High quality fitness resource - free access, forever, for everyone.
The Darebee Resource is an independent fitness resource run and maintained by a small group of volunteers and fitness professionals. Here we make fitness accessible, make training fun and make a healthy lifestyle easier to start and maintain – on a budget. We believe that fitness is not a privilege, it should be made this accessible for everyone - not just people who can pay for it.
Each one of the members of the core team has a story and a reason to be here, doing what we do. We are united by our passion for training and an incurable case of principles. We all have extended experience (20+ years average) with bodyweight and circuit training, running and competitive martial arts.
Everything you see here is unique, designed by us and has been tested on live humans. We have two workout workshops locally and globally with just under 100 volunteers in total where we test new routines and brainstorm ideas. Each workout, each program and poster takes forever to develop, draw and test so none of us has had a good night sleep since 2013. Having a life is over-rated anyway.
We are into training but we are also geeks - this project is where our passions meet. The way we see it, fitness is very much a personal quest that changes you inside and out. When you train you don’t just strengthen your body, you strengthen your resolve, forge a stronger, and a more capable you. Regular workouts help you connect with your inner warrior and take control of your life.
There is no catch, there are no hidden links or sign-ups – everything is available in high quality and is free to access and download, no strings attached. And it will always be the case because we believe that this information should be free and available to everyone who needs it. This is an ad-free and product placement free resource. We have no sponsors and no one with deep pockets to back us up, this website and all the work that goes into it, is supported exclusively via user donations.
We want to make a difference, do something that matters and stand for what we believe in. That’s why we built this place. Whoever you are, whatever your reasons - you are welcome here.
If you are recovering from an injury, have a mild disability that prevents you from doing certain moves, have bad knees or are suffering from back pain and you want to avoid high impact exercises but you still want to stay active and try some of the workouts from this website, try these modifications.
The modifications will also be suitable if you are trying to keep the noise you make to a minimum – it’s handy if you live in an apartment and your neighbours are … not very understanding people.
Reduce the pressure you put on your knees by replacing high knees with march steps and jumping jacks with step jacks:
Reduce the pressure put on your knees by replacing squats with wall squats and jump squats with floor taps:
Take the pressure off your shoulders and upper body during push-ups by replacing them with knee push-ups, wall push-ups or incline push-ups:
Replace mountain climbers with cross climbers or towel sliding climbers to reduce noise and the pressure you put on your knees:
Use a sofa to elevate your static and/or dynamic planks if you find them too hard or if you struggle with a lot of extra weight.
Add Equipment
This resource is designed to make fitness as accessible as possible, make it easy to start and continue with training on a daily basis indefinitely and make it part of your lifestyle – without spending any money and without any special equipment.
All workouts here are almost entirely based on bodyweight exercises and whatever else you can find and make into a piece of equipment (boxes, baskets, chairs etc.). You can add equipment to the routines if you have it on hand, though, to make our routines more challenging.
You can use equipment, but you don’t have to. It’s a personal thing, and once you are used to regular training you’ll be able to tell whether you need to add something extra or not. If you are a beginner, we strongly suggest that you don’t buy anything until you have done at least two months’ worth of training to know you’ll use the extra equipment and it won’t just gather dust in the corner. Don’t waste any money unless you are absolutely sure you need something and you will use it.
Add dumbbells to: squats, lunges, side lunges, punches, cross chops, arm raises, sitting twists and get-ups.
Dumbbells hack: instead of dumbbells you can use two plastic bottles and fill them with water or sand.
Dumbbells are perhaps the one of few pieces of equipment that are worth buying - as long as you make sure you use them regularly. Place them in front of the TV, you can do 10-20 basic biceps curls while you are watching your favourite show. Never, ever put them away – otherwise you’ll create an out-of-sight, out-of-mind situation. Even if you have to trip over them every time you go to the kitchen, it’ll still be a constant reminder that they are there, if you need them and you need them right now.
Modify Chops:
Add sandbag to: squats, lunges and push-ups
Any old gym bag can be turned into a sand bag and any laundry basket filled with books into a piece of lifting equipment – use your imagination.
Replace bicep extensions with dumbbell curls or resistant band curls:
Add ankle and wrist weights for additional difficulty
Ankle weights are best for: flutter kicks, side leg raises, slow climbers, leg raises, kicks
Wrist weights are best for: punching, raised arm circles, punches and overhead punches
All of the workouts in the DAREBEE database are separated by type: strength, high burn, HIIT and combat; and can be sorted using the filter on the right hand side (at the bottom of the page on mobile). For overall fitness you can pick 3-4 workouts at random or follow the “Workout of the Day” featured from the homepage.
You can design and follow your own training plan or use one of the ready ones below.
What is casual training?
Any type of exercise you can do throughout the day like training by numbers, jogging, sports and other daily activities all fall under “casual training” (a few examples here). By continuing to exercise but at a lower rate you will recover faster and keep the momentum going allowing you to stay on track and, eventually, make exercise a habit. It is a great way to stay active and get enough rest at the same time - unless of course you are too sore to move, then you need actual rest.
Aim to perform each workout at 100%, whatever that might be on the day. The only time you will see results is when you challenge yourself. If you feel like your workout is too easy or it is not pushing you enough and you still have energy left, up the difficulty by increasing the level or reducing the rest time between the sets.
Begin each workout with a warmup and take advantage of the activation of your body and do a post-workout stretch. Use the workout database and filter for “Stretching” to find appropriate routines to finish your workout with.
Additional Ab Work
Almost all DAREBEE workouts will engage your abdominal muscles - they all already include ab work. If you are not sure, check the muscle map underneath each workout poster for highlighted muscle groups to see if they include abs. If you do want to accent your abdominal muscles even more add an additional ab workout at the end of your training session 2-3 times a week. Use the database and filter for “Abs” for ab workouts. Ab workouts can be done during rest days and counted as casual training.