

#4) PISTOL SQUAT:

#5) SUPPORTED LUNGES:

#6) REGULAR LUNGES:

We have a guide on how to do lunges with proper form for you too.

#7) SINGLE-LEG DEADLIFT:

#8) HIP BRIDGE:

#9) CALF RAISE:

#10) STEP UP:

#11) BOX JUMP:

The 8 Best Push Bodyweight Exercises

Let’s walk you through the best bodyweight exercises to train your push muscles. We’ll more or less progress in difficulty as we go.

#1) KNEE PUSH-UP:

#2) ELEVATED PUSH-UP:

#3) PUSH-UP:

We have a whole article on how to do a proper push-up, but we also cover it extensively in this 5-minute video:

#4) DECLINE PUSH-UP:

#5) SIDE-TO-SIDE PUSH-UP:

#6) ASSISTED DIP:

With a resistance band, you can start performing assisted dips. A great exercise while you build up strength for normal dips.

#7) DIP:

Here’s how to do a proper bodyweight dip if you’d like a step-by-step guide.

#8) HANDSTAND (WALL WALK):

The wall walk is a great exercise as you progress into a full handstand. If you’re a complete newbie to turning upside down, check out our guide “Get Your First Handstand” for a full tutorial.

Just make sure you take it slow with your handstand and don’t be an “Overeager Beaver,” a label we define in our guide “15 Mistakes That Newbies Make When Trying to Get Healthy.”

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The 8 Best Pull Bodyweight Exercises

Don’t neglect your pull muscles when creating your bodyweight workout. Here are the top 7 to include:

#1) INVERTED BODYWEIGHT ROW (HIGH):

An inverted bodyweight row can be a great “pull” exercise if you can’t do a pull-up yet, or if you don’t have a proper pull-up bar nearby. Because a good sturdy table can be used for inverted rows:

Alternatively, you could do doorframe rows if your table seems sketchy:

#2) INVERTED BODYWEIGHT ROW (LOW):

Once you get comfortable doing an inverted bodyweight row, try going lower to increase the difficulty.

You can check out The 5 Best Pull-up Alternatives for more ideas on how to perform rows, including how to build your own station:

#3) BAR HANG:

#4) ASSISTED PULL-UPS (WITH BAND):

A resistance band is a great tool to help build strength for proper pull-ups. It’s part of our arsenal for getting your first pull-up.

#5) ASSISTED PULL-UPS (WITH BOX):

#6) NEGATIVE PULL-UPS:

Once you feel confident enough that you can do assisted pull-ups and support MOST of your own weight, start looking into negative pull-ups.

Jump and hold yourself above the bar, and then slowly, under control, lower yourself to the ‘starting position’ of a pull-up.

Then repeat!

This is a great way to build up enough strength to eventually get your first pull-up.

#7) PULL-UP:

We have a full guide on proper pull-up form so you can hone in your technique.

#8) CHIN-UPS:

Much like a pull-up, but with your palms facing toward you.

Here’s a video going over proper pull-up and chin-up form:

Don’t have enough strength yet to hoist yourself up? No problem.

Download our guide, Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know, for an exact plan of attack to start growing strong today:

The 12 Best Core Bodyweight Exercises

Our next stop on building a bodyweight workout finds us at the core. Here are the 10 best exercises to include:

#1) REVERSE CRUNCH:

#2) KNEE-PLANK:

#3) PLANK:

#4) SIDE PLANK:

#5) HIP BRIDGE HOLD:

#6) HANGING KNEE TUCK:

#7) JUMPING KNEE TUCK:

#8) HOLLOW BODY HOLD:

The hollow body is one of the best ways to engage the midsection and stabilize the body. We utilize the hollow body exercise as part of our strategy for getting your first handstand.

Once you get comfortable holding the position, try…

#9) HOLLOW BODY ROCKING:

#10) KNEES TO ELBOWS:

#11) TOES TO BAR:

#12) GOOD MORNING:

Catch our guide “How to Strengthen Your Core” for even more exercise ideas!

5 Dynamic Body weight Exercises (Full Body)

Next, we’ll cover some dynamic full-body exercises to get your heart rate roaring during your workout.

#1) WALKING JACKS:

#2) JUMPING JACKS:

#3) STAR JACKS:

#4) BURPEES:

#5) BURPEES WITH PULL-UP (WHAA…):

How to Build a Bodyweight Workout

Alright, it’s time to pull this whole guide together and build a bodyweight workout!

We will pick a bodyweight exercise from each section:

Lower Body
Upper Body – Push
Upper Body – Pull
Core
Dynamic (Full Body)

We’ll aim for 3 to 4 sets under each category for 8-12 reps.

Plus, we’ll bookend the workout with a dynamic warm-up (DON’T SKIP) and a post-workout stretch.

Your warm-up can look like this:

Your post-workout stretch can look like this:

Example Bodyweight Workout:

Dynamic Warm-Up
Jumping Jacks: 10 reps
Bodyweight Squats: 10 reps
Push-ups: 10 reps
Pull-ups: 10 reps
Reverse Crunch: 10 reps
Repeat 2-6 two more times, for 3 complete circuits.
Post-workout stretch.

Boom!

You now have a bodyweight workout you can do in your own home.

You can mix and match from each category or progress to more difficult moves as you get stronger.

Now, you don’t HAVE to do these exercises at home. You can even do them while exercising around the world, as I did!

If you want to learn all the fine details of building a workout, make sure you check out our extensive guide “How to Build Your Own Workout Routine.“ It’ll walk you through creating a program of bodyweight exercises – or using weights if you want to train in a gym.

Don’t want to bother creating your own bodyweight workout? No problem, I have two options for you:

Beginner Bodyweight Workout
Advanced Bodyweight Workout