The short answer
It works, once you put back the run the videos leave out
Military calisthenics is a social media name for high-repetition bodyweight circuits with short rests. No army has a program by that name. It does work: in four-week studies, push-up training raised bench press strength, and short bodyweight intervals raised aerobic fitness as much as treadmill running did. What it leaves out is the run, and the US Army's own fitness test ends with two miles of it. So this plan keeps the circuit, adds a strength day and a weekly run, and comes in three levels, with a short test to pick yours and a free PDF.
At a glance
- Length
- 4 weeks, the last one lighter, with a retest
- Days and minutes
- 3 days a week, 20 to 45 minutes
- Kit
- Floor, wall, a bar or sturdy table, running shoes
- Levels
- 3, set by one test: push-ups, plank, pull-ups
Download the plan (PDF)Free, no email needed. Print it or keep it on your phone.
What military calisthenics is, and where the name comes from
Calisthenics is built from two Greek words, kallos for beauty and sthenos for strength. The word reached English in the 1840s. Today it means training with your own body weight: push-ups, squats, sit-ups, planks, pull-ups.
The military part is new. Over 2026 it became a label on YouTube and social media for one style of workout: long circuits of high-rep bodyweight moves, short rests and a boot camp look. In October 2026, a 20 minute full-body video under that name passed 400,000 views in its first nine days. In Spain, Google searches for calistenia militar went from about 590 a month in October 2025 to about 33,100 a month by May and June 2026.
No army publishes a program called military calisthenics, and no army trains only this way. Paid apps and 30-day challenges sell it under that name. This plan is free and the PDF needs no email. It uses the same kind of moves and adds back the two things a soldier's training has and the videos drop.
What armies actually train and test
On 1 June 2025 the US Army made the Army Fitness Test, or AFT, its test of record, in place of the Army Combat Fitness Test. It has five events. Only two of them, the push-ups and the plank, would fit in a calisthenics video. The standing power throw from the old test was dropped for its technical nature and injury risk.
| Event | What it tests | 60 points at ages 17 to 21, men / women |
|---|---|---|
| 3-rep max deadlift | Strength, with a 60 lb (27 kg) hex bar | 150 lb (68 kg) / 120 lb (54 kg) |
| Hand-release push-ups in 2 minutes | Upper-body endurance | 15 / 11 |
| Sprint-drag-carry, 5 × 50 m | Anaerobic power and endurance, with a 90 lb (41 kg) sled and two 40 lb (18 kg) kettlebells | 2:28 / 3:15 |
| Plank | Core strength and endurance | 1:30 / 1:30 |
| Two-mile run (3.2 km) | Aerobic endurance | 19:57 / 22:55 |
How soldiers train for it is written down in the Army's drill manual, ATP 7-22.02, Holistic Health and Fitness Drills and Exercises, updated in 2025 for the new test. Parts of it look familiar. Every session opens with a 10-exercise preparation drill that ends in push-ups, and Conditioning Drill 1 includes V-ups and mountain climbers, both of which are in this plan.
The rest of the manual is what the videos leave out. It has running drills, sprint and movement drills, climbing drills with pull-ups, medicine balls and suspension straps. It also has a 10-station strength circuit with equipment, 18 free-weight exercises and 10 machines. Soldiers do bodyweight drills. They also lift, sprint and run, and the test checks all of it. This plan keeps the circuit and puts back a strength day and a weekly run, the two pieces you can do without a gym.
Does military calisthenics work?
Yes, for what it trains. The American College of Sports Medicine's 2026 position stand pooled 137 systematic reviews covering more than 30,000 adults. Resistance training beat no exercise for strength, muscle size, power and endurance, and the type of equipment did not consistently change the result. Two trials have tested push-ups against the bench press head to head.
In 2018, moderately trained men did progressively harder push-up variations 3 days a week for 4 weeks. Their one-rep bench press went up, and so did that of a group who benched. A 2015 trial matched banded push-ups and the bench press for muscle activity over 5 weeks and found similar strength gains.
Short bodyweight intervals build aerobic fitness too. In a 2012 study, recreationally active young women did 8 rounds of 20 seconds of a single move (burpees, jumping jacks, mountain climbers or squat thrusts) with 10 seconds of rest, 4 days a week for 4 weeks. Their VO2peak rose about 8%, against about 7% in a group that ran 30 minutes on a treadmill. Their push-up count went up 135%.
There are two limits. The first is running. In a 16-week trial in young men, all-out calisthenics intervals raised VO2max as much as treadmill intervals did, but the treadmill group gained more on the running measures, time to exhaustion and speed at threshold. The lesson is plain: to run better, run.
