At Home Workouts: Everything You Need To Know

Hey, friend. We’ve met before and we know your story. You’ve tried gym memberships, spin classes, and buying a pack of yoga sessions at the nearest studio. None of it’s worked. You’re still struggling to make a healthy lifestyle change but you crave it more than ever.

The problem? Time. You just don’t have the time to get to the gym. Even if you did, maybe you want to use that extra cash on something that makes you feel good, like travel or a tipsy escapade with friends. (“Uptown Funk” isn’t going to dance to itself.)

Whatever the case may be, you’re here because you’re ready to try something new that works for you. With that in mind, we’d like to welcome you to the wonderful world of at-home workouts––training literally built around your body and your schedule.

How to work out at home

On the one hand, it’s easy to work out at home. Have a body? Congratulations! You can work out at home. On the other hand, committing to a fitness plan that requires at-home training can come with its own challenges.

For instance, it's easy to get distracted when you're home. After all, home is (generally speaking) where you keep all the stuff you like; maybe your guitar, video games, or even your significant other. Plus there's usually food around and we're just as guilty of skipping workouts because that tasty homemade burrito just couldn't wait.

That’s just one thing to think about. You should also consider how to use your home environment as your gym (stairs for cardio, coffee table for incline push-ups) and make sure to stick to a routine. Your exercise space at home should be set up in a way that you’re excited to workout and are able to keep to a schedule.

Once you’ve got your space sorted out, you’re ready to dive into some of our favorite at-home workouts.

Full-body workout at home

Sometimes you have a specific part of your body you want to work on. We get it. But in the grand scheme, it’s your best bet to focus on the healthy, sustainable development of your entire body. That’s why making time for a full-body workout at home should be one of your top exercise priorities.

With this 10-minute, full-body workout at home routine, you’ll work on all of those important muscle groups by performing a series of compound movements. We're talking exercises like hip-ups, flutter kicks, and single-leg glute bridges. Get at it! 

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Chest workout at home

Society and traditional fitness media love these muscles. It seems like you can’t escape a summer blockbuster season without catching unwanted glimpses of the latest Marvel superhero’s chest.

Whatever fitness media you’re consuming––either purposely or inadvertently––don’t let these images get you down. It’s easy to forget that the superheroes of the screen are paid to dedicate several hours of their day to training and are given a private personal trainer for the pleasure. It’s simply not realistic for 99.9% of the planet.

What is realistic is devoting 10 (or sometimes less!) minutes to an at-home chest workout that’ll make you healthy and strong without having to make it your career. You might not be able to lift a small building at the end of the day, but remember, neither can the guy who plays Superman.

Read more about why your chest muscles are important and try our chest workout at home, combining a mixture of traditional and plyometric exercises.

Abs workout at home

First thing’s first: Let’s not confuse a flat stomach for a healthy, strong core. Society’s idea of what a body should look like rarely matches up with reality.

That said, having a strong core is an essential step in anyone’s fitness journey. Your core is involved in just about every movement––not just in exercise, but in your daily life.

Fortunately, your abs are one of the easier parts of your body to train at home. All you truly need is space for your body to crunch, dip, (and in this workout) kick. Try our 8-minute ab workout (above) to get started on developing a strong core. Want more? Check out this 10-minute abs workout at home.

Legs workout at home

From walking to the bus stop to running with puppies in an open meadow (dream big), our legs get us where we need to go, so we better take care of them. But society isn’t on the same page. Most of our jobs leave us sitting in chairs all day long, our muscles atrophying as we stare at our computer monitors and click-clack on our keyboards. You’d think progress in life would require movement, yet here we are. We’re well into the new Millenium and never has a sentient being been able to do so much while moving so little.

That means you need to take it upon yourself to keep your legs strong and active––and you don’t need a gym to do it. At home, you can walk, climb stairs, lunge, do calf raises and abductors without even sniffing a hint of gym sweat. For starters, try our eight-minute leg workout at home.

Arm workouts at home

When people are thinking about arm workouts, they’re usually thinking about their triceps and biceps––maybe shoulders as well if they’re feeling inclusive. Now here’s something important to keep in mind: Some folks overwork their biceps because they tend to show a noticeable difference in size faster than triceps. In reality, it’s crucial to work both sets of muscles equally. Working out both flexor (bicep) and extensor (tricep) muscles will help you maintain a balanced body, healthy posture, and a normal range of motion as well as prevent injuries.

Learn more about your arm muscles and then try this arm workout at home comprised of bodyweight exercises.

Back workouts at home

Unfortunately, most folks looking for back workouts at home are really trying to address some kind of back pain or weakness. You can thank you largely sedentary lifestyles for that. We’re sitting so much these days, standing desks have become something of a luxury.

But complaining won’t help you strengthen your back, only action will. This at-home lower back workout is great for both those who are suffering from lower back pain and everyone else who’s looking to develop a stronger back and prevent an injury before it happens.

Cardio workout at home

Many of us probably associate cardio with running. It's not wrong, but cardio training goes beyond putting one foot in front of the other in rapid succession. Cardio exercise, in its most basic sense, is a typoe of aerobic exercise that elevates your heart rate. A higher heart rate means you're pumping more oxygen around your body, improving stamina and reducing the risk of heart disease. If your goal is weight loss, then cardio exercise is an essential tool in your arsenal.

