Home › Home Workouts

Home Workout Programs for Men and Women

You do not need a gym membership to get fit. With the right plan, training at home can build real strength, burn fat and improve your health. Below are our six home workout programs, three for men and three for women, from complete beginner (no equipment at all) to advanced (dumbbells, a pull-up bar and a kettlebell).

Benefits of working out at home

  • No travel time and no membership fees.
  • Train whenever it suits you: early morning, lunch break or late at night.
  • No waiting for equipment and no feeling self-conscious.
  • Easy to stay consistent, which is the number-one predictor of results.

What equipment should you buy?

Start with nothing. Your body weight is enough for the first 2–3 months. When you are ready to progress, these are the most useful purchases, in order:

  1. A yoga or exercise mat for floor work.
  2. Resistance loop bands, cheap and great for glutes and warm-ups.
  3. Adjustable dumbbells, the single best home-gym investment, replacing a whole rack.
  4. A doorway pull-up bar for pull-ups, chin-ups and hanging leg raises.
  5. A kettlebell for swings and goblet squats.
  6. An adjustable bench for presses, rows and step-ups.

How to make bodyweight exercises harder

Your muscles respond to effort, not to where the resistance comes from. When an exercise gets easy, increase the challenge by adding reps, slowing down the lowering phase (3–4 seconds), adding pauses, using single-leg or single-arm versions, or moving to a harder variation (for example from incline push-ups to push-ups to decline push-ups).

Programs for men

Programs for women

Best home exercises

Push-Ups – start positionPush-Ups – end positionAnimated demo
beginnerChest

Push-Ups

The push-up is the most famous bodyweight exercise in the world for a reason.

Incline Push-Ups – start positionIncline Push-Ups – end positionAnimated demo
beginnerChest

Incline Push-Ups

Incline push-ups put your hands on a bench, box, sturdy chair or kitchen counter so you lift a smaller part of your body weight.

Decline Push-Ups – start positionDecline Push-Ups – end positionAnimated demo
beginnerChest

Decline Push-Ups

With your feet raised on a bench or step, the decline push-up shifts more of your body weight onto your hands and moves the work toward the upper chest and front shoulders.

Dumbbell Lunges – start positionDumbbell Lunges – end positionAnimated demo
beginnerQuads

Dumbbell Lunges

Lunges train one leg at a time, which fixes strength differences between sides and challenges your balance.

Plank – start positionPlank – end positionAnimated demo
beginnerAbs

Plank

The plank is a static core exercise in which you hold your body straight on your forearms and toes.

Mountain Climbers – start positionMountain Climbers – end positionAnimated demo
beginnerQuads

Mountain Climbers

Mountain climbers are a fast-paced exercise in a push-up position where you drive your knees toward your chest one after another.

Jump Rope – start positionJump Rope – end positionAnimated demo
intermediateQuads

Jump Rope

Jumping rope is one of the most efficient cardio workouts.

Crunches – start positionCrunches – end positionAnimated demo
beginnerAbs

Crunches

The crunch is a classic ab exercise that targets the rectus abdominis, the six-pack muscle.

Flutter Kicks – start positionFlutter Kicks – end positionAnimated demo
beginnerGlutes

Flutter Kicks

Flutter kicks are done lying on your back with the legs straight, kicking up and down in small fast movements.

Dead Bug – start positionDead Bug – end positionAnimated demo
beginnerAbs

Dead Bug

The dead bug is a core stability exercise in which you lie on your back and slowly extend opposite arm and leg while keeping your lower back glued to the floor.

Superman – start positionSuperman – end positionAnimated demo
beginnerLower back

Superman

The superman strengthens the muscles along the back of your body: lower back, glutes and upper back.

Bench Dips – start positionBench Dips – end positionAnimated demo
beginnerTriceps

Bench Dips

Bench dips use a bench, chair or couch to train the triceps with your body weight.

Inverted Rows – start positionInverted Rows – end positionAnimated demo
beginnerMiddle back

Inverted Rows

Inverted rows (Australian pull-ups) are done hanging under a bar or a sturdy table with your heels on the floor.

Arnold Press – start positionArnold Press – end positionAnimated demo
intermediateShoulders

Arnold Press

The Arnold press, made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger, is a shoulder press with a rotation.

Lateral Raises – start positionLateral Raises – end positionAnimated demo
beginnerShoulders

Lateral Raises

The lateral raise isolates the side delts, the muscles that make your shoulders look wider.