Exercising at home: The Ultimate Home Workout Guide with 25 Exercises (No Equipment Needed)
Working out from home is a great way to get in your daily dose of exercise without having to leave the comfort of your own home. There are many different ways to work out from home, and there is definitely something for everyone. If you are looking for a way to get in shape without having to go to the gym, here are some home workout ideas for you to try.
Of course, you can also turn to YouTube. There are plenty of fitness professionals sharing their expertise for free to help you get fit from the comfort of your living room. Here's a 15-minute HIIT home workout to try!
Home Workout Formats to Try
There are many different home workouts to choose from when you are looking to get in shape. You can choose a format that is tailored to your specific needs, or you can try a new format every time to keep things exciting. Some of the most popular workout formats include circuit training, bootcamp classes, and running.
Circuit training is a great option if you want to mix up your routine. With circuit training, you move quickly from one exercise to the next, completing a set number of repetitions or time limits for each move. Whether you're looking for a new way to get in shape or you're just starting out, there is a workout format that is perfect for you. Here are the three best formats for working out at home.
Note: Check in with a medical professional before engaging in physical activity. Fitness activities can be dangerous for those with underlying medical conditions. (terms and policy of the information and using this site)
AMRAP
AMRAP is as many reps/rounds as possible popular among high intensity interval training junkies. For home workouts, I typically program AMRAP — as many rounds as possible in a circuit workout format. You set a timer for a specific amount of time, then see how many rounds of the sequence of exercises that you can finish. Here are some examples:
20 minutes of 10 reps of 5 exercises
15 minutes of 20 reps of 3 exercises
As many of a single exercise that you can do within 2 minutes
I personally love the third option as a finisher.
To get started, pick some exercises out of the list below, and decide on how many reps you'll do and the timeframe you'd like to do them in!
TABATA
A great way to exercise at home is using TABATA. It's a popular high intensity interval training of periods of strenuous exercise followed by rest. Traditionally, TABATA is 20 seconds of work, and 10 seconds of rest. But I recommend that you play with the timings. Here are a few examples:
4 exercises for 16 rounds of 40s of work, and 20s of rest
4 exercises for 32 rounds of 20s of work, and 10s of rest
5 exercises for 25 rounds of 45s of work, and 15s of rest
If you're just getting back into working out at home, I recommend option one. My favorite TABATA timer is WOD Timer.
Counting Sets and Reps
Decide on your sets and reps for a classic strength training workout. Sets are a collection of reps, and reps are the amount of times you repeat a movement within a set. Here are some ways you could format your home workouts using sets and reps:
4 sets of 15 reps (best for beginners)
4 sets of 8 reps (better for strength)
3 sets of 6 reps (best for power)
If you don't have a bunch of equipment, it might be best to do more sets and reps to ensure you're working your muscles! You want the last few repetitions to be extremely challenging. There are plenty of ways to make bodyweight exercises harder or easier too! For example, if push ups on your toes are easy, place your toes on a coffee table or chair and do decline push ups. But if they're hard, drop to your knees.
An "I Can't Be Bothered" Workout
Some movement is better than no movement. If you've had a day and you just can't, then the I can't be bothered workout is perfect for you.
Pick a movement
Set a timer and do the movement for five minutes
And that's it
It'll keep you in the habit and help you keep the promises you make for yourself on the hard days.
Best Equipment to Buy for a Home Workout
The best equipment to buy for a home workout is unique to your space, family situation, and confidence for trying out new gear. Here are some general tips that can help you make the most of your at-home fitness routine. As a note, the 25 movements explained later are all bodyweight, so no stress if you can't grab equipment right now!
Invest in quality exercise equipment that will last. Cheap gear may be tempting, but it's likely to wear out quickly and may not be supporting your fitness goals.
Make sure you have enough space to accommodate your workout routine. If you're limited on space, consider purchasing equipment that can be stored away easily when not in use.
Choose equipment that is comfortable and easy to use. This will help ensure that you actually use it regularly and get the most out of your workouts.
Here's a list of gear that's easy to store and will challenge your muscles.
Dumbbells
Dumbbells are a versatile weight that I'd recommend for anyone. Personally, I just have the one pair because I live in an apartment. If you also have a small space, I recommend a weight that is slightly too heavy for your upper body (maybe you can do 6 reps) and a little too light for your lower body. That way you get something in between.
If you have more space, get a pair for your lower body and your upper body. This will help you build strength through your legs faster. Hexagonal are best as they won't roll around the floor potential hurting you or a loved one. Here are some options that you can grab from Amazon:
Note that this article contains affiliate links meaning I may receive commission from links you click on and purchase at no cost to you.
