Calisthenics for Beginners: Exercises, Workouts and How to Get Started

Page last updated: 26/10/26

What Is Calisthenics | Benefits | Calisthenics Workout Plan - Beginners | Getting Started | Results | How To Progress

Whether you’re looking for a way to keep fit without the gym or want to add variety to your workouts, calisthenics is a great type of strength training to try.

Although calisthenics is most well known for advanced exercises like muscle ups and handstands, this style of training can be adapted to all fitness levels. Here’s how to get started with calisthenics as a beginner.

What is a calisthenics workout?

Calisthenics is a form of resistance training that uses your body weight and gravity to provide the resistance to your muscle contractions, rather than using external weight like dumbbells.

Calisthenics dates back as far as Ancient Greece, and almost all movements in modern day weight training originate from these bodyweight exercises; for example, the leg press is an evolution of the bodyweight squat. Many free weight exercises are just calisthenics with barbells, dumbbells, or cables!

PureGym Warrington Central based Personal Trainer Phil Burrows is a big fan of calisthenics as a way to improve your strength, flexibility, energy levels, and state of mind. When Phil first started his fitness journey, he was 21 stone and unable to perform a single press up. Now, he is a gymnastic and teaches calisthenics to his clients, alongside other resistance training programmes.

Here, he looks at what calisthenics is, what the benefits are, a beginner calisthenics workout plan, and tips for creating more of a challenge for your calisthenics training plan. 

Jump straight to our beginner calisthenics workout.

What are the benefits of calisthenics exercises?

The biggest reason that calisthenic workouts and bodyweight exercises have been overlooked in favour of weight training is that, in order to grow your muscle strength and size, you need to continually increase the resistance put on your muscles each week; adding weights is an easy way to do this.

While progressing in a calisthenics workout isn't as straight forward as weightlifting, there are endless options for progression. And, the practice comes with some incredible benefits that make it worth adding into your weekly routine.

1. Greater mind-body connection

For most, the purpose of weightlifting is to grow both the strength and size of your muscles, and as a result the focus is on increasing the weight as quickly as possible. This can result in poor form and technique, which prevents progression and can result in injury.

With calisthenics, everything comes down to your form and technique. Really focusing on getting the movement pattern right, stimulating the right muscles, and having control over your body improves your mind-body connection and removes the emphasis from what your body looks like, to what it can do.

2. Training is more interesting

Calisthenics uses bodyweight and gravity to provide resistance and improve your strength, balance, and flexibility. It can be as basic or as advanced as needed to help you progress — unlike with weight training where the only progress is in the load or number of reps, calisthenics progresses through the movement itself — either making it more advanced, altering the speed, or changing the angle.

While basic bodyweight exercises like the squat are calisthenic exercises, advanced movements like those you see in gymnastics are also a form of calisthenics. This ability to adapt and evolve movements means every training session is interesting. It's also easier to break through plateaus when you can adapt the movement!

3. It can be done anywhere

In its most basic form, calisthenics only requires some floor space and your body, so it can be carried out anywhere, making it an extremely accessible form of movement! If you do prefer to work out in the gym, you won't have to wait for any equipment to do your routine, and if you prefer circuit-style training, you won't need to rely on several pieces of equipment being ready at one time.

4. Improves strength, flexibility, balance, and coordination

Calisthenics is a form of functional training that offers many physical benefits outside of muscle strength. Because the focus is on your form and how your body moves, it's great for improving strength, flexibility, balance, and coordination.

5. It's low impact

Weightlifting is great for building strength and general fitness, but the mix of heavy weights and incorrect form can cause injuries or issues with your joints, tendons, and muscles. Calisthenics is a low impact way to build strength, and as you are paying such close attention to your body during the movement, there's a reduced risk of injury.

6. It's a full body workout

Calisthenics works the whole body by balancing push and pull exercises, without focusing on one muscle group over another. This means you get a total body workout, including those smaller stabilising muscles that can be neglected in weight training. Even the muscles in your feet and hands are put to use!

Calisthenics exercises and workout plan for beginners

Calisthenics is often known for advanced bodyweight moves like the muscle up and front lever but you should start by working on your base level of strength and stability with a good calisthenics routine first. 

A starter calisthenics workout may be simple but it’s important as it focuses on utilising the right muscles for each movement and getting the form right.

For all the moves in our beginners' calisthenics workout plan below, aim to do between 6 and 12 reps for three sets. When you get to 3 sets of 12, you can progress the movement — we look at how to progress some movements in calisthenics after this workout.

Calisthenics exercises

Bodyweight squat

1. Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip width apart, feet facing out.
2. Engage your core and stand tall, with your shoulders back and down. This will help to keep your spine straight.
3. Lower yourself into a squat position by hinging at the hips and bending your knees, as if you were sitting down.
4. The bottom position of a squat can vary depending on your mobility and strength. Aim to get your hips below parallel to your knees at a minimum, but if you can go further while keeping your spine straight and feet flat on the floor then do.
5. Pause at the bottom of the movement before driving yourself back up through your legs.

Kneeling push up

1. Start by lying down flat on the floor with your hands by your chest and elbows above your hands, pointing towards the ceiling.
2. Keeping your knees on the floor, push into the ground to lift your torso up. Your spine and hips should form a straight line down to your knees.
3. Slowly lower your chest towards the ground. Keep your elbows tucked into your sides.

