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Calisthenics
Calisthenics

Beginner Full-Body Bodyweight Routine

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Program example
In one line

A 3x/week full-body template covering one push, one pull (vertical + horizontal), one squat, one hinge, and core — each picked at the trainee's current progression level.

Detail

A beginner trains the whole body each session, 3 times per week on non-consecutive days (e.g. Mon/Wed/Fri), mirroring Training Guide for Beginners. Choose the variation in each pattern that lets you work near the rep target at 1-3 RIR (RIR and Effort for Bodyweight Training); when a movement gets easy, advance along its progression (Principle of Progressive Overload).

Warm-up (5-10 min): light cardio + wrist/shoulder/hip mobility, then a ramp set of each main movement.

Pattern Exercise (pick your level) Sets × reps
Squat Bodyweight Squat → Split Squat 3 × 10-15
Push (horizontal) Push-Up Progression variation 3 × 8-12
Pull (vertical) Pull-Up Progression step (negatives/band) 3 × 5-8
Pull (horizontal) Inverted Row (Australian Pull-Up) 3 × 8-12
Hinge Glute Bridge → Single-Leg Glute Bridge 3 × 10-15
Core Plank + Hanging Knee Raise 3 × 20-40 s / 3 × 8-12

Rest: 60-120 s between sets. Cool-down: easy mobility. Progress by adding reps to the top of each range, then moving to the next variation. Keep push and pull volume balanced (Structuring a Bodyweight Workout).

Key facts

  • 3x/week, full-body, non-consecutive days.
  • One squat, one hinge, one vertical pull, one horizontal pull, one push, plus core each session.
  • 3 sets per movement; reps per the table; 60-120 s rest; 1-3 RIR.
  • Progress by reps then by advancing the variation; keep push/pull balanced.

Connections

Sources

Cited in text — not yet linked
Authored from established calisthenics / beginner-programming consensus.

Exercise guides

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Explore related topics

Atlas Connections

Bodyweight SquatClosely related
A free-standing squat using only bodyweight — the base lower-body pattern, training the quads and glutes and teaching the squat mechanics behind every harder variation.
Glute BridgeClosely related
Lying on your back with knees bent, drive the hips up to full extension and squeeze the glutes — the base bodyweight hip-extension exercise.
Hanging Knee RaiseClosely related
Hanging from a bar and drawing the bent knees up toward the chest — the entry-level hanging ab exercise and the regression for the hanging leg raise.
Inverted Row (Australian Pull-Up)Closely related
A horizontal pull lying under a fixed waist-height bar (or sturdy table edge), pulling the chest to the bar — the most accessible bodyweight rowing movement.
Pistol Squat Progression
Bodyweight squat → split squat → Bulgarian split squat → pistol squat — the road to a full single-leg squat, scaling from two-leg to fully unilateral loading.
PlankClosely related
A straight-body isometric hold on the forearms and toes, bracing the whole core to keep the spine neutral — the foundational anti-extension core exercise.
Plank Progression
Forearm plank → long-lever and limb-lifted planks → planche-lean-style and dynamic planks — an anti-extension core ladder that trains bracing rather than spinal flexion.
Pull-Up Progression
Dead hang → scapular pull → negative → band-assisted → full pull-up → chin-up variations → archer → one-arm — the road to a strict pull-up and beyond.
Push-Up Progression
A leverage ladder from wall push-ups to the one-arm push-up that lets the horizontal press keep overloading the chest, triceps, and front delts without weights.
RIR and Effort for Bodyweight Training
Because you cannot dial in a percentage of 1RM, bodyweight intensity is autoregulated by Reps In Reserve (RIR) — how many more reps you could have done — kept at 1-3 for rep work and much higher for skill work.
Bodyweight Row Progression
Incline/Australian rows → ring rows → tuck front lever → front lever — the horizontal-pull ladder building the mid-back and lats and leading into the front lever.
Single-Leg Glute Bridge
A glute bridge driven by one leg with the other extended, roughly doubling the load on the working glute and adding a pelvic-stability demand.
Split SquatClosely related
A stationary lunge with a staggered stance — most weight on the front leg, back foot for balance — introducing single-leg loading without the balance demand of a full lunge step.
Structuring a Bodyweight Workout
Warm up, do skill practice while fresh, then heaviest-leverage strength work, then rep/hypertrophy and conditioning, finishing with core and cool-down.
Principle of Progressive Overload
To keep improving, gradually make training harder than your body is used to: more weight, more reps or more sets. You don't need to add weight every week or go to failure. Small, steady increases you can recover from are what work.
Training Guide for Beginners
Starting prescriptions for new lifters — about 2-3 sets per exercise in the 60-70% of 1 RM range, 2-3 minutes rest, training 3x/week and hitting each muscle every session.