There’s a lot of pressure to get a gym membership. Advertising and the people around you telling you how great it is. However, an awful lot of time and money is wasted and you can actually make better progress as a beginner from creating an at home workout routine.
You don’t need weights, but it’s better to invest in some as I will discuss in a moment. Bodyweight exercises are brilliant, but they are limited in how far they can take you, depending on your goals.
So what we’re going to do here is give you a brief overview of home workout routines, using weights, and how quickly you can see the benefits.
Plus, we will then go through a beginner’s exercise routine, encompassing 10 simple exercises that you can do in the comfort of your own home, which is especially useful in the new world of living with Covid.
Why An At Home Workout Routine Can Work Quick Miracles
You could opt to just hit the gym, which can be brilliant, especially if you get a personal trainer or someone with a high level of knowledge to help you.
But the gym can be very daunting. This is especially true if you are not body confident, or are out of condition. You can really feel so far out of your comfort zone that you do half of what you should before running for the changing rooms in your car.
At home, with a good exercise routine, and a few weights, in just 30 minutes a day, three or four times a week, you can develop your fitness and tone really quickly.
You may never need to go to the gym, or it can then give you the confidence to hit the gym.
Whichever way you do it, a fantastic home workout routine can lift your energy levels, your confidence, and develop your body just as well as you can at the gym without the expense and time.
Don’t Be Fooled By “No Weights Workouts” – Be Realistic
You will see a lot of guides online claiming to be no weights workouts. Although these are mostly true, they often do contain exercises that use dumbbells, which to me is ridiculous.
Also, bodyweight exercises can only take you so far unless you get into some really extreme exercising.
For me, the best way is to start with light weights, so you are comfortable with using them from the start, and use the elevated resistance to make better progress than most people do simply beginning with their own bodyweight.
So these are the 10 exercises I recommend you use together to create a fantastic beginner’s exercise routine.
1. Burpees
Burpees are tough! The first few are fine, but unless you experience, they work you in so many ways.
You going to do three sets of eight reps. You’ll begin standing up with your hands down by your side.
You’ll drop into a press up position with your arms locked. From there, you will go down until you’re an inch from the ground, then power back up to the starting position.
Then you’ll bring your knees up towards your chest, and in one motion leap upwards with your arms in the air, completing one rep when you drop back to the ground. Keep that going, and don’t have a gap between reps, because you need to really get your blood pumping.
2. Dumbbell standing shoulder press
This is great for your shoulders and your arms. You’ll try to do three sets each of eight reps. If you can’t manage eight, it’s better to lower the weight slightly rather than drop to 6.
Start standing with two dumbbells at shoulder height. Using an overhand grip, and with your palms facing forward, so your arms are out level with your shoulders.
You’ll then power upwards with both at the same time until your arms are fully extended. Then return slowly to the starting position. I actually find this quite awkward with dumbbells and prefer to use a barbell to do this exercise though.
If I’m doing it with dumbbells, I will alternate. So the right arm will extend fully and then drop down, and then the left to complete one rep. I find that way you can actually use a heavier weight, and better keep your posture
3. Skipping
Everyone knows what skipping is, although you may struggle to do it. You’ll need a little bit of space outside, or a room with a high ceiling and some space, but it’s a simple and fantastic exercise to do.
The actually burns more calories and elevate your heart rate more than jogging the same amount of time. One study found 15 minutes of skipping was the equivalent of 30 minutes of jogging. So I would go for five minutes of skipping as part of this routine.
4. Farmers walk
This bizarrely named exercise seems simple to do when you watch or read how it’s done, but it’s incredibly difficult to do and has brilliant results.
To start, hold a heavy dumbbell in each hand, I’m talking as heavy as you can lift, and hold one in each hand down biocide in a standing position. Make sure your back is straight, shoulders a rollback, and chest pushed out.
Then all you have to do is walk forward at a reasonably quick pace around 10 m. Turnaround slowly at the end, and briskly walked back 10 m to complete a single rep.
You may not understand what good this exercise will do, but I’m telling you that after a few reps you will feel exactly how it helps.
5. Dumbbell calf raise
Next up is the dumbbell calf raise. You’ll want to do three sets each of eight reps, or perhaps 10 if you can manage it.
Stand facing a wall with a dumbbell in one hand, arm down by your side. Place the other hand on the wall. You should be close enough to the wall for your arm to support you.
Then, lift the ball of your foot upwards on the leg the dumbbell is the side. Hold for a second and then slowly drop to the floor again.
Once you’ve done eight reps, switch position and do the same for the other leg to complete your first set.
6. Bicep curl
Stand straight with your shoulder’s rollback, ensuring your back is rigid. Hold a dumbbell in each hand down by your side, but not with your arms locked straight. Make sure there is slight resistance and they are pulled slightly forward.
Then, using just your biceps, curl your arms up to the dumbbells at shoulder level. I find this easier to twist at the wrist near the top to the dumbbells lay flat across your chest for tighter final position.
Once at the top, make sure you squeeze your biceps hard, and then slowly return to the starting position.
7. Goblet squat
this one you will start in a standing position with your legs apart to your feet shoulder width apart, with your feet facing slightly outwards.
Your hands will be lifted up to the center of your chest with a reasonably heavy dumbbell cupped between both. Make sure you grip so it doesn’t slip out of your hands.
You’ll then drop to a squat position. Make sure you keep your back and neck straight, and go down quite slowly so that you feel the burn both on the way down, and on the way up.
Sometimes I find it good to alternate between fast reps and slow reps to mix up stressing the muscles the maximum time with explosive action.
8. Plank
This is a very simple exercise that is fantastic for your entire core. You’ll get into position and hold it for one minute to complete a rep. Rest for 30 seconds and then do another rep, trying complete this four times.
The plank position consists of getting into a press up position but using your four arms to rest on the ground rather than just your hands. Make sure your feet are straight, placing your weight on your flat to the floor toes.
Keep your body rigid, with your legs, neck and back in a straight line, and hold the position for one minute.
9. Glute bridge
For this exercise you will be laying on the floor with your legs bent. Your arms will be flat by your side, palms the floor.
To complete one rep, push upwards at the hips using the power in your legs and hold in a position where your body and thighs are aligned. Drop to the floor to complete one rep.
10. Thrusters
Hold dumbbells up your shoulders with the wrist back to the weight is resting on the shoulder. Slightly bend at the knees, and squat.
Makes you keep your legs aligned with your shoulders, and then drive upwards using the power of your legs until you are straight, at the same time extending your arms to lift the dumbbells above your head.