The second is strength. A 2021 trial gave inactive young adults 18 bodyweight sessions of 11 minutes over 6 weeks. Their aerobic fitness rose. Their grip strength, jump height and leg endurance did not. The ACSM review found strength grew most with heavy loads, at least 80% of a one-rep max. Once 25 push-ups are easy, more push-ups mostly train endurance, and a harder variation is how body weight gets heavy. That is the job of the strength day.
The level test
Do it before week 1, rested, after the 5 minute warm-up. Put a fist on the floor under your chest and do one set of push-ups, touching the fist on every rep with your body straight from head to heels. Stop when the form breaks: the hips sag, or the chest stops reaching the fist. Rest 3 minutes, then hold a forearm plank for as long as your body stays in one straight line. If you have a bar, do as many pull-ups as you can from a dead hang, chin over the bar on each one. If the push-ups and the plank point to different levels, take the lower one.
| Level | The level test |
|---|---|
| Beginner | Fewer than 10 push-ups, or a plank under 30 s. |
| Intermediate | 10 to 25 push-ups and a plank of 30 to 60 s. |
| Advanced | More than 25 push-ups, a plank over 60 s and at least 5 pull-ups. |
The four-week plan
Three sessions a week: A on Monday, B on Wednesday, C on Friday. Any three days work as long as there is a rest day between them. Each table gives every level its own move and dose, so follow your level's column. 3 × 6 means 3 sets of 6 reps, and 10 × 1 min means 10 intervals of 1 minute. The table under the sessions says what to add each week. In week 4, session D replaces the Friday run.
Session A: Circuit
Warm up for 5 minutes: march or jog on the spot, 10 slow squats, 10 arm circles each way and a few easy push-ups. Then do the six moves back to back, top to bottom, with no rest between them. That is one round. Rest between rounds: 2 min for beginners, 90 s for intermediate, 60 s for advanced, and 15 s less in week 3. Rounds in weeks 1 to 4: beginners 3, 3, 4, 2. Intermediate 3, 4, 4, 3. Advanced 4, 5, 5, 3. If your form slips, slow down before you stop.
| Exercise | Beginner | Intermediate | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Push-upBody in one straight line, chest to a fist | 8Knee push-up | 12Push-up | 15Decline push-up (feet on a chair or step) |
| Air squatHeels flat, knees in line with your toes | 12 | 20 | 30 |
| TrunkMove slowly, lower back in control the whole time | 6 per sideDead bug | 15Sit-up | 15V-up |
| Mountain climbersHips level with your shoulders | 20 s | 30 s | 40 s |
| Reverse lungeStep back far enough that the front heel stays down | 6 per side | 10 per side | 12 per side |
| Forearm plankSqueeze your glutes so the hips do not sag | 20 s | 40 s | 60 s |
Session B: Strength
Same 5 minute warm-up. Do all the sets of one move before the next, resting 60 to 90 s between sets, and end each set with a rep or two still in you. Before the first table row, kneel and pull on the edge with your full weight to test the table.
| Exercise | Beginner | Intermediate | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| PullChest to the edge or bar, lower slowly | 3 × 6Australian pull-up (under a sturdy table or low bar) | 3 × 4Negative pull-up (jump to the top, lower for 3 to 5 s) | 3 × 5Pull-up |
| PushTwo seconds down, no bouncing at the bottom | 3 × 10Knee push-up | 3 × 8Diamond push-up (hands close together under the chest) | 3 × 5 per sideArcher push-up (one arm bends, the other stays straight) |
| LegsKnees track over your toes on the way down | 3 × 30 sWall sit | 3 × 6 per sideCossack squat (wide stance, sit to one side) | 3 × 5 per sidePistol squat to a box or chair |
| ShouldersHips high, head travels forward of the hands | 3 × 5Pike push-up | 3 × 8Pike push-up | 3 × 8Feet-up pike push-up (feet on a chair) |
| CoreRibs down and lower back flat | 3 × 20 s per sideSide plank | 3 × 20 sHollow hold | 3 × 15Hollow rock |
Session C: Run
Warm up with 5 minutes of brisk walking. Beginners: run 1 min, walk 1 min, and repeat. Intermediate: an easy run at a pace you could talk through. Advanced: tempo intervals, comfortably hard, with 2 min of easy jogging between them. Then the burpees, with 1 min of rest between sets. Beginners step back instead of jumping, both into the plank and out of it, and skip the jump at the top.
