What Is Military Calisthenics? The Workout That's Been Forging Warriors

Richard Skidmore

“Military calisthenics” is having a moment – but what exactly is it and how can you do military calisthenics workouts at home or the gym?

You’ve probably seen military calisthenics on your socials - simple, brutal workouts with minimal equipment and lots of reps. Think pull-ups, push-ups, air squats, with the odd explosive movement thrown in to get your heart racing.

But this isn’t a new trend at all. Military-style training has been around for decades, and it’s always used calisthenics movements because that’s what builds strong, capable, resilient humans.

What Is Military Calisthenics?

At its core, military calisthenics is a system of bodyweight training used by armed forces around the world to build strength, endurance, flexibility, and mental resilience. The word “calisthenics” itself comes from the Greek words kalos (beauty) and sthenos (strength), which is arguably the most poetic way anyone has ever described doing press-ups in the rain.

The military version of calisthenics strips things back to basics. No barbells, no cables, no complicated machines. Just your body, gravity, and the will to keep going. Think press-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, squats, lunges, dips, and burpees, all performed with precision and purpose. The goal isn’t aesthetics (although the results tend to speak for themselves). The goal is functional fitness, building a body that can perform under pressure, carry weight, climb obstacles, and keep moving when everything in you is screaming to stop.

It’s worth noting that military calisthenics isn’t just a single workout routine. It’s a training philosophy, one built around movement quality, progressive overload, and consistency. And as it turns out, that philosophy works just as well whether you’re preparing to storm a beach or simply trying to get fit enough to keep up with your kids.

Military calisthenics is inspired by how the armed forces all around the world build fitness – with bodyweight training, full-body movements, and occasional external load (from weighted vests or weighted ruck packs).

Military calisthenics isn’t about advanced skills, it’s about squeezing every benefit from bodyweight movements – strength, muscular endurance, athleticism, and mental toughness.

Workouts are usually simple and repeatable, using movements like push-ups, pull-ups, lunges, bodyweight squats, burpees, step-ups, running and other movements you can do anywhere. The format is often a circuit, timed “AMRAP” type session, or high-rep chipper style workout.

How to do military calisthenics

One of the biggest advantages of military-style calisthenics is that you can do it anywhere - at home, in the gym, outdoors. You don’t need any equipment (although a pull-up bar or rack helps) because there’s always a session you can throw together with the tried-and-tested fundamentals.

Military calisthenics at home

You don’t need much space to do military calisthenics at home, a simple way to do it might include circuits or repeated rounds of:

Push-ups
Squats
Lunges
Planks
Burpees

If you’ve got a pull-up bar or gymnastics rings, that unlocks a whole new level of at-home military calisthenics. Decide on a structure, set a timer, and keep moving.

Military calisthenics at the gym

The gym gives you more options, but the principles stay the same. Combine those basic calisthenics movements with free weights, kettlebells, or func tional t ools for resistance, and cardio kit for conditioning.

Military calisthenics outdoors

Parks, tracks, and open spaces the natural environment for this style of training. You could do pull-ups on bars, dips on benches, bodyweight circuits, and sprints. Make it a team effort for added competition.

How to make military calisthenics work for you

Like any training style, it’s important to adapt the exercises, reps, sets, and rest times of your military calisthenics workouts to your level and goal.

If you’re a beginner:

Start with lower reps
Use movement variations (ie negative pull-ups)
Focus on good form
Build consistency first

If you’re more advanced:

Increase volume or intensity (not both)
Add load (weighted vests, dip belts, ruck pack)
Reduce rest times
Introduce more complex movements

The crossover with calisthenics training will help you combine the intensity of military workouts with smart programming elements like progressive overload and skill work.

And if you want to take it a step further, you can add load. Our sister brand Force Fitness was inspired by military training and makes equipment like weighted vests and ruck packs - perfect for simple bodyweight movements into strength and conditioning work.

Is Crossfit Murph a military calisthenics workout?

Murph Day is coming up at the end of May. This annual global workout is officially a crossfit WOD, but it’s a great example of military calisthenics – a high-rep endurance session of pull-ups, push-ups, and air squats bookended with running. And the official version is done in a weighted vest!

Try this military calisthenics workout

Here are three military calisthenics workouts that give a nod to the famous Murph workout. Why not try one of them this month?

Half Murph

800m run

Then 10 rounds of:

5 pull-ups (or pull-up variation)

10 push-ups (or variation)

15 bodyweight squats

Then 800m run

Circuit Murph

10 rounds of:

300m run

5 pull-ups

10 push-ups

15 bodyweight squats

AMRAP Murph

4 x 5-minute blocks – get as many reps as you can each block.

Rest 2 minutes between blocks.

Each block:

400m run

Then max reps of:

10 pull-ups

20 push-ups

30 bodyweight squats

Military calisthenics is one of the oldest, most battle-tested training systems on the planet. It’s been shaping soldiers, athletes, and ordinary people into extraordinary physical specimens for thousands of years. It requires no gym, no expensive equipment, and no complicated programming. It just requires you to show up and do the work.

Whether you’re drawn to it because of the history, the simplicity, the community, or just the fact that it genuinely delivers results, military calisthenics offers something that most modern fitness trends can’t: a proven track record that spans millennia.

Ready to build your training setup? Explore our full range of calisthenics equipment at Gravity Fitness and find everything you need to train like the military, from the comfort of your own home.