Best Bodyweight Workouts For Beginners (The Complete Guide)

The first step to anything is always hard and 

difficult and only when you've managed to overcome this hurdle the rest of the path becomes easy. If you are planning to start working out then you are probably bombarded with information which might confuse you rather than give you a solid path and this article aims to give you that path. Following are the best bodyweight workouts for beginners, with a proper workout technique you will also know how to manage your routine and schedule your workout so you can stick to your plan. 

Push Up

The standard beginner workout is the Push Up, this exercise/" title="exercise" data-wpil-keyword-link="linked">exercise is bread and butter for someone with no time to access gym. This exercise provides stimulation for the chest, shoulders and triceps. 

How to Do It

• First lay down on the floor on your stomach. 
• Place your hands shoulder width apart on the floor and lift your body with your toes as an anchor. 
• Pull your shoulders back, brace your core and keep your entire body erect. 
• This is your starting position. 
• Now lower yourself down slowly till your chest touches the floor. 
• Once your chest touches the floor push back to reach your starting position again. 
• Repeat for reps. 

Pike Push Up

This exercise is great to build your shoulders. With a proper arc and great depth you can isolate your shoulder muscles effectively and make gains slowly and gradually. 

How to Do It

• First lay down on the floor on your stomach and then get in the push up stance. 
• Now slowly bring your legs closer to your palm till you've made an upside down V-shape. 
• Pull your shoulders back and pull out your chest. 
• This is your starting position. 
• Now slowly lower yourself by bending your elbows till your head touches the floor. 
• Once your head makes contact with the floor, push back to the starting position. 
• Repeat for reps. 

Bench Dips

Dips are an advanced exercise and to train for dips you must first try the bench dips. Most beginners can do this exercise because this reduces the stress and lowers the intensity but still provides enough stimulation to your triceps and shoulders. 

How to Do It

• First set up a flat bench or any flat elevated surface and sit on it. 
• Now put your palms on the bench and lift your body with your feet as anchors. 
• Slowly move forward so your bottom is now levitating in front of the bench. 
• Bend your legs a little and extend them forward. 
• This is your starting position. 
• Now slowly lower your upper body till your triceps are parallel with the floor. 
• From this position push your way back to the starting position. 
• Repeat for reps. 

Body Squats

The body weight squats are a great way to train your legs and improve your balance. Doing regular squats will open up multiple joints in your legs and will grant you a greater range of motion. 

How to Do It

• Stand with bare feet and keep your legs apart a little wider than shoulder width. 
• Bring your hands to your chest and bend your knees a little. 
• This is your starting position. 
• Now lower yourself down by bending your knees. 
• Once you've reached depth till your thighs are parallel to the floor go back to the starting position. 
• Repeat for reps

Assisted Pistol Squats

The pistol squat is essential for someone who doesn't have any time for gym. This exercise will develop your balancing skills to that of a novice athlete. Pistol squats will develop your barbell squats also. Being in an assisted position you can greatly reduce the balance requirement and focus on working your legs. 

How to Do It

• Stand on one leg and hold a rope or a pole for assistance. 
• Now keep your spine erect and brace your core. 
• This is your starting position. 
• Now lower your body till your thigh is parallel to the floor or even deeper. 
• Once you've reached the desired depth, stand up using the rope or pole and go back to the starting position. 
• Repeat for reps. 

Glute Bridge

When it comes to body weight exercises there are very few options to train the glutes and hamstrings. Glute bridge is one of the few exercises which even professional athletes recommend over the regular hamstring exercises. This is one of the few exercises that works hamstrings in a functional way. 

How to Do It

• Lay down on the floor on your back and bring your heels closer to your buttocks. 
• Now lift your buttocks up so your heels, shoulders and head are in contact with the floor. 
• This is your starting position. 
• Now lower your body down till it's just a couple of inch above the floor and then push back to reach the starting position again. 
• Repeat for reps. 

