So you want to start exercising and get in shape, but donโt want to leave your house?
Well, as your fitness Yoda, Iโm going to share with you a great bodyweight workout routine that you can do ANYWHERE: In your living room, at a park, or in a galaxy far, far awayโฆย
These are the types of workouts we build for our busy Online Coaching Clients, and Iโm pumped to share them with you today!ย
Letโs dig into the different parts of this workout and get to the action:
Make sure you also download the Beginner Bodyweight Workout PDF so you can track your progress and level up at home.
Iโll send it on over when you join the Nerd Fitness Rebellion in the box below:
Grab Your Beginner Bodyweight Routine Worksheet. No Gym Required!
- Complete this workout at home, no equipment required
- Avoid the common mistakes everybody makes when doing bodyweight exercises
- Learn how to finally get your first pull-up
Letโs jump right in!
Can You Build Muscle Mass With Bodyweight Exercises?
You want to know:
Can you build muscle mass with bodyweight exercises?
Yes! Bodyweight exercises can build muscle mass, as long as you do whatโs called โprogressive overload.โ This means consistently pushing your muscles to get stronger by:
- Increasing reps.
- Decreasing your rest periods.
- Performing more difficult variations of exercises.
- Increasing your time under tension (by going slower).
Just ask our friend Jimmy here, who got in great shape using bodyweight exercises in his apartment:
You just need to make sure you have the right program to follow.
And if youโre getting started, the Beginner Bodyweight Workout is a great place to begin.
Letโs go through a basic home workout today that can be completed anywhere: in your house, out at a park, in your basement, in a box, with a fox, on the moon, wherever!
Beginner Body Weight Workout Videos & exercises
This is our recommended Beginner Bodyweight Workout (2 Circuits)
- 10 Assisted Bodyweight Squats.
- 10 Elevated or Knee Push-ups.
- 10 Dumbbell rows (use a milk jug or other weight).
- 15-30 Second Knee Planks
- 10 Bodyweight Good Mornings
- 20 Walking Jacks
We turned this bodyweight workout into a fun infographic because thatโs how we roll around here:
Also, we have a previous version of this workout I made back in 2009. [1]
This is our original Beginner Bodyweight Workout from 2009 (3 Circuits):ย
- 20 Bodyweight squats.
- 10 Push-ups.
- 10 Walking lunges (each leg).
- 10 Dumbbell rows (use a milk jug or other weight).
- 15 Second Plank.
- 30 Jumping jacks
Jump to the โBest Bodyweight Exercisesโ section for a full breakdown of each movement.
In a circuit routine, youโll do each exercise in succession without a break in between (if youโre able).
- Once youโve finished all exercises in the circuit, do it again.
- If youโre still able after the 2nd run-through, go for a third.
Because all of these exercises come one after another, youโre bound to get tired โ and thatโs okay!
Itโs better to stop and take a break than to do an exercise incorrectly.
Should I Warm Up Before The Workout?
Before you start, it can be helpful to do a Dynamic Warm-Up โ โwarming upโ simply means preparing your muscles to move, and getting your heart rate elevated.
This doesnโt need to be overly complicated!
A couple of minutes jogging, marching in place, jumping rope, pedaling on a stationary bike, punching and kicking, going for a brisk walk, and/or twisting and swinging your arms and legs to get them moving!
You could also do an easier variation of each exercise in your workout for one round, slow and controlled, to prep your body for the harder workout to come.
For example, maybe youโre doing knee push-ups in your workout. You could do a warm-up round by utilizing chest-high elevated push-ups to warm up all the muscles and joints involved in that movement.
Hereโs a warm-up you can try:
After youโve completed your workout at home, feel free to cool down and stretch.ย
How Often Should I Do the Beginner Bodyweight Workout?
Do this routine 2-4 times a week, while taking 48 hours off between workouts.
You donโt build muscle when youโre exercising, you build muscle when youโre resting, so try not to do a strength training routine (of the same muscle groups) two days in a row.
I like to follow a training pattern of:
- Strength training on one day (like this workout).
- Going for a walk, hike, doing yoga the next day.
- Back to strength training.
- Back to interval training or rest!
Alternatively, you can pick one of these fun exercises to do on your off days instead!
