How to workout at home + best home gym workout plan

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There are so many reasons you would want to know how to workout at home. One of the biggest reasons many of us choose to skip joining a commercial gym and rather exercise at home is that working out from home works out cheaper and convenient in the long run.

As someone who lost over 40 pounds by working out at home, I totally love working out at home because I can wear whatever I want during a workout as long as it’s comfortable. I also appreciate the fact that I’m able to save money and time, by not going out of my way to drive to the gym. 

I lost lots of weight a few years ago by working out at home

Sometimes life happens, and there are occasions when going to the gym is practically out of your hands.

Whatever your reasons for deciding to workout at home, I’m here to show you how to work out from home, and also give you a home gym workout plan that requires little to no equipment. All you have to do is to show up and do the work.

What I would like to take you through before I give you the best home gym workout plan is the actual how to workout at home process. This is because working out from home is not as easy as 123.

There’re so many things that can distract you and make it okay to skip your exercise routine every now and then. If you aren’t disciplined enough, you will find it an impossible mission to fully workout from home.

These tips are your road map to exercising from home. Follow them and you will achieve that dream body in no time, and will never want to go back to the gym again.

How to workout at home

1. Define your goals

By defining your fitness goals, you will be working out with intention, and this will ultimately help you achieve amazing results. Making the choice to be fit, and live a healthier lifestyle is a lifetime commitment. 

This means that your fitness goals should not be for the moment, but rather, focused on the long game.

People give up on their fitness journey most of the time, because either the goals are unrealistic and hard to achieve, or simply because the goals were never defined from the beginning.

Related post: How to build a home gym on a budget

2. Plan how you will achieve your goals

So, once you have a clear picture of what you want to achieve from working out at home, you need to know HOW you will reach your goals. You have to have a plan in place, and this is where the best home gym workout plan will come in. Just having dumbbells in your home gym is not enough. You have to have a workout plan that you can follow at least 3 times a week.

Essential reading:

30-Day Fat Burning Workout Routines for Beginners

FREE killer leg workout plan you can do anywhere

How to tone flabby arms (5 ultimate arm toning exercises for females)

3. Establish the best time for you to workout

While you can rightfully exercise anytime you want at home, you need to follow a daily routine and set up a time that you’ll be working out at home. Here’s why you need this:

If your exercise time is not set aside as part of your daily routine, you’ll eventually start working out less and less every day.

Working out at home needs to become part of your stay at home habit. If you get up at 7, wake up an hour earlier to workout. If you prefer exercising in the evening, set aside a time that you will be putting on your workout clothes and getting to work.

It’s hard to fall into a habit of putting off a workout because you are just not feeling it. This is how most treadmills at home end up being cloth hangers.

Your home gym equipment will end up gathering dust if you don’t make exercise a habit – it’s hard to stick to something that is not part of your routine.

Why I choose to workout in the morning

Working at home or at the gym out requires energy, and if at the end of the day, you are drained, you will find reasons to hit the couch than exercise room.

I exercise first thing in the morning and have made this my ‘me’ time. As a single mum, there are school activities that require my attendance, on most evenings.  I also used to find that my social life activities would just demand a piece of me in the evenings, making it hard for me to get my exercise in.

Now that I choose to workout at home in the morning, the number of things that tend to get in the way of my exercise time is almost zero.

Read: How to motivate yourself

4. Determine the home gym equipment you will need

This is what is brilliant about working out at home- you can buy only the equipment that fits your goals.

You don’t have to pay the gym for machines that you never even use. With your own home gym, you can figure out the equipment that will help you achieve your fitness goals and then spend your money only what’s useful to you.

You might like: How to build a home gym

Another thing that you will appreciate is that if your money is tight right now, you are free NOT to buy any home gym equipment. There are amazing bodyweight exercises that I will give you to help you learn how to workout at home.

Home gym workout plan

This is a 5 day home gym workout plan, if you would like a FREE 30 workout plan for beginners, please click here. 

If you are more advanced or are looking for a bikini body workout, then this FREE 6-week summer body workout is all yours! 

5 day home gym workout plan

Monday

5-minute warm-up

Jogging in place – 30 sec

Arm circles – 30 sec

High knees- 30 sec

Hip circles – 30 sec

Jumping jacks -30 sec

REPEAT 2X

Round 1

Legs and cardio

• 12 dumbbell squats
• 12 dumbbell deadlifts
• 12 dumbbell backward lunges
• 12 kettlebell swings
• 12 glute bridges

REPEAT 2X

How to do kettlebell swings

Cardio

• 15 rockstar jumps
• 15-sec rest
• 20 jumping jacks
• 15-sec rest
• 15 rockstar jumps
• 15-sec rest
• 20 high knees

