people have many reasons to stop exercising. some think that building muscle is very expensive because of the gym membership cost. And other people will not have time to go to gym because of the work stress or lack of gym around their place. But it is possible to build muscle at home without needing to go to gym with equipments that are inexpensive and which you can find at home. You should not also need to worry about the effectiveness of home workouts because they are nearly as effective as gym workouts if done correctly. You can build muscle at home with exercises that require minimal equipment and without spending a lot of money.
To build muscle at home you will mostly depend on bodyweight workouts. But it doesn’t mean all exercises are bodyweight. So to make the exercises effective you should do compound workouts that target multiple muscle groups, because it will help you boost the anabolic hormones in your body which are hormones that helps you build muscle. Here are the exercises you can do at home without any equipments and with less equipment.
Home workouts for upper body
Pushups
pushup is one of the well known bodyweight workout that is done by many. It is suitable exercise from beginners up to advanced bodybuilders. pushup have many types of variation and these variations targets different muscle groups. The popular pushup variations are regular pushup, declined push up, inclined pushup, wide arm pushup and narrow arm pushup.
Regular pushup
: it is the most popular type of pushup. This exercise is done by putting your arms on the ground parallel to your shoulder and making your body straight from the top of your shoulder to toes. One rep is counted when you lower your body until your chest touches the ground and get back to your neutral position. This exercise target your middle Chest, upper chest, triceps and shoulder.
Narrow arm pushup
: this pushup variation is done the same as regular pushup but with a narrower arm width from your shoulder. Narrow arm pushup focuses more on your inner chest and triceps but also targets your shoulder, upper chest and middle chest.
Wide arm pushup
: this exercise is done the same as regular pushup but with wider arm width than shoulder. It will hit your outer chest and upper chest more but also targets your shoulder.
Declined pushups
: this pushup variation is done by putting your arms on the ground with shoulder width and putting your legs on an inclined place like stairs or chair. Declined pushup target your upper chest primarily, And secondarily your triceps and shoulder.
Inclined pushup
: this exercise is done by putting your arms on inclined place with shoulder width and your legs on the ground which is opposite to declined pushup. Inclined pushup target your lower chest, triceps and shoulder.
Doing those pushup variations will help you hit all parts of your chest, triceps and shoulder. But doing it on wrong form could cause you for long term injury so don’t use any trick or cheat. After you are comfortable doing pushup with your body weight you can add challenge to your muscle by using resistance band or upgrade to a harder forms of pushups like one arm pushup and clap pushup.
Pull up
Pull up is one of the best and challenging exercise. It is a very great bodyweight workout that can be done at home. It actually needs a pull up bar to do this exercise but it is not expensive to get. You can also made your own pull up bar using wood or metals but those home made bars can be weak and easily breakable which can cause you to injury. So be careful when you exercise with home made pull up bars. Pull up have some variation like wide grip pull up, narrow grip pull up and regular pull up. But these pull up variations are hard for many beginner. If you are one of the people who can’t do pull up you can do other alternative exercises that are listed on this post.
Regular pull up
: this exercise is one of the common variation of pull up. It is done by hanging on a bar with your hand shoulder width and pointing opposite from you. One rep is counted by pulling your self up with your chin above the bar and get back to your neutral position. Regular pull up targets your back(lats), bicep, abdomen and forearm.
Wide grip pull up
: this exercise is another version of pull up. It is performed the same as regular pull up but with a wider hand grip. It is actually a little harder to perform than regular pull up. Wide grip pull up targets the same muscle as regular pushup but it adds more tension to your back and decrease pressure from your forearms.
Narrow grip pull up
: this workout is the third variation of pull up. It is performed the same as regular pull up but with narrower arm grip as opposite of wide grip pull up. It is the easiest variation of pull up. Narrow grip pull up targets the same muscle group as regular pushup but add tension to your forearm and low pressure on your back as opposite of wide grip pull up.
Those pull up variation will help you build your back (lats), bicep, abs and forearm effectively. They will also boost your Anabolic hormones which will help you build muscle fast. But many people do these pull up variation wrongly which will affect your muscle growth negatively. The most common mistakes that people do are half or unfinished reps, performing them very fast and swing legs. You should avoid those mistakes because they will lead to injury and lack of muscle growth. So do these exercise slowly and engaged with appropriate form.