If you're looking to build strength, look no further than dumbbells! Dumbbells are a great way to add resistance to your workouts, and they're perfect for a variety of exercises. With a pair of dumbbells, you can work every muscle in your body.
Kettlebells
Kettlebells are my favorite piece of equipment for a home workout. You can do so many more movements than the ones listed in this article with a kettlebell. Like the dumbbells, if you can only purchase one piece of equipment, I recommend something slightly too heavy for the arms and a little light for the legs. Again, two kettlebells are ideal. Personally, I like Olympic-style kettlebells as the body of the equipment stays consistent. Here are some that I'd recommend:
Kettlebells are an excellent way to get a full-body workout in a short amount of time. They are also a great way to improve your strength, endurance, and cardiovascular health. If you are looking for an easy and convenient way to get in shape, kettlebells are the perfect choice for you.
TRX or Suspension Training System
If I could only choose one piece of workout equipment for the rest of my life, it'd be a TRX. You can anchor the system anywhere and it's an excellent way to build strenth, balance and mobility. I've seen dudes that bench over 200kg struggle doing a TRX push up. The suspension training system really is that good. Below is the original system and a set that I bought on Amazon and has served me well:
TRX is the perfect workout for anyone who wants to get fit and stay healthy. TRX builds muscle, burns fat, and improves balance and flexibility. With TRX, you can customize your workout to fit your specific fitness goals. Order your TRX today and start getting fit!
25 Exercises to Try in Your Home Workout
Now you've decided whether you'll integrate equipment and which format you'd like to use, substitute in these exercises. With these 25 foundational exercises you can complete a leg, arm, cardio or full body workout. All of these are bodyweight exercises but to make them harder — add weight!
1: Squats
Squats are a compound movement that strengthens your quads and glutes. Building strength in these large muscles helps you burn more calories at rest. To squat:
Bring your feet hip distance apart (take a wider stance if you have long femurs compared to torso)
Point your toes slightly outward (10-20 degrees)
Keep your chest up as you drive your glutes back as though you're sitting in a chair
Ensure your knees don't cave inward
Ensure your knee doesn't extend past your toes too much
Driving through your feet, stand back up, and with the power coming from your glutes
2: Good Mornings
Good mornings are a compound hinge movement that strengthens the hamstrings and glutes. Increasing strength in these large muscles helps you burn more calories at rest. If you have weights, do deadlifts instead! To do a good morning:
Bring your feet hip distance apart
Bring your hands to your head and open your chest
Bending from your hips, shoot your hips back like you're closing a door with your butt
Keep your legs kinda-straight — you should feel a stretch in your hamstrings
Squeeze your glutes to get back to a neutral position
3: Walking Lunges
Walking lunges are a compound movement that builds your quads and glutes. Increasing muscle in these large muscles helps you burn more calories at rest. To undertake walking lunges:
Bring your feet hip distance apart and imagine train tracks from your toes
Along the train track, take a large step forward and drop your back knee close to the ground
Lean forward to recruit more of your hamstring and glute muscles
Aim for both knees to be around 90 degrees (shorter step is more quad dominant, and longer step is more glute focused)
Using strength from your front leg, stand back in a neutral position
Step forward with the next leg
4: Reverse Lunges
Reverse lunges are a compound movement that builds your quads and glutes. These are great for those who struggle to maintain balance in forward and walking lunges. To start reverse lunges:
Bring your feet hip distance apart
Step back with one leg
Drop the back knee close to the floor
Ensure your knee doesn't cave inward
Push with the strength of the front quad to a neutral position
5: Forward Lunges
Forward lunges are a compound movement that builds your quads and glutes. These are great for improving balance and strength. To start forward lunges:
Bring your feet hip distance apart
Step forward with one leg
Drop the back knee close to the floor
Lean forward a little if you want to activate the glutes more
Ensure your knee doesn't cave inward
Push with the strength of the front quad to a neutral position (stay balanced!)
