How to build muscle at home without equipment

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Building muscle at home is surprisingly straightforward and doesn't require any fancy gym equipment. All it takes is a little creativity and a commitment to workout regularly. That said, you can only gain so much muscle mass without professional equipment or resistance, but if you're looking for safe, even muscle toning a home workout could be perfect.

Things You Should Know

• Perform bodyweight exercises like pushups, squats, planks, and lunges to build muscle mass without weights or gym equipment.
• Use household objects like gallons of milk, heavy books, or home dumbbells (if you have them) to aid with upper body and arm workouts.
• Hit every muscle group twice a week and focus on good form to gain muscle quickly and safely. Eat a high-protein, low-fat diet.

1. 

   1

   Do push-ups to strengthen your triceps, shoulders, and chest. Push-ups are the bread and butter of home workouts. Make sure your form is good to get the most out of it. Your spine should be straight and in line with your bottom, which isn't sagging. Your palms are generally a little wider than your shoulders, but you can go wider for a better chest workout and narrower for a better arm workout. In addition, you should mix in incline and decline push-ups for better overall muscle growth.

   • Incline push-ups work different muscle heads. To do them, simply plant your arms on a low coffee table or chair so that you're angled up.
   • Decline push-ups require you to place your feet 1–2 feet (0.30–0.61 m) above your hands, then perform normal push-ups. Remember to keep your head up and spine straight.
   • Each set should be eight to twelve reps. You might try doing up to three sets.

2. 2

   Do handstands against the wall to build your shoulders and back. Not for the faint of heart, handstands are nonetheless a great multi-muscle workout. To get into position, crouch with your back to the wall. Plant your hands on the ground and "walk" your feet slowly up the wall. From there, use your toes for balance, and slowly lower your head to the ground, pushing back up to complete one rep. Try to get three sets of ten in. Once you have mastered two-handed handstands, aim to progress to one-hand handstands and no-hand handstands. Practice makes perfect!

   • If you're too nervous for this, you can cheat with a high table. Place your feet on the table with your thighs and torso hanging over the edge, enough that you can place your hands on the ground. Then do a push-up with your head hanging straight down. This is often called a pike push-up.

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3. 3

   Do dips to work out your arms. For good dips, you'll need a sturdy bench, table, or chair roughly 1–2 feet (0.3–0.6 m) above the ground. Place your hands behind you on this bench so that your butt is in the air and your knees are bent 90 degrees. With your feet firmly on the ground, lower your butt to the ground until your arms are bent at roughly 90 degrees. Push back up. Repeat for three sets of up to 15-20 reps.

4. 4

   Do planks. Planks are a great way to work your entire core, and they are easily adapted for an extra challenge. To do one, get in push-up position. However, instead of placing your palms on the ground, rest on your forearms. Tighten your butt muscles and straighten your spine -- you should be able to rest a broom between your neck and butt. Hold this position for one minute, rest, and repeat two more times.

   • Side planks are when you open your body, resting on one forearm and the outside of the same foot. Again, keep your spine straight by focusing on keeping your butt up.
   • Plank to Push-up: Start in a plank position with your arms shoulder width apart and your feet hip-width apart. Move down onto your forearms so that you are now in a forearm plank, then lift yourself back up to a full plank position. Do 12 reps in each set.[1]

5. 5

   Do crunches to build your abs and core. Crunches are still some of the best possible ab workouts out there, so get working. Lay on your back with your feet planted and your knees bent. Supporting your neck with your hands, raise your shoulders 6-8" off the ground, hold for one second, then slowly lower yourself back down. Immediately bounce back up, keeping your eyes on the sky and making your movements slow and deliberate. Aim for three sets of eight to twelve reps.[2]

   • Straight Leg sit-up: Lay on your back with your legs extended fully, then reach your arms up towards the ceiling and perform a sit-up, keeping your legs straight. Bring your arms down, trying to touch your toes, and then slowly lower back down. Do 10 reps.[3]

6. 6

   Use a gallon of milk, a heavy book, or home dumbbells to perform basic curls. While the rest of the exercises require little to no equipment, most upper-body workouts require some sort of resistance in order to be effective. Once you have a weight you can comfortably hold, try out:

   • Bicep Curls
   • Tricep workouts
   • Shoulder raises.[4]
   • Bent Over Rows

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1. 1

   Use intense bursts of cardio to build leg muscles quickly. While most people don't equate building muscles with cardio, there is a variety of exercises you can string together to build lean, powerful leg muscles. Take 5-6 exercises and perform each one for 60 seconds. Rest for 30 seconds, then move on to the next one. After you finish all six exercises, rest for 4-5 minutes, then repeat 2-3 more times. Your legs will burn, but you'll quickly whip them into shape:

   • Jumping jacks
   • Lunges
   • Burpees -- do a jumping jack, then drop into a push-up. Repeat.
   • High Knees -- bouncing from toe to toe lift each knee as high as possible. You want to touch the floor as little as possible.
   • Lateral Jumps -- jump to one side, landing on one foot, knee bent, then explode back and onto the other foot.
   • Oblique twists
   • Box jumps or simple plyometric workouts.[5]

2. 2

   Do wall sits. With your back to the wall for balance, "sit" down so that your knees are bent 90 degrees and your butt hangs in the air as if you were in a chair. Hold this position for one minute. Rest for 30 seconds and repeat two more times.[6]

3. 3

   Do squats. To perform a squat, stand with your feet hip-width apart, back straight, head up, bracing your core. Put your hands on your hips or straight out in front of you, whatever is more comfortable. Lower yourself down into a squat as if you were about to sit in a chair. You want to keep your spine straight and your knees right above your toes, not leaning forward. Focus on dropping your butt. Do this 10 times, then do another 2 sets after a short rest.

   • Bulgarian Split Squat: Put your front foot flat on the ground and place your rear foot on a surface like a coffee table or your couch. Lower down into a squat, and then lift yourself back up. You can keep your hands out for balance, or on your hips. Do 12 reps on each leg.[7]

4. 4

   Do donkey kicks. Get on your hands and knees and kick one leg out and up, keeping it in a 90-degree angle. Do 12 reps on each leg.[8]

5. 5

   Try glute bridges. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Lift your glutes off the ground to form a bridge. Lift your left leg up, keeping your hips up, and then lower your left leg down before doing the same move with your right leg. Do 10 reps with each leg.[9]

6. 6

   Work on your lunges. Lunges are a great way to build butt, hip, and hamstring muscles. To do one. Step one foot roughly 3–4 feet (0.9–1 m) in front of you. Your knee should be bent roughly 90 degrees. Lower your butt straight down to the floor, keeping your front knee over your toe and bending your back knee to the floor. Push back up and switch legs to finish one rep. Perform 10 on each side, then rest before 2 more sets.[10]

   • If you have dumbbells or weights you can make the workout harder and significantly increase your conditioning. Even a gallon of milk in each hand will help.

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1. 

   1

   Make a workout schedule that hits every muscle group twice a week. Developing an effective workout schedule is not something you need a trainer to do. There are several simple, easy-to-remember guidelines to follow that will allow you to get the most out of your workouts, building muscle quickly and safely.

   • Allow 1-2 days of rest between similar workouts. If you work out your chest muscles on Tuesday, don't work them again until Thursday or Friday.
   • Group similar muscle groups for workouts. For example, since many chest exercises also work out your triceps, group these exercises on the same day.
   • Provide 1-2 rest days where you go for a short run or avoid hard physical activity. Your body needs time to rest and recover to build muscle.

2. 

   2

   Focus on great form, not extra repetitions, to gain muscle quickly and safely. Doing ten proper push-ups is far more effective than fifteen bad ones. You want every exercise motion to be smooth, fluid, and slow, not herky-jerky and awkward. While each exercise is different, some general tips include:

   • Inhale as you come up, or relax. Exhale on the exertion.
   • Keep your spine straight, not curved or bent, as much as possible.
   • Hold each exercise for 1-2 seconds at the apex, then slowly move back to resting position.

3. 

   3

   Do yoga to stretch muscles with a full-body workout. Yoga is another option for working out larger muscle groups, as it helps you strengthen your muscles and gain flexibility. Easy, calm sessions are great for rest days, and you can push yourself with harder workouts to mix up your routine. If you're struggling to find exercises that you enjoy without gym equipment, yoga might be the simple answer.

   • Youtube contains a treasure trove of yoga workouts for any skill level, so don't feel intimidated if you're new to yoga -- you can practice in your own home with little equipment.