Standing Calf Raises

The calf muscles are stubborn ro grow and they are difficult to grow if you are doing body weight exercises. The standing calf raises keeps you engaging your calves and helps them keep stimulated. They might not help you grow your calves but regular stress can keep them active and mobile. 

How to Do It

• Stand on a raised surface with your toes on the edge and heel levitating off the surface. 
• Hold a pole or some sort of assistance to help you balance and bend your knees a little. 
• This is your starting position. 
• Now lower your body just by bending your ankles. 
• Once you've reached maximum stretch return back to the starting position. 
• Repeat for reps. 

Australian Pull Ups

The Australian pull ups are essential if you are training body weight. The Lats engagement and isolation is difficult using your body weight and Australian pull ups are excellent in targeting your lats and traps. 

How to Do It

• Set up a bar on waist height and grab and lean on it. 
• Grip the bar with a pronated grip and erect your entire body with your feet as anchors on the floor. 
• This is your starting position. 
• Now pull your body till your chest touches the bar. 
• Once your chest touches the bar, lower yourself down to the starting position. 
• Repeat for reps. 

Pull Ups

The most functional and essential upper body compound movement is the pull up. This exercise is necessary for beginners and experienced lifters as well. The stress on the nervous system through pull ups is far greater than any machine could ever provide. 

How to Do It

• Grab a bar at least a couple of inches higher than your vertical arm span.
• Hold the bar with a pronated grip and pull your shoulders back and pull your chest out. 
• This is your starting position. 
• Now take a deep breath and pull yourself up till your chin reaches the bar. 
• Once your chin reaches the bar then slowly lower yourself down to the starting position. 
• Repeat for reps. 

Chin Ups

This exercise is similar to the pull up but with the change in the grip style this movement becomes lower lat dominant, the bicep engagement in this workout is also superior to that of any curl. 

How to Do It

• Grab a bar at least a couple of inches higher than your vertical arm span.
• Hold the bar with a supinated grip and pull your shoulders back and pull your chest out. 
• This is your starting position. 
• Now take a deep breath and pull yourself up till your chin reaches the bar. 
• Once your chin reaches the bar then slowly lower yourself down to the starting position. 
• Repeat for reps. 

Superman

The superman is an excellent lower back exercise. This movement is basically a hold movement and is one of the primary training tools in calisthenics and gymnastics. 

How to Do It

• First lay down on the floor on your belly preferably on a mat. 
• Put your arms above your head. 
• Now try to lift your upper and lower body while balancing on the belly. 
• You should feel a contraction in your lower back. 
• Hold this position for at least a minute. 

Sit Ups

If you want to train your abs then any surface level study will give you sit ups as an answer. The sit up may not be a guaranteed way to get visible abs but it will help you engage your core muscles. This exercise is the stepping stone to getting a functional core, every fitness/" title="fitness" data-wpil-keyword-link="linked">fitness enthusiast has done sit ups at one point of time. 

How to Do It

• Sit down on the floor with your feet in the front and close to your glutes. 
• Keep your hands to your chest so you don't use them for momentum. 
• Keep a strict back form throughout the movement and try not to lift your feet off the ground. 
• This is your starting position. 
• Now slowly lower your torso till your upper back touches the floor. 
• Once your upper back touches the floor, come back to the starting position. 
• Repeat for reps. 

Planks

Planck are the ultimate core and stability exercise. Every calisthenics and gymnastics athlete needs to master every variation of this exercise. This exercise also trains shoulders to some extent and will help you connect better with your body. 

How to Do It

• Lay down on the floor on your belly, preferably on a mat. 
• Now assume push up position and lower down so you rest on your entire length of forearm. 
• Nowboush and lift your entire body on your forearms and tip of your toes as anchors. 
• Now brace your core and pull your hips inside. 
• Try to hold this position for a minute atleast and progress up to three to five minutes session. 

Side Planks

The side planks are also an excellent core exercise and helps you build balance in lateral plane. The side planks target the obliques and hips effectively and give you a better carryover to other exercises. 

