A year ago, I had to start my fitness journey from scratch. You can read the complete story here ( 7 Simple Steps to get from Skinny to Brawny in 12 months – My Transformation Story ). And for the first 4 months, I gained muscle and strength without using any equipment / weights ( except for a pull up bar ).
Let me share the simple and effective home workout plan that helped me as a beginner. This can be followed at home by anyone who doesn’t have the time to go to a commercial gym. The only equipment you’ll need is a good pull up bar, a workout timer app and gravity.
Note : Following this home workout plan, in just a few months, I was able to reach unbroken sets of 50 pushups, 20 pull ups, one legged squats and 12 handstand pushups. And this is before even joining a gym !!!
The Workout Plan
This is a 6 days per week plan split into 4 movement based sessions and 2 cardio/conditioning sessions. You get a day off on Sundays.
Note : Reps = No.of times you perform an exercise, Sets = A collection of reps that you do in a row
Monday – Squats
Warm Up
8 Sets of a Squat Variant – 2 Minutes of rest between sets
3 Sets of Crunches – 1 Minute rest between sets
2 Minutes of Burpees
Tuesday – Push Ups
Warm Up
8 Sets of a Push Up Variant – 2 Minutes of rest between sets
3 Sets of Leg Raises – 1 Minute rest between sets
2 Minutes of Burpees
Wednesday – Pull Ups
Warm Up
8 Sets of a Pull Up Variant – 2 Minutes of rest between sets
3 Sets of V Ups – 1 Minute rest between sets
2 Minutes of Burpees
Thursday – Handstands
Warm Up
8 Sets of a Handstand Variant – 2 Minutes of rest between sets
3 Sets of 2 minute Planks – 1 Minute of rest between sets
2 Minutes of Burpees
Friday – Conditioning
Warm Up
5 Reps of a Pull Up Variant
10 Reps of a Push Up Variant
15 Reps of a Squat Variant
This is one round. Repeat for as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes with little to no rest in between.
Saturday – Cardio
Go for a walk/jog/run/swim/play a sport
Sunday – Rest Day
Rest day is optional. If possible, do more cardio on this day
The Warm Up Routine
60 sec Jumping Jacks
Pull Up Variant – 30 sec
Push Up Variant – 30 sec
Squat Variant – 30 sec
60 sec Jumping Jacks
The Exercise Variants
Don’t worry if you can’t do a full pull up / push up / squat right away, here I list out the variations of each movement in their order of difficulty. Start with the easy variant and work your way up the list.
Squat Variants
Weighted / One Legged Squats
Push Up Variants
Pull Up Variants
Dead Hangs for time
Hand Stand Variants
Hand Stand Hold ( Wall Facing ). Start farther from the wall and work your way back
Hand Stand Hold ( Facing Away from Wall )
Progression
Progression is the most important step of the plan. You have to make a note of the number of reps every workout. Do more reps in the next workout.
Once you’re able to do more than 12 reps in all the sets, move on to a tougher exercise variant.
Summary
Whether you are a beginner or someone resuming your fitness routine after a long gap, this home workout plan will work for you.
Having said that, exercise is just a part of the equation. You must follow a clean diet as well to get the best results.
Proper form is mandatory for all exercises, otherwise you WILL get injured. Seek guidance from reputed online resources or personal trainers.
Please subscribe here to get my latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.
References
- Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manual by Jocko Willink
- Convict Conditioning: How to Bust Free of All Weakness-Using the Lost Secrets of Supreme Survival Strength by Paul Wade
- CrossFit WOD – Cindy
