The Best Bodyweight Exercises to Build Muscle

Introduction

Let’s be honest for a moment: you don’t need a fancy gym membership or a garage full of equipment to get big muscles. I know that sounds like something you would see on TV late at night, but please bear with me. Your body is already the most useful piece of workout equipment you’ll ever need.

The American College of Sports Medicine says that bodyweight training has been one of the most popular fitness trends since 2013, and for good reason. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research has published research that shows bodyweight exercises can help you build muscle just as well as traditional weight training if you do them with the right amount of intensity and progression. A study from 2015 found that people who did bodyweight exercises for eight weeks gained an average of 5.6% more muscle thickness.

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Bodyweight exercises are a practical and effective way to get the body you want, whether you’re a complete beginner, someone who travels a lot, or just sick of waiting for equipment at crowded gyms. Let me show you the best exercises for building muscle, based on science and real-world results.

Why bodyweight training really does help muscles grow

Before we get into specific exercises, let’s talk about why bodyweight training works so well. Your muscles don’t care if you’re lifting a barbell or your own body; they only care about tension, time under load, and progressive overload.

Your chest, shoulders, and triceps are all working against resistance (your bodyweight) when you do a push-up, just like they would when you do a bench press. The National Strength and Conditioning Association says that muscle hypertrophy happens when you put enough mechanical tension and metabolic stress on your muscles. Bodyweight exercises do both of these things very well.

The most important thing is to gradually make exercises harder over time. You can do this with bodyweight training by doing more reps, going slower, doing harder variations, or taking shorter breaks. It’s not about doing the same 20 push-ups every day; it’s about always finding new ways to challenge your muscles.

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The Upper Body Powerhouses

Push-Ups: The Best Exercise for Your Upper Body

If I could only tell you to do one exercise for your upper body, it would be push-ups. This exercise works your chest, shoulders, triceps, and core all at once. The American Council on Exercise says that a standard push-up uses about 64% of your body weight, which makes it a very hard exercise.

Begin with regular push-ups, with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width and your body in a straight line from your head to your heels. Lower yourself until your chest is almost touching the ground. If regular push-ups are too hard at first, start with incline push-ups against a wall or other raised surface. The higher the incline, the easier it is to move.

It’s time to move on once you can do 20 good reps. To work your triceps more, try diamond push-ups (with your hands in a diamond shape). To put more weight on your upper chest and shoulders, try decline push-ups (with your feet up). Push-ups with your feet on one side, called “archer push-ups,” are the first step toward your ultimate goal: one-arm push-ups.

Building a Strong Back with Pull-Ups and Chin-Ups

You might need one piece of equipment here: a pull-up bar. But since you can get a doorway bar for about $30, it’s worth the money. Pull-ups are the best way to make your back wider and your arms stronger.

Even though they use similar movement patterns, a study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that pull-ups work your back muscles (the latissimus dorsi) better than lat pulldowns. What’s the difference? Pull-ups require a lot of instability and tension in the whole body, which makes the muscles work harder.

Don’t worry if you can’t do a pull-up yet; most people can’t when they first start. Start with negative pull-ups: jump to the top and then lower yourself down as slowly as you can. This strange way of training quickly builds strength. You can also use resistance bands to help you or do inverted rows under a strong table.

Pull-ups work your back more than chin-ups do (palms facing you). For full development, switch between the two. When you can do 10 to 12 reps without stopping, try adding pauses at the top, slowing down your tempo, or moving on to harder variations like L-sit pull-ups.

Dips: A Great Way to Build Your Chest and Triceps

Dips are a great way to work out your chest, shoulders, and triceps. You can do them between two chairs, on parallel bars at a park, or even on your kitchen counter (as long as it’s strong).

According to research from the American Council on Exercise, dips are one of the best exercises for the triceps because they work these muscles more than traditional triceps extensions. When you lean forward during dips, your chest gets more work. When you stay upright, your triceps get more work.

If full dips are too hard, try bench dips first. To do this, sit on a bench with your hands next to your hips and your feet on the ground. Then, bend your elbows to lower your body. Start with full dips between two parallel surfaces, then make them harder by doing ring dips or weighted versions.

Muscle Builders for the Lower Body

Squats: The Key to Building Lower Body Strength

Bodyweight squats may seem easy, but they are the best way to build strong legs. The National Strength and Conditioning Association says that squats work your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and core, making them one of the best lower body exercises you can do.

It’s very important to have the right form: your feet should be shoulder-width apart, your chest should be up, your weight should be in your heels, and you should go down until your thighs are at least parallel to the ground. Your knees should move over your toes without bending in.

To get stronger with bodyweight squats, you need to do more than just the basic ones. Jump squats are great for explosive power, pistol squats (single-leg squats) are great for serious strength, and Bulgarian split squats with your back foot raised are great for both. A study from 2017 in the Journal of Sports Sciences found that single-leg exercises like pistol squats activate the same muscles as barbell squats but with much heavier weights.

