In today’s fast-paced world, finding time to hit the gym can be a challenge. However, that doesn’t mean you have to compromise your fitness goals. Although I am personally not a huge fan of home workouts due to the aspect of limited equipment availability (generally), you can still see results for a period of time.

In this post we will go over what equipment I recommend, and how to make the most out of making your home workout effective.

The structure of the routine

1. Quick warm up (stretching)
2. Choosing a workout split

If you only have 30 minutes, 3x a week, I recommend just doing the same full body workout each time (until your body adjusts to it and then change it up in a couple of weeks or months).

The workout should contain all COMPOUND movements, meaning they target multiple muscle groups at a time aka they are harder and burn more calories.

These should be things like squat variations, lunge variations, step ups, wall sits, push ups, glute bridges, burpees, planks, etc. (you can google more compounds if needed).

I’d recommend selecting 6 exercises timed at 30 seconds each.

The structure would look like this:
Exercise 1 – 30 seconds

Exercise 2 – 30 seconds (AMRAP = as many reps as possible)

Exercise 3- 30 seconds AMRAP

Exercise 4 – 30 seconds AMRAP

Exercise 5 – 30 seconds AMRAP

Exercise 6 – 30 seconds AMRAP

Rest – 120 seconds

Repeat full circuit 4x.

Week 1, your workout should be about 20 minutes without stretching.

Each week to challenge yourself, add 5 seconds to each exercise until you get up to 60 seconds per exercise. Keep the rest period the same. That’ll bring the workout to 32 minutes total without stretching. You don’t NEED to stretch before but it would be a good idea to for at least a minute or two.

This type of structure is only recommended for bodyweight exercises or super light weights and will be most efficient for building muscular endurance.

Equipment To Consider

I would recommend the following:

A yoga mat

A resistance band set

An adjustable bench

An adjustable dumbbell (or two)

Foam roller

Other tips

If you can, get as much equipment as possible if you plan to workout at home long term.

Having enough weight overall will be important as you progress up and increase weight over time. You don’t want to be stuck looking the same forever just because you have no more weight available. That is a great way to hit a plateau.

You’ll also need to switch up your workouts every 4-8 weeks so the more equipment you have, the more exercise variations you’ll be able to do even if it’s the same exercise. Switching up the equipment used makes a big difference.

For example, a dumbbell bicep curl vs a band bicep curl. Dumbbells have the most tension at the bottom/middle of the exercise as you curl up whereas a band has the most tension at the top of the curl so they work your bicep slightly differently although both are great for building biceps overall.

Conclusion

Whether or not you decide working out at home is for you or not, you should be able to take these tips are run with them to make your workouts successful.

If the only reason you want to work out at home is because you’re scared of the gym, I highly recommend pushing yourself to get to the gym anyways.

There are certainly ways to overcome your gym anxiety, which I talk about in another post that you can read here.

All progress is made OUTSIDE of the comfort zone and potentially outside the comfort of your own home.

If after reading everything through, you’re still not sure of home vs. gym workouts, or how to make a workout at home (or even in the gym), let’s work together! I have 3 spots open. Apply now.

Until next time,

Coach Emily