If for some reason you can’t make it to a gym, there are many ways you can train at home and many items you can use to substitute for machinery. This is also the case of strength exercises that, although they are usually done in the gym, there are many that you can do without instruments to strengthen your muscles.
The most important thing is that you perform the movements properly, so we recommend recording yourself or doing them in front of the mirror and correcting your posture when necessary. If you already have everything ready, discover these 15 strength exercises at home, explained step by step. We’ve included all the essential training levels and progressions, so no matter your level, you’ll be able to get in shape with our selection!
Table Of Content
1. The inchworm
2. Squats or squats
3. Strides, lunges or lounge
4. side lunges
5. glute-bridge
6. One leg deadlift
7. Farmer’s walk
8. sit ups
9. Static plank (high plank)
10. side plank
11. bicep curls
12. Tricep dip with chairs
13. Reverse row pull-up with table
14. Pull-up rowing with two chairs
15. Burpees or the little soldier
The inchworm
The worm or inchworm is a very versatile exercise that works various areas of the body, mainly the abdominals, chest, upper and lower back and arms. In addition, it activates the muscles during warm-up, is toning, develops flexibility, and especially stimulates the hamstrings.
Any healthy person can practice the worm. However, if you have had a sedentary lifestyle, we recommend against doing this when starting out. Follow these steps and you will be able to do these strength and resistance exercises at home and without a machine.
- Stand with your feet together and stretch your body. Keep your legs and arms straight.
- Lean forward until the palms of your hands touch the ground (they should be in front of you), and contract the abdomen. This is the starting position of the exercise, always keep your legs straight. During the exercise, you will only bend at the hips.
- Without moving from your place, begin to take short steps with your hands to lower yourself forward until your body is extended horizontally and parallel to the ground, in the form of a plank. Your feet should rest on your toes.
- Leave your hands where they are and begin to take small steps forward with your feet. Do it without bending your legs until you get close to your hands. He begins by walking on his toes and, when it is comfortable for you, rests on your heels.
- Once you have returned to the starting position, repeat the exercise.
- Do 4 sets of 12 reps. This number can vary depending on whether you just want to train or if you want to strengthen your core.
Squats or squats
The free squat or air squat is considered an essential movement in any strength training, especially in CrossFit (it is one of their 9 essential CrossFit exercises ).
Squats serve to strengthen muscles, ligaments and joints of the legs. When it comes to muscles, the most benefited from this exercise are the quadriceps, the glutes and also, although to a lesser extent, the hamstrings and abductors.
There are squats for novice, intermediate and advanced levels (at this level weights or other difficulties are added) and they serve as physical strength exercises for women and men. In addition, they are also excellent strength exercises for children and can be easily applied in physical education classes. If you want to work hard, check out these adjustable dumbbells from Amazon that are great for squats and other strength exercises.
That said, we start our strength exercises at home for beginners, which you can adapt for advanced if you use a water bottle or another type of weight:
- Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart. Stretch your arms out in front of you, slightly tilted up. This is the starting position of the squat.
- Squat down, shifting your hips back and sticking out your buttocks. You should always maintain the lumbar curvature and your knees should be in line with your feet.
- Lower until your hips are below your knees. If not, you’ll be doing an incomplete squat. This is the third step of the free squat (air squat).
- Get back to the second position quickly.
- End the exercise by returning to the initial step.
- Remember to keep your heels well supported throughout the exercise so as not to hurt your knees.
- Do 4-5 sets of 10 reps until you reach 50 squats. Rest a day between each training (so the muscles will rest and recover).
Strides, lunges or lounge
The lunges are considered one of the most effective bilateral exercises that exist for individual work for each leg, so they are very useful as strength exercises for physical education.
This type of strength exercise without material works the lower body muscles: quadriceps (thighs), hamstrings, abductors, and glutes. Its main benefit is to strengthen legs and knees.
