The Workout Manual
Read once. Use forever.
DAREBEE workouts are designed for all fitness levels and are easy to navigate. This manual covers everything: how to read a poster, how to count reps, what the difficulty levels mean, and how rest time works.
Cardio
Boost cardiovascular endurance, burn calories, and improve stamina. Ideal for heart health and fat burning.
Strength
Build muscle and improve muscle definition. Focus on resistance and compound movements.
Metcon
Metabolic Conditioning - combines strength and cardio at high intensity to maximize energy output and endurance.
HIIT
Short bursts of intense activity with recovery periods. Efficient for fat burning and boosting metabolism.
Combat
Builds strength, agility, and speed using martial arts-inspired techniques and movement patterns.
Stretching
Improve flexibility and mobility. Good for recovery, easing tension, and improving range of motion.
Yoga
Mindful sessions for flexibility, balance, and relaxation while promoting mental clarity.
Wellness
Gentle routines for overall health, recovery, and well-being. Good for active rest days or easing into fitness.
Use the difficulty filter at the top of the workouts, programs, and challenges pages to find content suited to your fitness level. The easiest way to pick your level: look at the exercises listed for each and ask which ones you can comfortably do today.
You'll see: walking, seated exercises, standing-only movements.
You'll see: squat holds, reverse lunges, butt kicks, hops.
You'll see: jumping jacks, forward and side lunges, squats, high knees, planks, wall push-ups, tricep dips, get-ups.
You'll see: push-ups, jumping lunges, jump squats, squat hops, all burpees, up & down planks, plank jacks, plank jump-ins.
You'll see: all pull-ups, jump knee-tucks, hook kicks, and other advanced compound moves.
The Levels I-III on a poster are intensity options within that workout - you pick how many sets to do, and you can move up over time. Only circuit type workouts have this allowing you to scale them based on how tired you are or how much time you have on the day.
Each workout poster is read left to right and contains four things:
Illustrated steps with movement images
Number of repetitions per exercise
Total number of sets to complete
How long to rest between sets
Circuit Workouts
Complete all exercises in the circuit before resting. The number of sets is listed at the top of the poster. Repeat the full circuit for your chosen level.
Choose circuits when you want conditioning with your strength work. Moving from exercise to exercise without rest keeps your heart rate up, so you build muscle and stamina at the same time - and Levels I-III let you scale the session to the time and energy you have that day.
Classic Workouts
Complete all sets for each exercise before moving to the next. Sets are specified under each individual exercise on the poster.
Choose classic when you want focused strength work. Resting between sets lets you recover and give every rep your full effort, which is better for building strength and muscle definition - and it lets you work at your own pace, one exercise at a time.
Counting reps
"20 climbers" means 20 total, counting both legs - that's 10 per leg.
Time-based exercises
Some exercises are measured in seconds instead of reps, e.g. "60 seconds plank". Hold or keep moving for the full duration. Any clock, phone timer, or stopwatch works.
10-count / 20-count
Hold the position and count to the number - no timer needed, which is handy mid-circuit. It's roughly a 10 or 20 second hold. Counting slower makes it harder, counting faster makes it easier.
Switching sides
Strength: switch halfway. Cardio: switch every rep. Combat: halfway for technique, every rep for speed.
To Failure / MAX
As many reps as possible while maintaining proper form. Stop when form breaks down.
Reps + (e.g. 5+)
Complete the minimum number of reps to advance to the next exercise. Do more if it feels too easy.
Make it Easier / Make it Harder
Many workouts include suggestions for scaling the difficulty down or up - swap a move, drop the reps, or add intensity. Use them to fit the workout to your current fitness level, not the other way around.
Combos
"3 combos: 10 high knees + 2 push-ups" - complete that pairing 3 times before moving to the next exercise.
Circuit workouts: no rest between exercises - only rest after completing the full circuit before repeating it.
Classic workouts: reps and sets are listed under each exercise on the poster.
Rest time guidelines by level:
Still have questions?
The DAREBEE Help Desk on the community forum is the best place to ask. The team answers questions there, and chances are someone has already asked the same thing.
