Are you looking for a very tough full-body workout using only your bodyweight, designed for advanced lifters? Then you’re in the right place!
This advanced workout is designed to build strength and increase body control without using any external weights.
Who Is the Advanced Bodyweight Workout For?
- Experienced lifters looking for a challenging bodyweight workout
- Athletes wanting to maintain or build strength without weights
- Lifters with solid technique and joint tolerance
This workout is not suitable for beginners, for individuals struggling with injuries or lifters who have never dipped their toes into the world of calisthenics before.
If you’re looking for a calisthenics program for beginners or intermediate lifters, check out our calisthenics workout plan instead!
The Advanced Bodyweight Workout
So, with that disclaimer, let’s dig into the workout!
The workout is a full-body workout, with 8 different exercises. Every set, of every exercise should be performed until technical failure. This means that you’ll perform as many reps as possible without compromising form.
The full workout is available in our app StrengthLog under the name The Hardcore Bodyweight Workout. A premium subscription is required, but we offer a 14-day free trial, so you can try it out and see if it’s for you.
Go straight to the workout in the app by tapping here.
The Advanced Bodyweight Workout Exercises
Let’s go through the exercises in the Advanced Bodyweight Workout one by one.
1. Pistol Squat
The pistol squat is a great exercise for building single-leg strength and demands a lot from you both in terms of mobility and strength.
💡 If you find yourself wondering where the fudge your balance and mobility went during pistol squats and feel like the focus isn’t on strength but purely on survival (not saying this has ever happened to me, but I’m not saying it hasn’t either) — try doing them from a plyo box or a stack of weight plates.
How to Do Pistol Squats:
- Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart and extend one leg straight out in front of you.
- Keep your chest up, core engaged, and arms extended forward for balance.
- Bend your standing leg and lower your body into a squat position while keeping the extended leg straight and off the ground.
- Descend as low as you can while maintaining balance and control.
- Press through the heel of your standing leg to return to the starting position.
- Repeat for reps and switch legs.
2. Nordic Hamstrings Eccentric
This exercise is the “easier” part of the Nordic hamstring curl, where you perform only the eccentric phase of the exercise. However, it’s still a very demanding exercise for your hamstrings, so start easy on this one.
🔥 Want to level up? If your answer is yes, I’m beyond impressed, but feel free to switch to the exercise Nordic Hamstring instead!
How to Do Nordic Hamstring Eccentric
- Start off standing on your knees with a straight hip. Feet wedged under something immovable, like a heavily loaded barbell, or a strong training partner.
- Lean your torso forward by extending your knees with no hip movement. In other words, do not push your butt backward.
- Control the eccentric movement by fighting the gravitational forces with all your hamstring strength. If possible, try keeping the eccentric phase to two seconds.
- When your chest reaches the floor, push yourself up using your arms and start over.
3. Reverse Nordic
The Reverse Nordic is an eccentric exercise that strengthens and stretches the quadriceps. It is a demanding exercise, so start carefully and consider beginning with a shorter range of motion.
How to Do Reverse Nordic
- Kneel on the floor with your feet firmly on the ground. Keep your body upright.
- Engage your core and ensure your hips remain extended throughout the movement.
- Slowly lean backward by bending your knees while maintaining a straight line from your knees to your head.
- Go as far back as you can with control, without losing your posture.
- Push yourself back to the starting position using your quadriceps.
- Repeat for reps.
4. Pull-Up
The pull-up is a classic bodyweight exercise for your back. You can choose any variation of the pull-up, for example with a supinated or neutral grip, if you prefer.
🔥 Are pull-ups not challenging enough? Switch to the exercise Chest To Bar instead.
How to Do Pull-Ups
- Grip the bar with palms facing away from you, slightly wider than shoulder-width.
- Keep your chest up, and look up at the bar.
- Inhale and pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar or the bar touches your upper chest.
- Exhale and lower yourself with control until your arms are fully extended.
- Repeat for reps.
5. Pike Push-Up
This variation of push-ups are an effective exercise for building strength in the shoulders and upper chest. By simulating a movement similar to a handstand push-up, they also help improve control and balance, and are a good start if you want to learn how to master them.