This exercise is suitable for all levels, whether men or women. If you are an expert, you can increase the difficulty by adding weight like these dumbbells from Amazon or bottles that you have at home. Follow these steps and practice it at home:
- Stand up with a straight spine.
- Spread your feet hip-width apart.
- Take a long step, bringing one leg forward. Bend your knee as far as you can until you reach a 90-degree angle.
- Lower your rear knee close to the ground, but without touching it. He supports only the toes.
- You will feel the tension in the muscles of the leg in front of you and in the gluteal area of the leg that is behind.
- Do 20 repetitions, alternating the left leg with the right.
Side lunges
There are many types of lunges, each one for a different training level, or to work more on specific parts: jump lunge, clock lunge, backward biceps curl, stationary, sideways, bow, bench press, with cable and paddle, static disc, etc.
If we talk about strength exercises at home with weights, we are talking about the advanced level of training, and to do it you just need to follow these steps:
- Stand up with your body upright. The arms should be at the sides, well stretched.
- Spread your feet apart, leaving plenty of space between them.
- Keep your hands and weights in front of you (water bottles are served). Align them with the hip bone.
- Bend your right knee and tilt your body to that side. Lower your torso and hips until they are near your knee. Another option is to keep your body straight and hold the weights at chest height.
- Lower the weights to your right foot. Place them on the sides of the foot.
- Come up to the center, return to the starting position and repeat on the other side. Do 20 reps.
Glute-Bridge
The gluten bridge or glute bridge exercise is one of the most effective lower body training routines. This progression strengthens the glutes and hips, especially working the gluteus medius and minimus muscles.
This exercise has many variants depending on the degree of difficulty of the training, but this time we will show you how to do the glute bridge for beginners:
- Lie on your back on the floor. He places his arms outstretched at his sides.
- Bend your legs and place the soles of your feet on the floor. The legs should be at a 45º angle.
- Raise your hips, just like you do in the bridge exercise.
- Never move your head and shoulders off the ground.
- Do 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps .
One leg deadlift
The deadlift is a muscular strength exercise that involves lifting a barbell off the ground. This movement is considered one of the simplest forms of weightlifting since you only lift something and return it to its place. The most worked muscles in this type of strength exercises are the glutes, the hamstrings and the spinal extensor muscles.
In this case, we have chosen a variant, called the single-leg deadlift, a unilateral exercise that allows one side of the body to be worked on in isolation, thus allowing it to develop better. This exercise can be executed by both experts and novices, whether men or women.
In this case, our single-leg deadlift is for beginners, but if you want to step up to the expert level, perform the strength exercises at home with weights or water bottles. Follow these steps:
- Stand up straight.
- Lean your torso forward as you raise one leg and contract your glutes. Bend over as if you wanted to pick something up off the floor but without reaching the ground. The trunk should be perpendicular to the leg.
- If you have a hard time standing up, finish leaning until your palms rest on the ground, that will serve as a support. If you’re using weights, they shouldn’t touch the floor, but they can be close.
- Pause and then repeat all of the above on the other leg.
- Do 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
Farmer’s walk
This muscular endurance exercise is a variation of the deadlift, featuring a focus on your grip, upper back, and core. The exercise is done without exerting force on the lower back, but practically the whole body is trained: the biceps, the triceps, the upper back muscles, the leg muscles, among others.
To execute it, you can use kettlebells, dumbbells, hexagonal bars or just a few jugs of water (market bags, sacks or other objects also work). The more expert you are, the more weight you can add. Follow these steps to practice this resistance exercise at home:
- Take a dumbbell or bottle of water in each hand. Hold them palms in. If you’re just starting out, start with 1 or 2 kilos.
- Stand up with your body upright. The arms should be at the sides, well stretched.
- Keep your hands and weights in front of you and in line with your hipbone.
- Walk slowly forward. Do it for 30 or 60 seconds.
