by Nia Shanks

Let’s just admit it: Working out at home has some incredible benefits!

• You save time. Not having to drive back and forth from the gym and wait around on equipment saves you a lot of time. This allows you to dedicate more time to hobbies, family, or anything else you want to do.

• You save money: By working out at home, you don’t have to pay for monthly gym memberships or waste gas on driving to and from the gym. Saving money is always a good thing.

• You can get more results in less time: You already know that you will save a lot of time by working out at home, but I believe you can sometimes get more results compared to working out in a gym loaded with free weights, machines, and cardio equipment.

Those of you who are familiar with me already know that I absolutely love going to the gym and lifting heavy weights, so I’m not implying that training at a gym isn’t beneficial. The point I’m making, is that if you’re motivated to workout and are consistent with your workouts, you will get great results at home! In fact, for some women, training at home is more motivating — and since it’s so convenient, you may be more consistent with training.

Some women don’t have the time to drive to a gym, some don’t have the extra money to spare on a membership, and some just don’t like going to a gym altogether.

Whatever your reason for wanting to train at home, you can burn fat and build muscle in the comfort of your own home.

Did I mention that you don’t need any equipment?

Whether you need workouts that don’t require any equipment and that you can do anytime and anywhere, or simply want a change of pace from you gym routine, the routine we’re about to dive into is for you!

Before we get into it, we need to go over a couple of important tips:

• Choose proper exercises.

Just because you’re going to be training at home (or wherever you don’t have access to a gym) doesn’t mean you should be doing endless sets of leg lifts and crunches! If you want to get more results in less time, you absolutely must choose the best exercises.

The best exercises to perform are the ones that recruit the greatest amount of muscle mass at one time. Here are some examples:

Lower Body Exercises

Squats
Jump squats
Lunges (crossover, forward, reverse, lateral, etc)
Jump lunges
Step ups
One leg Romanian deadlifts
Jump variations (box jump, broad jump, depth jump, etc)
Bulgarian split squats
Pistols (a.k.a. one leg squats)

Leg Exercise Demonstrations

Upper Body Push Exercises

Push-ups (spiderman, grasshopper, walking, explosive, hindu, etc)
Dips
Handstand push-up variations
One arm push-up variations

Push-Up Variations

Upper Body Pull Exercises

Inverted rows
Chin-ups and variations
One arm inverted row variations

Core Exercises

Planks
Side planks
Inch worms
Reverse crunches
Stability ball step offs

Core Exercise Demonstrations

Miscellaneous Exercises

Burpees (these are a personal favorite)
Squat thrusts (like a burpee but without the explosive jump)
Jumping jacks
Mountain climbers
Wheelbarrow walks
Bear crawls
Hill sprints

While that may seem like a long list of exercises, I assure you that there are dozens more you can do with only your body weight. Furthermore, keep in mind that most exercises have several different variations.

• Intensity.

Now that you know what exercises you should be doing for your at home workouts, it’s time to discuss intensity. All you need to know about intensity, is that you must have it! When most women workout (at home or the gym), they hardly train with any intensity. But then triceps kick-backs and crunches are not intense, no matter how many reps you do.

If you want the best results in the least amount of time, you have to keep the intensity elevated with your at-home workouts. If you don’t think your workouts can be “intense” since you don’t have any equipment, think again! The workouts provided in this article will prove otherwise.

To ensure enough intensity, I like to have my clients keep their workouts moving at a fast pace — meaning they don’t rest for long periods of time. This usually means performing circuits of different exercises.

Now onto the good stuff: The workouts themselves.

Body Weight Workout

Here’s a workout you can try anytime!

Monday

Jumping Jacks: 50 reps
Squats: 20 reps
Push-ups: 12 reps
*Inverted Rows: 12 reps
Alternating Reverse Lunges: 10 reps per leg
Plank: hold for 30 seconds

*Inverted Rows Instructions: The way I have discovered to be able to perform inverted rows at home is one of two ways:

Lie under a very strong and sturdy table. Grab the table, keep your body in a straight line, squeeze your butt and stomach the entire set, and pull your body up towards the table.
Set up two chairs back to back with about two feet between them. Grab on to a post on each chair, and perform an inverted row from that position.

