When you picture building strength, building muscle, or burning fat, you probably imagine gripping the cold, hard iron in your hands while the rest of your body screams for mercy. That’s one way, but it’s not the only way.
Bodyweight training often gets dismissed as a “plan B,” something you do when all the benches and barbells are taken. However, when structured correctly, bodyweight circuits can build strength, boost your conditioning, and shed body fat quickly. With these circuits, you’re not just maintaining your gains, you’re making new ones.
These five bodyweight circuits maximize muscle tension, increase work capacity, and elevate your heart rate. That means strength where it counts and fat loss without spending time on a treadmill.
How These Bodyweight Circuits Work
These bodyweight circuits combine strength training with metabolic conditioning, a potent combination for building muscle while burning fat. By programming compound exercises, reducing rest periods, and increasing total time under tension, you challenge your muscles and cardiovascular system.
Here’s what makes these circuits work:
- Compound Movement Focus: Pushing, pulling, squatting, hinging, and core work target multiple joints and muscles.
- Minimal Rest: Short rest elevates the heart rate, boosting caloric burn during and after the workout.
- Progressive by Design: You can adjust the number of rounds, reps, tempo, or difficulty to ensure continuous progress.
- Busts the ‘No Time’ Excuse: Most of these circuits can be completed in under 30 minutes, making them perfect for busy days or as finishers after a workout.
5 Bodyweight Circuits To Enhance Strength & Fat Loss
Do you think bodyweight training should be relegated to aerobic classes and the crazy spin instructor who can’t be quiet? Well, the five circuits below will help you rethink bodyweight training. But before that, let’s get you ready with this quick bodyweight warm-up that hits all the right spots. Perform it before getting into the workouts below.
- 1A. Prying Squat: 30 seconds
- 1B. Inchworm Push-up: 6 reps
- 1C. Knee To Elbow March: 20 reps (per side)
Bodyweight Circuit 1: Push & Pull Power
Target Muscles: Upper-body pushing and pulling strength, shoulder stability, and endurance.
Equipment: Weight bench, suspension trainer, or squat rack.
Instructions: Rest for 30 seconds between exercises and perform 2-4 rounds.
- 1A. Decline Pushups: 30 seconds
- 1B. Inverted Rows (Suspension trainer or Barbell): 30 seconds
- 1C. Pike Pushups: 30 seconds
- 1D. Superman Hold: 30 seconds
Why it works: This upper-body circuit trains your chest, lats, shoulders, and arms with a balanced mix of horizontal and vertical pressing and pulling. The decline and pike pushups shift more load onto the delts and triceps, while inverted rows target the upper back. Finishing with a static hold like the Superman lights up your entire backside.
Progression: Add five seconds of work to each exercise or reduce the rest periods between exercises and circuits by 5 seconds each week.
Bodyweight Circuit 2: Quads of Steel
Target Muscles: Quads, glutes, and calves
Equipment: Weight bench or elevated surface
Instructions: Rest for 20 seconds between exercises, and perform 3 rounds 1A. Bulgarian Split Squats (Right): 30 seconds
- 1B. Bulgarian Split Squats (Left): 30 seconds
- 1C. Alternating Spiderman with Rotation: 30 seconds
- 1D. Iso Wall Sit: 1 minute
- 1E. Elevated Standing Calf Raises: 30 seconds
Why it works: This circuit trains the legs with unilateral strength, mobility, and isometric strength. Bulgarian split squats target glutes and quads while challenging balance. The spiderman with rotation works on total body mobility, the wall sits builds muscular endurance, and the calf raises add the cherry on top.
Progressions: For a plyo variation, add a jump to the Bulgarian split squats and slow the tempo on calf raises, 3 seconds up, 3 seconds down.
Bodyweight Circuit 3: Core Crusher
Target Muscles: Full core engagement
Equipment: None
Instructions: Rest for 15 seconds between exercises, 90 seconds after each circuit, and perform 2 to 4 rounds.
- 1A. Rotational Mountain Climbers: 30 seconds (alternate sides)
- 1B. Hollow Hold: 30 seconds
- 1C. Bird Dog: 30 seconds (alternate sides)
- 1D. Plank to Downward Dog: 30 seconds
Why it works: This circuit challenges your core from every angle. The hollow hold requires deep core tension, while the bird dogs engage the lower and upper back stabilizers and glutes. Rotational climbers hit rotational strength and obliques, while the plank-to-downward-dog improves shoulder mobility and stretches your hamstrings and calves.
Progressions: Add a 3-second pause at the top of each bird dog and increase the hollow hold by 5 seconds weekly.
Bodyweight Circuit 4: Total Body Bonanza
Target Muscles: Power, muscular endurance, and cardio conditioning.
Equipment: None
Instructions: Rest as needed and do as many rounds as possible (AMRAP) in 15 minutes.
- 1A. Jump Squat: 8 reps
- 1B. Spiderman Push-ups: 4 alternating reps to each side
- 1C. Alternating Windmill Side Lunge: 8 reps per side
- 1D. Plank Shoulder Taps: 8 reps per side
Why it works: This AMRAP keeps the pace high and rest minimal, challenging your muscular endurance and cardiovascular system in one shot. The nonstop circuit is a metabolic monster that torches fat.
Progressions: Increase your AMRAP time to 20 minutes, vary the push-up variations, or add a 60-second wall sit after finishing all your circuits.
Bodyweight Circuit Five: Power Up
Target Muscles: Power, athleticism, and fat-burning.
Equipment: A weight bench for incline plyo push-ups and step-ups
Instructions: Rest 40 seconds between each exercise, 90 seconds after each circuit, and do 2 to 3 circuits.
- 1A. Tuck Jumps: 20 seconds
- 1B. Incline Plyo Push-up: 20 seconds
- 1C. Alternating Explosive Step-up: 20 seconds
- 1D. Sprint in Place or High Knees: 20 seconds
Why it works: This power circuit is designed to push you to the limit. You’re training your fast-twitch fibers and anaerobic system, which helps maintain muscle mass while burning fat. It’s an excellent finisher or a standalone conditioning session when time is tight. Progressions: Turn tuck jumps into jump-tuck and stick landings. If you’re feeling spicy, increase to 4 rounds, or track your reps per round to beat next time.
Your Weekly Bodyweight Routine Program
Each of the five workouts can be used as a standalone workout or as an addition between weight workouts to increase volume or conditioning. The beauty of bodyweight workouts is that they are easier to recover from because they place less stress on your nervous system and don’t cut too much into your recovery.
If you wish to take a 2 to 4-week break from weight training to focus on your bodyweight strength and conditioning, here’s how to structure the workouts above for maximum effectiveness.
Monday: Quads Of Steel
Tuesday: Push & Pull Power
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Full Body Bonanza
Friday: Core Crusher
Saturday: Power Up or rest
Sunday: Rest
If you like this, you’ll likely enjoy The Bodyweight Blueprint, a book I helped write with author Brad Kolowich Jr. It features over 70 simple and effective workouts that require minimal or no equipment.