Round 2

• 12 bodyweight jump squats
• 12 single-leg deadlifts (6 each leg)
• 30-sec wall sits
• 12 dumbbell side lunge (6 each leg)
• 12 donkey kicks (6 each leg)

REPEAT 2X

Cardio

• 15 rockstar jumps
• 15-sec rest
• 20 jumping jacks
• 15-sec rest
• 15 rockstar jumps
• 15-sec rest
• 20 high knees

Cooldown

Standing quad stretch -15 sec

Standing forward stretch -15 sec

Figure 4 stretch -15 sec

Wall shoulder stretch – 15 stretch

Tuesday upper body and cardio

5-minute warm-up

• Jogging in place – 30 sec
• Arm circles – 30 sec
• High knees- 30 sec
• Hip circles – 30 sec
• Jumping jacks -30 sec

REPEAT 2X

How to do dumbbell overhead triceps extension

Round 1

• 12 triceps kickbacks
• 12 bicep curls
• 12 dumbbell overhead triceps extension
• 12 hammer curls
• 12 pushups
• REPEAT 2X

Cardio

• 15 burpees
• 15 sec rest
• 15 mountain climbers
• 15 sec rest

REPEAT 2X

Round 2

• 12 dumbbell floor chest press
• 12 bent over dumbbell rows
• 12 overhead shoulder press
• 12 supermans
• 12 lateral raise

REPEAT 2X

Cardio

• 15 burpees
• 15 sec rest
• 15 mountain climbers
• 15 sec rest

REPEAT 2X

Cooldown

15-sec child’s pose

15-sec tricep stretch

15-sec bicep stretch against the wall

15-sec forward stretch

Wednesday -Abs and cardio

5 minute warm-up

Jogging in place – 30 sec

Arm circles – 30 sec

High knees- 30 sec

Hip circles – 30 sec

Jumping jacks -30 sec

Round 1

• 20 Russian twists
• 12 crunches
• 12 reverse crunches
• 30 sec planks
• 12 flutter kicks

REPEAT 2X

Cardio

• 30 jumping jacks
• 15 mountain climbers
• 12 rockstar jumps
• 30 butt kicks
• 15 burpees
• 30 skaters
• 30 high knees

REPEAT 3X

Home gym workout plan- Thursday -Legs and cardio

5 minute warm-up

Jogging in place – 30 sec

Arm circles – 30 sec

High knees- 30 sec

Hip circles – 30 sec

Jumping jacks -30 sec

REPEAT 2X

Round 1

• 12 dumbbell squats
• 12 dumbbell deadlifts
• 12 dumbbell backward lunges
• 12 kettlebell swings
• 12 glute bridges

REPEAT 3X

Cardio

• 15 rockstar jumps
• 15 sec rest
• 20 jumping jacks
• 15 sec rest
• 15 rockstar jumps
• 15 sec rest
• 20 high knees

REPEAT 2X

Round 2

• 12 bodyweight jump squats
• 12 single-leg deadlifts (6 each leg)
• 30-sec wall sits
• 12 dumbbell side lunge (6 each leg)
• 12 donkey kicks (6 each leg)

REPEAT 3X

Cardio

• 15 rockstar jumps
• 15 sec rest
• 20 jumping jacks
• 15 sec rest
• 15 rockstar jumps
• 15 sec rest
• 20 high knees

Cool down

• Standing quad stretch -15 sec
• Standing forward stretch -15 sec
• Figure 4 stretch -15 sec
• Wall shoulder stretch – 15 stretch

Friday- Upper body and cardio at-home workout 

5 minute warm up

Jogging in place – 30 sec

Arm circles – 30 sec

High knees- 30 sec

Hip circles – 30 sec

Jumping jacks -30 sec

REPEAT 2X

Round 1

12 triceps kickbacks

12 bicep curls

12 dumbbell overhead triceps extension

12 hammer curls

12 pushups

REPEAT 3X

Cardio

15 burpees

15 sec rest

15 mountain climbers

15 sec rest

REPEAT 2X

Round 2

12 dumbbell floor chest press

12 bent over dumbbell rows

12 overhead shoulder press

12 supermans

12 lateral raise

REPEAT 3X

Cardio

15 burpees

15 sec rest

15 mountain climbers

15 sec rest

REPEAT 2X

• Cool down
• 15 sec child’s pose
• 15 sec tricep stretch
• 15 sec bicep stretch against the wall
• 15 sec forward stretch

Final thoughts on how to workout at home

You have to always remember that working out from home requires a lot of discipline. Just because no one is watching you, does not mean that you should phone it in.

You will only be cheating yourself at the end of the day because results never lie. What you put in, is what you are going to get. Nothing comes for free.

You have to always hold yourself accountable. Always go hard, and always be consistent with each and every workout. Consistency with your meals and consistency with your home workouts is what will get you your dream body. Consistency.

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