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Exercises

Full body exercises without equipment: one squat, push, pull and core move at a time

Published October 29, 2026

The best full body exercises without equipment are bodyweight and skater squats for the legs, push-ups and pike push-ups for the chest and shoulders, doorway curls and supermans for the back and arms, planks, side planks, bear crawls and walkouts for the trunk, and burpees, jump squats and mountain climbers for conditioning. Build each session from one exercise per pattern: a squat, a push, a pull and a core move. Three sessions a week of 3 sets each, stopping 1 to 3 reps short of failure, is enough to get stronger with only your body weight.

  1. Bodyweight Squat Quads
  2. Skater Squat Quads, Glutes
  3. Push-Up Chest
  4. Pike Push-Up Shoulders
  5. Bodyweight Bicep Curl Biceps
  6. Superman Lower Back
  7. Plank Abs
  8. Burpee Quads, Glutes, Chest, Shoulders

Legs

Every full-body session starts with a squat because the legs are the biggest muscles you train. Two legs for beginners, one leg once 25 reps are easy, and jumps when you want the session to double as cardio.

Quads and glutes, squat

Bodyweight Squat

Quads

The first exercise of the beginner plan and the leg move almost anyone can start with. When 25 reps are easy, slow it to 3 seconds down and move on to the skater squat.

How to do it

  1. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, toes turned out slightly, arms out in front for balance.
  2. Push your hips back and bend your knees, keeping your heels flat and your chest up.
  3. Lower until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor, deeper if your heels stay down.
  4. Drive through your whole foot to stand tall, then go straight into the next rep.

Cues

  • Heels glued to the floor
  • Knees over toes
  • Thighs to parallel or lower

Common mistakes

  • Knees caving in on the way up: push them out over your little toes.
  • Quarter squats to hit a rep count: a full-depth set of 12 beats a shallow set of 30.

Swap for: Reverse Lunge, Wall Sit, Jump Squat

Build a session with Bodyweight Squat
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Quads and glutes, single-leg squat

Skater Squat

Quads, Glutes

Once two-leg squats run out of challenge, one leg makes the same movement heavy again. In a full-body session it gives the legs real strength work in a few sets.

How to do it

  1. Stand on one foot and bend the other knee so that foot is behind you, arms straight out in front as a counterweight.
  2. Push your hips back and lean your chest forward as you bend the standing knee.
  3. Lower until the back knee is just above the floor.
  4. Drive through your standing foot to stand tall; sets are per leg.

Cues

  • Arms forward as the counterweight
  • Chest leans, back stays flat
  • Back knee to a folded towel

Common mistakes

  • Only going down a few inches: put a folded towel or cushion where your knee should land and touch it every rep.
  • Letting the standing knee collapse inward: track it over your toes, and slow the lowering if it wobbles.

Swap for: Pistol Squat, Reverse Lunge, Cossack Squat

Build a session with Skater Squat
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Legs, power and conditioning

Jump Squat

Quads, Glutes

Jumping trains the legs to produce force fast and raises your heart rate more than any other leg exercise here. Use it in circuits, or as a short power block at the start of a session.

How to do it

  1. Stand with your feet about shoulder width and your arms ready.
  2. Dip into a quarter to half squat, then jump straight up, swinging your arms.
  3. Land softly with bent knees and reset before the next jump.

Cues

  • Soft, quiet landing
  • Reset between reps

Common mistakes

  • Landing stiff-legged: let the hips and knees bend to absorb the landing.

Swap for: Box Jump, Bodyweight Squat

Build a session with Jump Squat
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Push

The push-up trains the chest, shoulders and triceps together. The pike push-up takes the same muscles overhead, so you have a horizontal and a vertical press with no gear.

Chest, shoulders and triceps

Push-Up

Chest

The main push of every plan on this page. Do them from the knees or hands on a couch until you reach 8 clean reps on the floor.

