How to run the r/bodyweightfitness Recommended Routine

Who Is This Program For?

The Recommended Routine (RR) has been the "one stop shop" beginner routine of the r/bodyweightfitness community since 2012. It is for anyone who wants to build strength and muscle using their own bodyweight, at home or in a park, with minimal equipment.

The program focuses on:

• Progression ladders: every movement has easier and harder variations, so there is always a version you can do
• Full-body sessions: each workout trains push, pull, squat, hinge, and core
• Simple loading: instead of adding weight to a bar, you add reps, then move to a harder exercise
• Consistency: 3 sessions per week, about an hour each

If you cannot do a single pull-up or push-up yet, that is fine. The ladders start below those exercises and build you up to them.

Program Structure

The Session Layout

Every workout follows the same order:

1. Warm-up (5-10 minutes of dynamic stretches)
2. Skill work (about 10 minutes of handstand and support hold practice)
3. Three strength pairs (the main work)
4. Core triplet (finisher)

The Three Pairs

The strength work is organized into three pairs. You alternate between the two exercises of a pair: do a set of exercise A, rest 90 seconds, do a set of exercise B, rest 90 seconds, and repeat until you have done 3 sets of each. This way each muscle group gets about 3 minutes of rest while you keep moving.

The Core Triplet

The workout ends with three core exercises done as a triplet, 3 sets of 8-12 reps each, resting 60 seconds between exercises:

Weekly Schedule

Train 3 days per week with at least one rest day between sessions. A typical schedule is Monday / Wednesday / Friday. The routine is a full-body workout by design, so do not split it across separate days, and do not run it more than 3 times per week. Rest days are when your muscles actually grow.

The Progression Ladders

For each slot, perform the hardest exercise in the ladder you can do for 3 sets of 5 to 8 reps with good form. These are the ladders:

Pull-up Progression

Squat Progression

Dip Progression

Hinge Progression

Row Progression

Push-up Progression

Progression Rules

The RR replaces "add weight to the bar" with "add reps, then move up the ladder":

• Start every exercise at 3 sets of 5 reps and try to beat your previous numbers each workout
• When you hit 3 sets of 8 reps with good form, move to the next exercise in the progression and start the next workout back at 3 sets of 5
• If you cannot manage at least 3 sets of 5 at the new step, spend another week or two building reps at the current step first
• Static holds (like the support hold): one set is a 10-30 second hold. Move up once you hold 30 seconds for all 3 sets
• Tempo: control every rep. Use a 10X0 tempo, meaning 1 second down, no pause at the bottom, explosive up, no pause at the top. If you cannot control the lowering phase, the exercise is too hard
• Never sacrifice form for an extra rep. End the set when form breaks down

Get Your Form Right First

Everything below assumes your form is already solid. Finding your working weight, adding weight, chasing reps, all of it only works if you can perform the lift correctly. While your form is not locked in, that is your only job. Make good form the goal of every set, not the weight on the bar. Drilling the movement with an empty bar beats loading plates onto a lift you cannot control yet.

To learn, don't hesitate to search Google and YouTube (there is a lot of good free material) and record yourself from the side to compare against a proper demonstration. In general, good form means a full controlled range of motion, a braced neutral spine, no bouncing or momentum, a consistent setup every rep, and ending the set when technique breaks down rather than grinding sloppy reps.

Finding Your Starting Step

On your first session, treat each ladder as a test:

1. Start at step 1 of the ladder
2. Do a set of 5-8 reps. If it feels easy and clean, move to the next step
3. Repeat until you find the step where 5-8 reps is genuinely challenging with good form
4. That step is your starting exercise for that slot

It is better to start one step too easy than one step too hard. Extra reps at an easier step build the base that makes the harder step come faster.

Warming Up

Spend 5-10 minutes on the dynamic warm-up before every session:

After the warm-up, spend about 10 minutes on skill work: handstand practice and support hold practice. This builds balance and straight-arm strength without eating into your recovery.

Rest Times

If a set felt very hard, take up to 3 minutes before the next exercise. Take as much rest as you need to complete your sets with good form.

Plateaus

If you are stuck below 3×8 on a step for several sessions in a row:

• Check recovery first: 7-9 hours of sleep, enough calories, enough protein (1.5-2.2 g per kg of bodyweight)
• Chase single reps: going from 3×6 to 3×7 over two weeks is normal progress, not a stall
• Drop back one step and build extra volume there, then come back up
• Slow down the reps: if your tempo got sloppy, fixing it often exposes the real weakness

Progress on the exercises usually starts 2-3 workouts in. Slower progress than your first weeks is normal, not a plateau.

Program Duration

The RR has no fixed end date. The ladders contain months to years of progression, so you run it for as long as you keep moving up.

What to expect:

• Strength progress from about 2-3 workouts in
• Physique changes you notice yourself at 4-6 weeks
• Changes other people notice at 12+ weeks, provided your diet is in check

Once you are deep into the ladders and want more specialized training, the same community publishes intermediate programs to move on to.

Access the Original Program

If you would like to read the original program page:

The Recommended Routine on the r/bodyweightfitness wiki