6: Split Squats
Split squats are a compound movement that builds your quads and glutes. These are great for balance and building equal strength throughout the body. Here's how to do them:
Start with one leg in front and one behind, around one foot apart, and shift your weight to the center
Drop the back knee close to the floor
Lean forward if you want to activate your glutes more
Ensure your knee doesn't cave inward
Push up to a neutral position
Repeat with the other leg in front
7: Bulgarian Split Squat
Bulgarian split squats are a more advanced compound movement that builds your quads and glutes. If split squats are getting easy, try Bulgarian split squats. To get started:
Grab a chair (ideally lower than mine)
Place the top of your back foot on the chair/surface
Take a step forward and stand up
Drop the back knee close to the floor and chair
Lean forward and stand up
Ensure your knee doesn't cave inward
If your glute and back quad feel like they're being torn apart, you're doing it right
Repeat on the other side
8: Sumo Squats
Sumo squats are a compound movement that strengthens your quads and glutes. They target a different part of the glutes compared to a regular squat and also strengthen the adductors and hip flexors. To get started:
Bring your feet slightly wider than hip distance
Point your toes outward to 45 degrees
Keep your chest up as you drive your glutes back as though you're sitting in a chair
Ensure your knees don't cave inward — they should point 45 degrees too
Driving through your feet, stand back up, and with the power coming from your glutes
9: Heel Raised Squats
Heel raised squats are a compound movement that strengthens your quads and glutes. They're a variation that will give you a burn through the quads. To start:
Grab a wedge, ideally, or a book/object around 1-2" high
Bring your feet hip distance apart and place your heels on the object
Point your toes slightly outward (10-20 degrees)
Keep your chest up as you drive your glutes back as though you're sitting in a chair
Ensure your knees don't cave inward
Ensure your knee doesn't extend past your toes too much
Driving through your feet, stand back up, and with the power coming from your glutes
10: Push Ups
Push ups are a compound movement that strengthens your chest and triceps. Building strength through the upper body balances your body and can give you the appearance of an hourglass shape. To push up:
Get into a high plank position
Hands placed under the shoulders or slightly wider than the shoulders
Elbows pointed at a 45 degree angle, lower down
Lower as close to the floor as you can
Keeping your core engaged, push up
Hardest: Push up on toes
Moderate: Lower on toes, push up on knees
Easier: Push up and lower on the knees
11: Supermans
Supermans are a compound movement that strengthens your back. Building strength through the upper body balances your body and can give you the appearance of an hourglass shape. If you have weights, I also recommend rows to build strength through your back. To try a superman:
Lay on the ground on your belly
Activate your back, legs, and core
Lift your legs and arms simultaneously
Hold for 2-3s
Slowly lower
This movement requires mind-muscle connection.
12: Shoulder Push Ups
Shoulder push ups are a compound movement that strengthens your chest, shoulders, and triceps. Increasing strength through the upper body balances your body and can give you the appearance of an hourglass shape. You will need some flexibility through the hamstrings to complete this movement. To get started:
Place your hands shoulder or slightly wider than shoulder-width apart
Bring your feet wide but close to your hands
Ensuring your back is as straight as possible, lower your head to the floor
Press up through your hands
A great way to think of this is a shoulder press with your body instead of weights. But if you do have weights, a shoulder press is an excellent option too.
13: Commandos
Commandos are a compound movement that works your chest, tricep, shoulders, and core. They're a twist on the traditional push up and easy to work into a circuit. To do a commando:
Get into a high plank position
Hands placed under the shoulders or slightly wider than the shoulders
Place your elbow and forearm on the floor where your hand was with one arm
Repeat with the other arm
Push back up one arm at a time
Repeat while alternating the side you push up from equally
14: Shoulder Taps
Shoulder taps are a great way to work your core while building strength through the chest and shoulders. To get started:
Get into a high plank position
Hands placed under the shoulders or slightly wider than the shoulders
Keep your hips pointed to the floor
Tap the opposite hand to the opposite shoulder
Lower hand back down
Repeat on the other side
Note: Don't let your hips swing from side to side. Pretend each hip has a light shining from them. You want to keep both lights pointed toward the ground while controlling the shoulder tap movement. You'll feel your core burn! 🔥
15: Plank
The plank is an isometric exercise that you probably did back in high school. It's a popular but effective movement that challenges the full body and can be easily added to circuit and HIIT workouts for a reprieve from cardio. Here's how to plank:
Get into a low plank position
Elbows placed under shoulders
Glutes in line with your torso and shoulders
Feet can go wider to make it easier, narrow to make it harder
Squeeze every muscle in your body and try to smile 😅
16: Hollow Rock
Hollow rock, also known as dish rock for my gymnastics lovers, is an isometric exercise and it can be kind of awkward at first. But once you get used to rocking, you'll feel the burn with the small contractions from rocking! Here's how to do a hollow rock:
Lay face up on the floor
Lift your hands above your head, biceps covering your ears
Lift your arms, shoulders and legs off the floor
Try to rock back and forth while maintaining the same body position
I like to imagine my upper and lower body being at an obtuse angle between 140-160 degrees and trying to keep the angle the same time the whole time.
