There are tons of reasons why home workouts are a great choice, including:

• It’s Free - no gym memberships or fancy equipment needed. You can get strong without spending a dime!

• Convenience- home workouts are all about convenience. Whether you’re squeezing in a quick session between meetings or working out in your PJs, there’s no need to commute or fight for gym equipment.

• Privacy- if gym anxiety is real for you, working out at home offers a stress-free space to build confidence. Not sure how to deal with nerves at the gym? Check out some tips for overcoming gym anxiety here.

• Variety- from online coaching and fitness apps to YouTube videos, there’s no shortage of options to keep your workouts fresh and exciting.

All these perks make it easier to stay consistent with your training, which is key to building strength over time.

You can definitely build strength at home without any equipment, and still see solid results. But investing in a few key pieces of gear can add variety to your workouts and make them more challenging as you get stronger. Equipment helps you progressively overload, so you can keep making gains!

Here are some of the best pieces of equipment for strength training at home:

• Resistance Bands - resistance bands are super affordable, take up almost no space, and can really amp up the difficulty of your exercises. They come in different "levels" of resistance, so you can work through a variety of options as you get stronger.

• Free Weights - a few dumbbells or kettlebells are a great investment for leveling up your home workouts. Start with a moderate weight that you can use for multiple exercises, or slowly build your collection over time. Adjustable dumbbells are especially handy since they save space and are cost-effective.

• Pull-Up Bar- a pull-up bar is an awesome piece of equipment to build upper body strength at home. It’s a game-changer for working on your back, shoulders, and arms.

• Parallette Bars - Parallette bars are perfect for a variety of upper body exercises like dips, push-ups, and L-sits. They’re compact, but offer serious training potential.

If you’re short on equipment, you can totally get creative with things around the house:

• **Chairs:**Use a sturdy chair for dips, step-ups, push-ups, and more.
• **Sturdy Table:**Great for inverted rows or seated pull-ups.
• **Heavy Objects:**Grab a few heavy objects like bags of rice or water jugs to replace free weights. You can even combine them for extra weight.

With just a few simple pieces of equipment—or everyday household items—you can make your at-home workouts more effective and fun!

You can do many of the same exercises you’d do with free weights at the gym, right at home—without any weights at all. However, many people find bodyweight exercises alone just aren’t enough to see strength gains.

If you’re looking to level up your home workouts, try switching to unilateral variations, harder movements, or adding in resistance bands and dumbbells. You can also challenge yourself by adding pulses and isometric holds. Here are some great exercises to build strength without needing a full gym setup:

1. Single-Leg Squat Variations - Single-leg squats—like Bulgarian split squats, split squats, and pistol squats—work your quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves. Even without weights, these are tough and will really fire up your legs.

2. Single-Leg Glute Bridge - This move targets your glutes, quads, and hamstrings while helping to build lower body stability. It’s great for glute activation and overall strength.

3. Prisoner Squats - This variation keeps your hands behind your head, adding more challenge to your core and lower body. You can make it even harder by adding pulses or pausing at the bottom of the squat.

4. Inverted Rows - To work your back and biceps, try inverted rows by holding onto the edge of a sturdy table. It’s a great way to target your upper body without needing a pull-up bar.

5. Push-Ups - Push-ups are a classic move that targets your chest, shoulders, and triceps. To make them easier or harder, you can play around with different push-up variations.

6. Pike Push-Ups - These are a tougher bodyweight move that hits your shoulders, upper chest, and triceps. They’re a solid option if you want to challenge your upper body more.

7. Resistance Band Bicep Curls - No dumbbells? No problem. Resistance bands are a great way to work your biceps and add resistance to your curls.

8. Resistance Band Shoulder Press - This exercise works your shoulders and builds stability. A long resistance band provides extra tension, making the movement even more effective.

9. Resistance Band Rows - This move targets your mid-back and biceps. It’s like a bent-over row but with a resistance band instead of dumbbells.

10. Dumbbell Floor Press - A dumbbell floor press is a chest press that you can do on the ground—no bench needed. It’s a great way to target your chest and triceps.

11. Wall Sits - Wall sits work your quads and glutes, helping to build endurance and strength with no equipment required. Hold as long as you can to really feel the burn!

You can easily put together your own home workout by combining 4-6 of the exercises mentioned above. You can either do them as a workout circuit or perform each exercise for 10-20 reps.

To help you get started, here’s a simple workout plan:

Warm-Up

Do 60 seconds of each exercise, and repeat the set twice:

• Jumping Jacks
• Squat Jumps
• Mountain Climbers

Workout

Perform this workout as a circuit. Do each exercise for 40 seconds, followed by 20 seconds of rest. Repeat the circuit 4-5 times (that’s 24-30 minutes total).

• Push-Ups
• Resistance Band Rows
• Resistance Band Shoulder Press
• Bulgarian Split Squats
• Single-Leg Glute Bridge
• Wall Sit

Cool Down

Stretch each move for 20-30 seconds per side.

• Standing Quad Stretch
• Figure 4 Stretch
• Wall Chest Stretch

One of the biggest challenges people face when strength training at home is choosing exercises that aren’t tough enough to drive real strength gains.

If you can easily do 20+ reps of an exercise, it’s time to make things harder. Try adding a pause at the toughest part of the move, throwing in half pulses, switching to a unilateral version (one-sided), or adding resistance with bands or dumbbells. These changes will help you keep progressing!

Another challenge with home workouts? Distractions. Whether it's the TV, kids, or random chores piling up, there’s always something that can pull your attention away. To stay on track, try scheduling your workouts at specific times so you can handle your to-do list beforehand. Also, work out in a space with as few distractions as possible to stay focused and get the most out of your session.

To keep building strength, it’s crucial to gradually increase the difficulty of your workouts over time. One of the best ways to do this is by tracking your progress. It helps you know when it’s time to ramp up the intensity.

A simple way to track your home strength workouts is by writing down the exercises you do and logging things like the number of reps, the resistance bands or weights you use, total time under tension, and the depth of each move. This will help you see your progress from the previous week and make it easier to push yourself a little harder each time.