- Do 4 reps.
sit-ups
Sit-ups are push-ups that are done from the ground. This exercise works strength and endurance, focusing on the abdominal muscles, the hip flexor muscle (psoas muscles), and the internal obliques.
This exercise is for advanced or intermediate and helps to exercise 80% of the abdominal muscles. For beginners, crunches are recommended, that is, a reduced version of the previous ones (only 40% of the abdominal muscle is exercised). To do these pushups, follow these steps:
- Lie stretched out on your back on a mat.
- Bend your knees, place the soles of your feet on the ground. Bring your feet together side by side.
- Put your head off the ground. Then push it up as you lift your torso forward and flex your core. The head should reach the height of the knees.
- Slowly lower yourself back to the starting position.
- Do 3 sets of 8 reps to start with and increase your reps each week.
Static plank (high plank)
The iron is a very complete exercise of isometric progression that is used in different disciplines: strength training, yoga, pilates, among others.
This progression works the muscular box that ranges from the diaphragm of the body, through the rectus abdominis, the obliques and the transversus, to the gluteus, paravertebral and the musculature of the pelvic floor and the hip.
Including planks in your training will help you improve balance, tone your abdomen, increase strength, increase stability, work on flexibility and reduce back pain. Any healthy person can do this exercise, but it should be avoided by those with cervical or back problems. If you want to try these strength exercises for beginners, follow these steps:
- Get into a plank position as if starting a push-up exercise.
- Spread your feet hip-width apart and rest your toes on the floor.
- Align your hips with your shoulders.
- Extend your arms and leave your hands just below your shoulders. If you find this too difficult, place your forearms on the floor with your elbows aligned just below your shoulders and your arms parallel to your body, shoulder-width apart. This variation is called a forearm plank.
- Align your head with your back. Keep your neck straight with your head facing the ground. Don’t let your head or shoulders droop.
- Keep the hip in retroversion. That is, don’t pull out your buttocks, you should feel your abdominal area, not your lower back.
- Squeeze your abdomen and buttocks hard. Breathe easy.
- Hold the position for 15 seconds. As you gain skills, the time increases.
- Perform 5 repetitions of 10 seconds.
Side Plank
Planks have many variants, each indicated for a certain level of training and to focus more on certain muscles. In this case, the side plank primarily works the lateral abdominals but also engages the obliques, delts, and trapezius.
If this progression is done correctly, the abdomen gradually hardens, and the fat located in this area is eliminated. To try it out, follow these steps:
- Lie on your side on a mat , bring your feet together, and place one forearm just below your shoulder.
- Contract your core and lift your hips. Do it until your body is in a straight line. Look for a place on the horizon and keep your eyes there.
- Hold the position for a while (15 seconds if you’re a novice).
- Repeat the exercise on the other side.
- Perform 5 repetitions of 10 seconds.
Bicep Curls
As its name implies, this exercise strengthens the biceps muscles. Since these muscles work the twist of the wrist and the contraction of the arm, there are different types of curls to work other areas of the arm.
Among the benefits of this movement are: its ability to eliminate adipose fat from the arm (localized fat), harden the area and develop muscle (over time). These bicep exercises at home work for anyone who wants to, the level of training will be determined by the weight. To exercise with bicep curls, the steps to follow are very simple:
- Stand up and hold two dumbbells or bottles of water (for beginners maximum 1 or 2 kilos). The palms of the hands should be facing outwards.
- Maintain an upright posture and contract the abdomen.
- Bring the weights to your shoulders, bending your elbows. Do it without moving your upper arms.
- Do 20 reps.
Tricep dip with chairs
Tricep dips are one of the most effective exercises for developing the muscles of the arms and shoulders; in fact, they are essential to completing any strength workout. At the musculature level, they strengthen the triceps, anterior deltoids, pectoral muscles, and the rhomboid muscles of the back.
