How is this different from the 30-day challenge?

The 30-day challenge is one month, with a different focus each day and a scheduled rest day. This plan is three months. Month 1 repeats one full-body workout. Months 2 and 3 switch between an upper day and a lower day, and month 3 uses harder versions of those same moves.

Do I need a pull-up bar?

No. The weekly sessions use floor moves. Month 3 needs a chair or step for decline push-ups and split squats, and a door frame to hold for the assisted pistol squat. Hanging leg raises and windshield wipers are an optional extra, and that one does need a bar.

What if a month 3 move is too hard?

Do the easier version for the whole interval. Decline push-ups become regular push-ups, archer push-ups become regular push-ups, split squats become reverse lunges, and the assisted pistol squat becomes a regular squat. Stay on month 2 for another week if you want to.

12 weeks

12-Week Military Calisthenics Workout Plan

Three months of workouts. Press a start button and the timer runs that session: each move, the rest, then the next round. Months 1 and 2 need no equipment.

This follows the widely used 3-month beginner plan, run as timed circuits instead of counted sets. Pull-ups are a floor row, so a bar is not required. Handstand, L-sit and muscle-up practice from that plan is left out. Those take separate practice, and a wall-handstand session is optional at the bottom of month 3.

Month 1 — Full body

3 days a week, for example Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Same workout every session. Nothing but floor space. If you can't do a push-up yet, use the easier version: it swaps in wall push-ups, incline push-ups and a wall sit.

Full Body
Jumping Jacks, Push-Ups, Prone Row, Bodyweight Squats, Alternating Lunges, Plank Hold
Easier Full Body
Step Jacks, Wall Push-Ups, Incline Push-Ups, Prone Row, Wall Sit, Glute Bridge

Week 1
3 days this week. Do the same workout each day.
Start full body, 3 rounds, about 17 min →Start easier version, 3 rounds, about 19 min →
Week 2
3 days this week. Do the same workout each day.
Start full body, 3 rounds, about 17 min →Start easier version, 3 rounds, about 19 min →
Week 3
3 days this week. Do the same workout each day.
Start full body, 4 rounds, about 23 min →Start easier version, 4 rounds, about 25 min →
Week 4
3 days this week. Do the same workout each day.
Start full body, 4 rounds, about 23 min →Start easier version, 4 rounds, about 25 min →

Month 2 — Upper and lower

4 days a week, alternating upper and lower. Still no equipment. The work goes up because you train more often and add a round in weeks 7 and 8, not because the moves get harder to learn.

Upper Body
Push-Ups, Prone Row, Pike Push-Ups, Plank to Push-Up, Plank Hold
Lower Body
Bodyweight Squats, Reverse Lunges, Glute Bridge, Calf Raises, Russian Twists, Dead Bug

Week 5
4 days this week: upper, lower, upper, lower.
Start upper, 3 rounds, about 15 min →Start lower, 3 rounds, about 18 min →
Week 6
4 days this week: upper, lower, upper, lower.
Start upper, 3 rounds, about 15 min →Start lower, 3 rounds, about 18 min →
Week 7
4 days this week: upper, lower, upper, lower.
Start upper, 4 rounds, about 20 min →Start lower, 4 rounds, about 24 min →
Week 8
4 days this week: upper, lower, upper, lower.
Start upper, 4 rounds, about 20 min →Start lower, 4 rounds, about 24 min →

Month 3 — Harder versions

Same 4-day split. The pushes and lunges change to harder versions of the same idea: feet up on a step, a wider push-up, a split squat with the back foot on a chair. If a move feels like a new skill, do the easier version written on the exercise for the whole interval.

Upper Body, Month 3
Decline Push-Ups, Prone Row, Archer Push-Ups, Fist Push-Ups, Pike Push-Ups, Side Plank
Lower Body, Month 3
Bulgarian Split Squats, Assisted Pistol Squats, Single-Leg Glute Bridge, Calf Raises, Wall Sit, Russian Twists

Week 9
4 days this week: upper, lower, upper, lower.
Start upper, 3 rounds, about 18 min →Start lower, 3 rounds, about 18 min →
Week 10
4 days this week: upper, lower, upper, lower.
Start upper, 3 rounds, about 18 min →Start lower, 3 rounds, about 18 min →
Week 11
4 days this week: upper, lower, upper, lower.
Start upper, 4 rounds, about 23 min →Start lower, 4 rounds, about 23 min →
Week 12
4 days this week: upper, lower, upper, lower.
Start upper, 4 rounds, about 23 min →Start lower, 4 rounds, about 23 min →

Optional extras

Not part of the weekly plan. The bar session needs a pull-up bar. The handstand takes practice: hold the plank instead if kicking up is too hard.

Start bar core, 3 rounds →Start wall handstand practice, 3 rounds →

Questions

12-week plan FAQ

Each button opens the workout timer. You do the move on screen for the time shown, rest, then it moves you to the next one. After the last move it starts the next round. Rep numbers are a goal, not a rule. Weeks 1 and 2 of each month are 3 rounds. Weeks 3 and 4 are 4 rounds.

Start week 1

About 17 minutes, 3 rounds. Use the easier version if the push-ups are too much.

Start full body See every exercise