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.
Would it be gud for me
I am 16 years old 55kg and little bit skinny with some muscles (i am doing bodyweight from a time)
I eat a good amt. (Quality) Of food
Yeah it would be great. I would recommend adding some resistance to your workouts either with bands or like a weighted vest for some extra gains.
Hey Cutty,
I’m 16, 6’0″, 131 pounds. I would say I’m relatively weak, as in I can do about 10-15 normal pushups in one shot, so 4 sets of 20 seems mind-blowingly high for someone of my strength. Do you recommend that I cut down the reps or is there some alternative I haven’t encountered?
On a separate note, amazingly clear guide with clear-cut muscle group workout sections. Best teen workout out I’ve seen out there, and thanks for taking the time to make this :)
With anticipation,
Nitish
Nitish, thank you for the kind words!
There are two different ways you can address that. You can either do 4 sets of as many as you can, log them down and try to beat them. (even if you can only get out a few reps in your last set)
You could also do pushups on your knees to finish out your set. So say you do 10 normal, do 10 on your knees. This is going to help overload your chest and triceps. Either way would work, just make sure you are trying to increase your overall reps each week.
I plan on adding more content.. The end of 2016 and now going into 2017 has left some hard financial times so I have been chasing money to pay bills instead of writing articles. If you have any articles you’d like to see written, please let me know!
Cutty,
I’m sorry to hear that, but thank you so much for taking time out of your life to help us out with our workouts, your tips are immensely helpful!
I hope things get better for you :)
-Nitish
Thanks Nitish, I like to help others achieve their goals so it’s only natural I try to do what I can to help. Once things get back in order, you’re going to see a completely new website.
Hi im Ollie,
Im 5 feet 6 inches and im 15….. I weigh just 48kg(105ish lbs) and I am very skinny . I already do a number of pushups, situps, pullups, and tricep dips each week…… i know that i CAN handle this workout but I have no idea if what im eating is enough or just unhealthy….. I can handle the workouts and hope to gain some muscle but, as i have heard “nutrition is key” any key tips as to what to eat and when to eat….
Much appreciated,
Ollie
You’re going to have to eat more. A good rule of thumb is if you are cooking something from raw ingredients, then it’s going to be good. Generally anything premade is loaded with bad stuff so buying meat and cooking it, learning how to cook, vegetables, fruits, etc.. That’s going to help you gain weight. You’re going to have to eat a lot and really get some healthy calories in.
Hi Cutty, I am thinking of starting this program for my self but right now I am training 4 times a week with my two other sports that I am practicing. So my question is if I should do this workout 5 times a week to 100% or if it would be god to reduce something? I would be really greatful if you could answer me as soon as possible so I can start my program as soon as possible. Sorry if it is a little bad english I am from Sweden.
Doing bodyweight exercises or even weighted bodyweight exercises shouldn’t be too taxing on your body. Go 100% until you start seeing performance decreases in your sports. Once you notice a decrease, dial back the training a bit so you can keep staying athletic and perform well for your other sports.
Thanks a lot Cutty, I am sorry for sending two comments, I thought that the first ond didn’t make it to you but I gave you some extra information there if it is anything I need to do before I start, food etc. //Simon
Fortunately, bodyweight exercises don’t really need preparation compared to maybe a full gym free-weight lifting routine. I would invite you to check out my nutrition section to learn about how to build muscle by eating right.
Hi Cutty I am 14 years old, 165 cm (5’3) and 50 kg (110 pounds). I wonder if this would be a great extra workout for when I allready train 4 times or more every week. Is it anything I need to think about before I start the workout? //Simon
If you are already working out 4 or more times per week, I’m not sure how much more benefit you will gain from doing this. Might I suggest picking up a sport that will increase your athletic performance?
It wouldn’t hurt to do this routine along with everything else, I just think you would be better off taking that time to recover from your pre-existing workout plans and maybe hit up some basketball or something similar.
Ok thank you my thoughts was to focus on bodywheight training at home because I don’t have a gym card and I don’t have time for gym.
It’ll work fantastic for you :)
Ok thanks I will check it out.
Hi Cutty, cheers for the workout. I’m 14 years old and really skinny so I’m looking to gain muscle. I was wondering how I could do pull ups without a pull up bar and if i could start off this plan with a few less reps and sets considering my current strength and not wanting to overwork myself?
Hi Jeff, thank you. For the reps, do what you can and strive to hit the reps as you go. It is going to be difficult for most people to hit those numbers, so don’t get discouraged if you cannot. For the pull ups, I would recommend getting a pull up bar, there really isn’t any other safe way to really hit your back without being sketchy. You may not know, but I also own Strength Junkies which is a fitness ecom store and I actually sell a mountless pull-up bar that is reasonably priced. I’ve been working on adding products and I do not have it up yet. Shoot me an email over if you talk to your parents about getting one – I would give you a fair deal since you are a reader. It is mountless and you can even use for push ups. A link from the manufacturer’s website to the pull up bar is here.
Hi again Cutty I just did my shoulder and arm workout but before I did it I didn’t know what rear later raises was. So I looked it up one youtube and I found it wery similar to the side lateral raises. So I wonder if you could decribe the different or link to a video or an other website. //Simon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttvfGg9d76c :)
Hi cutty, just wondering what one army crawl rep consists of because nearly everyone does it differently.
I basically count it like 1 rep is 1 of each side. So if you start, (left right), (left right), (left right), (left right), (left right) would be 5 reps.
Hope this helps!