10 Great Home Workouts for Building Muscle

There are many home workouts available to you if you’re looking to build muscle but either can’t afford to or don’t have the time to go to a gym (or both!). Some require some equipment but for the most part, you can do various exercises at home to break a sweat and build some muscle. Heres a list of 10 great home workouts for building muscle!

1. Push-Ups

Push-ups are a great addition to home workouts if you’re looking to build muscle in your upper body. It focuses on using your chest and tricep muscles mostly with some shoulder as well. Lie facedown on a mat and put your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, and your feet shoulder-width apart. Push up until your elbows just about lock then lower yourself back down and without touching the mat again push yourself up for a full rep. The slower you can lower yourself back down will make the exercise more effective for building muscle! There are a couple of ways to change up push-ups to work some muscles more specifically. The closer you place your hands to your sides the more you’ll utilize your tricep muscles when you’re pushing up and lowering yourself back down. If you really wanna focus on your triceps then do a “diamond” push-up and put your hands together underneath your chest with your fingers and thumbs touching to make a diamond/triangle! You can place your hands farther apart and you’ll be focusing the workout on your chest muscles instead of your triceps. If you find yourself unable to do a regular push-up, then it can easily altered be and made easier by leaving your knees on the ground. Be consistent and work hard and you’ll be building muscles fast by adding this great exercise to your home workouts!

2. Tricep Dips

Tricep dips make a great addition to your home workouts as it really isolates your triceps! No equipment needed just a chair or bench sturdy enough to support your weight. Place your hands on the bench, fingers towards your legs, and extend your legs out with your heels touching the ground and a slight bend to your knees. While holding yourself up in front of the edge of the chair, lower your body until your elbows bend somewhere between 45 and 90 degrees. Careful not to lower yourself too far as that can injure your shoulders. Slowly push yourself back up to your starting position and repeat. Don’t lock your elbows during reps you want to keep them slightly soft to maintain tension on your triceps and prevent possible injury. Try for 10 repetitions or so per set to start and work to increase it over a couple of weeks!

3. Shoulder Press (Resistance Band)

Some home workouts require some minimal equipment but usually, the same equipment can be used for many different exercises! A resistance band can be a really versatile piece of exercise equipment letting you do several different exercises and stretches at a fairly inexpensive price. For this exercise, you’ll use your resistance band to do sets of shoulder presses. Stand in the middle of your resistance band with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent. Holding one end of the band in each hand, bring your hands to shoulder level with your palms facing up, away from your body. Slowly “press” or raise your hands upward and almost touch them directly over your head. Imagine you’re “raising the roof.” Then, slowly lower your hands back to your starting position and that marks one rep. Try for 10 reps or so to start — although it depends on the strength of your resistance band.

4. Pull-Ups

Although more difficult to do than other exercises, pull-ups should be an essential addition to your home workouts! An easier way to do pull-ups is with a pull-up bar in a doorway, which is a relatively cheap piece of fitness equipment you can use for a while. Jump up and grab onto the bar and hang from it. Clench your abs and pull yourself up until your chest is almost touching the bar, then raise yourself up so your chin is above the bar. Keep your shoulders back and lead with your chest! Don’t swing your legs either back and forth or side to side because that can cause injury or will limit your workout’s potential. There are two types of pull-ups: pull-ups have your palms facing away from you (overhand) and you focus on using your back muscles, where chin-ups mean having your palms face toward you (underhand) and you focus more on using your biceps to pull yourself up. Pull-ups utilize a variety of muscles when performed right so don’t skip out on them for your home workouts!

5. Seated Row (Resistance Band)

Another exercise utilizing your resistance band, seated rows are a great exercise for your home workouts. It focuses on your back muscles, and slightly on your biceps, by doing a row motion with your resistance band. You can secure the band to something stationary like a heavy desk or more conveniently just use the soles of your feet. Sit upright on the ground and grip the band on both ends while it wraps around the soles of your feet, and also keep your knees slightly bent. Keep your back straight and slowly pull the band so the bases of your palms are touching your lower abdomen. Keep your elbows close to your side to focus the pulling motion with your upper back. Once your hands touch your body make sure to squeeze your shoulder blades together then slowly move the band back to your starting position. Start with about 10 repetitions and work your way up, again the slower you go the better workout you’ll get!

