The basic bodyweight exercises are essential for developing strength, endurance, and mobility. Movements like push-ups, pull-ups, squats, and dips not only strengthen different muscle groups but also improve stability and balance. Additionally, core and plyometric exercises complement any routine, allowing for a more complete development of functional strength and explosiveness.
Push-ups
Push-ups are one of the most well-known and effective exercises you can do with your own bodyweight. They primarily strengthen the chest, shoulders, and triceps, while also engaging the core muscles.
To perform push-ups correctly, get into a plank position with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and make sure your body forms a straight line from your head to your feet. Lower your body while inhaling until your chest almost touches the ground, then push up while exhaling.
If you’re a beginner, you can start with your knees on the ground to maintain proper form. As you get stronger, increase the number of repetitions or move to standard push-ups. It’s recommended to include them in your routine at least three times a week, as it’s a fundamental exercise.
For advanced individuals, variations like decline push-ups increase the difficulty by requiring more activation of the chest and shoulders. To perform them, place your feet on an elevated surface such as a bench or box and your hands on the floor, ensuring that your body remains in a straight line. Then, perform the push-up as usual. It’s recommended to start with a low height and gradually increase it as you get stronger.
Another option is explosive push-ups, which involve adding a small jump at the end of the movement, lifting your hands off the ground. To perform them, execute a regular push-up and, as you rise, push forcefully to lift your hands off the floor. It’s important to land softly, ensuring your arms are ready to absorb the impact and avoid injury.
Finally, diamond push-ups focus on the triceps by placing your hands together, forming a “diamond” shape under your chest. To do them, bring your thumbs and index fingers together on the floor and perform the push-up in a controlled manner, keeping your elbows close to your body to maximize tricep engagement.
Pull-ups
Pull-ups are a key exercise in calisthenics, as they develop upper back strength, biceps, and the core.
For beginners, assisted pull-ups are an excellent way to build strength until you can complete a full pull-up. First, find a pull-up bar or a stable structure that allows you to hang safely. Grab the bar with your hands at shoulder-width or slightly wider, using either a pronated grip (palms facing away) or a supinated grip (palms facing toward you). Use a resistance band by placing it over the bar and supporting your foot, both feet, or knees to help you with the lift. Pull your chest up to the bar while keeping your core engaged, then lower yourself in a controlled manner. If you don’t have a band, you can ask someone to assist you by providing support with their hands on your back.
To progress, work on your grip strength by hanging from the bar and gradually reduce assistance until you can perform pull-ups unassisted. Vary the grip to target different muscles and improve your technique, alternating between the pronated grip, which focuses more on the back and lats, the supinated grip, which targets the biceps, the neutral grip (palms facing each other), which provides balanced work for both biceps and back, and the commando grip, where you hold the bar with one hand in front of the other, adding extra coordination and core strength challenges.
Explosive pull-ups are a variation that requires a quick, powerful movement to pull your chest above the bar, helping to develop strength and muscle power. Unlike traditional pull-ups, this variation focuses on speed and explosiveness. To perform them, start with a regular pull-up, but as you rise, push forcefully so your chest surpasses the bar. It’s important to practice at a slower pace initially if needed, focusing on technique, and then gradually increase speed as you become more comfortable and confident in the movement. This gradual approach will help you improve your explosive capacity without compromising form or control.
Once you’ve mastered explosive pull-ups, you can progress to muscle-ups, an advanced exercise that combines the strength of an explosive pull-up with the ability to push yourself over the bar in one smooth motion. To perform a muscle-up, do an explosive pull-up with enough power to get your chest and shoulders over the bar, then transition into a quick push with your arms, finishing in a dip position on top of the bar. Muscle-ups require excellent coordination and strength in the core, shoulders, arms, and back, making them a natural progression for those who have already mastered explosive pull-ups.
To start, you can also use a resistance band to help you complete the movement while perfecting the full range of motion. For more advanced individuals seeking an extra challenge, training on rings is recommended, as they require greater stability and shoulder strength.
Squats
Squats are an essential exercise for strengthening the leg muscles, including the quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings, while improving hip and ankle mobility.
To do them correctly, start by placing your feet shoulder-width apart and slightly pointed outward, keeping your chest up and your gaze forward. As you lower yourself, push your hips back as if sitting down, bending your knees and keeping the weight in your heels. Lower until your thighs are parallel to the ground, or as far as your mobility allows without losing form. When rising, keep your core engaged and push through your heels to return to the starting position.
For beginners, don’t worry if you can’t lower yourself to parallel right away; work on your hip and ankle mobility to improve over time. To increase the difficulty, you can try variations like jump squats or add weight using dumbbells or a kettlebell. Incorporate squats into your training two to three times a week, gradually increasing the repetitions for safe progression.
Dips
Dips are an effective exercise for strengthening the triceps, shoulders, and chest muscles. You can perform them on parallel bars or using a chair or bench.
If using parallel bars, grab them with your palms facing inward and hang with your arms fully extended. If using a chair, place it behind you and grip the edges with your hands. To perform the movement, bend your elbows while keeping them close to your torso as you lower your body toward the ground. If using a chair, ensure that your feet are firmly planted on the ground for balance. Then, push through your arms to return to the starting position.
If you’re a beginner and find it difficult to do a full dip, one option is to start with your legs closer to your body or perform the exercise with your feet on the ground to reduce the load. You can also use a resistance band between the bars to support your knees and make the movement easier. As you get stronger, you can increase the range of motion or add more repetitions.
