The best bodyweight exercises for building muscle in 2026, ranked with research: push-ups, pull-ups, rows, dips, split squats and Nordic curls.
The best bodyweight exercises for building muscle in 2026 are push-ups, pull-ups or chin-ups, inverted rows, dips, Bulgarian split squats, Nordic hamstring curls, and single-leg hip thrusts. In a 2017 study, push-ups matched to 40% of a bench press max built as much chest and triceps as the bench press. The key is to keep sets hard: choose a variation you can do for about 5 to 30 reps and move to a harder one once you pass that.
You can build real muscle with no equipment beyond a floor, a sturdy table or bar, and a step or bench. Muscles respond to hard work, not to the label on the weight, and studies show that lighter loads build about as much muscle as heavy ones when sets are taken close to failure.
The catch is that your body weight does not go up on its own. A set of 15 push-ups that is hard in week one can be easy by week eight. This guide ranks the bodyweight exercises with the best case for muscle growth and shows how to keep making them harder.
The best bodyweight exercises for building muscle are push-ups, pull-ups or chin-ups, inverted rows, dips, Bulgarian split squats, Nordic hamstring curls, and single-leg hip thrusts. Together they cover the chest, back, shoulders, arms, quads, hamstrings, and glutes. Pike push-ups are a useful extra for the shoulders.
| Rank | Exercise | Main muscles | Easier version | Harder version |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Push-up | Chest, front delts, triceps | Hands on a bench | Feet on a bench, backpack |
| 2 | Pull-up or chin-up | Lats, upper back, biceps | Band-assisted or slow lowering only | Pause at the top, backpack |
| 3 | Inverted row | Mid back, lats, rear delts | Feet closer, body more upright | Feet raised, body flat |
| 4 | Dip | Chest, triceps, front delts | Bench dip, feet on the floor | Parallel bars, slow lowering |
| 5 | Bulgarian split squat | Quads, glutes | Split squat with both feet down | Pause at the bottom, backpack |
| 6 | Nordic hamstring curl | Hamstrings | Hands catch you earlier | Lower more slowly, longer range |
| 7 | Single-leg hip thrust | Glutes, hamstrings | Both feet down (glute bridge) | Shoulders on a bench, pause at top |
| 8 | Pike push-up | Shoulders, triceps | Hands on a bench | Feet on a bench |
Yes. A 2017 meta-analysis by Schoenfeld, Grgic, Ogborn, and Krieger pooled 21 studies and found that low-load training (60% of a one-rep max or less) and high-load training produced similar muscle growth when every set went to failure. Heavy loads still built more one-rep max strength. Most bodyweight exercises sit in that low-to-moderate load range.
There is a lower limit. In a 2018 study by Lasevicius and colleagues, 30 men trained one limb at 20% of their max and the other at a heavier load, with volume matched, for 12 weeks. The thigh muscle grew 8.9% at 20% versus 19.5% at 80%. In practice, if you can do 50 easy reps of an exercise, it is too light to be your main builder. Pick a variation that brings you close to failure within about 30 reps.
We ranked each exercise by how much muscle it trains, how easy it is to make harder over time, and what long-term training studies show. Studies that measured muscle growth counted most. Where we found no growth study for a bodyweight exercise, we say so and rank it on the muscles it trains and how well it can be progressed.
The push-up ranks first because it has the best direct evidence of any bodyweight exercise. In a 2017 study by Kikuchi and Nakazato, 18 young men trained twice a week for 8 weeks with either bench press at 40% of their one-rep max or push-ups adjusted to the same load. Both groups gained bench press strength and chest and triceps thickness, and the authors concluded the two were comparably effective.
A 2018 study by Kotarsky and colleagues found that a program of progressively harder push-up variations raised bench press one-rep max over 4 weeks in moderately trained men, as bench press training did. Neither group's muscle thickness changed measurably in that short a study.
Push-ups are easy to scale. A 2011 study by Ebben and colleagues measured the force through the hands in 6 push-up variations: feet raised on a box produced the most force, and push-ups from the knees or with hands raised produced the least. Our best chest exercises guide covers how push-ups fit next to presses.
Pull-ups and chin-ups are the best bodyweight back exercises because they load the lats, upper back, and biceps with close to your full body weight. We found no long-term study that measures muscle growth from pull-ups alone, so this ranking rests on the muscles they train and how hard they are.
