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Exercises

Bodyweight arm exercises: triceps, biceps and grip without weights

Published October 19, 2026

The best bodyweight arm exercises are the close-grip push-up, bench dip and parallel-bar dip for your triceps, the pike push-up for your triceps and shoulders, the chin-up and doorway curl for your biceps, and the dead hang for your grip. With no equipment at all, you can still train both sides of the arm with close-grip push-ups, floor dips and the doorway curl. A pull-up bar is the one piece of gear worth buying, because chin-ups give your biceps far more load than any no-weight curl.

  1. Close-Grip Push-Up Triceps, Chest
  2. Bench Dip Triceps
  3. Chin-Up Lats
  4. Bodyweight Bicep Curl Biceps
  5. Pike Push-Up Shoulders
  6. Chest Dip Chest, Triceps
  7. Floor Triceps Dip Triceps
  8. Dead Hang Forearms

Tricep exercises with no equipment

Every triceps exercise here is a push where your elbows bend and straighten under your bodyweight. With only a floor, the close-grip push-up is your main lift and the floor dip and pike push-up are the second and third, each loading the back of the arm at a different angle.

Triceps and chest, floor press

Close-Grip Push-Up

Triceps, Chest

Moving your hands in until they sit under your shoulders, or a little inside, makes your elbows bend farther and pushes more of the work onto your triceps. It needs nothing but floor space, and you can make it easier on a counter or harder with your feet on a step.

How to do it

  1. Get into a high plank with your hands directly under your shoulders or slightly closer, fingers forward.
  2. Squeeze your glutes and brace so your body is rigid from your heels to your head.
  3. Bend your elbows straight back, brushing your ribs, until your chest is a fist's height from the floor.
  4. Press the floor away until your arms are straight and your elbows lock out.

Cues

  • Elbows brush your ribs
  • Lock out hard at the top
  • Body moves as one plank

Common mistakes

  • Flaring the elbows wide: it turns the rep into a chest push-up, so keep them tight.
  • Letting the hips sag on the last reps: stop the set or put your hands on a bench.

Swap for: Floor Triceps Dip, Bench Dip, Pike Push-Up

Build a session with Close-Grip Push-Up

Triceps, no-equipment dip

Floor Triceps Dip

Triceps

Sitting on the floor with your hands behind you, you press your hips up by straightening your arms. The range is short, but it is the only dip that needs no furniture at all, which makes it a fit for hotel rooms and tight spaces, and it is easy enough to do in high reps.

How to do it

  1. Sit on the floor with your knees bent, feet flat, and hands behind your hips, fingers pointing toward your feet.
  2. Push down hard into the floor to raise your hips a few inches off the floor.
  3. Bend your elbows to lower your hips back toward the floor without sitting down.
  4. Straighten your arms fully to lift again, and keep your shoulders away from your ears.

Cues

  • Fingers face your heels
  • Hips hover, never rest
  • Shoulders down

Common mistakes

  • Pushing with your legs instead of your arms: keep the feet relaxed and let the elbows do the work.
  • Bending only a few degrees: lower until your hips nearly touch the floor each rep.

Swap for: Bench Dip, Close-Grip Push-Up, Chest Dip

Build a session with Floor Triceps Dip

Shoulders and triceps, overhead press without weights

Pike Push-Up

Shoulders

With your hips raised in an upside-down V, a push-up becomes a pressing movement that loads your shoulders and the long head of the triceps. It is the closest thing to an overhead press with no equipment, and raising your feet makes it harder as you get stronger.

How to do it

  1. Start in a push-up position, then walk your feet in and lift your hips until your body forms an upside-down V.
  2. Place your hands a bit wider than shoulder width and look back toward your feet.
  3. Bend your elbows to lower the top of your head toward a spot just in front of your hands.
  4. Push back up to straight arms, keeping your hips high the whole time.

Cues

  • Hips stay high
  • Head travels forward of the hands
  • Push the floor away

Common mistakes

  • Dropping the hips as you tire: that turns it into a regular push-up, so reset the V between reps.
  • Lowering straight down onto your nose: aim slightly ahead of your hands so your head and hands form a triangle.