Dips
Dip is a very great home workout for building muscle. It is also a very great exercise to boost your anabolic hormone. But this exercise needs a parallel bar to perform but if you don’t have access to parallel bar at home you can use two chairs instead. You can also add weight to this exercise after you adapt to the weight free dips. But this exercise is very hard to do for majority of beginners and even some advanced trainers. So if you are one the people who can’t do dips you can choose other alternative exercises until you are able to do them. This exercise is done by grabbing the parallel bars or chair with your hands and make your arm straight above the bar. Then one rep is counted when you lower your self down until your arms makes 90° and getting back to your starting position. Dips targets your inner chest, upper chest, lower chest, triceps and shoulder. But this exercise could lead to injuries if done incorrectly, it also put high pressure on your inner chest and shoulder which will have pain on mainly beginners. So don’t over do this exercise.
Rows
This exercise is great home workout for your upper body. Rows target your lats(back) and biceps. You can use simple weights that you can find at home like big bottles filled with water or heavy bag. This exercise is performed by lowering your self from your back and pulling the weight up without moving your body and when you lower the weight down back one rep is counted. Exercising both arms individually will help you to balance and workout each arm well. But don’t forget to make your workout engaged.
Home workout for lower body
Squat
This exercise is one of the best bodyweight workouts to boost your anabolic hormone and for neural system health. You can do squat at home without any equipments or using just simple weights which you can find at home like water filled bottles and heavy bags. Squat is a very common exercise. It is done by putting your legs shoulder width and making your back straight. One rep is counted by lowering your self as much as you can(recommended to lower your self until your leg bent more than 90°) and getting back to your starting position. After you are comfortable doing 20 squat you can add weight to challenge your muscles and continue the growth of your muscle. Squat targets your quadriceps, hamstring and calf which are one of the biggest muscle group in your body. The other common variation of squat is pistol squat.
Pistol squat
: this exercise is a little harder variation of squat. Pistol squat is performed the same as squat but with only one leg. This workout targets the same muscle group as squat additionally it also adds pressure To your abs. But this exercise is hard to do for lot of peoples. So if pistol squat is hard for you, you can continue to do the regular squat and after you are comfortable to do 20 reps of weighted squat you can try pistol squat.
Calf raise
Doing calf raise will help you to build your calf muscle. But many people ignore there lower body mainly there calves, but ignoring your calves is very wrong and it’s consequences are very bad. Actually exercising your calves will help you to prevent injuries on your lower body. Calf raise is performed by standing your leg and raise your self only with your toes then when you back to your neutral position it will be counted as one rep. Calf raise can be performed without any equipment at home or if you want to add weight you can use just simple weights at your home. The another variation of calf raise is single leg calf raise.
Single leg calf raise
: this exercise targets the same muscle group as calf raise. But it adds more pressure to your calf. It is performed by standing only with your one leg and raising your self then when you get back to your starting position it will be counted as one rep.
Power jump
This exercise will help you to build a powerful strong leg. It is mostly used with sprinters because it will help them to maintain strong lower body. Power jump also helps to increase lower body bone density which will decrease the risk of fracture. Power jump is performed by standing with your legs on shoulder width and jumping as much as you can vertically. But over doing this exercise could lead to injury so be careful. When you want to add more challenge to this exercise you can do single leg power jump. Single leg power jump is done the same as regular power jump but with only one leg. This exercise targets your quadriceps, hamstring, calves and also abs.
Home workout for cores(abs)
Leg raise
This workout will help you to target your lower and middle ab. This exercise is one of the most effective abs workout. But doing this workout wrongly will hinder the growth of your abs. So to get the most out of this workout you should do then slowly and engaged. Leg raises is performed as its name says by laying on the ground by your back and raising your leg vertically straight up and when you get back to your neutral position one rep is counted.
Side to side Bicycle crunch
This is another great exercise for your abs. Side to side Bicycle crunch targets your lower chest, upper chest and oblique. Like the other workouts this workout should be performed slowly and engaged to make it effective. Side to side bicycle crunch is performed by laying with your back on the ground and doing crunch by twisting your self to right and left with also bicycling your legs.
Hand on chest sit up
This exercise is one of the challenging from ab workouts. It targets your upper ab and middle ab. Hand on chest sit up is performed by laying on the ground with your back and putting your arms on your chest. One rep is counted when you get up from your waist without moving your legs then back to your starting position. This exercise is same as regular sit up but your hands on your chest.
So these were the best home workouts that will help you build muscle at home. It could be very hard to get very big muscle like Schwarzenegger or the rock. But you can get an appreciable amount of muscle over time by doing these exercise. But just exercising daily will not help you gain your dream muscle, you should also follow some rules like the ideal rep and set range to build muscle and many other rules. You can find these rules here which will help you maximize your muscle gains.
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