Calisthenics Workout Plan: Build Your Own for Free

Answer three quick tests and pick your days, time and equipment. You get a 4-week bodyweight plan at your level, with the exact exercise, sets, reps and rest for every session, and a clear rule for when to move up.

How this plan works

Every session trains the basic patterns: a pull, a push, a leg exercise and a core hold. The three tests decide which version of each exercise you start with. If you cannot do a pull-up yet, you start with rows and negatives. If 15 push-ups are easy, you start with a harder variation.

Progress comes from adding reps until you reach the top of the range, then moving to the next variation. That is the “move up when” column in your plan. Consistency matters more than any other choice you make: a plan you do every week beats a perfect plan you skip.

No time for a full plan? The 5 Simple Exercises routine

If you want one fixed routine instead, use this one. It uses five basic movements, five days a week, with weekends off. Each day has a focus exercise that you do for five sets, and you do one set of each of the other four. That adds up to nine hard sets per exercise each week, which is enough to make good progress (1). Most people finish in 15 to 20 minutes.

The five exercises are push-ups, air squats, pull-ups, reverse lunges and hanging knee raises. Alternate the focus exercise with the others: focus, other, focus, other, and so on, ending on the focus exercise.

How many reps?

Do single sets as many reps as possible (AMRAP). For the five sets of your focus exercise, do about 50 to 60% of your last AMRAP score. For example, if you can do 25 push-ups in one set, do five sets of 12 to 15 on push-up day. Expect a week to find the right numbers. Take each set to within one to three reps of failure and try to add reps week by week.

Rest as long as you need to do your best work, and no longer. You may need more rest after a leg exercise that leaves you out of breath. As you get fitter, you will move between exercises faster.

How to do the five exercises

1. Push-ups

1. Place your hands on the floor about shoulder-width apart, fingers pointing forward.
2. Walk your feet back until your body is straight. Brace your core, turn your elbows in toward your sides, and pull your shoulders down and back.
3. Bend your arms and lower your chest to within an inch of the floor.
4. Push back up and repeat. Keep your hips in line the whole time.

Muscles worked: chest, shoulders and triceps, with your core holding the body straight. Easier: rest on your knees. Harder: raise your feet, or use push-up handles for a deeper range.

2. Air squats

1. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, toes turned slightly out.
2. Brace your core, pull your shoulders back and down, and look straight ahead.
3. Squat until your thighs are about parallel to the floor without rounding your lower back. Reach your arms forward for balance if you need to.
4. Stand back up and repeat.

Muscles worked: quads, hamstrings and glutes. Harder: pause for 2 to 3 seconds at the bottom. A wider stance works the inner and outer thighs more.

3. Pull-ups

1. Hang from the bar with an overhand grip, slightly wider than shoulder width.
2. Pull your shoulders back and down and brace your core. Bend your legs if your feet would touch the floor.
3. Lead with your elbows and pull your chest toward the bar.
4. Lower yourself under control to straight arms.

Muscles worked: lats, biceps and forearms. Start each rep from a dead hang, with no swinging or kicking. Can’t do one yet? Do inverted rows instead, or use a resistance band for help. Underhand chin-ups are fine too.

4. Reverse lunges

1. Stand with your feet together and arms by your sides. Brace your core.
2. Step back and lower your back knee to within an inch of the floor.
3. Push off your back foot and bring your feet together.
4. Alternate legs for the whole set.

Muscles worked: glutes, hamstrings and quads. Lean forward slightly to work your glutes and hamstrings harder. Hold a wall or rail for balance if you need to.

5. Hanging knee raises

1. Hang from the bar with your arms and body straight.
2. Brace your core, bend your legs and pull your knees up to at least hip height. Tilt your pelvis forward at the top to work your abs harder.
3. Lower your legs under control and repeat.

Muscles worked: abs and hip flexors, plus your grip. Use chalk or lifting straps if your grip fails first. Once they get easy, straighten your legs.

Common questions

Is it safe to train every day? What about recovery?

Muscles usually need 48 to 72 hours after hard, high-volume workouts. Short bodyweight sessions are much less taxing. In the 5 Simple Exercises routine, each exercise gets only one hard day a week, so recovery between sessions is not a problem for most people. The plan builder spaces its sessions for you.

Can I change the exercises?

Yes. Swapping variations keeps training fresh: for example, rotate between regular, decline, paused and diamond push-ups. Keep taking each set to within one to three reps of failure.

How do I add cardio?

Pick cardio you can start and finish at home: jumping rope, walking, running, rucking, HIIT or circuit training. Aim for about 10,000 steps a day.

Are push-ups and pull-ups enough to build bigger arms?

They help: push-ups work your triceps and pull-ups work your biceps, and your arms often tire before your chest and back do. If bigger arms are a goal, add a couple of sets of direct biceps and triceps work two or three times a week. Keep it short so it does not hurt your push-ups and pull-ups.

How should I warm up?

Spend 5 to 10 minutes: five minutes of easy cardio, then mobility drills for your main joints, then one easy set (about half your normal reps) of each exercise.

Is 20 to 30 minutes a day enough to lose fat?

Fat loss depends more on diet than on training. If you are not losing weight, you are most likely still eating more than you burn. Set a sensible calorie deficit, and let exercise add to it.

More on calisthenics

• The 11 best free calisthenics programs
• Calisthenics for beginners
• Calisthenics arm workout
• The best calisthenics biceps exercises
• The best calisthenics triceps exercises
• Calisthenics shoulder exercises and workout
• The best calisthenics leg workout
• Calisthenics back workout
• Calisthenics abs workouts
• Weighted calisthenics

References

1. Baz-Valle E, Fontes-Villalba M, Santos-Concejero J. Total Number of Sets as a Training Volume Quantification Method for Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review. J Strength Cond Res. 2021;35(3):870-878. PubMed