10 Calisthenic Exercises EVERYONE Should Do!

Whether you have access to weights or not, there are 10 calisthenic exercises that everyone must do if they want to build their best body ever. In this video, I’m going to break down each of these 10 bodyweight exercises to help you easily identify the calisthenic movements that are going to keep the gains coming, regardless of where you train.

The list starts off with what some call the king of all bodyweight exercises - the pullup. This upper body exercise is one of the best vertical pulling moves you can include in your pull or back workout. That said, even if you had access to a full gym and could do a lat pulldown or a barbell row or deadlift, this is still an exercise that you would want to include in your workout in order to see your best muscle gains.

The next exercise looks similar but has different benefits. We’re talking about the chinup. With a simple switch of the hand position to an underhand supinated grip, you can shift some of the focus away from the lats and onto the biceps. I credit this one bodyweight exercise (along with the barbell curl) as the two most responsible for helping me to build big biceps from an early age.

The next calisthenic exercise that everyone must do is a pushup. Now, it is important that you find the version of this movement that challenges you in order for it to provide the benefits I know it’s capable of. Don’t just keep increasing the reps until you are doing 100 pushups a day, as I’ve pointed out before, but find the one that is more capable of providing the overload needed to drive new muscle growth.

The slick floor bridge curl is one of the most irreplaceable exercises in your posterior chain exercise options. It is one of the only ones that can train both the glutes and hamstrings dynamically together (if you perform the bridge on every rep) but more importantly, the one that allows these two extremely important muscle groups to work together as they prefer to.

The reverse hyper is not one of those bodyweight exercises that builds muscle, at least not directly, but is no less important for everyone to do. This is because it strengthens the low back and glutes and helps to create the support and stability that makes the big lifts easier. Even the bench press can benefit from the hip extension strength needed to create the leg drive to assist the bar’s upward push.

The dead arm hang is one of those moves that, like the reverse hyper, is not going to build muscle but is going to help develop your toughness as well as your grip and hand strength that will pay off on other exercises. Even the shoulder stability developed by doing this bodyweight beast of an exercise is going to help you to better stabilize on exercises like the row and deadlift that have traction stresses built into them.

The hanging leg raise is an ab exercise that should be in everyone’s program. If you cannot perform the version with your legs held out straight then you want to do the bent knee variation. There are simply no more challenging, but rewarding, ab exercises than some version of a hanging one. Pick the one you can do, and do it.

The handstand press is a closed chain exercise for the shoulders that provides many benefits beyond just the strength built through pressing your own bodyweight. This is particularly good for those that have shoulder stability weakness or even labrum issues. The compressive stresses here are a good thing for helping to strengthen the entire shoulder girdle.

The inverted row is an irreplaceable bodyweight exercise for back. It is extra effective if you learn to attack the bar with your sternum rather than just allowing the bar to take your body for the ride as it often does during a standard barbell row.

Finally, the dip is a great bodyweight only exercise for building up the chest, shoulders and triceps. Even if you have access to a bench press and a cable crossover machine, you’re always going to want to find a way to work the dip into your workout program especially if your best lower chest development is something you seek to attain.

For more calisthenic workouts and bodyweight exercise videos, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube via the link below and remember to turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.

[flanorunseyirdefteri]

0:25 1. Pull-ups
0:53 2. Chin-ups
1:35 3. Pushups
2:27 4. Slick Floor Bridge Curls
3:15 5. Reverse Hypers
4:04 6. Dead Arm Hangs
4:48 7. Hanging Ab Raises
5:40 8. Handstand Pushups
6:51 9. Inverted Rows
7:41 10. Dips

[Roger-hcpu]

I have added all "you should do" exercises to my routine and now I live in the gym. Thanks Jeff.

[TheKnightBlade]

Jeff punts a football with both legs to avoid muscle imbalance.

[saranshpandey]

1. Pull-ups
2. Chin-ups
3. Pushups
4. Slick Floor Bridge Curls
5. Reverse Hypers
6. Dead Arm Hangs
7.Hanging Ab raises
8. Handstand Pushups
9. Inverted Rows
10. Dips

[-T_L_P-]

It’s unreal how many exercises I’ve learned from watching this channel over the years. Thank you Jeff and AthleanX team!