Okay, letโs talk a bit more in depth about each of the exercises in this workout!
The 17 Best Bodyweight Exercises For Beginners
As laid out above in our Beginner Bodyweight Workout video, there are some key movements you can work on to help you get started strength training!ย
Hereโs how to do every bodyweight exercise covered today:
#1) WALL PUSH-UP
#2) ELEVATED PUSH-UP
#3) KNEE PUSH-UP
#4) PUSH-UP
We have a whole article on how toย do a proper push-up, but we also cover it extensively in this 5-minute video:
#5) ASSISTED BODYWEIGHT SQUAT
#6) BODYWEIGHT SQUAT
If you want even more instruction, hereโs how to do a proper bodyweight squat:
#7) BODYWEIGHT GOOD MORNINGS
Great if lunges bother your knees.
#8) SUPPORTED LUNGES
#9) REVERSE LUNGES
#10) FORWARD LUNGES
Hereโs how to properly perform lunges.ย
#11) ONE ARM ROW
Use a milk jug, suitcase, or actual dumbbell.
#12) DOORWAY ROW
A useful variation if you donโt have anything laying around to use for rows. Do the pictured movement, but using a doorframe instead! (Make sure you donโt pinch your fingers.)
#13) KNEE PLANK
#14) PLANK
#15) SIDE PLANK
#16) WALKING JACKS
Use this variation if you too much impact bothers your knees.
#17) JUMPING JACKS
If you are looking for even MORE bodyweight exercises you can use in your workouts, make sure to check out our mega-resource:
ย โThe 42 Best Bodyweight Exercises You Can Do Anywhere.โ
Is Bodyweight Training Effective for Weight Loss?
The question of the day is:
Is bodyweight training effective for weight loss?
Possibly! Bodyweight training can be great for fat loss, as long as you have your nutrition dialed in.
If you donโtโฆthen no, it wonโt be your magic bullet.
Thatโs because a good workout and the wrong dietary strategy wonโt help you lose weight.ย
This means if you donโt ALSO fix your relationship with food, then all the exercise you do wonโt help you get in shape.
Itโll just make you frustratedโฆ
So if you are trying to lose weight, then you need to fix your nutrition first and foremost. If you do strength training while eating in a caloric deficit, you retain the muscle you have while burning the fat on top of those musclesโฆcreating the โtonedโ or muscular look many are after.
Remember, when it comes to fitness, eating for your goals is key!
You have two options here to dial in your nutrition:
#1) Track your food by counting calories โ you can calculate your daily caloric needs here.
#2) Look into proper portion sizes, like with our balanced plate strategy:
Weโve actually developed our own 10-level nutrition system and mindset blueprint in Nerd Fitness Prime, but let me break this down into some basics:
- Slow down and eat mindfully whenever possible
- Be aware of liquid calories, and minimize if you are struggling to cut calories elsewhere.
- Put vegetables and fruit on your plate!
- Know your fats and carbs โ these are the foods we can overeat without realizing it.
- Make sure you get enough protein each day (meat, chicken, fish) โ this helps with rebuilding muscles and things like that.
The raw honest truth: how you eat will be responsible for at least 80% of your success or failure.
If youโre doing bodyweight workouts because youโre interested in losing weight, know that training is only 10-20% of the puzzle!
After the Beginner Bodyweight Workout: Next Steps!
Do this Beginner Bodyweight Workout for the next 4-6 weeks and focus on getting better.
If doing just one circuit of the workout was really challenging, no big deal!
Write down how you did, and try to do just 1 more rep or exercise next time through.
The whole point is โdo a bit more than last time.โ
โ
Iโd love to hear how this workout went for you, and how else we can help!
If youโre looking for more workout routines to follow, I got you covered:
This is what weโve dedicated our lives to, and youโre now part of a killer community.
Welcome to the Nerd Fitness Rebellion!
You can do this, we got your back!
-Steve
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PHOTO SOURCES: Four Bricks Tall: โFollow or follow not. There is no follow for follow.โ and โMorning run with the Fitbitโ, Ekaterina Minaeva ยฉ 123RF.com, parilovv ยฉ 123RF.com.
INFOGRAPHIC SOURCES: superhero costume, male graphic, female graphic, various graphics, icon, milk jug, robot, comic background.