🔥 Want something tougher? Switch to the exercise Handstand Push-Up.
How to Do Pike Push-Ups
- Start in a plank position with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width.
- Push your hips up so your body forms an inverted “V” shape, head pointing toward the floor.
- Bend your elbows and lower your head toward the ground in a controlled motion.
- Push back up through your arms until elbows are straight, returning to the inverted “V” position.
- Repeat for reps.
6. Clap Push-Up
The clap push-up is a plyometric variation of the standard push-up which requires more explosive power. This makes it a perfect push-up variation for your advanced bodyweight workout.
How to Do Clap Push-Up
- Begin in a regular push-up position — hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, body in a straight line from head to heels.
- Lower yourself towards the ground by bending your elbows until your chest is just above the floor.
- Push up explosively through your hands, launching your upper body off the ground.
- While airborne, quickly clap your hands together beneath your chest.
- Return your hands to the ground, cushioning your landing by bending your elbows slightly, and go straight into the next rep.
- Repeat for reps.
7. L-Sit Hold
The L-sit is a challenging exercise that strengthens the core, hips, and arms while improving body control and stability. Holding this static position will also help to build endurance in multiple muscle groups.
How to Do L-Sit Hold
- Sit on the floor with your legs extended straight in front of you.
- Place your hands on the floor beside your hips, with your fingers pointing forward or slightly outward. If available, you can use parallettes or push-up handles to make the movement more comfortable and provide more space for your legs.
- Tighten your core muscles and engage your quadriceps to help lift your legs.
- Push down through your hands to lift your hips off the ground.
- Keep your legs straight and extended in front of you, forming an “L” shape with your body. Your arms should remain straight and locked throughout the exercise, and your legs should be parallel to the ground or as high as possible without rounding your back or losing form.
- Hold the L-sit for the desired amount of time.
- Lower your body back to the floor.
8. Dynamic Copenhagen Plank
The Copenhagen Plank is an advanced exercise for your core and adductors. The dynamic variation increases the demand for your core and hip stability while training both concentric and eccentric strength in the adductors and obliques.
How to Do Dynamic Copenhagen Plank
- Lie on your side with your top leg resting on a bench.
- Place your forearm on the floor directly below your shoulder for support.
- Engage your core and lift your bottom hip off the ground so your body forms a straight line.
- Keep your bottom leg off the ground, hanging under the bench or lightly touching it for balance.
- Slowly lower your hips toward the ground in a controlled motion.
- Pause briefly at the bottom, then squeeze your obliques and adductors to raise your hips back to the starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions, then switch sides and repeat.
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
- Chasing reps over form. We all want to see that PR-icon in our workout log app, but this workout consists of advanced exercises that demand good technique. Make sure to do the exercises correctly, and the gains will come.
- Rushing through the movements. You’ve probably heard about time under tension, right? Make sure to do the movement with control, both in the concentric and eccentric phase.
- Half-reps. Use full range of motion where possible, and strive to improve if you aren’t fully there yet.
- Not resting enough. While you might not need a full powerlifting-rest between sets, remember that your body needs time to recover after a max rep-set. Resting 30 seconds more might give you several reps in the next set.
Read more: How Long Should You Rest Between Sets?
How Often to Do the Advanced Bodyweight Workout?
How often you should attempt this workout depends on your goals, level of fitness and what type of training you do outside of this workout.
If you are somewhere without gym equipment, and want to be able to do a heavy workout 1–2× per week during this time, this can be a great alternative. However, if you want to workout more than 2 sessions per week, you might want to check out our other workouts and programs, like the Intermediate Calisthenics Workout Plan for example.
Regardless of how often you perform this workout, one key to long-term progress is tracking what you do. StrengthLog makes it easy to log your workouts, track your progress over time, and stay consistent.
The workout is available in the StrengthLog app under the name The Hardcore Bodyweight Workout. The app is free to use, but a premium subscription is required to start this workout. A 14-day free trial is available if you want to try it out first.
Go straight to the workout in StrengthLog here.
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