Lunges: Building One Leg at a Time

Lunges fix muscle imbalances and make you stronger in a way that is useful. They work your quads, glutes, and hamstrings while also testing your balance and coordination. The American Council on Exercise says that walking lunges work your glutes 26% more than squats do.

Begin with stationary lunges, then move on to walking lunges, reverse lunges, and finally jumping lunges. Bulgarian split squats are a harder version of regular lunges. To do them, put your back foot on a bench or chair. Research shows that this can activate your quads up to 70% more than regular lunges.

Building Strong Glutes with Glute Bridges and Hip Thrusts

Your glutes are the biggest muscle group in your body, so you should pay special attention to them. Hip thrusts and glute bridges are great exercises for building these muscles. The Journal of Applied Biomechanics published a study that found that hip thrusts work the glutes more than squats, deadlifts, or lunges.

Put your feet flat on the ground and lie on your back. Then, lift your hips until your body is in a straight line from your shoulders to your knees. At the top, squeeze your glutes hard. Move on to single-leg variations, elevated hip thrusts (with your shoulders on a bench), or add pauses and pulses at the top of each rep.

Core Strength: The Most Important Thing

Planks and Their Different Types

Planks help you build strength and stability in your core. The American Council on Exercise says that planks work your rectus abdominis (the six-pack muscles) and obliques better than regular crunches and are safer for your spine.

Planks are just the start. You can do side planks to work on your obliques, plank-to-push-up transitions to work on your core dynamically, or RKC planks (which contract every muscle as much as possible) to get your muscles working harder in less time.

Leg Raises While Hanging

Hanging leg raises are great for building core strength if you have access to a pull-up bar. They work on your whole abdominal wall, but they focus on your lower abs. Begin with hanging knee raises, then move on to straight-leg raises, and finally work your way up to toes-to-bar.

Making Your Routine for Building Muscle

The truth is that doing random exercises won’t help you build muscle. You need to have a plan. The American College of Sports Medicine says that the best way to build muscle is to work out each muscle group 2 to 3 times a week.

This is what a simple three-day split might look like:

Day 1: Push Up with Upper Body

• 4 sets of push-up variations to near failure
• Dips: 3 sets until they almost fail
• Pike push-ups: 3 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions

Day 2: Lower Body

• Pistol squat progressions: 4 sets of 6 to 10 reps for each leg
• Bulgarian split squats: do 10 to 15 reps on each leg for three sets.
  – Three sets of 12 to 15 reps of single-leg hip thrusts per leg

Day 3: Pulling with the upper body and working the core

• 4 sets of pull-up variations to near failure
• 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps of inverted rows
• 3 sets of 8 to 12 hanging leg raises
• Different kinds of planks: 3 sets of 30 to 60 seconds each

Take at least one day off between sessions, and remember that muscles grow when you rest, not when you work out.

The Nutrition Part

You can’t make up for a bad diet by working out more. The International Society of Sports Nutrition says that to get the most muscle growth, you need about 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight every day. For a person who weighs 200 pounds, that’s 140 to 200 grams.

Eat mostly whole foods like lean meats, fish, eggs, legumes, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. You also need enough calories. Eating at maintenance or a little more (200–300 calories above maintenance) helps your muscles grow while keeping fat gain to a minimum.

The Secret Sauce: Progressive Overload

Progressive overload is what makes the difference between people who build muscle and people who just work out. You should make each workout a little harder than the one before it. This doesn’t mean doing more reps forever; it means making things harder on purpose.

Keep a record of your workouts. This week, try to do 16 push-ups if you did 15 last week. If you can do 20, try a harder version. A study in Sports Medicine shows that progressive overload is the most important thing for long-term muscle growth.

Conclusion

It’s not only possible to build muscle with bodyweight exercises; it’s also practical, effective, and available to everyone. You don’t need to buy a lot of expensive gear or join a gym. You need to be consistent, gradually increase the weight you lift, eat well, and be patient.

The exercises I’ve shown you aren’t just fads; they’re tried-and-true moves that have been studied by scientists and used by athletes, soldiers, and fitness fans all over the world. For generations, push-ups, pull-ups, squats, and their variations have helped people get in great shape. They will work for you too.

Begin where you are. That’s where you should start if you can only do five push-ups. You could be doing 30 in three months. You might be able to work on one-arm variations in six months. It’s not about comparing yourself to others; it’s about getting stronger every day.

Your body can do amazing things. With the right push, it can change, grow, and adapt. If you give it regular exercise, enough food, and enough time to recover, you’ll be amazed at what you can build without ever going to the gym. Yesterday was the best time to start. Right now is the second best time. Get down and give me twenty.