Swap for: Close-Grip Push-Up, Chest Dip, Bench Dip

Build a session with Pike Push-Up

Dips on a chair, bench or bars

A sturdy chair gives you the bench dip; parallel bars at a park or dip station give you the full dip with all your bodyweight. Both straighten the elbow against a heavy load, which is the job the triceps exists for.

Triceps, dip from a chair or bench

Bench Dip

Triceps

Hands on the edge of a sturdy chair or bench take some of your bodyweight off your triceps, which makes this the most common triceps exercise at home. Straight legs make it harder, bent knees easier, so it scales to almost anyone.

How to do it

  1. Sit on the edge of a sturdy chair or bench with your hands beside your hips, fingers over the edge.
  2. Slide your hips forward off the seat and plant your heels on the floor in front of you.
  3. Bend at the elbows to drop your hips, stopping once your upper arms sit roughly parallel to the floor.
  4. Straighten your arms to lift back up, keeping your back close to the seat.

Cues

  • Back brushes the seat
  • Elbows point behind you
  • Stop at upper arms level

Common mistakes

  • Sinking far below parallel: it strains the front of the shoulder, so stop when your upper arm is level.
  • Letting the elbows flare out to the sides: keep them pointing back.

Swap for: Floor Triceps Dip, Chest Dip, Close-Grip Push-Up

Build a session with Bench Dip

Triceps and chest, full bodyweight dip

Chest Dip

Chest, Triceps

On parallel bars you lift your whole bodyweight with your arms, which makes the dip the heaviest pushing exercise you can do without weights. Stay upright to keep it on the triceps. Parks, playgrounds and most dip stations have the bars.

How to do it

  1. Grip parallel bars and jump or step up until your arms are straight and you are supporting yourself above the bars.
  2. Keep your torso fairly upright and your legs under you or slightly behind.
  3. Sink down by bending the elbows, stopping once your upper arms are roughly parallel to the bars.
  4. Press back up to straight arms and lock out at the top.

Cues

  • Shoulders down, chest proud
  • Stay more upright for triceps
  • Lock out every rep

Common mistakes

  • Diving too deep: if your shoulders hurt at the bottom, stop when your upper arms reach the level of the bars.
  • Swinging the legs to get up: keep them still and cut the set when you need momentum.

Swap for: Bench Dip, Close-Grip Push-Up, Pike Push-Up

Build a session with Chest Dip

Bicep exercises without weights

Biceps need a pull, and the floor cannot give you one. A doorway frame can, and it is the only curl here that needs nothing you do not already own. A pull-up bar adds chin-ups, which load the biceps with your full bodyweight and grow them far faster.

Biceps, doorway curl

Bodyweight Bicep Curl

Biceps

Holding the frame of a doorway and leaning back, you pull yourself upright by bending your arms. It is the only true curl you can do with no equipment at all, and you control the difficulty by how far you lean.

How to do it

  1. Stand in an open doorway and hold the frame on both sides at about waist height, palms facing in or up.
  2. Walk your feet forward a little so you lean back with your arms straight and your body in a line.
  3. Bend your elbows to pull your chest toward the frame, keeping your elbows low and in front of you.
  4. Straighten your arms slowly to lean back to the start, then repeat.

Cues

  • Lean back for more load
  • Elbows low, hands high
  • Slow return

Common mistakes

  • Pulling with your back and shoulders: think of curling the frame toward your face, not rowing to your chest.
  • Standing too upright: if 20 reps feel easy, walk your feet farther forward.

Swap for: Chin-Up, Close-Grip Chin-Up, Dead Hang

Build a session with Bodyweight Bicep Curl

Biceps and lats, underhand pull

Chin-Up

Lats

Your biceps have to lift your whole body on every rep, which is far more load than any home curl can give. If you have a pull-up bar, the chin-up is the main bicep exercise of a bodyweight arm routine, not an extra.