How to Do It

• Lay down on the floor(preferably on a mat) on your left side. 
• Now put your left arm in a position where you sit are sitting in an inclined position. 
• Now loft your body on your left and left legs as anchors, the balancing demandas are greater at this position so try not to tip over. 
• Erect your entire body and brace your core. 
• Maintain this position for at least a minute. Progress slowly to increase the time understand tension. 
• Now repeat the entire steps on the right side for equal amount of time. 

V-ups

The V- ups are the advanced variation to the sit ups, this exercise demands a better controonover body and substantial core strength. This exercise is tough but beginners can absolutely attempt it without any hesitation. 

How to Do It

• Lay down on the floor on your back. 
• Bring your hands up tyour head like in the superman pose. 
• This is your starting position. 
• Now while keeping your core tight try to bend your body at the hips and touch your hands to your feet. 
• After touching your hands with feet slowly go back to the starting position. 
• Repeat for reps. 

Burpees

The burpee is an excellent exercise to burn calories and increase your heart rate. The average hurpee increases stamina and endurance ten folds and everything beginnee is suggested that they should do burpees for long term gains. 

How to Do It

• Stand straight with your feet shoulder width apart. 
• This is your starting position. 
• Now lift your arms up and jump. 
• After the jump go down to assume puah up position. 
• Do a single push up. 
• After the push up stand back to the starting position. 
• Repeat for reps. 

Mountain Climbers

The mountain climbers help you develop muscle and train cardinat the same time. The balancing requirement along with strength and core engagement this exercise is jack of all trades. 

How to Do It

• Lay down on the floor and assume push up position. 
• Now bring your left leg forward till your thighs touch your stomacj or lower chest. 
• After the left leg bring the right leg up. 
• Keep moving your legs in this motion as if you're running on a mountain. 
• Do this for at least a minute with aim to increase the time gradually. 

Exercise Routine for Beginners

It's not enough to known the above mentioned exercises, it is also essential to know when to do each exercise and how to plan this workout. You can use the following structure to start your workout journey. 

Push Day

For the push day you can do following exercises

Exercise	Number of reps and sets
Push up	10- 20 reps for 3 sets
Pike Push up	8- 15 reps for 3 sets
Sit ups	15-25 reps for 3 sets
V-ups	7-15 reps for 3 sets
Burpees	20-50 reps for 1 set

Pull Day

For Pull day you can do following exercises

Exercise	Number of sets and reps
Pull Ups	5-10 reps for 3 sets
Chin ups	5-10 reps for 3 sets
Australian pull ups	10-20 reps for 3 sets
Superman	Hold for at least a minute for 2 sets
Planks	Hold for at least a minute for 2 sets
Side planks	Hold for at least a minute for 2 sets

Leg Day

For the Leg Day you can do the following exercises

Exercise	Number of sets and reps
Body weight Squats	20-25 reps forn3 sets
Pistol Squats	5-10 reps for 3 sets
Gluete bridges	20-25 reps for 3 sets
Calf raises	15-20 reps for 3 sets
Mountain climbers	One minute session for 2 sets

You can follow this workout routine for three days a week and rest for four days. The average workout time for each routine varies from 30 minutes to 50 minutes depending on the individual. Slowly and steadily you must increase the gaps and follow this workout routine for six days a week. Once you get comfortable with working out for six days you should start increasing the reps and sets per exercise.This progression model will help you build overall strength in your entire body without needing any gym membership or any special equipment. 

Workout Equipment for Beginners 

An average beginner doesn't need much but if you wish to add some equipment to make your workouts interesting you can buy following equipments

A skipping rope for cardio and better hand eye coordination. 

A Raistance band for recovery and stress addition. 

A pair of Light weight dumbbells for training basic gym workouts. 

Just remember every long journey starts with a single step, just take your step and the rest will follow. You don't need much time or equipment you just need to following the routine with discipline and before even you'd know it you will be on your way to a fit life which others only dreams about.