Check out how to do different push up variations here.

Body row

The body row, also known as an inverted row, is a great pull exercise that uses gravity to provide resistance to the muscles in your back, arms, core, and hands (grip). To perform this movement, you need either a horizontal bar or suspended training equipment such as TRX.

1. Set the bar or TRX handles so it sits around waist height.
2. Lie down on the floor with your chest below the bar, facing upwards.
3. Grab the bar using an overhand grip, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
4. Engage your core to keep your body in one straight line, with only your heels on the floor.
5. Pull your chest up towards the bar, keeping your elbows tucked into your side.
6. Once you reach the top, pause before lowering back to starting position.

The higher the bar, the easier the movement, and vice versa, so feel free to adjust the height if you find this too easy or difficult.

Sit ups

Sit ups are an excellent move for developing core strength. It's important to really focus on engaging your abs throughout the movement, as it will help to prevent overcompensation from other muscles such as the neck.

1. Start by lying flat on your back, knees bent and feet flat on the ground. You can tuck them underneath a bench for added stability.
2. Cross your arms over your chest so your hands rest on the opposite shoulder.
3. Engage your core. You can do this by squeezing your stomach towards your lower back.
4. Curl your back off the ground by contracting your ab muscles until you are sat upright.
5. Slowly lower yourself to the floor.

Burpees

Burpees are a hard but valuable exercise. Not only is it classed as cardio, but it is pretty much a full body strength movement.

1. Stand up straight with your feet around shoulder-width apart.
2. Squat down before placing your hands on the floor between your feet.
3. Lean your weight forward onto your hands and kick back both feet together into a push up position.
4. Do a push up and then pull your feet back towards the outside of your hands in a single movement. You can make this more challenging by lowering your body to the floor completely before pressing up.
5. Push yourself up through to a standing position with your arms above your head, jumping as you reach the top.

The burpee is hard to get right. Keep the movement slow and controlled until you grasp it, and then work on the speed.

Calisthenics at home: how to get started without equipment

One of the benefits of calisthenics workouts is that you don’t need gym equipment to get started. You can do bodyweight exercises without any equipment at all, or you can use things around the house to add variety to your workouts:

• A sturdy table edge can be used for inverted rows, seated pull ups, and incline push ups
• Steps and sturdy chairs can be used for exercises like step ups and Bulgarian split squats
• Small steps can be used to create uneven footing to make squats harder

What results can you expect? The calisthenics physique 

With consistent calisthenics training, you can expect to increase muscle size and definition. It’s a common misconception that weights are needed to build muscle but as long as you’re training close to failure with good form and eating enough protein and calories to build muscle, increasing muscle mass is achievable.

It’s worth noting that the heavier you weigh, the harder calisthenics exercises become. Many calisthenics athletes prefer a lean, athletic build rather than packing on the muscle for this reason.

How to progress from beginner to intermediate calisthenics

Progressive overload is a key part of strength training; it helps to prevent plateaus and ensure you continue to grow strong and build muscle.

With weightlifting, increasing the weights is a simple way to progress your workouts. Rather than continually add reps, you can work within a rep range and add weight every time you hit your upper reps.

Calisthenics exercises use bodyweight (which is what makes them so great for beginners) so there isn’t an option to build strength by changing the weights, and it’s unrealistic to add unlimited reps! To progress overload with calisthenics, you have to find ways to change the movement and progress the technique to make it more challenging. Ways you could do this include:

• Increasing the range of motion
• Slowing down the eccentric portion of the movement
• Adding pauses or pulses
• Using vertical surfaces like poles or gymnastic wall bars
• Unilateral exercises
• Harder variations of the same exercise

Here are a few examples to highlight how one movement in your calisthenics training plan can be adapted as you become stronger. Once you can do 2-3 sets of 8-10 reps, start working on the next exercise.

You can also check out our free intermediate calisthenics workout plan here.

Squats

• Bodyweight squats
• Split squats
• Split squats with front leg on a step
• Bulgarian split squat
• Shrimp squat
• Pistol squat
• Dragon squat

Push ups

• Wall push up
• Incline push up
• Knee push up
• Standard push up
• Decline push up
• One handed push up

Pull ups

This assumes you have a sturdy table edge or pull up bars you can use.

• Inverted row
• Seated pull up
• One leg seated pull up
• Negative pull ups
• Pull ups

Check out our intermediate calisthenics workout plan here for more intermediate exercise ideas.

FAQs on calisthenics for beginners

What is calisthenics?

Calisthenics is a style of strength training that uses bodyweight and gravity to provide resistance, rather than external weights.

Is calisthenics suitable for complete beginners?

Yes – calisthenics can be adapted to all levels including complete beginners. Starting with bodyweight exercises is a great way to learn technique and build strength, even if you want to move on to weights.

Can I do calisthenics at home without any equipment?

Calisthenics can be done anywhere, without any equipment. All you need is space to move.

How often should a beginner do calisthenics workouts?

Beginners should aim to strength train 3-4 times a week. This can be just calisthenics or a mix of calisthenics and weightlifting.

What's the difference between calisthenics and a regular gym workout?

Calisthenics uses bodyweight exercises to build strength, mobility, and stability, while typical gym workouts use weights to build strength and size.