How to do it

  1. Set your hands slightly wider than your shoulders with your body straight from head to heels.
  2. Lower until your chest nearly touches the floor, elbows at about 45 degrees.
  3. Press back up to straight arms.

Cues

  • One straight line
  • Elbows angled back

Common mistakes

  • Flaring the elbows straight out: tuck them toward your ribs.

Swap for: Kneeling Push-Up, Incline Push-Up, Push-Up Plus

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Shoulders, overhead press

Pike Push-Up

Shoulders

With hips high, the push turns into an overhead press for the shoulders. It balances a routine that would otherwise only press forward.

How to do it

  1. Start in a push-up position with your hands a bit wider than your shoulders and fingers spread.
  2. Walk your feet toward your hands and raise your hips until your body forms an upside-down V, with your weight leaning over your hands.
  3. Bend your elbows and lower the top of your head toward a point a few inches in front of your hands, so your head and hands form a triangle.
  4. Bend your elbows out to the sides and stop when your head lightly touches the floor or just above it.
  5. Press the floor away and straighten your arms, pushing your hips back up to the V.

Cues

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

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips drop as you lower: that turns it back into a regular push-up; keep the hips stacked over your shoulders as much as you can.
  • Lowering your head straight between your hands: aim slightly forward so your forearms stay close to vertical.
  • Cutting the range short: lower until your head is near the floor, using a yoga block or book as a target if you need one.

Swap for: Decline Push-Up, Handstand Hold, Push-Up

Build a session with Pike Push-Up
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Pull

Without a bar, a door frame and the floor do the pulling. Skipping this pattern is the most common gap in no-equipment workouts, and it leaves your sessions all push and no pull.

Biceps, doorway curl

Bodyweight Bicep Curl

Biceps

Leaning back from a door frame and curling yourself in is the hardest pulling you can do at home without a bar. The closer your feet sit to the frame, the more of your weight your arms lift.

How to do it

  1. Grip both sides of a door frame around hip level, step one foot ahead of the other and walk your feet in toward it.
  2. Lean back until your arms are straight and your body is rigid from heels to head.
  3. Bend your elbows to bring your chest to the frame.
  4. Lower back out under control.

Cues

  • Elbows pinned to your sides
  • Body rigid
  • Feet in to make it harder

Common mistakes

  • Rowing instead of curling: keep your upper arms still at your sides and bend only at the elbows.
  • Bending at the hips: tense your glutes and keep a straight line.

Swap for: Chin-Up, TRX Chin-Up

Build a session with Bodyweight Bicep Curl
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Lower back, glutes and upper back

Superman

Lower Back

Lifting arms and legs off the floor works the whole back of your body at once, which is why it belongs in a short full-body plan. Hold the top for 2 seconds.

How to do it

  1. Lie face down with your arms stretched overhead and legs straight.
  2. Raise arms, chest and legs a few inches off the floor together.
  3. Hold for a second, then lower everything together.

Cues

  • Long, not high
  • Eyes on the floor

Common mistakes

  • Cranking the head back to lift higher: keep your neck in line with your spine.

Swap for: Back Extension, Exercise Ball Back Extension, Band Good Morning

Build a session with Superman
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Core and crawling

These hold your trunk still while arms and legs work, the job your core has in every other exercise. The crawl and walkout add a little conditioning and shoulder work.

Abs, anti-extension hold

Plank

Abs

A plank teaches you to hold your ribs and hips still while you breathe, the same brace a push-up and a squat need. Holds past 60 seconds add little, so make it harder instead of longer.

How to do it

  1. Set your forearms under your shoulders and your feet behind you, body in a straight line.
  2. Squeeze your glutes and pull your ribs down toward your hips.
  3. Hold, breathing normally, without letting your hips sag or rise.
  4. For the harder version, reach one arm forward and lift the opposite foot, hold, then switch sides.

Cues

  • Ribs down
  • Glutes tight
  • Straight line

Common mistakes

  • Hips sagging toward the floor: that hangs on your lower back.
  • Holding for minutes at an easy level: make it harder instead.