So what’s cardio training beyond running? Easy. You've got jump rope, climbing stairs, and if you really want to make friends with your neighbors, dancing! For now, start with this cardio workout at home featuring a combination of classic cardio moves like jumping jacks, burpees, and mountain climbers.

Butt workouts at home

All the way back in the year 1992, one Sir Mix-a-Lot changed the way society thought about butts. Now, we’re going to change the way you think about butt workouts.

There’s a certain connotation around the word “butt” that strikes at some of what’s wrong in much of the fitness industry. We hope you’re interested in butt workouts because your glutes (butt muscles) are key in hip and core stability and development––not because of what some magazine thinks your backside should look like.

The good news is that your body is built for butt workouts. You can perform a series of different jumps and squats for an excellent butt workout. But if you want something more structured, try our 10-minute at-home butt workout.

Yoga At Home

Your at-home workouts have to go beyond building muscle. You need to devote time to flexibility and balance as well. Besides, even if you are training with muscle in mind, you’ll be pleased to know that yoga is a proven method of developing full-body strength.

If you’re new to yoga, try the video above and dive in with our 20-minute yoga at home workout for beginners and learn more about the benefits of yoga.

New to yoga? Here's how to start yoga.

At-home workouts to lose weight

The key to losing weight through exercise is training at a high level of intensity so that you’re burning calories. So if you’re looking for at-home workouts to lose weight, then you’ll want to check out HIIT. HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training and is a favorite topic of ours at 8fit. Find everything you need to know about HIIT Training here, complete with sample exercises at workouts for everyone from beginners to more advanced athletes.

HIIT workout at home

So you’ve fallen down the HIIT rabbit hole and want a workout you can perform at home? Our 8fit app is chock full of options, but we’ll sneak you a freebie. Try the 20-minute full-body HIIT workout above. Want more sweat? Download the 8fit app and you can HIIT to your heart’s content.

Tabata workouts at home

Tabata? Like, Hakuna Matata?

Actually, there’s a sense of ‘no worries’ in Tabata training. Tabata is a form of HIIT where you perform one exercise for 8 rounds––20 seconds on and 10 seconds off. You can read more about the differences between Tabata vs HIIT here. Ready to dive in? Try these eight Tabata exercises for a full-body workout.

Shoulder workout at home

Taking care of your shoulders is more than just the aesthetics of it. We’re talking about a pivotal part of your body here. Shoulder training helps with your range of motion which in turn gives you the stability to perform a variety of movements in your everyday life. 

Shoulders might seem a bit trickier to train at home without dumbbells, but it just takes a bit of 8fit imagination to get the job done. Besides traditional push-ups, you can do a military press or grab a couple of light water bottles and do some lateral raises.

Intrigued? Ready to take your shoulders seriously? Smart. Try this shoulder workout at home.

Triceps workout at home

Some folks tend to overlook triceps in favor of the more noticeable bicep muscle. Even the emoji for ‘strength’ is a flexing bicep. In reality, triceps are pretty darn important. They make up a third of our upper arms and are especially important if your goal is to develop stronger biceps. Aesthetics aside, triceps stabilize our shoulders and allow us to extend our elbows. Could you imagine life without the ability to extend your elbow and grab that burrito off the counter or to reach into the cookie jar? We sure don't want to.

Keep your cookies and burritos in reach and have a go at this triceps workout at home.

Easy workouts at home

Are you new to this whole exercise and training business? First, a round of applause to you for starting on your fitness journey. Second, you might be wondering just how you can get started. We’re throwing a lot at you here and it can be overwhelming. But how about killing two birds with one stone?

Check out this at-home workout for beginners, combining exercise with some of those household chores you’re going to have to do anyway. Do some calf raises while washing the dishes, squat while putting the dishes away, and drop into some lunges as you vacuum. We can’t say it enough: Your home and your body are a gym just waiting for its favorite member.

Boxing working at home

Getting tired of burpees and mountain climbers? We hear you. And it’s nothing against those exercises. There’s probably a famous quote out there somewhere about monotony being the enemy of progress, but we’re too busy helping folks along their fitness journey to Google it.

Spice things up in your at-home training with this kickboxing workout. Don’t worry if you don’t have a fighting background. (For most of us, that’s probably a good thing!) Cardio sports like boxing and kickboxing can be extremely beneficial even if you're as much a pacificist as the Dalai Lama himself. You'll sweat, burn calories, develop your coordination, and all those punches and kicks will beat your stress away.

Not bad, eh? Now get into your fighting stance and try our kickboxing workout.

Dumbbell workout at home

Some people think that if you're going to use dumbbells, you need a gym membership. Because gyms have all the dumbbells in all the sizes you can imagine.

The latter might be true, but you don't need all of those dumbbells. In reality, you can definitely get by and have a challenging workout at home with just one pair of dumbbells. It all depends on the exercises you're performing. If the weight becomes too easy, you can always slow the movement down to increase the duration of tension.

Dumbbells are now a regular feature on the 8fit app but we've gone ahead and uploaded our 18-minute full-body dumbbell workout directly to the magazine. Check it out and download the app for more.