17: Flutter Kicks
Flutter kicks are a military favorite and will give you a serious core burn. They'll work the core, lower abs and hip flexors. Here's how to do flutter kicks:
Lay face up on the floor
Easier: place your hands under your glutes
Moderate: place your hands off the floor next to your legs (as shown in GIF)
Harder: place your arms above your head, biceps covering your ears
Lift your shoulders and legs off the floor
Kick your legs up and down like you're swimming freestyle
18: Russian Twists
Russian twists are an excellent movement to work your abs and obliques. If you have lower back issues, I don't recommend using weight or lifting your feet off the ground. Here's how to do a russian twist:
From a seated position with bent legs, lean back until your torso and femur create a 90 degree angle
Easier: Keep your feet on the ground
Harder: Lift your feet off the ground (like navasana "boat" pose)
Twist to touch the floor on one side, then twist to the other side
Keep your shoulders back and chest open throughout the entire movement
Consider holding lighter equipment if you don't experience any back pain and this movement becomes easy for you.
19: Reverse Crunch
Reverse crunches are a great core strengthening movement to add into your workouts because they work the lower abdominals. The lower abs can sometimes be difficult to engage and as such, many execute this movement incorrectly. As a rule of thumb, if you don't feel anything, you're probably doing it wrong. Here's how to do a reverse cruch
Lay face up on the floor
Lift your legs above your hips at a 90 degree angle, bend your knees if your hamstrings are tight
Place your hands beside you
Using your lower abs, lift your hips off the floor
Lower back down
This is a micro-movement, you should not be swinging your legs about to get up
20: Jumping Jacks
Jumping jacks are a cardiovascular movement that you can do almost anywhere. Fun fact: in Australia we call them star jumps so if you're at F45, you might see them called star jumps. Here's how to do a jumping jack:
From a standing position
Jump your feet out while simultaneously reaching your arms out (you look like a star or the Y in YMCA)
Jump your feet and hands back in
Repeat as fast as you can
21: Burpees
Burpees are a full body cardiovascular movement. They're not a crowd favorite but if you're looking to seriously level up your endurance, they're a great movement to add into your workouts. Here's how to do a burpee:
From a standing position, bring your hands to the floor shoulder width apart
Shoot your feet back into a high plank position
Lay your chest on the floor
Push up to a high plank
Jump your feet back to your hands
Lift up to stand and jump
A variation for those with lower back issues or those who are simply tired are to step out and step back into the high plank position, skip the push ups and/or skip the jump at the standing position.
22: Mountain Climbers
Mountain climbers are a versatile core and cardio movement for maximum impact in your workout. They target muscle muscles throughout your body including core, shoulders, triceps as well as some leg power from the quads and hamstrings. Here's how to do a mountain climber:
Get into a high plank position
Hands placed under shoulders or slightly wider than shoulders
Feet hip distance apart
Bring one knee to your chest, the other leg remains in the original position
Quickly bring the other knee to your chest with the other leg in the base position
While moving quickly ensure your shoulders stay inline with the hands
Slow down the movement if you begin to tire!
23: Lateral Shoot Throughs
Lateral shoot throughs are great to help you work on your mobility and balance through the full body. They can take a while to get the hang of but they will help you become more holistically fit. Here's how to do a lateral shoot through:
Get into a tabletop position
Hands placed under shoulders or slightly wider than shoulders
Knees underneath your hips
Lift your knees off the ground — this is your base position
Shoot your right leg to the left side, perpendicular to your torso (not back), lift your left hand with chest facing the left side
Come back to the base position
Shoot your left leg to the right side, perpendicular to your torso (not back), lift your right hand with chest facing the right side
Repeat and get faster and faster once you're comfortable
24: Lateral Skaters
Lateral skaters are excellent for agility, balance and cardio. Add these to your workout at home and jump wider to challenge your balance and smaller to challenge your speed. Here's how to do a lateral skater:
From a standing position, jump to the side keeping your chest high
Jump to the other side
Practice jumping from one foot and landing on one foot
Get your arms into it but swinging athletic or dancer style (I was a dancer, can you tell? 😂)
25: Predator Jacks
Predator jacks are an fantastic variation to jumping jacks as you'll feel a leg burn after them. It's a cardiovascular movement but they also work through the quads and glutes. Here's how to do a predator jack:
From a standing positon with arms reaching out in front of you
Jump feet out to a sumo squat with arms wide to the side of you
Jump back to starting postion
Repeat and speed up!
Work Out from Home With Others
Getting fit doesn't have to be a drag. With these 25 easy exercises, you can turn your living room into a gym and get your sweat on without even having to leave the house. And when you're done with this list, there are plenty more where that came from. Join the holistic fitness community for unlimited access to workout videos, fitness tips, and a supportive group of like-minded people who are all working towards their fitness goals. What are you waiting for? sign up now and let's get fit together!