Sometimes, it’s best to get back to the basics, and what’s more foundational than body-weight training? Push-ups, pull-ups, squats and lunges—it’s just you, your body and the force of gravity. And, it turns out that’s everything you need for an effective total-body workout.

You’re probably already having clients perform body-weight movements during the warm-up and/or cool-down segments of your sessions, but designing complete workouts around body-weight training can provide much-needed variety and give clients an effective backup plan when they can’t make it to the gym or are traveling. These workouts are also a great way to gauge progress: “When we started working together, you could do only six push-ups at a time. Now you’re pumping out three sets of 12!”

To be clear, body-weight workouts are an effective way to develop muscular fitness whether they’re used as an add-on to a current regimen, as a backup plan for a client who’s traveling for work or as the sole form of muscular training for a client who prefers home-based workouts.

What Does the Evidence Say?

The benefits of muscular training are well-established and include the following:

Increased physical capacity: Muscular training results in stronger muscles that increase the physical capacity for force production, leading to an increased ability to perform work or exercise.

Enhanced metabolic function: Muscular training raises the resting metabolic rate (RMR), resulting in more calories burned on a daily basis. Pair this increased RMR with more muscle mass and less fat mass and this helps counter some of the degenerative processes of aging and provides associated health benefits.

Reduced injury risk: A well-designed muscular-training program leads to balanced muscle development, which reduces the risk of overuse injuries. Also, strong muscles help dissipate the repetitive forces experienced during weight-bearing activities by providing stability and acting as shock absorbers.

Disease prevention: Muscular training provides many health-related benefits, including the following:

• Reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease
• Stronger muscles, which appears to be particularly important for low-back health
• Reduced pain of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis
• Decreased prevalence of depression in older men and women
• Improved functional ability in older adults

Taken together, these benefits enhance quality of life and lower the risk of premature all-cause mortality. In addition, in one study, participation in muscular training was shown to increase cognitive function, improve cancer survival and better manage metabolic health to such a degree that the researchers proposed that “resistance training be placed at the forefront of physical activity guidelines alongside aerobic training,” rather than being viewed as secondary, as it sometimes is.

In a study more directly focused on body-weight training, researchers compared running-based high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts and body weight–based HIIT workouts on the physical fitness levels of adolescents and found that while both workouts yielded improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength and speed, body-weight training was more effective in developing cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle health.

Finally, researchers looked at a simple body-weight interval training workout that they based on the principles of physical education and found that peak oxygen intake (a commonly used measure of cardiorespiratory fitness) was higher after a six-week program.

The overall theme of this body of research is that muscular training in general—and body-weight training specifically—offers benefits far beyond muscle strength and hypertrophy and should play a central role in every client’s workout plan.

A Sample Workout

The following workout was developed using the ACE Workout Builder, specifically the Function section of that template. This is a total-body workout that can be performed two to three nonconsecutive days each week.

To develop a workout for a client, pick at least one exercise from each column of the exercise list and follow the template from left to right to alternate between upper- and lower-body exercises. If you pick one exercise from each column, the client will repeat a specific number of rounds of the same exercises based on their time availability and current fitness level. If you pick more than one exercise, they will still work from left to right but each round may include different exercises. For the sake of variety, you may opt to create two different workouts.

Exercise List

To perform a workout, work from left to right across the table and have your client perform one set of eight to 15 repetitions of each exercise in a given row to complete one round, with minimal rest between exercises. Have them complete one to four rounds, depending on fitness level and time availability.

Sample Workout #1

Sample Workout #2

For more body-weight exercise options, check out these two ACE resources:

How to Design Body-weight Training Workouts Using the ACE Integrated Fitness Training Model

5 Body-weight Exercises You Can Do Right Now

Note that you can add more variety to these workouts if your client has equipment at home or is interested in incorporating equipment while at the gym. For example, if a client has a suspension trainer (like the TRX) at home, they might add the TRX Chest Press or the TRX Atomic Push-up to the Pushing column or the TRX Single-arm Row or TRX Back Row to the Pulling column. The ACE Workout Builder allows for modification based on your client’s interests and equipment availability.

Final Thoughts

Despite its simplicity, a well-designed body-weight training program offers tremendous benefits and can be used either to supplement an existing program or as the centerpiece of a program for a client who prefers this type of exercise or is working in the Functional and Movement Training phases of Muscular Training. These workouts are an excellent way to progress toward Load/Speed Training and to build a level of function and proper exercise form that will serve clients well no matter their ultimate goal.

Expand Your Knowledge

Looking for more information on how to help build effective body-weight workouts for your clients? Here are some great resources that also offer opportunities to earn the continuing education credits (CECs) you need to renew your certification.

Strength Training Essentials

Muscular fitness helps with much more than increased strength—it also reduces the risk of injury, contributes to a healthy body weight and improves general health. With this course created in partnership with Healthy Living, you will learn how to help people—regardless of their age or fitness level—safely attain the numerous benefits of resistance training in a time-efficient manner.

Programming Short Workouts for Busy Clients

Perceived barriers can be a reason your clients struggle to adopt healthy fitness routines. Whether they’re too busy, bored or not seeing results, shifting to workouts lasting 20 minutes or less may be just what they need to remain motivated. For clients who prefer shorter daily workouts over lengthy sessions three to four times a week, it is important to understand the most efficient exercises to help them reach their goals. Learn why this training structure can bring about greater consistency and better results and may be more appealing to busy clients who aim to make each moment count. 

Applying Yoga to Your Health and Fitness Practice

As yoga, breathwork and mindfulness grow in popularity, the transformative power of these practices should not be overlooked. By incorporating yoga into your sessions and focusing on flexibility, balance and mindfulness, you can help clients improve results, reduce the risk of injuries and enhance overall performance. This course shows you how to integrate yoga, breath and mindfulness practices into your current repertoire, and you’ll learn the fundamentals of yoga including anatomy, poses and breathing techniques. In addition, you’ll develop skills to create a safe space for clients of all backgrounds by exploring trauma-informed yoga.