| Exercise | Beginner | Intermediate | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| RunStart slower than you want to | 10 × 1 minRun/walk intervals (run 1 min, walk 1 min) | 25 minEasy run | 3 × 8 minTempo run (2 min easy jog between) |
| BurpeeKeep the same pace in every set | 3 × 5 | 3 × 10 | 3 × 15 |
Session D: Retest
Warm up for 5 minutes and repeat the level test: push-ups to a fist until form breaks, 3 minutes of rest, then the plank. Everyone tests full push-ups, beginners included, because a full push-up count is what moves you up a level. Rest 5 minutes, then run as far as you can in 12 minutes on a flat route and note the distance. That is the Cooper test, checked against treadmill measures of maximal oxygen uptake in 115 US Air Force men in 1968.
| Exercise | Beginner | Intermediate | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Push-upChest to a fist, stop when form breaks | max reps | max reps | max reps |
| Forearm plankStop when the hips sag or lift | max hold | max hold | max hold |
| 12 minute run (Cooper test)Even pace, then note the distance | 12 min | 12 min | 12 min |
Week by week
| Week | Days | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1: learn the moves | Mon A · Wed B · Fri C | Circuit: 3 rounds for beginner and intermediate, 4 for advanced. Rest 2 min, 90 s or 60 s between rounds. Strength and run exactly as written. |
| Week 2: add volume | Mon A · Wed B · Fri C | Circuit: 1 more round for intermediate and advanced. Strength: 1 more rep per set, or 5 s more per hold. Run: beginners 12 intervals, intermediate 30 min, advanced 3 × 10 min. |
| Week 3: the hardest week | Mon A · Wed B · Fri C | Circuit: 4 rounds for beginner and intermediate, 5 for advanced, with 15 s less rest. Strength: a 4th set of the first 2 moves. Run: beginners 14 intervals, intermediate 35 min, advanced 4 × 8 min. |
| Week 4: lighter, then retest | Mon A · Wed B · Fri D | Circuit: 2 rounds for beginner, 3 for the others. Strength: 2 sets of everything. Friday: the retest instead of the run. Compare it with your first test. |
After week 4: move up, or make the moves harder
The retest decides what comes next. Hold your new push-up and plank numbers, and your pull-ups if you are aiming for Advanced, against the level table.
- Both numbers meet the next level: start again at week 1 of that level.
- Only one does: repeat your level for 4 more weeks, using the next level's push-up in the circuit.
- Neither moved: repeat your level. Count how many of the 12 sessions you actually did before you blame the plan.
Advanced has no row above it, so make the moves harder and leave the circuit the length it is. Pull-ups: build from 4 × 5 to 4 × 8, then wear a backpack with a little weight in it. Archer push-ups: at 3 × 8 per side, put your feet on a step. Pistol squat to a box: lower the box, then hold a door frame for a full pistol with a little help. Feet-up pike push-ups: at 3 × 12, start holding a handstand with your chest to a wall, the next step toward handstand push-ups. Run: beat your 12 minute distance at the next retest.
Military calisthenics for women
Women follow the same plan, with the same test and the same rules for moving up. The research gives no reason to change it. A 2020 meta-analysis of studies in which women and men did the same program found similar gains in muscle size and lower-body strength, and a larger relative gain in upper-body strength for women. A 2025 review of 29 studies found that muscle grew by the same percentage in both sexes. Men gained slightly more in absolute terms, and mainly in the upper body.
Where you start can differ, and the US Army's own tables show the pattern. At ages 17 to 21, 60 points on the plank takes 1 minute 30 for women and men alike, and the plank times match in every age group. On the hand-release push-up, the same 60 points takes 11 reps for women and 15 for men. So many women test a level lower on push-ups than on the plank. Take the lower level, as the rule says. Upper-body strength is also the one area where the 2020 analysis found women out-gaining men relative to where they started.
Knee push-ups are the beginner move for everyone on this plan. If you are pregnant or had a baby recently, get the go-ahead from your midwife or doctor first. The same Army manual keeps a whole chapter of separate drills for pregnancy and the months after birth.
Fitting it around the gym or your running
If you already lift 2 or more days a week, keep your lifting and drop session B, which does the same job. Put the circuit on a day away from your heaviest leg session. If you run, your own easy run replaces session C. Do the burpees after it, and keep the circuit off the day before a long run or a race. Either way, keep at least one day a week with no training at all.
Mistakes that cost the most
- Counting half reps. If your chest does not reach the fist, the rep does not count, and a test full of half reps puts you on the wrong level.
- Leaving out the run. It is the last event of the US Army test, and in the 16-week trial above, calisthenics intervals did less for running performance than running did.