How to do it

  1. Hang from the bar with your palms facing you and hands about shoulder width apart.
  2. Set your shoulders by pulling them slightly down from your ears.
  3. Pull until your chin clears the bar, driving your elbows down toward your hips.
  4. Lower all the way to straight arms before the next rep.

Cues

  • Drive elbows to hips
  • Chin over, not just reaching
  • Straight arms at the bottom

Common mistakes

  • Stopping halfway down to keep momentum: lower to a full hang each rep.
  • Craning your neck to get the chin over: pull higher or count the rep as missed.

Swap for: Close-Grip Chin-Up, Bodyweight Bicep Curl, Dead Hang

Build a session with Chin-Up

Biceps and lats, narrow chin-up

Close-Grip Chin-Up

Lats, Biceps

A narrow underhand grip keeps your elbows in front of you through the pull, and that shifts more work to your biceps than a standard chin-up. Rotate it in when regular chin-ups feel too much like a back exercise.

How to do it

  1. Hold the bar palms toward you with your hands about a fist apart.
  2. Start from a full hang with straight arms and a braced stomach.
  3. Pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar, elbows staying in front of your chest.
  4. Lower under control over about two seconds to straight arms.

Cues

  • Hands close, elbows forward
  • Two seconds down
  • No kipping

Common mistakes

  • Letting the wrists bend back on a narrow grip: widen a little until they feel neutral.
  • Swinging the hips forward to start the rep: begin each one still.

Swap for: Chin-Up, Bodyweight Bicep Curl, Dead Hang

Build a session with Close-Grip Chin-Up

Forearms and grip

Hanging from a bar trains the muscles that close your hand. Finish a chin-up session with one or two long hangs, and your grip stops being the reason a set ends early.

Forearms and grip, hold

Dead Hang

Forearms

Hanging from a bar for time trains the forearm muscles that close your hand, and a stronger grip lets you finish more chin-ups. It is the forearm exercise of a bodyweight routine and a gentle way to end a session.

How to do it

  1. Grab the bar overhand with your hands about shoulder width.
  2. Lift your feet so you hang with straight arms.
  3. Keep your shoulders slightly engaged rather than fully slumped, and breathe steadily.
  4. Hold for the target time, then step down.

Cues

  • Squeeze the bar hard
  • Breathe, don't brace
  • Quiet legs

Common mistakes

  • Letting go as soon as it burns: the last ten seconds are the training, so hold until your grip really fails.
  • Using straps or hooks: they remove the grip work, which is the point here.

Swap for: Chin-Up, Close-Grip Chin-Up, Bodyweight Bicep Curl

Build a session with Dead Hang

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in. Open one in the session builder to change a pick, price it from a recent set, and add it to RIRLift.

Session 1

No equipment at all: floor and a doorway

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets36 a week
  • Per workout~20 min
  • EquipmentBodyweight

You train at home or in a hotel with no bar, no bench and no weights, just floor space and a door frame.

With nothing to pull on except a doorway, the doorway curl carries all the bicep work and the three floor pushes cover the triceps. Bodyweight does not get heavier, so reps run high and each set ends 1 rep short of failure: at 15 to 30 reps, the final hard reps are what makes the set count. The pike push-up comes first while your shoulders are fresh. Each session is 12 working sets.

Arms, Floor and Door
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Pike Push-UpFeet on a step once 15 is easy. 3 × 6–15 1 90 s
Close-Grip Push-UpHands under shoulders. Lock out. 3 × 8–25 1 75 s
A1 Floor Triceps DipHips never rest. 3 × 15–30 1 45 s
A2 Bodyweight Bicep CurlLean back farther as you get stronger. 3 × 12–25 1 45 s
How to run it
Do this session three times a week on non-consecutive days. Put the floor dip and doorway curl back to back to save time.
How to progress
Add reps each session until you hit the top of every range, then make the move harder: feet on a step for the push-ups, a slower three-second lowering, or walk your feet farther forward on the doorway curl.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Pull-up bar and a sturdy chair at home

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets21 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentPull-Up Bar, Flat Bench

You have a doorway pull-up bar and a chair or bench, and you want bigger arms rather than just endurance.

