Home workout: a 3-day plan with no equipment, bands or dumbbells

• No equipment needed: bodyweight squats, push-ups, lunge variations, glute bridges and planks are enough to start.
• Frequency: three full-body sessions a week, 30-45 minutes, with a rest day between.
• Cheap progress: a set of resistance bands and a pair of dumbbells (or a kettlebell) go a long way and fit in a corner.
• Progression: there are many ways to make it harder: a harder variation, a slower tempo, pauses, single-leg moves, more reps close to failure.

Home workout plan: 3 days, no equipment

You train three times a week, alternating A and B (week one A-B-A, week two B-A-B). Warm up with five minutes of easy movement (marching on the spot, arm and hip circles, a few cat-camels), then one or two lighter sets of the first exercise. For push-ups choose the variation that lets you do 8-15 reps with one or two reps left in reserve.

Home workout with resistance bands and dumbbells

With only your body weight, push-ups and squats eventually get too easy, and pulling movements are hard to do at home. A set of bands and one or two pairs of dumbbells (or a kettlebell) solve that, and the exercises from our strength training for beginners article can be done with them.

Progression ladders: how to make it harder without heavy weights

• Push-up: incline (bench or table) → knee push-up → push-up → feet elevated → slow lowering.
• Squat: bodyweight squat → split squat → Bulgarian split squat → single-leg squat to a chair (later without support).
• Hips: glute bridge → single-leg glute bridge → bridge with the feet elevated → weight on the hips.
• Row: light banded row → stronger band → one-arm dumbbell row.
• Plank: from the knees → plank → longer hold → feet elevated → plank row with dumbbells.

If you have no more weight to add, these tricks make the same movement harder: slow the lowering (3-4 seconds), pause for 1-2 seconds at the hardest point, move to a single-leg version and go close to failure. A meta-analysis found that lighter loads can produce similar muscle growth to heavier ones when sets go close enough to failure, while strength rises more with heavier loads (Schoenfeld and colleagues, 2017). So you can build muscle at home; you simply have to organise progression differently.

Home workout for women: a plan for glutes, legs and upper body

A home workout for women follows the same principles as anyone’s: there is no “women’s” training, your goal decides. If glutes, thighs and overall strength are the priority, put the lower-body exercises first, but do not skip the upper body. The fear of getting too bulky and the menstrual cycle are covered on the workout plan for women page.

For a dedicated glute exercise list, see the glute workout page. A hip thrust with your back on the sofa edge is an excellent home exercise, and you can add load with a band or a dumbbell on your hips.

Equipment: what you need and what you do not

• A set of resistance bands with different levels of resistance, with or without handles.
• One or two pairs of dumbbells (adjustable ones work) or a kettlebell.
• A mat for the floor, planks and bridges.
• A sturdy chair or bench for Bulgarian split squats and step-ups.
• You do not need: expensive machines or special gear for jumping workouts. If you buy one thing, make it a set of bands.

Training in an apartment: keeping the neighbours happy

• Put a mat or a thick rug on the floor and skip the jumping. Most strength exercises are quiet anyway.
• Lower weights slowly, do not drop them. It is better for the muscle too.
• If you like jumping workouts, choose no-jump versions: walking lunges, slow squats, tempo push-ups.
• Do not leave your evening session too late, for the neighbours’ sake and your own sleep.

When is it time to move to a gym?

When bands and a few dumbbells are no longer enough, or you want to squat, deadlift and press heavier weights, a gym eventually adds a lot. We cover getting started on the gym for beginners page. The general plans are on the workout plan hub.

What to eat with it

The same rule holds at home: you need enough calories and protein for training to turn into progress. These numbers are for a 30-year-old who moves 3-5 times a week; yours come from the calorie calculator.

Daily targets for a 30-year-old training 3-5 times a week (Mifflin-St Jeor, as in The Fit Chef app)

Example	Goal	kcal	Protein (g)	Carbs (g)	Fat (g)
Woman, 65 kg, 168 cm	Maintenance	2,150	117	270	67
Woman, 65 kg, 168 cm	Fat loss	1,830	117	212	57
Man, 80 kg, 180 cm	Maintenance	2,760	144	353	86
Man, 80 kg, 180 cm	Muscle gain	3,090	160	397	96

Your own numbers come from the calorie calculator and the protein calculator. For people who train, the ISSN suggests 1.4-2.0 g of protein per kg of body weight a day; the high-protein foods chart and the weekly meal plan make it easy to actually hit it.

Recipes for before and after training

Per serving, calculated from the recipe data

Recipe	When	kcal	Protein (g)	Carbs (g)	Fat (g)	Time
Vanilla Berry Shake	before	287	36	26	5	5 min
Smoked Salmon Cottage Toast	before	339	31	36	7	5 min
Mango Chilli Chicken Wrap	after	382	37	42	8	15 min
Prawn Tacos with Lime Slaw	after	345	39	35	7	15 min

Snack · 5 minVanilla Berry Shake287 kcal36 g proteinBreakfast · 5 minSmoked Salmon Cottage Toast339 kcal31 g proteinLunch · 15 minMango Chilli Chicken Wrap382 kcal37 g proteinDinner · 15 minPrawn Tacos with Lime Slaw345 kcal39 g protein

It is easy to skimp on food at home. These recipes are ready in minutes, so they survive a busy weekday. More on timing and more recipes on the pre and post-workout meals page; creatine and protein powder have their own guides.