If you are trying to build muscle, this bodyweight workout for teens can help you burn some body fat, build some muscle, and improve your overall health. Building muscle as a teen can be hard due to lack of gym equipment, no way to get a consistent ride to the gym, or you may not have enough money for a gym membership.
Fortunately, there are exercises you can do at home to build lean muscle and burn some body fat without any weights.
If you can get your hands on some dumbbells, the added resistance can improve your gains.
Protip: Grab some plastic grocery bags or fill your backpack full of bottled waters for weight. A 16.9 ounce bottle of water is around 1 pound. A couple of cases and some creativity and you have yourself a decent cheap home gym.
Full Body Bodyweight Workout for Teens
The CDC recommends children aged 6 to 17 years to perform 60 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity each day. Along with your 60 minutes each day, the CDC recommends 3 days of activities that build muscle, and 3 days of activities that strengthen bones.
In short, you should get 60 minutes of running, jumping, playing, jogging, shooting hoops, playing a sport, or otherwise sweaty activities every day and three days a week of climbing, doing pushups, bodyweight exercises, and other strength-focused activities.
This bodyweight workout is designed to be used daily — alternate between Workout A and Workout B. Take a day off if you need to or if you plan on getting some other form of exercise in.
Consistency is key, so find a schedule that you can hold yourself to.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Push Ups | 4 | 20 |
| Bodyweight Squats | 4 | 20 |
| Pushup Position Planks | 3 | As Long As Possible |
| Sit Ups | 4 | 20 |
| Mountain Climbers | 4 | 20 |
| Jumping Jacks | 3 | 30 |
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Burpees | 2 | 10 |
| Dips | 4 | 20 |
| Elevated Pike Pushups | 3 | 20 |
| Side Planks | 3 | As Long As Possible |
| Russian Twists | 4 | 20 |
| Pull Ups | 3 | As Many As Possible |
Workout Tips
If you’re willing to use objects as dumbbells, you can substitute the elevated pike pushups for traditional exercises like front and side lateral raises.
Exercises Using Objects as Dumbbells
- Overhead press
- Arnold Press
- Skull Crushers
- One Arm Tricep Extensions
- Curls
- Hammer Curls
- One Arm Bent Over Rows
- Shrugs
- Goblet Squats
Pull Ups – This is a great exercise to build a solid back and nice biceps. Save up some money and get yourself a decent pull up bar. You’ll be able to train in a doorway and remove the pull up bar without any damage to the door frame.
Nutrition
It can be hard to control everything that you eat. You don’t always have the choice of eating home cooked meals full of fresh vegetables and lean protein.
Do your best to eat all of the vegetables, fruit, and whole foods you can. Instead of eating a drumstick ice cream cone, grab a couple of apples and a salad. You’ll feel fuller longer and replenish vital nutrients your body needs.
Weigh yourself around the same time on the same day each week and log your food.
You’ll be able to control your bodyweight, build muscle, and get healthier. After a few weeks, you’ll know exactly how many calories you need to eat to maintain your weight. If you need to lose weight, eat 300 fewer calories per day. If you want to build muscle, eat 300 extra calories per day.
Be consistent, push yourself, and strive to do better every workout.
hi, im about 50 kg and very small, bout 5’5-5’6…will these workouts help for me as well as they do for others, also how many calories should I eat a day
what i do is i calculate how much calories i need and i do 200 extra so my boddy can grow and build muscles but if you wanna have les weight you should do just 100 less for 6 months then just normal other wise you are going to be to tiny…
If you track your calorie intake and your weight, you can start finding your true caloric needs. If you maintain your weight at 1800 calories, in order to lose weight you should start eating 1500 calories a day. This deficit will allow your body to burn more fat. Eventually, if you don’t maintain and progress with exercise, you will stop losing weight. Now in order to lose weight you should eat 1200-1300, etc. The idea is that you’re creating a caloric deficit for your body to lose weight.
