Getting in shape doesn’t necessarily require a monthly gym membership. It does require a solid home workout routine and plenty of determination to keep at it. There’s so much information on the internet that it’s easy to get overwhelmed and give up altogether.
A great home workout routine doesn’t have to be complicated. Simple exercises that require no special equipment are sometimes the best for beginners. You can boost your endurance, build lean muscle, or shave off excess pounds by just focusing on the basics.
Read on if you’ve found yourself asking, “What is the best home workout routine?”
Things to Know Before You Start
Even the best workout routine won’t do much if you’re doing it wrong. Here are a few key things to ensure the success of your fitness journey.
Set a Goal
Picking a workout goal will not only help you choose the right exercises, it’s also crucial for keeping you motivated. Think about your goal and put it on paper.
Make It a Habit
Working out is one of those things that won’t show results unless you do it consistently. It requires a lot of commitment. Set aside time in your daily routine to put your workout on autopilot and make exercise a habit.
Adjust Your Diet
Whatever your workout goal is, an improper diet can easily set you back. Healthy, balanced nutrition is crucial for muscle recovery. Exercise puts a strain on your body, and feeding it properly is what will allow you to maintain the tempo.
Never Skip a Warmup
Whatever routine you choose, warming up before jumping in head-first is paramount. Keep injury at bay with a quick, 5-minute, dynamic warmup session.
Combine Exercises
Whether your goal is improving your endurance or losing weight, create a balanced routine that works all parts of your body to maintain muscular balance and add variety.
Listen to Your Body’s Signals
Have ample rest between your sessions, and don’t push yourself when you’re in pain. There’s no one-size-fits-all workout routine, so you’ll need to adjust yours as your body dictates.
What Is the Best Home Workout Routine for Fitness and Endurance?
If you’re tired of being out of breath after climbing a flight of stairs, working on your stamina is a good idea. Both cardio and strength training play an important role in this process.
Cardio, such as aerobic exercise, puts your heart and lungs to the test. By challenging these crucial organs, you keep increasing their endurance. Cardio exercises have a myriad of health benefits and should be part of everyone’s workout routine.
Strength training, like bodyweight exercises, will similarly improve cardiovascular health while also increasing muscle strength. Sticking to a routine that combines these two will soon make you feel better equipped for those stairs when the elevator is broken.
Aerobic activities you can do at home include climbing stairs, jumping rope, skipping, jogging in place, step aerobics, and dancing. Pick an activity that increases your heart rate and try to do it for 20-30 minutes, 2-3 times a week.
Bodyweight exercises to include in your routine are squats, push-ups (or knee push-ups), lunges, planks, side planks, leg raises, and calf raises. Create a muscle-strengthening routine by picking several of these bodyweight exercises. Do each of them for 30-60 seconds, depending on your fitness level, with a 30- to 60-second break in between. Repeat the whole set 2-3 times. Aiming for a 20- to 30-minute session 2-3 times a week is recommended.
Ensure that you’re getting at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week with your workouts combined.
What Is the Best Home Workout Routine for Building Muscle?
You can build muscle most effectively if you combine weight training with cardio. Weight training will put a strain on your muscles, prompting your body to rebuild the fibers bigger and stronger each time. cardio exercises will supply you with the stamina needed to make your workouts more and more challenging. The third crucial component is nutrition; your body needs protein to rebuild the injured muscle tissue. (Keeping in mind that excess protein is stored in the body as fat.)
When first starting out, bodyweight exercises will be enough to challenge your muscles. Later, adding a few free weights to your training will truly make you feel the burn. You can take many bodyweight exercises a step further with a pair of dumbbells. Work your lower body with a dumbbell squat or try dumbbell walking lunges. Dumbbells are also great if you want to work on isolated muscle groups. Biceps curls are great for your arm muscles while chest presses, pullovers, and lying dumbbell flies will sculpt your chest.
Select several of these dumbbell exercises to cover all areas of your body, determine how many reps you’ll do of each (this can be anywhere from 4-12, depending on how challenging the move is), and make sure you do three sets. Your training session should be 20-30 minutes long.
In order to see results, you’ll have to do weight training at least twice a week, but three times is recommended. Use 2-3 days for cardio and other exercises, and leave two days for recovery.
What Is the Best Home Workout Routine for Weight Loss?
Weight loss should never be merely a question of dieting. Plenty of blood-pumping activity is key for burning those calories and shedding pounds. Remember that losing fat from specific body parts isn’t possible, so your goal should be increasing your overall fitness to start seeing results.
The most effective way to do that is with a full-body HIIT (high-intensity interval training) routine that combines moderate and intense activity for a short but powerful session. Since you need to create a calorie deficit, weight loss generally requires longer periods of activity.
HIIT is a great choice if you don’t have an hour to spare five times a week. A 15- to 20-minute workout four times per week will achieve a similar result. If you’re a beginner, you can aim for the lower end.
To create the perfect routine, pick a few moderate exercises and one truly intense, dynamic activity and alternate between the two types. Beginners should keep the ratio 2:1, with two parts moderate exercise and one part intense.
You can pick any exercises as long as they are amply challenging for you. For weight loss, don’t skip strength practice, as it will increase your resting metabolic rate, improving your body’s ability to burn calories while at rest.
Think about including some of the following exercises in your home HIIT workout: squats, squats with alternating knee pull, push-ups, jumping high knees, planks, side-to-side runs, lunges, sideways lunges, burpees, kettlebell swings, and jumping jacks.
Here’s an example of an effective HIIT routine. Select two moderate activities and a dynamic one from the list. Warm up, then perform the dynamic exercise for 40 seconds. Allow for 20 seconds of rest, then move on to one of the moderate exercises.
Perform this activity for 40 seconds, then take a rest. Do the same thing with the other moderate-intensity exercise. Repeat the whole process three times.
Feel free to adjust the rest periods according to your fitness level. You can also add or switch up exercises while maintaining the pattern for a longer workout.
Prepare to Sweat
All exercise routines boil down to the same thing: challenging yourself while knowing your limits. So, what is the best home workout routine? The answer is, it will differ from person to person.
Determine your goal and pick exercises that focus on your objective, and don’t neglect other areas either. This will result in a full-body home workout routine that’s best for you.