Bodyweight Exercises for Beginners

Here are some easy bodyweight exercises that can be done at home, at the park, at the hotel, or at your office.  If you can find a table, chair, monkey bars, or heavy objects and some room to move around, you're good to go.

This post is intented for beginners who doesn't have any weight lifting experience or for those who can't train at a fitness facility for whatever reason but need something to do during the holidays (on vacation or at work?).   For serious trainees, join a gym or set up your own proper training space (power rack and barbells) at home would be ideal.

You will get stronger and leaner with these exercises (with diet dialed in, too of course) but don't expect to reach your genetic potential for muscle and might without some heavy weight training.  Pick up the book "Starting Strength" and get addicted to the iron.

Basic Bodyweight Training

All movements can be broken up into 5-20 repetitions to do at a time (per set).  Then rest 2 minutes between sets. Then perform another 5-20 reps until you hit the total targeted # of reps for the day. 

Monday: Push up - 80x/day

If too difficult to perform, try this modified push up version first and work up to 20x per set. After a few workouts, attempt the regular PU starting with a low rep range (naturally) and work up to 100x total in multiple sets (ideally 4-5sets).  Always be progressing (overloading) with these exercises!

Tuesday: Dips - 80x/day

If too difficult, try this first

Wed: Walk (Active Rest) - 30mins 

Don't start jogging until you are less than 20lbs overweight.  My recommendation is to never jog anyways.  Instead, RUN and run fast.  Use BMI to predict how much weigh you should ideally be at for your height.  If you're overweight, you shouldn't be doing any type of steady state cardio work other than walking.  Focus on your diet!  Chronic impact from long distance pounding (esp. for overweight folks) can be very detrimental on the joints.  Most seasoned endurance athletes will testify they've got plenty (and repetitive) injuries and chronically experiencing over-reaching symptoms.

If you've always been active or had some weight lifting experience (and is currently overweight), BMI may not be a good predictor of ideal weight, nor cardiovascular health.  Read this to find out how to set a realistic goal for your current fitness level.

I generally just recommend walking even if you're extremely fit or plays sports.  Walking is the best type of active recovery you can do (next to stretching and massages).  Read this to find out why.

Thur: Chin up - 60x/day  

With chin ups, your palm faces you and grip width should be around your shoulder wide.  Remember, it's call a chin up because the chin actually goes up aboves the bar.  Not nose up or forehead up.  Also, at the bottom position, your elbow should be fully extended to count as a rep.  Without full extension of the arms, chin up becomes a biceps dominant movement.

The picture above is actually a pull up that targets more of your triceps than biceps.  Your performance on a pull up will normally be lower than chin up. 

Keep in mind that if you start kipping, you are cheating.  You are trying to target your arms and back with this movement, not the hip or core.  Beginners may need to kip a little to get it up, but once your back (lats) is strong enough to initate the movement, kipping should be eliminated.  There is a time and place to train like a gymnast and that's at a crossfit facility.

Don't be like this guy...

If the above 2 movements are too difficult, use a chair like in this video.

or progress this way...

Fri: Overhead Press - Do this 50x/day

If too difficult, pick a lighter object or a log to press with (start with around 20lb). If you can easily do 10x/set, increase the weight of the object.   Your shoulder should be sore by the time you have done 30 total repititions.  If not, you are lifting to light.

At the top of the movement, your arms should be fully extended, elbow behind your head, chest up, and your upper body should tilt slightly forward.

Saturday: Sprinting - 10x. Make each rep 4-6 secs

After a good 10min warm up with some light jogging, jumping jacks, rope jump, or burpees, do some dynamic stretching that focuses on leg swings laterally and front/back.  Then start off with a couple 10yard sprints, a couple 20yards sprints, then another couple 40yards. 

Once you can comfortably sprint 40yards without losing much momentum at the last 10yard, you're ready for full sprints.  Make each full sprint under 6 seconds.  If you play sports that involves further than 40yards (soccer, football, etc), feel free to sprint a longer distance.  Make sure you get plenty rest between all-out sprints (2mins rest minimum).   When it comes to explosive movements like sprinting (or any plyometric/jumping/throwing movements), you should focus on quality, not quantity.  This means rest plenty until you're ready for another heavy and explosive repetition.  While resting, don't let your heart rate and body tempturature drop too low, keep moving (walking).

The faster your arms swing, the quicker your legs cycle between strides (this increase  stride frequency).  Also, the stronger your legs are (with proper weight training like squating, cleans, plyometric/explosive exercises) the distance of your strides will increase which allows you to accelerate quicker and run faster.  

Sprint mechanics typically comes naturally for most people.  If for some reason you find sprinting a difficult movement to do or not have the space for it. Try going up hills or stairs a few times. 

For sunday, just rest.  Always pick at least one day out of the week to completely rest.  No light cardio, cycling, zumba, or yoga.  JUST REST.  This way your future workouts will be more productive and less likely to injure yourself.

If you do a simple search on google for "bodyweight exercises", you'll find tons of movements to add to the exercises mentioned above to keep your workout interesting and chellenging.  Just remember that if you're not constantly overloading your body with heavier loads each time, you're not giving your muscles the stimulants it need to get stronger.   This means, the above movements are not meant to replace a proper and progressive training program that focus on lifting heavy weights.   They are only something simple to do in the short term when other more chellenging movements are unavaliable/unaccessible.

When we train, we train with the intention to get stronger, meaner, and mightier.  Do not train with a mindset to simply "stay in shape", once you're past 25 years of age, you cannot afford to train to "stay in shape". 

"Regardless of genetics, gender or age, each of us has tremendous power to improve physique, fitness and health; but very few people fully exploit this power because so few people train in a way that is truly appropriate to them. Circiumstance of life make some decision more likely than others, each person is responsible for his or her own exercise program's results.  You decide which exercises you use, how you perform them, and how often you train.  You decide when you quit a set, when you go to sleep, how well you eat.  You alone are responsible for your porgress in the gym, accept responsiblity for having created the current state of your physique and fitness.  Then assume the responbility for changing what you do no like." - Stuart McRobert

At the age of 58 & pre-diabetic, Kenna managed to lose 30lbs this year.   Now her sugar averages at 80, has more energy, and got a healthier glow of skin and hair.  She continues to chellenge herself daily. 

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