As with all other exercises, triceps dips come in many variations, each serving different levels of training as well as targeting certain muscles. In this way, there are jump dips (beginners), bench/between bench dips (beginners), leg lift dips (advanced), among others. Of course, they all work well for both men and women, the only difference is the amount of muscle you want to acquire.
To do this beginner tricep dip, just follow these steps:
- Have two chairs (or two low tables), place them parallel to each other.
- Throw your arms back, keep them straight and rest your hands on the edge of the seat of one of the chairs.
- Rest your legs, stretching them completely, on the other chair. Your torso will remain in the air. Your feet will support the heel.
- Keep your back straight throughout the exercise, parallel to the supporting surface.
- Contract your abdomen and buttocks well.
- Lower your body, helping yourself with your arms, that is, bending your elbows backward. This is the initial step.
- Raise your body as you straighten your arms and return to the starting position.
- Do 3 sets of 8-10 reps.
Reverse row pull-up with table
Pull-ups are considered self-loading exercises because when you execute them, you lift your own body weight. Among the benefits of these strength exercises at home to lose weight, we can mention: they recover and improve your muscle proportion, work your core, improve your figure, help muscle balance, improve your posture, provide strength to the arms and relieve back pain. back.
This multi-joint exercise engages nearly every muscle in the body: trapezius, rhomboids, pectoralis major and minor, deltoids, infraspinatus, latissimus dorsi (main involved), teres major, subscapularis, biceps brachii, palmaris longus, external oblique, and erector spinae.
Pull-ups can be done by anyone who already has some strength in their arms (men or women), but you should choose a pull-up according to your level. On this occasion, we will execute the pull-up called rowing, which is used for intermediate and beginner levels. Although you can always opt for a door pull-up bar like the ones we find on Amazon.
- Lie on your back under a sturdy table. The body should be straight and the feet stretched out.
- Hold on to the edge with both hands. Keep them separated from each other, at a good distance; Use the width of your shoulders as a reference. The arms should be fully extended.
- Up and down. The body should always be kept stretched, such as when doing push-ups or planks. When going up, the heels are the only ones that rest on the floor, and the chin should be at the height of the bar or the edge of the table.
- Do sets of 10-15 reps. If you can’t reach 10 reps, do sets of 3 for as many reps as you can.
Pull-up rowing with two chairs
As we said before, pull-ups are a very complete exercise, so they work great for express workouts. There are many types of pull-ups, this one is made for beginners and intermediates:
- Place two solid chairs with their backs to each other (one back is facing the other). Between them you must leave enough space for your body.
- Lean your body and hold on to both backs of the chairs, with your arms outstretched, similar to a plank.
- Lean in more, just as if you were performing a push-up, bending your elbows.
- Go up and down several times. Do sets of 10-15 reps. If you can’t reach 10 reps, do sets of 3 for as many reps as you can.
Burpees or the little soldier
Burpees are a combination of three exercises: vertical jumps, squats, and push-ups. This movement is responsible for working strength, anaerobic resistance and coordination. The muscles it exercises are femoral, calf, gluteal, chest, abdominal, shoulder and triceps.
Burpees are suitable for all healthy people, although the number of repetitions will depend on the level of the performer. Avoid for individuals with knee, wrist, or back problems. To do the burpees, just follow these steps:
- Squat down with your hands on the ground. Stand on the balls of your feet and keep your head up.
- Move your legs back with your feet together. The posture resembles the plank exercise.
- Perform a chest push-up or elbow push-up. Touch the ground with your chest and keep your back straight.
- Bring your legs up so you’re back in a squat.
- Jump extending the whole body: legs, feet, torso, arms and hands. Keep your head up. Let yourself fall on the balls of your feet, because you must cushion the fall.
- Squat down again, as at the beginning of the exercise.
- Do as many burpees as you can for 40 seconds. Rest 20 seconds and start again until you complete 20 repetitions. With practice, try to perform 100 burpees in the shortest time possible.