Bodyweight / Calisthenics: how it works
Three days a week with nothing but your bodyweight and a pull-up bar. Harder variations replace heavier weights.
Who it suits
Anyone training at home, in a park or while travelling, and beginners building a base before the gym.
How the week runs
Three days a week with rest between, rotating three days of push ups, pull ups and rows, dips, squats, lunges, glute bridges, calf raises and core work.
How to progress
Add reps until the top of the range is easy on every set, then move to a harder version: push up to decline or diamond push up, bodyweight squat to split squat, two-leg to single-leg bridges and calf raises. Once you can do plenty of pull ups or dips, hang a little weight from a belt; MaxLift logs it as added weight.
Tips
- Can’t do a pull up yet? Swap to inverted rows, or use a band or assisted machine and log the assistance as negative weight.
- Bodyweight sets count reps, so the Progress chart shows your most reps per session.