The same idea goes for building muscle. If you maintain weight at 1800 calories, eat 2000-2100 a day until you stop gaining weight. Increase to 2400, etc.
hi, im very small and just wanna know if this would help me build size?
Yes it will help. It’s hard to tell since I don’t know how much you currently eat. I would recommend eating at least 1700-2000 calories a day. Make your food choices as healthy as you can, but eating more calories than you burn will help you build size.
Start logging your food intake daily, aim for 1800 calories and give it a couple of weeks. Reassess your weight and progress, then you will have more data to work with. If you still haven’t gained weight, bump it up to 2000 or 2200 calories. You won’t “get fat” eating healthy foods and exercising. You get obese by overeating by thousands of calories and remaining sedentary.
Good luck! Keep me up to date on your progress.
hey, so ive stared my workouts, havent quite started the monitoring food thing but I’m eating enough I’m sure, I just have a question…but I don’t know how many sections to do, I’m trying 2 sections per workout, but I’m struggling to with the pushups and continually do plank etc, any tips
I’m about to rewrite and improve this article, it should help clear up some of the confusion. You’ve done well so far – two different workouts per day will work. May I suggest trying the full body workout and then another workout. That way you’re targeting the most muscle every workout.
As for the planks and pushups, there are a couple of options. You could either log how many pushups you complete and how long you plank for and strive to improve next time. Or you can make the exercise a little easier by using your knees or placing your hands on an elevated surface. Both options will help you progress.
Keep up the work and keep me updated. I should have this article updated within the next couple of days and it will be much better than it is now.
Cutty
hey cutty so its been about a week since i started and it has seen me improving your advice with the pushups and plank helped me, i just have one question on my abs, as well as getting them stronger i need them to be defined so ive been running1 mile warmup before every session i have, i want to know if cardio helps ab definition and wha i can do to improve it, because my abs are developing slower than my arms and chest and calves but i work on them th most, is it my ddiet?
Abs are mostly built in the kitchen. Sure, as you do more core work your muscles will get bigger, but the body fat on your abs is what “covers it up.” The cardio is great, that’s healthy for your heart and helps burn calories… which will help you lose weight.
Your abs should start showing for males if they get to around 6 to 17% bodyfat, and females are 14 to 24%. I’d recommend keep training and eating healthy. Keep building muscle and improving your workouts and with consistency you can slowly lower calorie intake and start leaning out. It’s easier to build muscle and strength on a calorie surplus and then do a cut and burn off the excess body fat.
You can break your muscles down all you want but if you aren’t fueling your body with healthy proteins, plenty of healthy carbs and plenty of nutritious fats, you’re just wasting your time.
Keep me posted and don’t get frustrated about not seeing abs yet, that’ll come in time.
I’m a teenage male, 125 pounds last time i’ve checked, and one on my major concerns before starting these workouts is how to know my form is correct for these exercises, and if this workouts ,like and including this, is effective to build muscle over a period of months, i just don’t know of any trustworthy sources for information on exercise so i thought you could shed some light on that. Any tips are welcome :)
Alexander,
I will edit the article and include links and videos on how to properly perform the exercise. That way you can work along with them to get a feel for it. Bodyweight exercises can be challenging, so don’t get discouraged if you aren’t able to perform everything in the workout. It will give you a “starting place” and eventually you will be adding to the workout because it no longer challenges you.
Building muscle takes performing exercises at a certain intensity level. This causes the muscle fibers to break down, and your body then repairs those fibers to be bigger and stronger. Many people are able to tear down their muscle, but then they refuel with poor nutritional choices. If you can learn how to cook or do your best to eat more protein and cut out any convenient foods, you’ll notice a much quicker change in your body. You could essentially pick a few random exercises to do every day, start eating right, and get in some cardio through sports or running or whatever would keep you interested… you’re going to build muscle. This routine is more or less a template for you. I’ve tried to make the workouts so it’s easy to progress and stay motivated, works a decent amount of muscles, and uses a good quality of exercises. You won’t build as much muscle as going to the gym and lifting weights, but you will definitely see a change in your body composition.
Hope this helps,
Cutty