Bodyweight Full Body (BWF)
The r/bodyweightfitness community's most popular beginner program, built around push/pull supersets and a progression ladder for every exercise. When you can do 3×8 with clean form, you move to a harder variation rather than adding weight. Core work (anti-extension, anti-rotation, posterior chain) closes each session. No gym required — a pull-up bar, parallel bars or sturdy chairs for dips, a low bar or rings for rows, and a resistance band.
Who is this plan for?
- Complete beginners or those returning after a long break
- Able to do at least a wall push-up and a dead hang for 10 seconds
- Goal: build foundational strength using only bodyweight
- Pull-up bar, parallel bars or sturdy chairs for dips, a low bar or rings for rows, a light resistance band, and a flat bench or sturdy table for reverse hyperextensions
How it works
- Push/Pull Supersets: Exercises are paired into antagonist supersets (e.g., pull-ups + squats, dips + rows) to save time and balance muscle groups.
- Variation Ladders: Instead of adding weight, you progress to a harder exercise variation when you hit 3×8 with clean form on all sets. For example: incline push-up → full push-up → diamond push-up.
- Core Triplet: Anti-extension (plank/ab wheel), anti-rotation (Pallof press), and posterior chain (reverse hyper) train trunk stability from all angles.
- Clean Form First: Stop a set when your technique breaks down — grinding out ugly reps doesn't help at this stage.
- Warm-up first: This plan covers strength work only. Do a 5–10 min dynamic warm-up before each session: shoulder and wrist mobility, hip activation, and core engagement (e.g., dead bug). The official r/bodyweightfitness wiki has the full recommended warm-up sequence.
Pros & Limitations
Muscles trained
Avg. hits per week · Primary 1.0 · Secondary 0.5
Program Structure
9 exercises · 27 sets
~58 min
Progression: scapular pulls → arch hangs → negative pull-ups → full pull-ups → weighted. Start on the hardest step where you can do 3×5 clean. Move up when you hit 3×8 on all sets.
Progression: assisted squat → squat → split squat → Bulgarian split squat → beginner shrimp → intermediate → advanced shrimp. With a barbell rack: barbell squats instead of bodyweight.
Progression: support hold (work to 30s) → negative dips → full dips → ring dips → weighted. Parallel bars or two sturdy chairs.
Progression: bodyweight RDL → single-leg deadlift → banded Nordic negatives → banded Nordic curl → Nordic curl. Hardest ladder to progress — add barbell or dumbbell deadlifts if available.
Progression: vertical rows → incline rows → horizontal rows → wide rows → archer rows. Lower the bar or rings to make it harder.
Progression: wall → incline → full → diamond → pseudo planche push-up. Move up at 3×8 clean.
Anti-extension core. Progression: plank (work to 3×30s) → ring ab rollouts → ab wheel rollout.
Anti-rotation core. Progression: banded Pallof press → ring Pallof press (heavier bands or rings over time).
Posterior chain core. Progression: reverse hyper on bench → glute-ham raise.
Based on the r/bodyweightfitness Recommended Routine (2018 revision), a free community program from the r/bodyweightfitness subreddit (reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommended_routine). hitPR is not affiliated with the creators.
Talk to your doctor before starting a new training program, especially if you have pre-existing conditions or haven't trained in a while. Start lighter than you think — good technique always comes before heavy weight.
Start this plan in hitPR
Free. All progression rules pre-configured.