Swap for: Long Lever Plank, Plank Shoulder Tap

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Obliques, side hold

Side Plank

Abs

The side plank trains the trunk against bending sideways, a direction push-ups and squats never challenge. Hold each side for the same time.

How to do it

  1. Lie on one side with your elbow under your shoulder and your legs stacked.
  2. Lift your hips until your body is straight from head to feet.
  3. Hold, then switch sides.

Cues

  • Hips high
  • Stacked feet
  • Elbow under shoulder

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips drop toward the floor as the hold goes on.
  • Rolling the chest forward or back.

Swap for: Dumbbell Side Plank, Copenhagen Plank

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Core and shoulders, crawling

Bear Crawl

Abs, Shoulders

Crawling with knees an inch off the floor works shoulders, abs and quads together and gets your breathing up. Short sets of forward and back steps fit any room.

How to do it

  1. Start on hands and toes with knees bent and just off the floor.
  2. Move one hand and the opposite foot forward together, then the other pair.
  3. Keep the hips low and your back flat as you crawl forward and backward.

Cues

  • Knees hover low
  • Opposite hand and foot
  • Flat back

Common mistakes

  • Hips riding high: keep them at shoulder height.

Swap for: Gorilla Walk, Walkout, Plank Shoulder Tap

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Core, shoulders and hamstrings

Walkout

Abs, Shoulders, Chest

Walking your hands out to a plank and back stretches the hamstrings and loads the shoulders and abs in one rep. It works as a warm-up and as a core exercise at the end.

How to do it

  1. Stand with feet hip-width, hinge at the hips and put your palms on the floor, bending the knees as much as you need.
  2. Crawl your hands out one at a time into a high plank.
  3. Hold a beat, then crawl the hands back toward your feet and roll up to standing.

Cues

  • Brace your stomach in the plank so your hips do not sag.
  • Keep the legs as straight as you comfortably can on the way down.

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips drop in the plank.

Swap for: Bear Crawl, Spider Plank

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Conditioning

When the goal is fitness or fat loss as well as strength, these lift your heart rate with no equipment and no more room than a mat.

Full body conditioning

Burpee

Quads, Glutes, Chest, Shoulders

One rep takes you from standing to the floor and back up, so the whole body works and the heart rate climbs fast. Use it for conditioning, not for strength sets.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall, then squat down and plant your palms.
  2. Kick your feet back into a plank.
  3. Jump your feet back under you.
  4. Stand up and jump, reaching your arms overhead.

Cues

  • Fast down, fast up
  • Solid plank
  • Land soft

Common mistakes

  • Sagging hips in the plank: brace on every rep.
  • Slowing to a walk-out: keep it crisp or rest.

Swap for: Half Burpee, Mountain Climber, Dumbbell Burpee

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Core and conditioning, running plank

Mountain Climber

Abs

Driving the knees from a plank keeps the trunk working while your heart rate climbs. Timed rounds of 30 to 40 seconds fit easily into a circuit.

How to do it

  1. Start in a high plank.
  2. Drive one knee toward your chest, then switch legs quickly.
  3. Bursts: 15 seconds at half pace, then faster.

Cues

  • Shoulders over hands
  • Hips level

Common mistakes

  • Raising your hips high.
  • Bouncing on your hands.

Swap for: Plank Jack, Mountain Climber Jump, High Knees

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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.

Session 1

Beginner, three short sessions a week

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets39 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentBodyweight

You are starting from scratch or returning after a long break, and you want one routine to repeat at home.

Three sessions of one exercise per pattern gives every major muscle about 6 to 9 hard sets a week, more than enough to get stronger for the first few months. Everything stays 2 to 3 reps short of failure so you recover between sessions.