Chin-ups replace the doorway curl because they load the biceps with your full bodyweight, so the reps drop to 5 to 12 and the targets sit at 1 to 2 reps in reserve to keep each rep complete. Bench dips and close-grip push-ups cover the triceps, Two sessions with 12 and 9 working sets give your biceps 8 hard sets and your triceps 13 each week.

Arms A
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Chin-UpFull hang each rep. 4 × 5–12 1 2 min
Bench DipLegs straight once bent-knee is easy. 4 × 10–20 1 75 s
Close-Grip Push-UpElbows brush ribs. 4 × 8–20 1 75 s

Open Arms A in the session builder

Arms B
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Close-Grip Chin-UpHands a fist apart. 4 × 5–12 2 2 min
Close-Grip Push-UpLast set to failure. 3 × 10–25 0 75 s
Bench Dip 2 × 12–20 0 1 min

Open Arms B in the session builder

How to run it
Alternate Arms A and Arms B with at least one rest day between them, two or three times a week. Use a chair that cannot slide, back it against a wall.
How to progress
Add one rep per set until you hit the top of the range, then add difficulty: a backpack with books on chin-ups and dips, feet raised on the bench dip, or a three-second lowering on every rep.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Outdoor park with dip and pull-up bars

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets33 a week
  • Per workout~20 min
  • EquipmentDip Bar, Pull-Up Bar

You train at an outdoor calisthenics park or a playground with parallel bars and a high bar, three times a week.

Parallel bars give you the full dip, the heaviest triceps exercise without weights, so it leads and replaces the chair dip. The close-grip chin-up handles biceps and the pike push-up adds overhead triceps work on the ground between bar sets. Sets stop 1 to 2 reps short of failure on the heavy bar movements; finish with one long dead hang if your grip still has anything left.

Park Arms
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
A1 Chest DipStay upright for triceps. 4 × 6–15 1 2 min
A2 Close-Grip Chin-UpFull hang each rep. 4 × 5–12 1 2 min
Pike Push-UpOn the ground between bar sets. 3 × 6–15 2 90 s
How to run it
Run the session three times a week on non-consecutive days. Alternate a set of dips with a set of chin-ups to keep the session under 30 minutes.
How to progress
When you get 15 dips and 12 chin-ups on every set at the target reps in reserve, slow the lowering to four seconds or move to an archer-style dip and chin-up with more weight on one arm.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

Can you build arm muscle with just bodyweight?

Yes, if the sets are hard. Muscle grows from sets taken close to failure, and bodyweight gives you that for your triceps with push-ups and dips and for your biceps with chin-ups. The catch is that the load never rises on its own, so you need harder variations or a backpack once you pass about 20 to 30 reps.

How do I work my arms without equipment?

Close-grip push-ups, floor dips and pike push-ups cover your triceps, and the doorway curl covers your biceps. Do three or four of those, three times a week, and take each set to 1 or 2 reps short of failure.

Will 100 push-ups a day make your arms bigger?

Not much, once 100 gets easy. A hundred push-ups spread through the day are mostly easy reps, and easy reps do little for growth. Fewer, harder sets work better: close-grip or feet-raised push-ups taken to 1 rep short of failure.

Are 4 exercises enough for arm day?

Yes. Two triceps exercises and two biceps exercises, three or four hard sets each, is a full arm session. All three plans on this page use four or fewer.

How often should I train arms for growth?

Two or three times a week, with each muscle getting around 10 hard sets a week. Bodyweight arm sessions are short and easy to recover from, which is why two of the plans here run three times a week.

Can flabby arms be toned with bodyweight exercises?

The exercises build the muscle under the skin, which makes the arm firmer. They do not burn fat from the arm itself; losing body fat overall is what shows that muscle. Both together are what people usually mean by toned.