That difficulty is also the problem: many people cannot do one yet. Start with band-assisted pull-ups or jump to the top and lower yourself slowly for 3 to 5 seconds. A chin-up, with palms facing you, uses more biceps and is usually easier than a pull-up.
The inverted row trains the mid back, which pull-ups work less, and anyone can do it. Lie under a sturdy table or a bar set at waist height, hold the edge, and pull your chest up to it with your body straight. The more upright you stand, the easier it gets; raising your feet on a chair makes it harder.
Pair one vertical pull (pull-up) with one horizontal pull (inverted row) and your whole back is covered without any equipment beyond a bar and a table.
Yes. Dips train the chest, triceps, and front delts through a long range, and they are one of the few bodyweight exercises that load the triceps heavily. We found no long-term growth study for dips alone. Use parallel bars or two sturdy chairs, lean slightly forward for more chest, and lower until your shoulders are just below your elbows. If dips hurt your shoulders, stop higher or swap in close-grip push-ups.
Train one leg at a time. A two-leg bodyweight squat soon becomes too easy to bring you near failure within about 30 reps, but a single-leg exercise puts most of your body weight on one leg, which keeps sets in a muscle-building rep range. The Bulgarian split squat, with your back foot on a bench or couch, is the best all-round choice for the quads and glutes. We found no long-term growth study for it done with body weight only, so it ranks on the muscles it trains and how easy it is to progress.
For the back of your legs, use the Nordic hamstring curl and the single-leg hip thrust. In a 2017 study by Bourne and colleagues, 10 weeks of Nordic hamstring curls increased the volume of the semitendinosus, one of the hamstring muscles, compared with no training. Kneel with your ankles anchored under a couch, lower your body forward as slowly as you can, and catch yourself with your hands. Single-leg hip thrusts with your shoulders on a couch load the glutes well and are easy to pause at the top.
Do about 10 to 20 hard sets per muscle each week, and end each set 0 to 3 reps short of failure. A 2017 meta-analysis by Schoenfeld, Ogborn, and Krieger found that each extra weekly set was associated with about 0.37% more muscle growth, a graded dose-response.
Reps can be anywhere from about 5 to 30 if the set is hard. Because bodyweight sets are usually lighter, take them close to failure; our guide on whether you should train to failure explains how close to go. Here is a simple full-body bodyweight session:
| Exercise | Sets × reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Push-up (hardest variation you can do for 8-20) | 3 × 8-20 | 90 s |
| Pull-up or chin-up | 3 × 5-12 | 2 min |
| Bulgarian split squat | 3 × 8-15 per leg | 90 s |
| Inverted row | 3 × 8-15 | 90 s |
| Single-leg hip thrust | 2 × 10-20 per leg | 60-90 s |
| Nordic hamstring curl | 2 × 3-8 | 2 min |
Do this two or three times a week. For a full week built around your equipment and schedule, the workout plan generator builds one from seven questions, including what equipment you have.
Make each rep harder before you add more reps past about 30. In order of what to try first:
The hard part is remembering where you are. If last week's push-ups were 3 sets of 14 with the feet on a chair, that is the number to beat. Alexandros is an iPhone app that tracks this for you: you log a session in plain English, like "feet-elevated push-ups 3x14, last set hard," rate how each set felt, and it tells you what to do next time, using added reps or load for bodyweight work. Alexandros is in early access, and its terms say certain features require a paid subscription through the App Store.
You can build a lot of muscle with bodyweight exercises if you keep moving to harder variations. Legs are the hardest to load, so use single-leg exercises like the Bulgarian split squat and Nordic hamstring curl.
The push-up has the strongest research behind it. In a 2017 study, push-ups matched to 40% of a bench press max built as much chest and triceps as the bench press over 8 weeks.
There is no daily number. Muscle comes from hard sets, so 3 sets close to failure two or three times a week works better than many easy reps every day. Once you can do more than about 30 in a row, switch to a harder variation.
For muscle growth, they can be, as long as sets are hard. Low-load training to failure built about as much muscle as heavy training in a 2017 meta-analysis, though heavy loads built more maximal strength.
Do inverted rows under a table or bar, band-assisted pull-ups, or slow 3 to 5 second lowering from the top position. These build the strength for your first full pull-up.