- Starting at the higher level when the push-ups and the plank disagree. The lower one is right, and week 3 will show you why.
- Making week 4 hard. It is lighter on purpose. Arrive at the retest tired and the numbers will undersell you.
- Rowing under a table you have not tested. Use a solid wooden or metal table, never a folding one, and check it with your full weight before you lie under it.
Questions people ask
Is military calisthenics free?
This plan is. The page and the PDF are free and need no account or email. Paid apps and 30-day challenges sell programs under the same name. The moves themselves cost nothing and need, at most, a bar or a sturdy table.
Does military calisthenics help with weight loss?
Some, though not much on its own. In 116 trials in adults with overweight or obesity, each 30 minutes a week of aerobic exercise came with about 0.52 kg of extra weight loss. In 54 trials, resistance training cut body fat by 1.46 percentage points, about 0.55 kg of fat, compared with no exercise. This plan takes 80 to 120 minutes a week. Expect it to change your fitness a lot and your weight a little. What you eat decides most of what the scale does.
Is military calisthenics good for women?
Yes. The plan and the level test are the same for everyone. In studies where women and men did the same program, muscle grew by the same percentage in both, and women gained more upper-body strength relative to their start. Many women begin a level lower on push-ups than on the plank, and the rule is to take the lower one.
How long until I see results?
In your numbers, by the retest at the end of week 4. The four-week studies on this page found measurable gains in that time: bench press strength after push-up training, and about 8% more aerobic fitness after short intervals. Visible change takes longer. The trials behind the ACSM's 2026 review ran from 6 weeks to a year, and what you see in the mirror also depends on what you eat.
Do I need a pull-up bar?
Not to start. Beginners do the Australian pull-up under a sturdy table: lie under it, grip the edge, keep your body straight and pull your chest up to it. The negatives and pull-ups at the higher levels need something to hang from, such as a bar, a playground frame or a solid branch. Without one, keep doing table rows with your feet up on a chair, lowering slowly, for 3 sets of as many clean reps as you can. You cannot take the pull-up part of the test without a bar, so you would stay at Intermediate.
Can I do military calisthenics every day?
Not the hard sessions. The ACSM review found strength gains from 2 or more sessions a week, and this plan has 3, with a rest day between them. On the other days, walk, or do the 5 minute warm-up and some easy stretching. If you want a fourth day, make it an easy run, not a second circuit.
Sources
- Army Fitness TestU.S. Army, 2025
- Army establishes new fitness test of record to strengthen readiness and lethalityU.S. Army, 2025
- Army Fitness Test Score Tables, effective 1 June 2025U.S. Army, 2025
- ATP 7-22.02, Holistic Health and Fitness Drills and Exercises (incl. Change 1)Headquarters, Department of the Army, 2025
- Calistenia militar: qué es, ejercicios, rutina para principiantes y si funcionaENFAF, 2026 (search volumes from DataForSEO)
- Resistance Training Prescription for Muscle Function, Hypertrophy, and Physical Performance in Healthy AdultsMedicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (ACSM position stand), 2026
- Effect of Progressive Calisthenic Push-up Training on Muscle Strength and ThicknessJournal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2018
- Bench press and push-up at comparable levels of muscle activity results in similar strength gainsJournal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2015
- Extremely low volume, whole-body aerobic-resistance training improves aerobic fitness and muscular endurance in femalesApplied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 2012
- Whole-Body High-Intensity Interval Training Induce Similar Cardiorespiratory Adaptations Compared With Traditional High-Intensity Interval Training and Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training in Healthy MenJournal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2018
- Simple Bodyweight Training Improves Cardiorespiratory Fitness with Minimal Time Commitment: A Contemporary Application of the 5BX ApproachInternational Journal of Exercise Science, 2021
- Sex Differences in Resistance Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-AnalysisJournal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2020
- Sex differences in absolute and relative changes in muscle size following resistance training in healthy adults: a systematic review with Bayesian meta-analysisPeerJ, 2025
- Aerobic Exercise and Weight Loss in Adults: A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-AnalysisJAMA Network Open, 2024
- The Effect of Resistance Training in Healthy Adults on Body Fat Percentage, Fat Mass and Visceral Fat: A Systematic Review and Meta-AnalysisSports Medicine, 2022
- Update: Exertional rhabdomyolysis, active component, U.S. Armed Forces, 2017-2021MSMR, 2022
- A means of assessing maximal oxygen intake. Correlation between field and treadmill testingJAMA, 1968
Figures on this page come from the sources above. How claims are checked and updated: How the guides are written.