Athlean XERO Review 2023 - Best No Equipment Program

Are you a complete beginner? Don’t have any fitness equipment at home? Well, keep on reading an Athlean XERO review. It might just be the program for you.

Athlean XERO will help you get stronger in just 6 weeks using a progressive overload approach to training.

You will start with a quick 4 or 8-question quiz that will help you determine your starting point. From there, you will just watch videos and do workouts one at a time. You will get stronger each week.

If you are just starting out your fitness journey without any equipment Athlean XERO might be exactly what you are looking for. Read on to see if it’s a good fit for you.

Athlean XERO

Athlean XERO is a workout program you can do without any equipment. It’s an excellent choice when you are starting out and don’t have any equipment.

Best For:

Starting out without equipment

Price:

$79.95 One-time payment

Web/App:

Web

Difficulty:

Beginner – Advanced

Equipment:

No equipment

Check Price

What Is Athlean XERO?

Athlean XERO is a no-equipment workout program with the primary goal of building muscle mass and strength.

You will only use your body as resistance. But it will be more than enough for a good muscle overload. This will ensure muscle growth and strength gain.

First, you take a quick 4 or 8-question quiz that will help you start on the appropriate program level. It has 3 levels:

2 degrees below XERO (4 weeks – preparation program)
1 degree below XERO (4 weeks – preparation program)
Athlean XERO (6 weeks – main program)

If you are starting at 2 degrees below XERO you will train for 4 weeks. It will be followed by 4 weeks at 1 degree below XERO. You will be finishing with a main 6-week XERO program.

With the Athlean XERO program, you also get access to a 6-pack shuffle. If you want to add core training on top of your Athlean XERO workout you can use a 6-pack shuffle. It randomly selects several abs exercises and spits them out for you to sweat.

But believe me, after you do your Athlean workout, you won’t feel you can do a 6 pack shuffle on top of it.

Who Created Athlean XERO?

Jeff Cavalier is the name behind the Athlean-X brand. He is an MSPT (Master of Science in Physical Therapy) and CSCS (Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist).

So, he has all the necessary education for physical therapy and strength and conditioning. That helps him have a scientific approach to his online workout programs and youtube videos.

He was a physical therapist and strength coach for three seasons working for New York Mets.

Top Benefits Of Athlean XERO

There are a few benefits that separate Athlean XERO from its competitors. Here are the most obvious:

You will not need any equipment which is perfect if you are just starting out and don’t want to spend a lot of money. So, you can see if bodyweight training is something that would motivate you enough to spend on some equipment in the future
It is actually 3 programs packed in one package. You can look at 2 degrees below XERO and 1 degree below XERO as separate programs from the main XERO program. So you are actually getting 14 weeks of training in one package
Because you won’t need any equipment, you can do your workouts anywhere you are. You can do it at home, at work, or on vacation. There is absolutely no excuse to not work out with Athlean XERO
For $79.95 you get unlimited access to Athlean XERO which makes it a great deal when you compare the pricing of its competitors

Pricing

As already mentioned, you get full access to the Athlean XERO with a one-time payment of:

$79.95/lifetime access

Pros & Cons

Pros

You won’t need any equipment
It’s great for a complete newbie who can start working out right away with the easiest 2 degrees below XERO option and without any equipment
Easy access to the program from any device – all you need is an internet connection and you are ready to go
You also get a meal plan with the program, so you can get an idea of what and how much you should eat during the day for best results

Cons

All workouts are predefined and you can’t modify the duration or exercises
There is one warm-up demo for the entire program and you should memorize it or skip between a workout session and a warm-up session on each workout you do
There is no cool-down stretching routine you can do after each workout. This will leave you stiff and your muscles will shorten if you don’t use some other stretching routine.

Athlean XERO Alternatives

Athlean XERO definitely has its place in the calisthenics programs market. For someone looking to dip their toes into bodyweight training without initially investing in equipment, this is a dream come true.

But if you are already hooked and want to dive deep into calisthenics waters, this program might be something you have outgrown.

In that case, you may want to check out other programs that will let you explore the world of calisthenics in much more detail. Here are the programs you may want to check out:

My Experience Using Athlean XERO

When I started out, I stumbled onto Athlean XERO by accident. I was watching various fitness videos online starting with Fitness Blender.

Youtube started suggesting Jeff Cavalier’s videos to me and I was watching those for a while. But I was working out using Fitness Blender free follow-along videos.

I had no equipment and no strength training experience. It turned out Athlean XERO program was great for me.

It helped me discover the world of calisthenics and yearn for more. When I started using this program it didn’t have 1 and 2-degree below options. This made it very difficult to start for me.

I was stuck on week one of training for more than a month. This is how long I needed to be finally able to get through it. Here’s what a program’s main screen looks like when you get inside:

You have all the workouts and rest days laid out in a week-by-week order. After you finish a day, you mark it done and it gets darker color. You can only access a current workout day.

For me, Athlean XERO was a great introduction to the world of calisthenics. But after a year, I wanted more. This is when I discovered other programs and started experimenting with my own custom workouts.

Conclusion: Should You Buy It?

If you are looking for a program that doesn’t need any equipment to use, Athlean XERO might be something to consider. It’s an inexpensive introduction to the world of calisthenics.

If you are just starting out, it’s 14 weeks will help you build a strong foundation for your future bodyweight exploration.

A 6 pack shuffle ab training that comes bundled with this program is a nice bonus for adding extra emphasis on your core muscles.

So, if this is something that sounds like a workout program for you, check it out!

FAQ

This is a legit online calisthenics program that doesn’t require any equipment. Jeff Cavalier is the man behind this workout program. Jeff was a physical therapist and strength coach for the New York Mets. He is also an MSPT and CSCS, so he really knows what he is doing when it comes to strength and conditioning.

Athlean XERO is a no-equipment bodyweight strength training program. Athlean XERO 2 is a 12-week calisthenics program and is a harder version of an Athlean XERO. It also has the option to use a pull-up bar, unlike XERO which doesn’t use any equipment at all.

It’s advertised that workouts are 45 minutes or less. But, it took me around an hour or so on average because I always added warm-up and cool-down sessions to each workout. Also, some challenges may take you an hour and a half to complete.