The How-To:

Perform all exercises in the order listed one after the other, without resting. After you finish the last exercise (in this instance, the plank), rest for one to two minutes and then repeat that circuit three to five more times.

Finisher: Bodyweight squat Tabata intervals

Perform bodyweight squats for 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds. Repeat this for 4 minutes straight; a total of 8 rounds

Tuesday

Burpees, with or without a push-up: Perform as many burpees as possible in 10 minutes.

These look deceptively easy, but just give them a try. It’s a very humbling exercise.

Wednesday

Squat Thrusts: 15 reps
One Leg Romanian Deadlifts: 15 reps per leg
Spiderman Push-Up: 10 reps
*Assisted Door Pull-up: 12 reps
Jump Squats: 10 reps
Inch Worm: 5 reps

*Assisted Door Pull-Up Instructions: You must have a strong door to perform this exercise! Open the door and place a towel over the top of it. Stand on a chair and put your hands on the top of the door. From here, do a pull-up and use your legs for assistance. Please make sure the door is strong enough and that your chair is stable and in a good position!

The How-To:

Perform the circuit without resting. After you finish the inch worms, rest one to two minutes and repeat the entire circuit three to five more times.

Finisher: Jump rope intervals.

Yes, I know I said “no equipment,” but you can buy a jump rope for less than five dollars. I don’t think that’s asking too much!

Jump rope for 30 seconds, rest for 60 seconds, and repeat 9 more times for a total of 10 rounds.

Thursday

Interval Bear Crawls: 10 rounds of 30-40 yard per round, with a 1 minute rest between rounds.

Bear Crawl Instructions: To properly perform a bear crawl, get on your hands and feet and keep your back parallel to the ground. Fight the urge to stick your butt in the air. From here, just “crawl” forward.

These are best performed outside in the grass.

Friday

Jump rope: 1 minute
*One Arm Inverted Row: 12 reps per side
Jump Lunges x 10 each leg
**One Arm Push-up: 12 reps per side
Sumo Squat: 15 reps
Mountain Climbers: 15 reps per side

*One Arm Inverted Row Instructions: Open a door and line up your right shoulder with side of the door, this way your right hand can grab the door frame. Keep your feet about shoulder-width apart and pull yourself into the door frame. Adjust the position of your hand to make this easier or harder. Kkeep your body straight.

**One Arm Push-Up Instructions: Stand in front of a wall and place one hand on it, and the other behind your back. Adjust the position of your hand and your body angle to make this easier or harder. Control your body and you bring yourself towards the wall, and then press hard. It helps to keep your head turned so you don’t smack your nose into the wall.

The How-To:

Perform the entire circuit without resting. Then rest one to two minutes and repeat three to five more times.

Finisher: You can thank Alwyn Cosgrove for this one!

Perform the following as fast as possible:

24 squats
24 forward lunges (12 each leg)
24 alternating jump lunges (12 each leg)
24 jump squats

Saturday

Freestyle it!

Get outside and play around. Perform some broad jumps, do some cart-wheels, do the crab walk like back in your elementary school days.

Don’t be afraid of getting creative and coming up with your own exercises and workouts. Just do anything that comes to mind, keep moving, and have some fun.

You’re only limited by your imagination when it comes to body weight workouts, and since you no longer have the “no time” or “no gym membership” excuse, there’s really no reason you shouldn’t reach your fitness goals in no time flat!

About Nia

Nia Shanks is the SPF push/pull world record holder for her division with a bench press of 145 and a 300 pound deadlift at a bodyweight of 122. Nia is the owner of The Fat Solutions.

For more information on workouts you can do at home, check out HomeWorkoutSecrets.