4. 

   4

   Push yourself so that the last 2-3 reps of every set are difficult, but not impossible. If you really want to gain muscle, you're going to need to push yourself. Your own body is the best indicator of your workout, so keep working the muscle until it is tired. You should be struggling slightly at the end of each set, and the last 2-3 exercises you do should require full concentration and effort.

   • Make goals in advance. If you decide to do three sets of twenty ahead of time, you're more likely to finish the set while you're sweating. Then, if it is too easy, you can always add more.
   • Pushing yourself is different from courting injury. If your joints, bones, or muscles hurt, as opposed to just feel sore or tired, you should stop and rest.

5. 

   5

   Eat a balanced diet that is heavy on protein but low on fat. This doesn't mean that you need to be pounding protein shakes every day or cutting out every dessert. A good diet is a balanced diet, focusing on whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and lean proteins like chicken, fish, eggs, and beans.

   • A glass of low-fat chocolate milk is an excellent post-workout snack.
   • Switching from white bread and pasta to whole grains is a great way to immediately eat healthier.
   • Avocados, nuts, olive oil, and eggs all contain healthy fats. The ones to watch out for -- butter, cream, lard, etc. -- are almost always the foods you already know are unhealthy.

6. 

   6

   Consider buying some basic home-gym equipment if you're serious about working out. There is a large variety of equipment that can help you perform new exercises and challenge yourself further, but you don't need expensive machines to do it.

   • Resistance bands are adaptable, come in a variety of "weights" and can be used for thousands of exercises.
   • A basic set of dumbbells is a cost-effective way to add some weight to your workouts.
   • Pull-up/chin-up bars are designed to fit safely into most door frames, and many models can be used for dips and incline push-ups as well.[11]

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Sample Exercises and Routine

Add New Question

• Question

  Is it better to workout at home or at the gym?

  

  Laila Ajani is a Fitness Trainer and founder of Push Personal Fitness, a personal training organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Laila has expertise in competitive athletics (gymnastics, powerlifting, and tennis), personal training, distance running, and Olympic lifting. Laila is certified by the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA), USA Powerlifting (USAPL), and she is a Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES).

  

  Fitness Trainer

  Expert Answer

  Working out at home is great for beginners, but at some point you may need to join a gym to continue progressing. If you're a beginner, you can do things like pull-ups, push-ups, lunges, and squats, and you can use weights that are around you or even your own body weight to help yourself get stronger. However, if you want to work up to lifting more, you'll probably need weights to help you out.

• Question

  If I want to build muscle, should I do pushups every day?

  

  Michele Dolan is a BCRPA certified Personal Trainer in British Columbia. She has been a personal trainer and fitness instructor since 2002.

  

  Certified Fitness Trainer

  Expert Answer

  It is better to space out your workouts, so that you are not repeating the same workout every day. If you do the same exercises every day, your muscles won't get the chance to repair and grow. Consider trying legs one day, upper body the next.

• Question

  How do you build muscle?

  

  Michele Dolan is a BCRPA certified Personal Trainer in British Columbia. She has been a personal trainer and fitness instructor since 2002.

  

  Certified Fitness Trainer

  Expert Answer

  You have to work the muscles to build muscle and exercise is the only way to do that.

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• Work hard, eat right, rest well, and enjoy the gain!

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• Increasing your protein intake in the form of lean meat, eggs or fish and reducing your carbohydrate intake will be beneficial in developing muscle mass.

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• Always warm up & cool down in order to prevent injuries.

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• Always stretch after completing this program.

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• If any of these exercises cause you pain in joints, back, neck, etc, stop immediately and do not continue the program without consulting your doctor first.

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• If you have any injuries or health conditions, do not attempt any exercise program without consulting your Doctor first.

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Article SummaryX

To build muscle at home, work out your upper body and lower body twice a week, with a day of rest in between your workouts. You can work out your upper body by doing exercises like push ups, planks, crunches, and bicep curls. To work out your lower body, do squats, wall sits, donkey kicks, and lunges. If you don't have weights, use heavy objects like thick books or jugs of milk. Also, on top of working out, make sure you're eating a healthy diet that's high in protein and low in fat, which will promote muscle growth. To learn more from our Personal Trainer co-author, like how to practice good form and stretch, keep reading the article!

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