You either commit and get strong, or keep watching guys on YouTube and wonder why you’re still skinny. The choice is yours. If you want something casual, go do 30 minutes of random push-ups and call it a day. But if you want to actually get jacked without weights, this is how you do it. There’s a lot of nonsense online right now, like there always has been. Specifically, I’m talking about the hype around bodyweight routines where they tell you to do hundreds or thousands of reps of push-ups or chin-ups. That’s fake fitness advice—no protein, no weights, and most of them are either on steroids, train with weights, or built their physique with weights first. Some just have elite genetics and push the “smoke weed and workout in the park” nonsense. Ridiculous.

If someone is stuck with bodyweight only, the smart move is to focus on lower reps with harder variations (e.g., archer push-ups, one-arm push-ups), explosive movements (e.g., clapping push-ups, jump squats), slowing down reps (tempo training, paused reps), and isometrics (holding a planche, wall sits, etc.). If they can get a weight vest or dip belt, even better. Otherwise, pure bodyweight training will eventually stall for hypertrophy unless they’re doing advanced variations.

If you’re stuck with bodyweight training, you don’t get to half-ass it. This isn’t some “do a few push-ups and get shredded” nonsense. If you’re serious, you progress strategically—harder variations, intensity, and no wasted reps.

CALORIE & MACRO BREAKDOWN (Adjust based on your goal)

Goal: Build Muscle → 15-17x bodyweight in calories

Goal: Lose Fat → 12-14x bodyweight in calories

Protein → 1g per pound of bodyweight

Carbs → 2-3g per pound (higher if bulking, lower if cutting)

Fats → 0.4-0.6g per pound

Example for a 170-lb guy bulking:

Calories: ~3,000 kcal

Protein: ~170g

Carbs: ~350-400g

Fats: ~70-90g

For a 240-lb guy cutting, here’s an equivalent breakdown:

Calories: ~2,880 kcal (aiming for a 10-20% deficit)

Protein: ~240g (to preserve muscle mass)

Carbs: ~200-250g (depending on activity level)

Fats: ~50-70g (moderate intake to support hormonal balance)

Iron Resilience Push/Pull/Legs Bodyweight Routine for Novices, and Beyond

Day 1,4 – Push (Chest, Shoulders, Triceps)

You can modify or intensify push-ups by elevating feet, doing one-arm push-ups, or using a backpack for added resistance.

Knee Push-Ups → Regular Push-Ups → Elevated Push-Ups → Decline Push-Ups → One-Arm Push-Ups

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 8-15 reps (increase reps or move to harder variations over time)

Pike Push-Ups → Handstand Push-Ups (Wall-assisted)

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 6-12 reps

Chair Dips → Weighted Dips (Backpack)

If you don’t have access to parallel bars, you can still do dips with household objects or using natural structures. Such as placing two chairs together. A walker or rails can also work well for improvising parallel bar dips, as long as they are sturdy and can support your body weight.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Diamond Push-Ups

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Day 2, 5 – Pull (Back, Biceps)

If you don’t have a chin up bar you can use a towel over a door or tree branch. Wrap it around and pull yourself up like a row. Use any high and sturdy surface (like a tree branch, bed frame, or horizontal pipes) to simulate chin-up movements. You can even use bedsheets or ropes if necessary.

Inverted Rows (Under a Table or Low Bar) → Weighted Rows (Backpack)

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Pull-Ups (Bar or Towel Rows over Door)

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 5-10 reps (add weight or reps over time)

Bicep Curls with Improvised Weights

Fill a backpack with books, water bottles, or other heavy items. Another idea is to use large water bottles or jugs (like gallon-sized ones). Hold one in each hand and perform curls as you would with dumbbells. Lastly you could always loop a towel around a heavy object (like a sandbag or large bag of rice). Hold both ends of the towel with your hands and curl the object up toward your body.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Isometric Holds (Planche Lean, Wall Plank)

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 20-60 seconds

Day 3,6 – Legs (Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Calves)
Bodyweight Squats → Bulgarian Split Squats → Pistol Squats

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 10-20 reps

Walking Lunges → Weighted Lunges

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 12-15 reps per leg

Glute Bridges → Single-Leg Glute Bridges

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 12-20 reps

Calf Raises (Elevated)

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 20-30 reps

Wall Sits

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 30-90 seconds

Day 7 – Off

Tips & Suggestions

Progressive overload ensures that your body is constantly challenged, forcing it to adapt and get stronger, bigger, or more endurance-capable. Without it, your progress will plateau. Therefore to achieve this we can: increase reps, add weight (backpack, sandbag, water bottles), slow down tempo, or progress to harder variations.

So, in whatever routine you do you must ensure you are doing one, or more of these:

• Performing more repetitions per set than you did before. Note: simply doing more reps past a certain range will only build endurance, or function more as cardio.
• Using additional resistance, like a backpack, sandbag, or water bottles, to make exercises harder. With barbells, or dumbbells this is simpler i.e. add weight to the bar, or select a heavier dumbbell. Likewise on machines we can simply adjust them higher or lower as per our individual needs. With bodyweight exercises you are the weight. You can add extra weight to your own body either by physically gaining more mass, or by adding external weight via a dip belt or such as discussed above.
• Reducing the speed at which you perform the exercise, particularly the lowering phase (eccentric), to increase time under tension.
• Moving from easier versions of an exercise to more difficult ones (e.g., knee push-ups → regular push-ups → one-arm push-ups). From a multi joint exercise to a unilateral version basically.

If you can’t add weight, add speed. Clapping push-ups, explosive dips, box jumps. The more force you generate, the stronger you get.

Tempo training makes everything harder. 3-1-3 tempo. 3 seconds down, 1 second pause at the bottom, and 3 seconds up.

Strap on a backpack, wear a weight vest, hold a rock—whatever it takes. If it’s heavier, it works.

Summary

With creativity, you can make almost any environment work for a solid strength training session. The key is to be consistent, increase difficulty progressively, and focus on training hard with the tools at your disposal.

And let’s be real—those “1,000 push-ups a day” stories? Mostly hype. Sure, you’ll build some endurance, but that’s not how hypertrophy works. The guy selling you that routine probably already had a great physique before he started.

At the end of the day, there’s no magic formula. Whether you’re lifting iron or just your own bodyweight, you have to force your muscles to adapt. The laws of muscle growth don’t care about fancy gyms, or trendy pop workouts.

No gym? No excuses. Full gym? No mercy. Either way, get to work.