For those seeking more intensity, an option is to add weight, either by using a weighted vest or by adding weights to a belt, which will increase the difficulty of the exercise and allow you to progress faster. You can also pause at the bottom of the movement, which increases time under tension and improves muscle control. Slowing down the descent, known as the eccentric phase, is an effective technique for maximizing muscle fiber recruitment, as it puts the muscle under greater load. When pushing back up at maximum speed, or the concentric explosive phase, you activate fast-twitch fibers, which are key for developing strength and muscle growth. This combination of controlled descent and explosive rise provides an additional stimulus for improving strength, power, and muscular endurance.
Dips on rings are an excellent option for advanced individuals who want to increase the difficulty of the exercise and improve stability and muscle activation. Unlike dips on bars or benches, using rings adds extra challenge as it requires greater control of the body due to the instability of the rings. To perform them, position yourself on the rings and perform dips as you would on a bench, but allow the rings to move slightly to maximize muscle activation. It’s recommended to start with the rings at a lower height to get used to the movement before progressing to greater heights.
Core and Balance Exercises
Core and balance exercises are fundamental to any type of training, as a strong core not only improves athletic performance but also prevents injuries and contributes to better posture. Among the basic exercises that should be included in our routines are planks and their multiple variations, such as side planks or plank with leg lifts, which activate different core muscles. Leg raises, whether hanging or on the floor, are excellent for working both the abs and lower back, strengthening the entire core muscle group.
Additionally, exercises involving a single leg, such as single-leg squats or unilateral lunges, are ideal for improving balance and activating the core stabilizer muscles, as they demand greater body control and coordination. To increase the difficulty and improve proprioception (the body’s ability to sense its position in space), it’s recommended to integrate unstable surfaces, such as a bosu ball or a Swiss ball, into your training. Training barefoot is also beneficial, as it strengthens the foot muscles and improves neuromuscular connection, enhancing control and stability during exercises.
There are several additional exercises that are highly effective for working both the core and general strength and stability of the body. These movements help strengthen the abs and other muscle groups, so be sure to incorporate them into your routines.
Mountain climbers are an excellent exercise for working the core while also involving cardiovascular endurance and coordination. They consist of maintaining a high plank position while bringing one knee toward the chest alternately, mimicking a climbing motion. This exercise can be done at high speed to increase intensity and burn calories, or at a more controlled pace if the goal is to focus on core activation and stability. A more challenging variation is the mountain climber with a jump to the chest, where instead of alternating knees, both legs jump simultaneously toward the chest and quickly return to the starting position, increasing the cardiovascular demand and explosiveness.
Another interesting exercise is the push-up with alternating toe touches, which combines the classic push-up with a dynamic toe touch. After performing a push-up, as you rise, bring one hand to the opposite foot, lifting your hips to engage the core, shoulders, and improve flexibility. This dynamic movement not only strengthens the upper body but also enhances coordination and stability.
The inchworm is another essential full-body exercise that focuses on mobility, flexibility, and core strength. Begin standing, lower your hands to the ground, walk them out into a plank position, and then walk them back toward your feet. This exercise not only activates the core but also engages the shoulders and legs, improving hamstring flexibility and hip mobility.
The bear crawl also involves core stability, arm and leg strength, and coordination. In this movement, you move forward while keeping your hands and feet on the ground, with your knees slightly elevated and your core engaged. This exercise works the entire body, improving stability and muscular endurance.
Lastly, a core exercise that shouldn’t be missing from your routines one or two times a week is knee raises on parallel bars, which intensely target the abdominal muscles and core. On parallel bars, lift your knees toward your chest while maintaining control throughout the movement. This exercise is highly effective for strengthening the rectus abdominis and hip flexors, and for a greater challenge, you can use rings. Similarly, leg tucks on a bench are another variation where you sit on a bench and bring your knees toward your chest, engaging the core while maintaining balance with your hands supported behind you. This is a more accessible option for those looking to improve abdominal strength without access to parallel bars.
Plyometrics
Plyometric exercises are an excellent tool for developing power, speed, and explosiveness, which are essential qualities for both calisthenics and any bodyweight training. These movements involve jumps and quick actions that require maximum activation of muscle fibers in a short period of time, not only improving strength but also the responsiveness of the neuromuscular system. By integrating plyometric exercises into your routine, you can significantly improve your performance in other movements, such as pull-ups, dips, and push-ups.
Among the most common plyometric exercises are box jumps, which involve jumping from a standing position onto an elevated surface like a box or bench, helping to improve explosive leg strength. Another effective exercise is the popular burpee, which combines push-ups, jumps, and squats in one continuous movement, improving cardiovascular endurance as well as muscle power. You can also incorporate variations like depth jumps, where you step off a box and immediately jump up upon touching the ground, adding an element of quick reaction and coordination.
Additionally, plyometrics can be adapted to different skill levels. If you’re a beginner, start with lower-impact exercises like small jumps or jumping in place, and gradually increase the intensity as you develop greater control and strength. As you progress, you can add more challenging exercises, such as single-leg jumps or combinations with calisthenics movements. The important thing is to maintain good technique and always control your body alignment to avoid injuries and maximize the benefits of this type of training.
Summary
- Perform push-ups correctly by maintaining a straight line from head to feet.
- Gradually increase difficulty in pull-ups, starting with assistance if necessary.
- Ensure your core is activated and keep the weight in your heels during squats.
- Use parallel bars or a chair to perform tricep dips, adjusting the exercise to your level.
- Incorporate advanced variations like explosive push-ups or dips on rings to challenge your abilities.
- Strengthen your core and improve stability with exercises like planks, leg raises, and single-leg squats.
- Use unstable surfaces or train barefoot to improve proprioception and body control.
- Add plyometric exercises to increase explosiveness, such as box jumps or burpees.
- Progressively increase the intensity and complexity of exercises to avoid stagnation.
- Maintain proper technique and body alignment at all times to avoid injury and maximize your training benefits.
