Home workout no equipment: a complete circuit and how to keep it hard enough

What bodyweight training can and cannot do

Three findings frame what to expect.

• Push-ups can match the bench press. Kotarsky and colleagues trained moderately fit young men three days a week for four weeks: the group doing progressive push-up variations improved its one-repetition maximum on the bench press, like the group training on the bench itself. Calatayud and colleagues found similar strength gains between the bench press and push-ups made harder with an elastic band, when muscle activity was comparable.
• Light loads can build muscle. In Schoenfeld's 2017 meta-analysis of 21 studies, hypertrophy was similar with low and high loads, as long as sets were taken to muscular failure. Maximal strength, on the other hand, improved more with heavy loads.
• Reps go up as load goes down. Iversen and colleagues note that sets of 15 to 40 repetitions can work for muscle when taken to volitional failure.

So a home workout without equipment can build muscle and endurance, especially for beginners and for people returning to exercise. To keep progressing, you make the exercises harder, not just longer. And because pulling exercises are the weak point, a resistance band is the cheapest upgrade when you are ready.

Prepare the space

You need about two metres by two metres, a mat or a towel, a sturdy chair and a wall. The NHS advises choosing a solid chair without wheels, that will not slip on the floor. Wear shoes if the floor is slippery, keep water within reach, and open a window.

Start with a warm-up. The NHS proposes a six-minute routine: three minutes of marching on the spot, then heel digs, knee lifts, shoulder rolls and shallow knee bends. Our warm-up before a workout explains why the dynamic version is preferable to long static stretches.

The circuit: six moves, three rounds

Work 40 seconds, rest 20 seconds, move to the next exercise. After the sixth, rest one minute, then start again. Three rounds take about 20 minutes, 26 with the warm-up.

1. Squat. Feet shoulder-width apart, sit back and down, knees following the toes. See squat form.
2. Push-up. Hands under the shoulders, body in a straight line from head to heels.
3. Reverse lunge. Step back, lower the back knee towards the floor, push through the front heel. Alternate legs.
4. Glute bridge. On your back, knees bent, lift the hips until the body forms a line from shoulders to knees, hold one second.
5. Prone Y-raise. Face down, arms forward in a Y, thumbs up, lift the arms and chest slightly and lower slowly. It works the upper back, the area that push-ups leave out.
6. Plank. Forearms under the shoulders, squeeze the glutes, breathe normally. See the plank exercise.

Finish with two or three minutes of easy walking and gentle stretches for the thighs, hips and chest.

Make each move harder, step by step

The circuit stays effective only if the last repetitions of each interval feel hard. When you finish an interval feeling you could have gone on for another 20 seconds, move one step up the ladder.

• Squat: chair squat, free squat, slow squat with three seconds down, split squat, rear foot on the chair.
• Push-up: hands on the wall, on a table, on the chair seat, on the floor, feet on the chair. Our push-ups guide details each step.
• Lunge: holding the chair, free, with a pause at the bottom, walking lunges.
• Bridge: two feet, feet on the chair, one leg.
• Back: Y-raise, Y then T raise, slow raise with a two-second hold.
• Plank: on the knees, on the toes, with shoulder taps, with one leg raised.

This mirrors the approach of the 2018 push-up trial, in which harder variations replaced added weight. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends increasing the challenge once you can do one or two repetitions more than your target.

A week of home workouts

The NHS asks for strength work on at least two days a week and 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity. A simple home week:

• Monday: the full circuit, three rounds.
• Tuesday: 30 minutes of brisk walking outside.
• Wednesday: the circuit in strength mode: 3 sets of 8 to 15 slow repetitions per exercise, 60 to 90 seconds of rest.
• Thursday: brisk walk or cardio at home.
• Friday: the circuit, four rounds if three feel easy.
• Weekend: a long walk, a ride, a swim.

When you are travelling, the same circuit works in a hotel room: see our hotel room workout.

Stop any exercise that causes sharp pain, and get medical advice before starting if you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, joint problems, are pregnant or have recently given birth. Choose easier versions on days you feel unwell.

Train at home with Never Skip Club

Never Skip Club builds this kind of session for you. In the app, choose the body area, the level (easy, medium or intense), 20, 30 or 45 minutes, set the place to home and select no equipment: you get five or six exercises shown in animation, and you log your sets to see when a variation has become too easy.

Training alone in a living room is where motivation fades first, so set up a crew with three to seven friends and a rhythm such as three sessions a week for a month. Sessions of 30 minutes or more count, and the ranking rewards regularity rather than volume. Create your free account and start tonight, or sign in if you already have one. For a check of your technique at home, book a coach from our network.