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.
How many calories would you recommend me to eat and what would the macros percentages be? I am a 14 year old and 5 foot. I want to start doing these workouts.
https://tdeecalculator.net/ Check that link out
Is it important to go through the exercises of each section in the order as they are provided?
Bodyweight exercises aren’t too picky with order, you can do them in any order you’d like.
Do I do the entire workout 5 days a week? Or do I do a section perday? Also I see army crawls were put twice, if I do the entire workout in a day, do I do army crawls twice?
Thanks
They are broken down per day. Each chunk of exercises is what you need to do for the day.
Hey Curry, I’m 14 years old, 5’11, and weigh 135 pounds. I think I’m skinny fat, my belly protrudes about an inch more than my chest and my arms are very skinny, so should I modify the reps or sets in any way, or should I focus more on one area of my body more than the others.
Ideally lifting weights would be best but if you start this workout, your body will start eating the fat and building muscle.. So you’ll recomp your body into 135 and more jacked than skinnyfat.
I am planning to use this workout plan during the summer holidays. So far I have just started to decide which days I shall do each set on but, I want to also add running to this list. Where do you think I should place the running? Should I place it between the days in which I do ‘Chest and triceps’ and ‘Full Body’?
If you like to run then add it in post lifting or on off days. Lifting takes a toll on your nervous system, so adding them into days you lift can be done, but do it after.
If you already have a relatively good conditioning level, you could lift during the day and then run at night. Try it and see what works best for you.
Should I also add cardio to the routine or does the routine shady burn fat
Cardio never hurt. The extra energy you’re spending to do the workout will help lose weight, but keeping your heart healthy is also helpful.
So this workout will help me lose belly day and gain muscle mass?
Cleaning up your diet and exercising will, yes.
Hey,
I’m 16 and weigh about 65 kg ( I’m not sure what that is in pounds)…I’m kinda lean and would like to build some muscle, would this workout be a good workout to build?
It would, start getting a few more calories in per day and you’ll start packing on some pounds. That’s about 140lbs, I’m not sure how tall you are but since you said you are lean, a slow 200-300 calories added to your diet daily should really start making some great lean gains.
This workout has helped good but my arms are always destroyed after their workouts, should I half the tests or split the workout to two different times of the day?
Work through the pain. Maybe make the exercises that are hard on your arm easier. So if your triceps are burned up after pushups, try to make some of them easier by using an elevated surface or use your knees.
You will build up muscle endurance and build up plenty of strength with some patience and consistency. Soon you’ll be wondering why you even worried about it :)
I am 15 and a half and I am 6 feet tall. I weigh about 150 pounds. I would describe myself as “skinny fat”. I am looking for a way to get toned with body weight exercises. Do you think this routine would work for me? And also on the exercise routine under the “Reps” sometimes instead of a number you put ALAP or AMAP. What do you mean by this? Thanks!
Yes it will. ALAP is as long as possible (do it until failure), AMAP as many as possible (do it until failure)