Exercising at home represents a great alternative for people who can’t afford expensive gym memberships or their own equipment. In addition this type of fitness can be better integrated into the daily routine since it saves driving times. This article will provide you with all the necessary information for a fun and effective workout at home without any additional equipment. That way you will be able to maintain your physical condition or might even be able to make some progress depending on your current fitness level.

The following exercises only use your own body weight or basic household items, that everyone has at home. But that’s totally sufficient to substitute many machines in the gym while training all of the big muscle groups.

Upper Body

The push-up can surely be considered one of the greatest upper body exercises since it works the chest, the front delta and the triceps at the same time. Furthermore there are a lot of variations, that allow you to focus more on one muscle group or to vary the intensity. If you are still struggling with the push-up, you can simply place your hands on an elevated surface like a chair or the couch. In general you can keep in mind that the higher you place your hands the easier the exercise will get since the amount of body weight held by your hands decreases. The other way around placing your feet on a chair increases the weight on your hands. Therefore the push-up will become significantly harder. Advanced athletes can either train explosive push-ups, that require you to lift the palms in the air at the end of the pushing motion or add additional weight on their back.

The biceps curl is one of the most well known fitness exercises and it can be easily performed at home. For beginners big water bottles (1.5l) filled with water or sand represent a great alternative to dumbbells. If you should need more weight you can use a big water bucket with a handle instead.

Dips also train the triceps and front delta. There are two levels of this exercise that can both be performed with usual chairs. For the easier variation your feet remain on the floor while the harder variation requires you to push your whole body weight.

If you are already able to perform a pull-up it’s a great exercise to train all of your back muscles, especially the lats and the rear deltas. At first it might seem difficult to perform this exercise at home. But on the one hand you can order a pull-up bar that can be installed on the wall or in the door frame. On the other hand it is always worth checking your neighbourhood for a local calisthenics park where you can access pull up bars for free. If that’s not the case many playgrounds also possess various bars and ropes that can be used for the pull-up.

Lower Body

The most basic leg exercise is the squat. There are many variations that make this simple exercise more demanding, while giving your training some variety at the same time. Firstly you can use a backpack filled with water bottles or books in order to add more weight on your back. Furthermore, there is the option of doing explosive squats that require you to jump in the air in the end of the squat motion. Another advanced option are Bulgarian split squats. This exercise requires you to place one foot on a chair while the other foot carries most of the body weight. Then the foot on the ground is being bent while the upper body remains straight.

The calves are a muscle group that is often being neglected even tough they are crucial for sprint power and bounce. They can be perfectly trained with calve raises. Basically you only need to lift your heels in a standing position while the legs remain straight. A more difficult progression of this exercise can be achieved by performing the leg raise on stairs which increases the range of motion.

Generally you should aim for around 12 to 15 reps if you want to improve your strength and grow muscles. If you are below this range of repetitions you should move to one of the easier progressions. Should you be able to do more than 15 repetitions you are mainly training endurance. Depending on your target you can either continue to raise the number of reps or move on to more advanced progressions. Furthermore you should perform every exercise for 2-3 sets.