[salpanettieri]

Jeff, always a great lesson!! I’m 64, please, make a video for guys my age. You did a terrific video for guys over 40. That was sooo informative!! Please expand on it, please include sets, reps, how often to do MRT, rest days, and the safest exercises for us older guys from a PT point of view. It would be very very greatly appreciated by me and I’m sure a number of your viewers. Thanks!

[j_stein]

I’ve been incorporating more calisthenic exercises and I’ve seen huge improvements in my upper body, especially my shoulders with chest to wall handstand push-ups. My chest was even able to maintain its strength and my bench PR after a couple months without benching. The challenge is that my workouts went from 45 minutes to 70 minutes long.

[sshez]

I swithced to mostly calisthenics exercises and i havent looked back. Strength and mobility improved so much.

[RafaelMartinez-bisw]

Jeff I been watching your vids for the last 7 months. Went from 220 to 185! Getting jacked. Thank you for all the awesome advice and inspiration 💪🏼💪🏼👏👏🙏🏽🙏🏽

[robertoconconi]

Of the ten I've included 4 in my routines, push ups, reverse hypers, the hanging ab raises and the dips, also I'm training to do the chin ups and the pull ups, aIso I'm happy to know I have been doing great exercises and that the knowledge passed down by Jeff has sunk in.

Thanks Jeff you are great.

[demongutzs]

Jeff I am a 13yo boy, my dad introduced me to the world of training almost a year ago and now I am addicted to this, I just want to thank you for how much your videos have helped me, you are the best jeff.

[ethanbyrne]

Thanks for telling us which bodyweight exercises to not overlook👍 These are no doubt functional and very effective, and I’ll be sure to include these in whatever program or workout I’ll be doing in the near future.

[markpetruschi]

Thanks for this! Although I prefer lifting, calisthenics is a great way to build muscle and athleticism. Training is important but there are no real gains without proper diet. I realized that after I started following my first meal plan. I found it online, on site Next Level Diet iirc. At first it was tough to eat an excessive amount of calories, but eventually I got used to it. Good diet is a game changer!!

[evol]

I love how when everytime I watch one of your videos it feels like I am doing something wrong. Thank you so much for the information, you've really helped me a lot.

[russelrealeza]

Jeff is the reason why I started working out and following his AthleanX Zero Program exercises here on his channel. It's been 4 years doing Calisthenics and I just miss this videos when I was just starting. Thanks Jeff, you are one of my huge motivations when I was still a skinny guy 🙏💪🔥

[jamescitrin]

Thank you Jeff for contributing to fitness information on YouTube. Indirectly you have helped me make massive lifestyle changes

[russking]

Jeff, you Continue to Amaze me with the depth of your knowledge and instructional precision targeting all the most imperative muscles to be trained. I’m So thankful I found your channel!! Please continue your exceptional work that is So very vital to a healthy balanced lifestyle…and most importantly, Thank you! One day I’d love to train with you to digest your directions first hand, until then…let the videos continue 👍🤙

[Wissro]

More calisthenics videos Jeff, I love them!

[glowman]

I really think core, old school, callisthenic exercises should really come back into favor. They are often cardio + resistance, compound movements that pack a huge benefit for the time investment (esp. if you also consider that there may be mobility benefits).

[GhostRanger]

Great video -- Thanks, Jeff! Started adding incline diamond pushups to my routine recently. Hoping to transition to handstand pushups, something I used to do in my younger days as a stunt but which I regret not doing more often as a workout set. Also, I do decline pushups with my feet on the ground about three feet from a bench and my hands on the bench, usually doing diamonds, but occasionally doing them wider while wearing a back pack with 35 lbs of plates in it. Always did pullups and dips and I am shocked at how many of the younger guys can't do them, because they are scared to death that if they do them before lifting weights they will look weak on the bench and row stuff. And if they try them after free weights, they will be too gassed to do any at all. I overcame that mentally by doing five sets of dips and pullups as a superset "warm-up" BEFORE chest and back workouts... and once I got used to it, I found I had a much more effective routine in the end. #blessings