6. Crunches / Sit-Ups

It’s time to work on that six pack! Crunches and sit-ups can make great additions to your home workouts to feel the burn on your abs. Although they seem very similar, crunches and sit-ups do have some distinctive differences. They start the same with you laying on the ground with your legs bent and your feet planted firmly on the ground around shoulder-width apart. Now with crunches, you’ll be raising your head and shoulders up slightly off the floor, and you’ll feel your abdominal muscles contract. It’s recommended to lay your arms across your chest, as opposed to behind your head so you resist the urge to “pull” your head forward during the crunch which can strain your neck. Crunches focus on the abdominal muscles so make good ab exercises for your six pack, while sit-ups utilize more muscles. Sit-ups involve the same beginning as a crunch bu you’ll raise yourself up to be seated upright. You may need to hook your feet to something as sometimes you’ll find your feet sliding out, especially at the end of a workout set. Sit-ups utilize your abs as well as your hip flexors, chest, neck, lower back, and some lower leg muscles. Sit-ups do have more potential to cause injury, however, so if you find yourself feeling pain in your lower back while doing sit-ups then consider switching to crunches until you can strengthen your core more and perfect your form. If you want six-pack abs and a tighter stomach then crunches and sit-ups are a great exercise to add to your home workouts.

7. Plank

A plank is a great exercise for your home workouts to strengthen your core! It’s relatively easy to get, in terms of proper form, you really just need to keep your back straight. Lie on your stomach and raise yourself up on your elbows with your palms on the floor. Keep your feet together and back straight and voila, you’re planking! Start with about a 30-second hold and try to work your way up! A strong core is essential to helping you have better posture and better form for other exercises.

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8. Bodyweight Squats

Squats are a great exercise you can do at home or at the gym to build up your leg muscles and more! They can be done without any weight and thus can be done anywhere so they’re a great addition to your home workouts. A basic bodyweight squat is simple to do: stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart and turn your toes slightly outward. With your chest thrust upward, shift your weight back into your heels and squat down while pushing your hips behind you. Make sure to keep your back flat and focus your weight on your heels. Squat back to try and make your thigh to knees at a 90-degree angle, then exhale and push up through your heels back to your starting position. You can keep your arms straight ahead of you to help keep you balanced if you need it. If you need an extra challenge or want a better squat then you can do a jump squat. Here you’ll do exactly the same as before for a regular squat, but as you come up from you’ll squat you’ll propel yourself up and jump off the ground as high as you can! Squats are great for your body for improving your posture, lower-back strength, building muscle and burning fat and even more. You can even implement a resistance band to make your squats even harder!

9. Walking Lunges

Lunges are another great exercise for home workouts that you should incorporate to help develop your legs’ strength and endurance. Keep your back straight and feet hip-width apart and take a big step forward with one leg. Shift your weight towards your forward heel and lower your hips until both knees are bent about 90 degrees. Then, straighten yourself up by pushing yourself back up to your starting position then switch legs. Try not to push forward too far and don’t let your front knee past the toes on the same lunged foot. Walking lunges help strengthen your core as well as your leg and buttocks muscles. They help your hip flexibility and your posture and even helps in reducing the strain on your spine from other exercises. You can do these anywhere making them perfect for home workouts! Try to start with about 10 and increase slowly over a couple weeks. You can even carry some dumbells (if you have them) for a tougher workout!

10. Running / Walking

Running can be a great addition to home workouts to help you build muscle. Of course, you don’t want to be doing so much cardio that you’re burning more calories than you’re eating. But getting some “low-impact” cardio into your home workouts can have a huge difference in your results. It can help reduce your muscle soreness as well as increase recovery times so you’ll be building muscle faster from your other workouts! It’ll help burn fat so you’ll see those muscle gains faster, as well as help your definition and overall “cut” look. As long as you have the proper diet, then adding some cardio from running, jogging or walking will not impact your muscle gains. Incorporate cardio into your home workouts and help speed up your results, burn fat, and feel better and stronger overall!