Full body
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Bodyweight Squat 3 × 10–20 3 75 s
Push-UpFrom the knees if needed. 3 × 5–12 2 90 s
Bodyweight Bicep Curl 3 × 8–12 2 75 s
SupermanHold 2 s at the top. 2 × 10–15 2 1 min
PlankSeconds per hold. 2 × 20–40 2 1 min
How to run it
Do it three times a week with a rest day in between each session. It takes about 25 minutes.
How to progress
Use double progression: when every set reaches the top of the rep range at the target reps in reserve, slow the reps down or move to the harder variation (squat to skater squat, knee push-up to floor push-up). Log your reps in reserve in RIRLift and it picks the next target for you.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Building muscle with no equipment

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts4× a week
  • Working sets54 a week
  • Per workout~30 min
  • EquipmentBodyweight

Push-ups and squats are easy for 15 to 20 reps, and you want to keep building muscle at home.

Two different sessions, each done twice a week, give the legs about 14 hard sets a week, pushing about 16 across push-ups and pike push-ups, and the back about 12, the range that builds muscle. The harder variations keep most sets between 6 and 15 reps, taken to 1 to 2 reps in reserve.

Day A
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Skater Squat1 warm-up set firstPer leg. 4 × 6–10 2 2 min
Push-Up 4 × 10–20 1 90 s
Bodyweight Bicep Curl 3 × 8–12 1 75 s
Side PlankSeconds per side. 3 × 30–45 2 1 min

Open Day A in the session builder

Day B
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Bodyweight Squat3 s down. 3 × 15–25 2 75 s
Pike Push-Up 4 × 6–12 2 90 s
SupermanHold 2 s at the top. 3 × 12–15 1 1 min
Walkout 3 × 6–8 2 1 min

Open Day B in the session builder

How to run it
Alternate Day A and Day B four times a week, for example Monday A, Tuesday B, Thursday A, Friday B. About 35 minutes each.
How to progress
Add reps up to the top of each range at the target reps in reserve, then make the rep harder with a slower lowering, a pause, or feet raised for the push-ups and pike push-ups.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Fitness and fat loss in 25 minutes

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets54 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentBodyweight

You want a sweaty session that also keeps muscle, for example while losing weight, with no equipment and little space.

Paired exercises with short rest keep your heart rate up for the whole session while each muscle still gets 3 to 4 working sets. The fat comes off through overall loss; the strength sets are what keep the muscle under it.

Circuit
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
A1 Jump Squat 3 × 10–15 3 1 min
A2 Push-Up 3 × 8–15 2 1 min
B1 Burpee 3 × 6–10 3 1 min
B2 Bodyweight Bicep Curl 3 × 8–12 2 1 min
C1 Mountain ClimberSeconds. 3 × 30–40 2 1 min
C2 Bear CrawlSteps forward and back. 3 × 10–16 2 1 min
How to run it
Do it two or three times a week, on days apart from any harder strength sessions. Go straight from the first exercise of each pair to the second.
How to progress
Add a rep per set or a few seconds to the timed exercises each week while keeping 2 to 3 reps in reserve on the strength moves. When the circuit fits in under 25 minutes, add a fourth round to the first pair.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

Can I do only full-body workouts?

Yes. Three full-body sessions a week train every muscle often enough to grow, and they suit busy schedules because a missed day does not leave a muscle untrained for a week.

Do 10-minute workouts actually work?

They work better than nothing and keep a habit going. To build strength, aim for about 20 to 30 minutes, which fits 3 sets of a squat, a push, a pull and a core move.

What is the 3-3-3 rule for workouts?

The name gets used loosely, but the usual meaning is three exercises for three sets, three days a week. Without equipment, a squat, a push-up and a doorway curl make a good three, with a plank added if you have 5 more minutes.

How many full body exercises should I do in one session?

Four to six: one squat, one push, one pull and one core exercise, plus a conditioning move if the session is for fitness. More exercises means fewer quality sets each.

Can you build muscle with full body bodyweight workouts?

Yes, as long as the exercises are hard enough that sets end within about 6 to 15 reps. That means progressing to single-leg squats, decline and pike push-ups, and slow tempos.